So.. what’s really important to me?

Defining my values: Week 2 of the HLS challenge.
This one is all about defining my core values… it wasn’t easy really. I found it a real challenge but worthwhile to re-assess where I am headed and what I really feel at this stage of my life is important.
1.Faith
I am a born again Christian and I believe in Jesus who is my Lord and Saviour son of the one true God… there is none so great as him. I owe him my life but can never repay it. This is number 1 because the importance of this defines the rest of what is important to me in life. I believe that without my faith in God the rest of my life has no value anyway and because of the Grace of God I am accepted and loved because of Jesus.
I am inspired by the faith of people in my bible study particularly Louise with her hospitality, faithfulness in prayer and the way she mentors me. I love the constant reminder Marilyn is ever conscious of God’s sovereignty and the fact that despite adversity he is in control.
2.Love.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-8
“4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails.”
Knowing I am loved by God is something I value so much. Love encompasses so much of what is important to me. I am encouraged by the fact that “love never fails”.
I really value the time I spend with those I love most… my family… we seem to spend so much time as mum’s doing stuff for our family we can tend to forget to foster a loving relationship with our family members… so for me re-establishing this as an important value is just what I needed. . My family is one of the highest priorities I have in this life… it is my place as a loving wife and mum to support them and create an enjoyable life for them.
3 Perseverance-
James 1:2-4
“2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
I have been inspired by this verse for as long as I can remember… it reminds me that I am a work in progress. That I should focus on making progress not perfection… because I won’t be perfect this side of heaven.
Perseverance in my own self-improvement and continuing to dig deep and develop my strengths and build up my weaknesses is something I try to keep working on.
I also have experienced a lot of health struggles in my life and so persevering through that has made this something I really value.
Persevering with my organization in my home and life is a challenge but I am inspired by many of the organizers I have found on the net in terms of how organized and logical their routines are… I love routine but need to persevere in order to keep it working well.
3.Learning
My husband and I are both teachers and so education is something I see as really important… but not just what we learn in school… learning new skills and passing on what skills other family member have.
For example I have started to learn how to sew and crochet… inspired by my 88 year old Grandmother. My mum taught me to knit years ago and I am still able to do that.
So now I have those skills to pass on to my daughter and my son if he chooses… and also teaching them what is really important in life… it’s all about lifelong learning.
5. Freedom
I love the freedom I have in Christ. The freedom I have in this country to live this kind of lifestyle. I look forward to my “me time” where I have the freedom to re-charge my batteries and energy to do all I need to do in my life.
It’s great to know that I also have the freedom to make mistakes and that when I do it doesn’t mean I am a bad person… this is something I have really struggled with and is part of what I need to let go of as it leads to my anxiety and depression.
I choose to use my “me time” to do, knitting, scrapbooking, reading, crochet, baking, watching my favourite tv shows and catching up with friends in small groups. I suppose more recently I can add blogging to my list as well. 
So there we go… my top 5 values… Faith, Love, Perseverance, Learning and Freedom.
I want to serve God in my role as a wife a mother and create a lovely space for my family to live where I have the time and energy to enjoy them and watch them grow. I want to spend more quality time with my husband and grow to love him more each day and appreciate the strength he is to this family. I would love to be able to have more time at home and less of my energy spent working for an income. I want to invest more time and effort in my God given roles as wife and mother, sister and daughter… friend.