At times It seems like my to-do list is longer than a road trip from New York to Miami. There is no way that I can get it all done and at the end of the day I feel like I failed because I didn't. That doesn’t seem right. Do I really need to do all that stuff? What am I doing it for anyway? Does it really matter? I want to pursue excellence, but how is it possible when there is so much to do? How can I do it all well? What if I mess something up?

You and I are faced with a myriad of tasks every day as we take care of our families, our businesses and ourselves. Dear Friend, it can be hard to keep our focus. There is so much pressure, internal and external, to produce, to accomplish, to succeed. It is easy to feel overwhelmed, but let me give you a tip. God is more interested in who you are than what you do. I know. It’s a shocker! He isn’t grading you on how much you do. His evaluation of you is so different.

Remember a few things as you approach your schedule. As our mission team has been preparing for our trip to Colombia we have been reading through a devotional together called Before You Go. (Click for info.) One of the entries really caught my attention and I wanted to share those points with you. The author uses Matthew 3:17 to illustrate how God feels about each one of us. What He says to Jesus, He says to you.: “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.””‭‭(Matthew‬ ‭3:17‬ ‭NIV‬).

He claims you as His child. If you have kids, think about how you feel about them. Does your love change based on their performance? Some of us keep busy because internally we are hoping to be good enough for God to pick us. He already has! You don’t have to earn a place as His child. We wants you warts and all! Or you might be afraid that He will disown you and that motivates you to try harder so that you keep your place in His family. No need, dear Friend! He has chosen you and called you His own.(Ephesians 1:4-5) There is nothing you can do, or not do, that will make Him love you more or less. You are a chosen child of God! How awesome is that?!

He loves you. There it is, pure and simple. He loves you and me, not because of the things we have done, but because of His mercy. (Titus 3:4) You and I don’t earn love from God. It is given and received, not acquired. You can’t do anything that will cause Him to love you. He just does! Act out of the security that He does love you, not the insecurity of hoping that He will. If you don’t finish your to-do list, you are still on His “to-love” list. Be at peace!

He is pleased with you. Isn’t that amazing? Your Heavenly Father, the Almighty God, delights in you. Imagine that! If you had angry or distant parents, there is a good chance that your perception of God is shaped by that. You may see God as angry or distant or just waiting for a reason to reject you. You may know and quote Scriptures to the contrary, but the way you respond to situations will contradict it. You live out of what you actually believe, not what you say you believe. If you are like me, it will take time for this to truly sink in, but He really is pleased with you. Relax and receive His smile.

What if you made your focus pleasing Father’s heart, without trying to earn His pleasure? Pleasing His heart means to keep His smile in mind as you go through your day. Remember that He is already smiling whenever He looks at you just because you are you and not because of what you accomplish.

Fix you eyes on His face. Like the little child that crawls over everything to get to Mommy because Mommy is all that matters. Make Him all that matters. You’ll get done what matters most. You will please His heart and receive His love. You are loved. Live from a place of being loved instead of letting your to-do list lead you.

Key thought: You are a chosen and cherished child of God regardless of what you do.

A Scripture to consider: “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A YES challenge: Take a look at your to-do list and pray over it. Ask God to show you which items are important to Him today and make them your top goals. Memorize Ephesians 3:19 and ask God to help you experience and live out of His love for you.

Prayer: Father, it really is an amazing thing. I can’t fully take it in. You claim me as Yours, You love me and You are pleased with me. Help me to live out of that love and to know that You love me reagardless of what I get done or leave undone. Help me to rest in the security of Your smile, knowing that I am a chosen and cherished child of God. Amen.

September 12, 2026

This is Not Forever

“For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 NLT

As I tearfully opened the sodden boxes of our stored belongings, wondering what was ruined, a verse came to mind,

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Matthew 6:19-21 NLT

We were temporarily living with my parents, and our stuff was stored in Tom’s parents' garage. They had a plumbing issue in their bathroom above the garage, causing a leak that soaked several of our boxes and other items, including our mattress. We weren’t sure what was salvageable.

That period of time was already difficult. We were waiting for a job to open up and unsure how long that would take, how long we would be living with my parents, how long our stuff would be stored. Both sets of parents had been patient, loving, and gracious. There was no one to blame for the water damage. Sometimes things just happen.

But when that verse popped into my brain, it completely changed my perspective on going through the damage. The tears didn’t stop. There was some mourning and disappointment. But at the same time, there was hope. This was temporary. These things were just things. What really mattered was how I responded. I could choose an eternal perspective. I could choose to treasure Christ more than an earthly possession.

As it turned out, very few of our things were unsalvageable, and insurance more than covered anything that was lost. But the eternal perspective I gained is a treasure that I still carry. That simple shift helped me through the three and a half years of living in the in-between.