Shift Your Compass with Leah

Hey, y’all! Leah here from Salted Brew, ready to share an elementary school memory with you. It has a point, I promise.

While designing Seek Fulfillment, a lesson learned during a field trip came to mind. The exercise was simple: use a compass with specific directions to reach the next checkpoint, AKA lunch. My partner and I grabbed our stuff and we were off. It didn’t take long for us to get distracted and lose focus. Who’s ahead? Who’s going to beat us to the nom noms? Who will be the rotten egg? Not us!

Soon enough, my partner and I were alone with no one else in sight. It never occurred to us that this was not a good sign. If someone hadn’t stopped us, we would have continued our trek and been lost. No lunch for Leah? :(

I learned that using a compass can be tricky. If you’re off, even by a single degree or step, you get completely off course. It’s easy to become distracted and go in the wrong direction. But the compass is simply a tool – it is not the compass’ fault if you are not on the right track.

The thing that threw us off on the field trip was losing focus on the objective. We were more concerned with who would get to lunch first. If we weren’t so careless and rushed (or if my food senses had started tingling), we probably would have completed the exercise well.

Similarly, there are many things in our life that can lead us away from God if used incorrectly. Like my compass activity, it may not start as a drastic shove off course, just a small misstep. It’s easy to become careless with things like dating or marriage, relationships, or time. It’s easy to get distracted with things like money, work, or busyness. It doesn’t take much to lose focus and balance across the board. We have to actively use our compass and tools while navigating these areas to stay on the path towards Him. My compass? A solid church family. Bible journaling and personal reading. Blogging and thinking out loud. Loads of heart-to-hearts with trusted individuals. Most importantly, Biblical truth. And nom noms.

I created this set to help you shift your compass back to Him. Questions to ask yourself: What fills my time? What do I think about the most? How do I react to my relationships and circumstances?

When you sit back and look at these things, who or what is actually glorified? What are the motivations? Do they refine or define you? If we honestly inventory this stuff, we may find that we seek fulfillment, value, worth, love, or direction from them and not Jesus.

You’re not alone in this. I have a very full plate right now and honestly am having a hard time taking care of myself and my relationship with Jesus. And ya know, it’s just a taaaad imperative to the very things on my plate :)

Let’s shift our compass together. Tackle one thing at a time. Rediscover how to give glory to Him. Get back on track. Lunch is waiting.

-Leah