Written by Amy Carol Wolff. Photograph by Amy Carol Wolff.
Yesterday, after cooking up some food for the week, I felt the need to pull out a journal that my dad started writing almost a year before I was born. As I pored over the pages which shed insight into my parents’ pre-parenting life, I was reminded of how God was shaping my life even in the womb.
My dad didn’t know whether I was a girl or a boy, but if you read his letters, you can tell that he was made to father a daughter. The tenderness of God the Father is reflected throughout the pages—the kind a daughter needs to learn that she is cherished. Even when sharing what my name would be, either Amy or Matthew, Amy came first. From the womb, I loved music. He shared about a time when they attended a symphony orchestra concert and I was “kicking up a storm”. On the first vacation they took with me, Dad had me in the front-facing carrier while walking on the beach, and I was mesmerized by the water—I loved the sea.
In one of his first letters he penned this line: “Focus on Jesus, little one—we are. Together, knit as one—as a family—we will thrive.” As I reflected on my 27 years of life, I cried a little as I realized how many times I’ve forgotten how hard this truth—this focus on Jesus—is to do. It’s hard to do on the daily level—to reflect on Him and learn more about Him, and live your life based on that learning. It’s something you have to fight for—and sometimes fighting gets tiring. But it’s something that I deeply long for. To acknowledge Him in creation, in the sweet moments of life, in the pain, and in the confusing situations that come our way.
“You make me new, You are making me new.”
So what does focusing on Jesus look like each day? It starts with worship and time in His Word (hardest for me), talking to Him, and then progresses into how we use our time—the decisions we make. Being intentional about serving others, being generous with our resources, and being aware of people around us who need a friend to live life with. It’s not loud, but it’s intentional.
Reflection Questions
1. Acknowledge God’s work in the past 24 hours of your life. Where was He present and working in ways you didn’t realize at the time?
2. What is one way you can more intentionally focus on Jesus in the everyday?