I Want My Life to be Filled With “I Get To” Moments

I am one to make “to do” lists.  And I’m filled with a sense of accomplishment as I check off each “to do” item.  Last week, my “to do’s” included getting my home ready for the family coming in, getting the pantry and fridge stocked with food, getting my baking done, and getting my annual family photo taken.  I was able to check them all off.  

There are a lot of “have to’s” in my life.  I have to pay bills.   I have to respond to emails.   I have to go to the grocery store.  I have to put gas in my car.   I have to clean my house.  I have to eat.  I have to wash my car.  I have to pay taxes.

It’s interesting to look at my “have to” list, and the “get to” list.  My “get to” list — are the things I “get to” do spontaneously AND intentionally, because I CAN, and because  I really want to do those things.

I GET TO write a daily FB post that fills me with unabashed passion, that often keeps me up late into the wee hours of the morning — seeking God for “the word” that just might make the difference in someone’s day.   I GET TO run daily because it makes me feel alive and energized.  

I get to be a silly, wild and wanting-to-live-out-loud with my grandkids like, yesterday, playing hide-n-go-seek and skipping rocks on water, playing Apples-to-Apples and anything else to be a “rockin'” Nana!   I get to be free of having to have the house in perfect order when the grandkids are here — the messes are nothing compared to the freedom of doing the things that matter most —

like have a sand-design competition — and, yes, in Nana’s house.  Spending time together TODAY — in this sweet, present time — time that we’ll never have like this day again.  

Then I wonder where does my time with God fall?  Into the “have to”  list or the “get to” list?  Do I consider my time in the Word as a “have to” or a “get to?”  And what about my worship and praise to Him?    Actually, I do pray for God to create in me a “get to” holy desire to spend time with Him, in His Word, worshipping Him and praising Him for all He means to me.     I want it to be the item on my to-do list that becomes so non-negotiable that it comes before everything else in my life.   I want my life to be filled with “get to” moments and not “have to” tasks because I can see them all through the lens of blessing and answered prayer.

Aren’t we so glad that we’re not on God’s “have to” relationship list, but we are His most precious “get to” relationship list.  He considers us His most cherished and beloved of all treasures.  Shouldn’t we be living like that?