My Everything

Experts say it takes us, on minimum, 3 weeks to really latch on to a positive behavior. Exercise, healthy eating, less TV watching, Bible reading, and the like, all fall into what I would call good habits. Why is it then that those same behaviors can be lost almost as quickly?  Sadly, I have to admit that in the 3 weeks, that I set aside for vacation, it is very easy for me to fall away from, many of my good choices, including my relationship with God.  The sights, smells, and experiences of the world have a way of wooing  me away from what is truly vital to my personal spiritual and physical well being.  Why is that?  It’s not that I don’t realize what’s happening, the problem lies in that fact that I allow it to occur.  I rationalize that I’ll get back into “it” when I return, after all I’m on vacation.  Sure I can pick up my exercise regime, albeit with sore muscles, but can or should we really take a hiatus from our relationship with God?  I’m here to tell you it’s not a good idea.  The world is a fabulous place, and as a photographer I find myself in paradise.  On occasion I’d drop God a quick wish you were here-type postcard once in a while, but in general my attitude was out of sight out of mind, when it should have been absence makes the heart grow fonder.  Now that I’m back, I’m trying to regain my strength, and I know that my Father is there to help me get back in the groove.  In his patient and loving way he keeps calling to me to restore our relationship.  Years ago I made a commitment to love and serve him, and I don’t want to ever break that agreement.  While in London I saw a fence with hundreds of padlocks attached.  Some had messages engraved or scrawled on them, but  the lesson I took from them lay in the their permanent attachment to that fence. That common thread told the world that they weren’t coming off.  This one in particular appealed to me, “You are my everything”. While it was probably meant for a lover, I claimed it as my own recommitment to God.  I may get rusty, and not so pretty, but God and I are locked together for the long haul…it’s good to be back!!