Do-over

I love to create, but I realized that there were some things in my physical and mental spaces that had to go.  They were holding me back.  Moving forward is harder if you are carring what you don't need.

I'd love to say, "push through and make things happen", but the truth is that, while there is a time for that, there is also a time when we have to stop, regroup, adjust our direction when we've gone off track, and then move forward.

Don't be afraid to start over or change your plan. Life doesn't always work out the way we want it to. You are not a failure if you've learned from your mistakes and you don't repeat them. You only fail if you give up.

If you Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail

People often tell me I am organized, but I'm really not.  I am a huge procrastinator and I'm very forgetful.  I've tried so many planning systems over the years, from Palm Pilot to Microsoft Outlook to Franklin Covey to my smartphone, and now, my Mead spiral-bound planner I got for a few dollars at Target.  It's okay, but I recently found out about Erin Condren planners, and I want to give that system a try.  You can get more information about the planners here.  Unlike my current planner, the days are set up vertically, with a week's view on two pages, and each day is divided into three parts.  My days are broken up this way.  Morning and evening are more family time, where I am getting my family ready for the day in the morning and helping with homework and winding down in the evening.  I like the separation of the day so I can prioritize tasks.  It reminds me that I need to wrap up "me time" and get back into family mode.

With all the advances in technology, I still work best with a paper planner.  I hardly note appointments in my phone any more.  Good old pen and paper seem to work for me.  Towards the end of last year I started planning on paper again and it's reduced my stress level a lot.  I try to stay on top of managing my household (and I still forget stuff!) but I've been more successful when I wrote tasks down than when I didn't.

I just ordered my Erin Condren planner.  There's currently a 40% off sale, so you know I am thinking about this one!  

Let Them Do Their Job!

It's frustrating when someone won't do what they are supposed to do.  If you're like me, you'd probably want to get the job done so you'd do it yourself.  Sometimes that's fine, but most of the time it isn't.

Doing someone else's job distracts you from yours, wears you out and prevents the other person from ever mastering their job.  This applies to the office, the family and any other relationship.

The Bible describes the church as a body with many parts, each having a specific design and function.  If the elbow doesn't work, and you're an eye, who will do the seeing while you're trying to bend the arm?

If you want them to get it together, remind them of their responsibilities and give them the support and opportunity to function in their capacity.  If someone has fallen short in the past, give them a chance to do better.  We often don't perform because of lack of confidence, lack of encouragement or a lot of guilt. Let them know, "You can do this" - and let them know you believe it.

In our desire to do and be better, we need to help others do the same.

Stop Pushing the Stone

"Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
- Mark 16:2-4

There are some dead things in our Lives that need to be resurrected, but we are worried about moving the stone from the tomb where we buried them.  It could be a dream, a relationship, a talent, or our faith that has died, and we want God to move on our behalf and bring it back to Life.  But instead of believing in God's Power and leaving it in His hands, we worry, or try to move the stone in our own strength.

It is not our place to move the stone.  Stop wearing yourself out and let God do the heavy lifting in your Life (His yoke is easy and His burden is light).  If He has work for you to do, He will remove every obstacle in the way.  Don't let your own doubt or fear be one of those obstacles.  It is often us blocking our own blessings, blinded by doubt.  God can do anything if you let Him.

Stop pushing on that stone.  Step back, believe, and watch God move it.

Don't Get Bored with the Blessing

We read this verse in Bible Study last night:

"We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!”  - Numbers 11: 5-6

Imagine that.  They have "lost their appetite" for something that comes directly from God - something He provided them with every day to sustain them.  They had no food.  God gave them food, and they got bored with it.  Often God blesses us with so much and yet we get bored with what He gives.  God never gives us seconds.  He gives of His best always and it's a slap in His face when we reject his blessing by complaining.  That boredom came from ungratefulness.  Had they been more appreciative, that manna would have tasted a lot better.

God doesn't give us what we want, He gives what we need.  They didn't need leeks and cucumbers.  They didn't need meat.  They needed manna.  We want God to give us variety and excitement when what we really need is to exercise faith and obedience.  And gratitude!

The Israelites had been saved from slavery, and God was making food (manna) available to them every day.  Food they didn't have to buy or season or cook or refrigerate, but they wanted what they had before.  They actually wanted what they had when they were enslaved.  Seriously - how is that better?  How can you miss the things of the Life God saved you from?

Would you rather be a slave eating delicious food or free and getting your daily food straight from heaven?  So what if it's the same thing every day! It's a matter of perspective: What do you value more? Getting the niceties of Life (at whatever cost) or staying close to God and getting the good things he has for you daily?

Make it a point in your daily Life to give thanks to God for His blessings.  Make it a point to identify those blessings.  Sometimes we want to say a general,  "Thank you, Lord" and leave it at that, but I bet if you took the time and counted your blessings (literally - I dare you to count them), you wouldn't complain as much or take them for granted.

Never get bored with God's blessing, because He never gets bored with blessing you.

Let God be the Goal

Some people say "name it and claim it"and "write it down; make it happen".  While there's nothing wrong with having goals and dreams, God says He knows the thoughts and plans He has for me (Jeremiah 29).  I have to decide what I will pursue - my dreams or His will for my Life.  I have a Divine Purpose, and no achievement is greater to me than walking in that Purpose.  I can be a "success" and completely miss the mark spiritually. So what does it profit me to gain the whole world and lose my soul?

We're supposed to be getting money, and houses, cars and land.  We're supposed to be making progress, right?  But at what cost? To me, true success is being the best "me" that God ceated me to be.  If I do that, I make the right choices. I meet the right people.  I'm in the right places at the right times. So I don't have to worry if He's leading me.  I don't miss out on anything because my fulfillment isn't in the things I get but in The One who provides them.

Let God be your highest goal.

Feed Your Spirit

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart".  "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will be added unto you."  A lot of us have heard these Bible verses. But let's be honest - what do we do?  We delight ourselves in the desires of our hearts and when we are not fulfilled we ask why God doesn't bless us.  We seek other things and when we can't find them we ask where God is.

Life is not about physical things.  We are spiritual beings in a physical body, so if our spirits aren't properly fed our bodies never feel satisfied.  That's why you can be rich in money and poor in spirit, unhappy, broken and sad.  That's why you can work, work, work and feel like it isn't enough.  If you're working at something to feed your desire for recognition, respect, love, money, etc., you won't ever have enough.

Feed your spirit instead.  That's where satisfaction lies.  When your spirit is fed, at peace and content, the rest falls into place.  You're more productive, you make better decisions, you relate better to others, you're just happier! This doesn't mean that you let everything else fall to the side.  Instead, it shifts your focus from yourself.  Your actions are more intentional towards pleasing your Creator and not yourself. The awesome thing is that when we get it right, no matter what the circumstance is, a calm spirit trumps chaos, and we can experience joy on good and bad days.

Feed your spirit.