Shutting Off The Tractor Beam

I love my home. It’s comfy. It’s got all my favorite stuff, my favorite books, my favorite colors—most of all, my favorite people. And God has invited me to live out my calling primarily in this wonderful place.

But sometimes this cozy haven wields a strange magnetic power over me. I let the endless tasks and needs and chores and projects pull me in and in and in. Instead of functioning as the well-rounded, interesting, creative person God called each of us to be, I become flat; robotic; task-oriented; droid-like. Yuck.

When the Millennium Falcon got caught in the tractor beam of the Death Star, Ben Kenobi had to go in and shut the thing down (if this analogy doesn’t make sense, just ignore it). When my home starts to exercise tractor-beam pull on my life, something needs to be done. But shutting down the whole Donohue residence seems a bit extreme. Here are a couple ideas that have gotten me out of the tractor beam, but leave the home I love intact. You probably have a list of your own.

Get out once a week (if you’re a hermit-type, ask your husband to kick you out) to a place where you can think. It could be Starbucks or a park or the library. Take an hour or so to read something about God, something that enlarges your mind and draws you out of yourself and near to God. I promise you’ll leave refreshed.

Turn on great music as you make dinner, and turn it up loud. Worship music can usher us right into the presence of God, helping us see our lives in perspective. Sometimes other good music can bring us out of our self-focused fog too. The other week I was blaring Les Miz while chopping veggies, letting its grand, grace-filled themes inspire me. I turned around to see three of my kids marching through the house with drums and swords shouting, “Do you hear the people sing, singing the songs of angry men…” I turned it down.

Go outside for a walk or a two minute prayer outside your front door. The fresh air and God’s creation (even if it’s just the sky) can remind us that there is a world outside ourselves and our own little hovel, and there are people to love and pray for and serve and good works that God’s prepared for us to do. Breathe it in.

Purpose to talk with your husband or friend about something impractical, something thought-provoking. Rip your mind free of the task list for an hour.

Plan a once a week drop in on a neighbor – maybe call ahead and arrange it, but plan on getting into somebody else’s solar system each week – particularly neighbors who don’t know the Savior.

Most importantly, ask God each morning for his perspective on your day. We need help to see outside our little kingdoms into his great glorious one!