When I headed out the door this morning, I was already ten minutes behind schedule. Showing up at my first appointment, I apologized for being late. “Oh, we’re always running a few minutes behind here anyway.” Everyone is busy it seems.

From there, I skipped the farmer’s market, not sure I had that kind of leisure time today. Busy, busy you know. I stopped at the grocery store, the hardware store, the gas station, the school. I knocked out a few phone calls while driving around in the SUV. In between all those errands, I grabbed an old envelope from my purse and jotted down the emails I needed to send when I got home.

There are 259 things vying for our attention. My to do list, if written to completion, would stretch from here to the end of my driveway (in case you're wondering, it's a long driveway). No one ever told me it would be beneficial to be a certified juggler as an adult.

God knows this. He reminds me it’s not about handing off all my responsibilities, or doing a better job prioritizing. It’s not even about learning to say no. Those things might be part of it, but they’re not the main thing.

In my time with him each day, he’s teaching me to look beyond the busyness. Step away from all the lists and sit with him for at least a few minutes. There, he reminds me of what I really have to do. All I really have to do.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3

Throughout my day, I practice keeping my mind focused on him, because as the verse says, I trust him. It’s a beautiful cycle. Trust him. Focus on him. Experience his peace. Begin to notice all the places God is at work around you. Trust him more.

At the grocery store. While typing on my computer. At my daughter’s school. In my church. All around my small town. Being busy, fretting over getting it all done, doesn’t have to phase me.

The to do list stays the same, but I am altered. My breath slows. I’m quicker to smile. I have more patience. The words I choose are uplifting. For longer and longer stretches of time, I get this right, and I experience his peace. 

If you’re like me, you often ask yourself, how do I think about God all throughout my day? Are there actual steps to keeping your mind on God? How can I focus on him amidst all the distractions? Oh sister, he’s teaching me too. 

• Start your day with a word from him. A Bible reading, A prayer book, a devotional.

• Let that be the beginning of the conversation. Sit in silence for a bit. Ask him to bring to mind who you might bless today. Imagine yourself offering him your calendar. Tell him you trust him to help you accomplish the things he would have you to do.

• As you scroll on your phone, talk with him about the news and posts you come across. 

• Find a few minutes throughout the day, where you can, to sit with him again. Remember, he’s with you in the car, and everywhere you might go. With practice, focusing on him starts to come naturally.

In Bible study recently, we answered the question, “What is your prayer life like?” One woman keeps a prayer journal. A woman acknowledged feeling closer to God in the past year as she grieved the loss of her father. Another woman was very honest, and said her prayer life needed some improvement. When it was her turn, the woman beside me smiled and said, “I just talk to God all day long.”

Keep one’s mind stayed on God. It’s not that hard. Or maybe it is. I’m finding it certainly takes practice.