Does Your Family Get Only Your Leftovers?

Do your friends, job, hobbies or whatever else get the best of what you have to offer while your family only gets your leftovers? This questions hits me like a ton of bricks! As much as we want to answer no, I think all too often the obvious answer would be yes. Unfortunately it becomes commonplace to give our best effort and virtue, plus a majority of our time to others and other things. And when we're around our family all they seem to get are morsels and a dad who's wiped out from everything else he's been doing. When you think about it, shouldn't my wife and kids get my best (after Jesus)? Or should they be at the bottom of my priority list? Absolutely not! In fact, behind God, they should be next on your list. I can see seasons in my life where I must ashamedly say my family wasn't at the top of my list. My busy life and schedule along with putting the urgent over the most important, relegated them to the next tier down. But I'm happy to say that now they are now at the top of my priority list, obviously behind my personal relationship with the Lord :) For me to realize my goofed up priorities actually took a good dose of humility and a listening ear to those closest to me. As I stepped back and looked at my life I began to see the obvious. As I listened to the hearts of my family, without any defensiveness I must say, I clearly saw what they were telling me. Are others important? Is your job important? Are hobbies and activities important? The answer is yes to each of them. However, not one of these should supersede your family and their needs. I have taken action and turned the ship around in my family. It took time,  patience, saying no to some things, and humbly listening to my family. If you asked me if it was worth it, with a resounding Yes you'd know how I feel about it :) I love this quote from Fierce Marriage which was recently shared on Facebook..."Spending all our energy, kindness, generosity, smiles and graciousness on our daily contacts and jobs and then giving out families the left overs and pent up frustrations or tiredness symptoms like snapping or short fuses is completely opposite of the original design....If strangers, coworkers, or even church friends see a better side of you than your spouse sees, something is terribly wrong. Give your spouse the best of you; your marriage is your first ministry." And I couldn't agree more :) Don't be afraid to make changes in your life if you need to--you and your family won't regret it :)