I sat with my eyes closed, trying to figure out how I got here. How did I get to a place where my foundation seemed so shaky? It was a place I didn’t want to stay.

Then God showed me my top three. Three things in my life that keep me grounded… keep me focused where I should be focused. In fact, if I measure my commitment level to each of these things, I can basically tell how close to the Lord I am and how ordered my priorities are.

1. Spending time with the Lord. This is obviously number one. If my time with Him is inconsistent (or non-existent) for a period of time, nothing else works. It’s not about checking off my quiet time box for the day, it’s about being committed and caring about developing my relationship with Him. If you don’t spend quality time with your spouse, kids, other family members, and friends, then those relationships lose their strength. When I lose His strength, I fall.

2. Writing. If you follow this blog much, you’ll see just how inconsistent this has been for me lately. My heart longs to write. It is the place where I express who I am, where I’ve been, who God is making me to be. It’s the place I share my heart in hopes that it will help someone else who’s struggling along the path. My pastor once told me that writing is what completes me. Yep. As I type these words on the keyboard, I remember how true that is.

3. Running. Not only is running one of my favorite forms of exercise, it is also my freedom. When I get out on the road (or on the track at the Y), just me and God, iPhone playlist cranked, the freedom becomes real. I let go. Sometimes I cry, sometimes I just smile and look up to heaven. There are so many reasons I could tell you for why running is so important to me. Yet somehow it has slipped through the cracks. And my mind, body, and spirit all feel the effects.

So these are my top three… Time with God, Writing, and Running. Or you could say… my Strength, my Completeness, and my Freedom. Guess which three things have been falling by the wayside lately? You guessed it. Life has taken control of me. Discipline has gone out the window. Time to shape up.

What are your top three (or one or two or four or five)? 🙂 How have you been doing in your life lately with these things? I’m challenging myself (and all of you) to 7 days of discipline. Find those things that keep you grounded, focused, and in the center of God’s will and commit to 7 days of discipline on them.

Who’s up for the challenge?

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. – Psalm 37:5

Thanks for stopping by! If you would like to subscribe to Grow Where You’re Planted and receive these posts in your email, you can do that here: Grow Where You’re Planted Updates.