Focus - where to begin

I had been feeling like I was losing my focus. Focus on my diet, my quiet times, my workouts, my boys, my husband, the house, the laundry...need I go on??  After laying in bed for a bit and unable to calm my mind I came to the ever calling computer, and instead of wasting time just playing, I searched the Bible for the word FOCUS.  What I found comforted me in an instant.  It was like I felt a warm blanket on my shoulders and a pillow behind my head.
 Matthew 6: 6- from The Message
"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace."
(Whenever I search a Bible verse to calm my mind, I always use The Message, a paraphrase of the Bible). 

Reading the words "the focus will shift from you to God", made me more clear of why I was losing "focus".  Kelli, its not about you! Being healthy, the house, your children....its not about you....ALL OF THAT IS MINE.  We hear people say its not my money it's God's, but how often do we relate that to our everything in our lives?  Most of the time we don't and that's where it all goes down hill.  Our bodies are just simply places for our spirits to dwell.  God wanted our spirits to have a temple, so he gave us a body.  Jesus said he could raise a temple in 3 days and so many people see right past those very pointed words....his body, his temple, was raised from the dead in 3 days.  Many times I joke that I was standing in the wrong line the day God handed out bodies - but really how blessed am I that aside from things I can work on, my body is just fine. I have two arms, hands, feet, and can do so many things others can not.  But when I lose focus and think of what a smaller dress will look like on me, I forget it's not about what I look like in the mirror, its about how others see me, or Christ in me. Do they see Him or me trying to make myself better for me?
Losing focus with Rob and Ryan seems to happen more that I would like it to.  My job is to raise them to love and respect God, to worship and accept Jesus Christ and to be His  hands and feet to all they encounter.  How I treat them is a glimpse into how they will treat others.  You always here "You know he is a keeper if he is close with his mom", when it comes to men.  But I need to start by looking at how I speak to them, how I encourage, discipline, respect, and love them.  Am I treating them how I want to be treated BY them in the future?  I have never been much for patience, but I do believe that's where God's sense of humor comes in.  He gave me one who over thinks each situation and can communicate way beyond his age.  He is already an amazing debater, and getting smarter than me everyday.  Then there is the precious puppy dog eye-maker.  If he disobeys, he looks up with his big blue eyes, head tilted ever so slightly, lips pursed together and a small whimper, followed by a bowed head and raised eyes with a smile, as if to say HA I GOT YOU!  He is refusing to use words, maybe because he brother says enough for the whole family, or maybe he is plotting something. (With Bobby's genes you never know)  But by this age, Rob was talking in sentences.  What gives God?  I love each one, despite how they make me mature as a mom, sometimes against my will, but God is showing me I need to focus on Him.
 How do I treat my God?  Do I yell at Him when He did not listen to me? Or do I put Him in "Time Out" till I am ready to deal with it?  Do I worry more about how I look to others than I do to Him?  He tells us find a quiet place, be a simple and honest as you can, and you can feel grace.  O the goose bumps I feel when I think about having an encounter with Grace. 
One quote I love is, "Don't tell God how big the Storm is, tell the storm how big your God is!"  We can replace -the storm- with just about anything.  The diet not going well,  house not always picked up, the children, dare I say the spouse, or the finances??? Tell all of them your God is bigger than they are, and you are turning your focus on Him, for you will sense grace. And when we focus on God and are in His grace, He is in control and that's what He does best.
I have a quote in my bathroom that reads "I plan and God laughs."  So fitting for my life.  I plan on being healthy, being patient with the men in my life, having a well kept house, etc but in all reality, my relationship with my creator has to be in place before anything else.  If God and I are not communicating then I am not the person I need to be.  The catch for me is communication is a two way street.  God chose to give us one mouth and two ears, maybe this means I am to listen more than I speak. If I listen more than I speak, I can actually hear His plan instead of making my own and running it by Him. If I listen more, maybe I will hear the words of encouragement that we all long to hear.  If I listen more, He will be able to give me the wisdom I need.  If I listen more, I will FOCUS more, on Him.