Focus Friday: Let's Focus on Surviving

I had planned to write a sweet post this week about how much Blake has grown over the years and how proud we are of him as he graduates from high school on Sunday...

But:

I have to finish finding pictures of him and get them up on poster board and/or into a slideshow.

We have to sort through awards and memorabilia stashed all over his room and see what we want to display.

We finally went shopping on Thursday so now I can start to make the banana split desserts Blake requested.

We have to do a little prep work so the chicken spaghetti can come together easily on Sunday after church. (Because split breasts were on sale and I like to make things harder than they have to be, I'll be spending a little more time cutting the chicken off the bone before cooking it.)

I should clean the house a little? (At least we don't have much family coming so most of that may be able to wait 'til after graduation.)

So, this week is not a sweet post about Blake's growing up years. It's a post about surviving without having 500 meltdowns between now and Sunday evening. It's a post about regret for procrastinating and not having the pictures done months ago (I knew this was coming, right?). It's a post about not beating myself up for all of the mistakes I think I've made over the years as I see my third child reach this milestone. It's a post about taking a deep breath and letting some things go. 

I don't feel extremely stressed right now, but I can feel the pressure building up as the hours tick by. A couple of days ago, one of my friends said she'd pray for me and that I should "take time to enjoy the journey."

And so I shall. Allison and I will have fun as we make the eight banana split desserts and cook up a bunch of chicken in the next couple of days. I will enjoy looking at pictures of our son as he has grown up into the young man he is today. I will stop and find something to laugh about if I feel like crying. 

This is going to be a great weekend. Congratulations to all of the graduates out there and their parents who have survived graduation party preparations and all of the other challenges throughout their childrens' lives. You did it!

"I will say of the LORD, 'He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'" (Psalm 91:2 NIV)

Are you going through a busy, stressful time? How can focusing on God help you do more than just survive?