It was a little over one year ago that we quietly started having the conversation about how we could best serve my husband’s mom and aunt. His mom is a widow, and she and her sister (who is single) have lived together in a house for a few decades now. It was getting hard for them to do the lawn mowing and house maintenance, and we wanted to be helpful kids. (Isn’t it about time the kids start waiting on the parents?) But how best to go about that?
As we were slowly working through this decision, I woke up one night thinking about it. The Lord brought God’s greatest command to my mind: “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself'” (Luke 10:27).
I’m fascinated by the idea that we can love God with our minds. Can you think of anything that requires more mental energy than making decisions?
So I lay in bed and prayed, “Lord, I want this decision-making process about caring for Matt’s mom and aunt to be a great demonstration of love to you from my brain.” That’s an unusual prayer. I had never before thought about deciding things as an act of great love for God. This was going to take some getting used to.
When you’re making a decision, your brain works the problem all the time, day and night. Your brain asks questions, formulates solutions, troubleshoots and imagines outcomes. I found it felt like an afternoon coffee break with fresh donuts to halt the mental processing and say, “Lord, I love you. I love you so much. Before I go any further, I just want you to know I’m doing all of this thinking for you.”
It’s calming to love God with your mind.
You will have a mountain of decisions to make this year, large and small. I challenge you to memorize Luke 10:27 and practice meditating on this verse every time your decision comes to mind. Turn toward God with your mind, and let love undergird your thinking. {eoa}
This article originally appeared at christyfitzwater.com.
Janet Perez Eckles 
Shawn Akers 
Abby Trivett