You Can’t Rush or Measure the To-Do List of the Heart
And other matters of eternal significance
“It was such a great day, I got so much done!”
This is how I answered my husband when he got home from work, and I said it all in the same breath. For all my talk about separating our self-worth from our productivity, I still fall into the trap, believing that the more I cross off of my to-do list, the more successful I am, the more AWESOME I am.
We seem primed to measure our accomplishments by numbers:
· The number of our daily steps
· The number of followers on our social media
· The number of clients we have
· The number of people who came to our event
· The number of books or products sold
· The number of items we crossed off of our to-do list
I do it too! But the older I get, the more I’ve become convinced—and convicted—that what matters the most in this life can’t be quantifiably measured. The to-do list of the heart may well trump our actual to-do list when it comes to eternal significance. And it is nearly impossible to measure how we’re growing in love for God and love for neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40).
This is not to say that the items on our to-do list have no significance or no value in the kingdom of God...we are all tasked with being faithful to our present calling, whether that's managing toddlers or managing employees. But so often our sense of worth or success or feelings of accomplishment seems directly tied to what we got done that day.
What if we measured success in a different way? What if we viewed the time we spent on the intangible and unquantifiable as a worthy investment?
The heart’s to-do list might include such items as:
· Give someone you love your full attention
· Find a reason to laugh
· Look for God’s beauty all around you
· Pause before responding
· Let the mirror remind you that you are God’s beloved
· Enjoy something delicious
· Become aware of God’s presence with you
· Encourage someone
· Put your feet up for a while
· Repeat a breath prayer
· Listen to someone wholeheartedly
· Let a favorite song draw you into worship
In his book, The Good and Beautiful God, James Bryan Smith says:
“The most important aspects of our lives cannot be rushed. We cannot love, think, eat, laugh, or pray in a hurry.”
And I would add that the most important aspects of our lives cannot be measured either—that perhaps the best question at the end of the day isn’t how much I got done, but how well I loved.
Something I wrote: My latest piece is up for Growing Moms in God’s Word: Finding Wonder in God’s Word. My two boys have a lot to teach me about the role of wonder and delight in our lives of faith!
Something I read and loved: What good can be done in 20 minutes?
wrote this inspiring piece that encouraged me to place more value on my own little tasks of ordinary faithfulness.Something I listened to: On Being Podcast: Kate Bowler, On Being In a Body. I’m a big fan of Kate Bowler (author, theologian, professor) and she was a delight to listen to in this episode. She talks about her cancer journey, about aging, and about the very bodies that make us human with such charm and even humor!
Something I’m cooking: I know I’ve shared this one before, but these Kung Pao Chickpeas (in the slow cooker) are phenomenal! This time I added mushrooms and doubled the amount of sauce in the recipe. Highly recommended.
I can’t even tell you how much fun I had making these 30 Printable Bible Verse Cards, and they are proving to be popular with shoppers as well! They’re designed to draw your heart into a posture of gratitude and praise each day in November, but they are perfect for the fall season in general :)
Until next time,
What a beautiful reflection. Thank you for sharing ideas for a “heart’s to-do list.” Sometimes, I think it’s also about valuing what we do for love, above what we “get done.”