Jenifer Metzger : It’s Time To Get Our Priorities Straight {Man Up

It's day 3 of the Man Up series and I am excited to have the husband, Bill Miller, of one of my best friends, Shari from Shari A. Miller. Please help me welcome Bill!

We have all heard the, “Cats in the Cradle” song; “a man living life, taking care of his family, but being too busy to play with his son, the son wants to be like his dad, years later the dad wants to spend time with his son, but the son is too busy and the father realizes that the son grew up to be just like him.” It wasn’t too long ago that I was headed down this path.

I’m a father of two young adults now; one is a junior in college and one a senior in high school. As I write this I think back over the years to the time I wasted with putting other things first. For me it was work, I have worked a full-time job and have done side work since before the kids were born.

When does it stop?

When we as fathers and husbands think that the next job, the next payday, the next promotion, or whatever it may be, are more important than spending time with family, we are too late. When we do this, we miss the mark and have put work and status before family.

It’s time for us as men of God to do an about face.

We as fathers and husbands need to take time to cherish our families, love our spouses and put God first, family second and work after that. Time passes in a blink of an eye. If you focus on work or other things first, you will blink and the next thing you know the kids are graduating and moving on.

“Train up a child in the way he should go;

even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)

If we make the decision to put God first in our lives, we can lead by example and show our children what is more important, so they in turn can teach this to their children. We can break the cycle and move towards a generation of children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren who will follow God.

I have to admit that putting work first has been a downfall of mine in the past, but God has given me a wakeup call that it’s time to stop and change the direction I am headed. I’m so thankful that He daily reminds me to put my priorities in the right order, with Him being at the top of the list.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day

has enough trouble of its own.”

Matthew 6:34 (NIV)

If we as fathers and husbands give our worries to God, instead of trying to fix everything on our own, we can watch an amazing transformation take place. We need to let God take care of things and remember to have faith. Once we understand that faith is believing what one can’t see, and put our trust in God for everything, we will realize that we do not need to work so hard.

Join me men, as we put God in control of every fiber of our being, once we do this, all other things will fall into place.

Bill Miller grew up in the small town of Stevensville, Montana, right in the middle of the beautiful Bitterroot Valley. He's a Montana boy at heart and loves the great outdoors. He graduated from Trend College in 1990, with an Associates of Arts degree in Travel and Tourism.

Bill currently works for Rockwood Retirement Communities as a Maintenance Engineer. He loves his job because he gets to daily serve God by helping the elderly. Bill also serves as caregiver to his wife, when needed, as she has been battling breast cancer for the past 10 years.

Bill's favorite thing to do is to be at home with his family, cherishing each and every moment he gets to spend time with them. Bill has been married to his wife Shari for over 22 years. They have 2 young adult children.

You can find Bill's wife blogging at Shari A. Miller.