This past couple of weeks have been a flurry of studying, watching webinars, hanging posters, and taking down notes, shopping for pencils and Velcro at the dollar store, and ordering items online. I've been making lists, losing lists, crossing items off lists, and sighing with frustration knowing that there just aren't enough minutes left to get everything done, and there aren't enough answers to be fully prepared for that moment when my newest batch of little ones walk through that classroom door.

Sometimes the worries of life are way too big to fit inside our hearts and heads.

My response to stress is either to micromanage or to walk away. I've been bouncing back and forth between the two all week.

Yesterday was a walk away day – I went shopping with Mom, watched tv with Dad, and downloaded a new game on my phone.

Today was a micromanage day. I'm working from two lists, one with specific times written down the side for each task. At the allotted time this morning, I sat down and opened a browser to watch the online church service – but I also had two other browsers opened to make a Google form for parents and read through a slideshow for teachers.

Then the singing stopped and the worship leader read today's scripture: Ecclesiastes 1:1-11. It was the 'everything is meaningless' speech. There's nothing new under the sun. What has been will be again. No one remembers the former generations… Basically, all of this stressing I've been doing is just a colossal waste of time… Everything is meaningless.

Then the worship leader stepped back from the mic and they began singing again. An old favorite: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus an old hymn written by Helen Howarth Lemmel.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim
in the light of His glory and grace.

And as I finally paused to listen, I realized that once again, I'd gotten caught up in the urgent and pulled away from the important. The urgent: paperwork, lesson plans, having the classroom ready for the children by Tuesday. The important: My health. My walk with God. The children.

A year from now, none of that urgent stuff is going to matter at all. I need to keep my eyes (and my energy) on the important. It's amazing how different a to-do list looks when you change the motivation behind it.