The Pyramid

On Facebook this month, I am participating in the posting daily of things that I am  thankful for.  I have worked the list according to the pyramid.  You do know the pryamid, right?  It looks like this
     
                                                                            GOD
                                                                       My Husband
                                                            K'Lynn, Ryan and Hannah
                                                     Church Life: activities, commitments
                                         All other family: parents, sisters, brothers and others
                                  Work, School, Community involvement, Teams, committees
                                                                   ....anything else....


I know this is not an all inclusive list of all of the aspects of my life or yours.  This is bare bones.  You have to work out the lower levels on your own, but the top 3 must not change.  If you do not have a husband or children, then the list just moves up one rung leaving room to add them in if that changes.  God always has to be FIRST, though.  "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33)  It is a promise to us from God.  Place Him and His kingdom first and the rest will fall into place.

Placing  your spouse second is easy in the begining.  Newlyweds are so devoted to each other.  It comes completely naturally.  Once a baby comes along, though, priorities get shifted.  Every baby needs his/her mama.  I have talked with far too many new mothers (or older ones) that clearly switched out positions 2 and 3 once the children were born.  This is unhealthy on many levels, for both the parents and the child as well.  Your husband and wive must feel that they are the most important thing in this world to  you, behind your own relationship with God.  Children need to know that they are in this #3 position by design.  They will become someone's #2 someday.  They should never strive to be in the #1 spot ever.  We owe it to them to let them see what a healthy pyramid looks like so that they can have their own someday.

I place church life on the whole in the #4 position.  Attendance in regular worship is so important.  Commitments to groups, activities, special events and teams is an additional layer to this.  All must be this high in my pryamid to make my life work.  When I begin to move this to a lower position temporarily, I end up just leaving it in a lower position indefinitely.  #4 is the right place in my world for my church life.

Family is #5, I guess.  Our extended family lives at least 5 hours away.  My sister is slightly closer at 2 1/2 hours, but it is still a distance that prevents frequent visits.  Thankfully, Facebook has made all of those miles seem much closer.  Our actual drives to East Texas are special when we do get to go, but they are infrequent.   All of the years of living closer in the begining of our married life set the stage for this to work out.  A strong foundation of family love is so important and I am glad we have that.  When we do get together, there is no need to learn names or catch up.  We know each other well and just enjoy any time spent with one another.

My company would probably not like to hear how far down on my pyramid they fall, but #6 would be it.  Work is very important to me- it is the gas that fuels my car, the grease that allows the wheels to turn, the paycheck that keeps my family afloat.  It is not my life, though.  The same is true for sports, PTO, Athletic boosters, Band boosters,  4H, FFA, etc...   All are wonderful groups, when they are kept in the correct position.  No offense to anyone reading this that is heavily involved in those things.  I have my list and it works for me.  If you  can honestly say you have those things balanced out, then that is great.  I cannot do that.  I get out of whack really quickly when I get involved.  Like the years I was band booster president.  Hours and hours spent in the concession stand took a toll on my family life.  While I am proud of the work I did, it was difficult.  Missing most of the ball games my son played in  and missing my daughter perform in the band week after week were unfortunate.  Can't get that time back...

Everything else is #7.  Hobbies like shopping, gardening, garage sales, crafts... these fit in where they are able to be , but are not anything resembling a top priority.   More like sprinkles on a cupcake- not the cake or icing themselves.  I love them, but i would also let them take over large parts of my world if I could .

What does you pyramid look like?  It took me a while to get mine balance out like it is today, but it works and God is honored by it.  Take a look...might explain a lot when you dig in deep.

Be blessed!