Putting Others First

Sometimes I feel like life gets crazy and we forget our real purpose on this earth. Despite what people think, it's not to be the "perfect" person and bash others for living different lifestyles it's to love one another and put people before ourselves. Growing up I watched The Duggars and every special they had, I remember one special they talked about practicing J.O.Y. and explained what it was and it's something that has stuck with me since then. J.O.Y. is an acronym for Jesus first Others second Yourself third. From that moment I realized I need J.O.Y. in my life as well and adopted the term and have taught it to all nine kids. Putting Jesus first is much easier said than done, it's something that definitely takes a lot of time and work, but that's perfectly fine. Putting others second is also a hard one and it seems to be the forgotten one by so many people. I realized recently in our family we have become so absorbed in our daily lives and figuring out what to do for our kids birthdays, what to buy them for Christmas, the latest and greatest school supplies-anything that we could get OUR kids we were thinking about. We were forgetting that this world is not about us, it's not about all the things our kids want, it's about helping people get the things they NEED. I realized that our family needed to  stop thinking so selfishly and start thinking selflessly something that is kind of hard when you have so much going on. Luckily, God knew that I needed a reminder of why I'm here and gave me the opportunity to not just help someone a little, but change someones life completely and I am so blessed that I am able to do the work God wants me to do. I am hoping that as I go forward I remember to practice J.O.Y. because I have nine little kids watching me and I want them to learn by my example of how to do this. I know however, if I forget again and get caught up in life I will always be able to be reminded.