A Little Tweaking

September is a month of new beginnings.  I have always considered it the start of the new year.  Schedules resume, classes commence, and activities change along with the season.  And while resolutions are usually saved for January, a little tweaking in September can go a long way.

At the beginning of each school year, our family tried to troubleshoot the problems we faced the previous year.  With four school-aged daughters, we found school mornings bordering on the hectic and not a great way to start the day.  A little tweaking took care of some of the wrinkles.  Shoes, jackets and backpacks were lined up by the door.  Homework was completed, books tucked inside the backpacks, and permission slips signed and ready to go.  Lunches were made the night before, ready to grab.  Those little tweaks avoided a lot of angst in the morning.  It didn’t solve all our early morning glitches, but it helped us to avoid the obvious potholes.

I thought about tweaking this morning when my husband told me about his buddy Byron who owns a local fishing shop.  When Byron traveled this summer, he carefully observed what other fishing stores were doing well and what worked for them.  When he returned to his own shop, he made one singular change.  He moved the fishing rods from the loft to the main floor.  With that one little tweaking, his shop just had its biggest month ever.

What single little tweak do I need to make this fall? 

Most of the elements we need to make our lives more fruitful are within our reach.  We just need to make them more accessible, like Byron’s fishing rods.  If we need to eat healthier, keep a bowl of fruit on the counter.  If we want to read more (or our kids to read more), keep a basket of library books current and right by the couch.  It is not that we necessarily need to eliminate things, or jam even more into an already tight schedule, but make our priorities easier to grasp.

Make first things first.  And remember, anxiety is not one of them.

What does God's Word have to say about it?

Seek first His kingdom

        and His righteousness,

and all these things shall be yours as well.

                           Matthew 6.23