As my husband and I were putting our three boys to bed last night, our oldest Penn, who just finished kindergarten yesterday, was pretty upset that school was over. I walked him into the other room and set him up with his journal, and told him to talk to God about it. His prayer was so simple, but so profound.

The faith of a child stops me in my tracks every time, and gets my head out of the clouds on all the things that keeps me from being present.

I asked him if he felt better as he blew his nose and wiped his tears getting back into bed, and he said a little. I reminded him that he’s still going to be sad about the year being over, but that now it’s not a crippling kind of sadness, now that he took it to the Lord’s feet. I prayed for him, asking God that as the sadness creeps in, to help him transform the sadness to gratitude. Penn interrupted me to ask me what that meant. I told him that the reason he is sad is because he had an amazing year with amazing friends and an amazing teacher…and that that is something to be thankful for. And we are called to be thankful always: “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). He went right to sleep after this.

I left his room being reminded, amidst all the thoughts swirling in my head of what we were going to do this summer, of what my priority should be–that there is absolutely nothing more important than prioritizing my closeness with the Lord. That is the single best thing I can do. The single best thing for me and for my family.

The lyrics that just played (Lauren Daigle, “Thank God I do”) resonate:

There’s nothin’ missing when You are by my side.

A friend of mine who often writes me when she comes across Scripture about water, wrote me this as all else above was taking place (I love when it all comes together in ways that make it clear the Lord is speaking to me):

“We find refuge in the shadow of your wings. We feast on the abundance of your house; you give us drink from the river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; and in your light we see light” (Psalm 36).

When Christ is first, all else falls into place. May we prioritize Him first and foremost as we set out to pinpoint all else that we find worthy of fitting in this summer.