Focus

In my house, the main hallway that runs back to two of our bedrooms and our second bathroom is a long stretch of wall space. So a while back we put three pictures up. One is of Caleb when he was two; one is of Haley when she was born, and the other is of Jessica when she was pregnant with Haley.

First, a confession: I'm obsessed with things being in VERY straight lines, or being straight across from each other (dining room chairs). I hate clutter. If I had it my way, our house would always look like it was ready for a realtor to show it. It's a sickness. It drives my wife batty.

So, I decided to hang these three pictures in a straight row, exactly the same distance apart from one another. So I got out my tape measure, pencil, and level (I really need one of those laser levels). I hung them perfectly. Just right.

But, now when I walk down the hall I'm constantly focusing on the tops of the picture frames and if they're straight or not. If they're not, I'll straighten them. Instead of focusing on the beautiful gems that are pictured inside of the frames, I'm focused on the frames themselves.

How often do we do this with our families? We focus so much on the "stuff" and not near enough on the relationship. We focus so much on correct behavior, and very little on the precious children that we get the privilege of raising and spending time with. I've lost perspective of what's important, on put it on the thing that's really not all that important.

Where do you get off focus? Where do you lose perspective of what is truly important?