Time to Review

Well, here it is, the latter part of April, and I feel the need to revisit my life verses for this year.  In case--like me--you need a review of them, here they are:  

2 Corinthians 8:10-12 New King James Version

And in this I give advice: It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.

Hmn.  I purposed to finish things I had started previously this year when I first took these verses as mine.  Have I?  Have I accomplished any, some, part, or a portion of my projects or have they been pushed to the back of the closet, under the rug, in a drawer, or filed in that “One Day I Will Get To These” folders that I seem to have so many of?

In one area, getting my blogs ready for publication, yes:  I have had some success with them.  I worked diligently for weeks on them and have some ready to share with my adoring public!  Go Stef!  The thing about doing that, though, is that there is just so much more I want to do with them and it’s quite the chore.  I get too distracted by this part needs to change and that picture doesn’t quite work, and ooh:  gotta edit that one for a few things.  It has proven to be an endless task yet I have enjoyed the time spent on it.

Okay, then, let’s move on.  What else have I started that is not completed?  Pictures!  Uh oh.  So many need to be put into books, scrapped into lovely keepsakes, and many just need to be organized.  I feel tired already from the thoughts of what needs to be done to get this assignment completed.

Maybe I should concentrate instead then on the spiritual things that I started that need fine-tuned before they are ready to be tried by the fire.  Have I been a better scholar of the Bible?  Ummm, yes?  Sort of?  At times!  While there is no regularity to my mode of study, there is a more precise way of using the time I take to get into the Word. My handwriting has gotten a little better so I am actually able (mostly) to read the notes I write.  And the journals themselves are in better order so there’s not so much seeking for just where it is that I wrote that in them.

Let’s re-read the verses and see if I get a gold star today or if I need to be put in front of the teacher’s desk for more supervision.  

It is to your advantage not only to be doing what you began and were desiring to do a year ago; but now you also must complete the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to desire it, so there also may be a completion out of what you have. For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.

I was just about to feel defeated when I looked and, yep, there it is, the last sentence.  Those words “for if there is first a willing mind…”  Did you catch that?  If there is FIRST a willing mind.  Woohoo!  My mind is willing!  I win!  

Welll, I don’t actually get a prize but...but I don’t have to be so hard on myself.  I don’t have to quit before I get started--yes, again.  I don’t have to feel defeated when there is so much to accomplish and not enough willpower to sustain my purposes. “It is accepted” the verse tells me.  Accepted!  How many times has “rejected” been the word used about my efforts instead of accepted?  I like that one so much better, don’t you?

Okay, let me conclude on this good note and offer some encouragement to you, friends.  Too often we just don’t even try because the mountain seems immovable.  We look at the stack of work ahead of us (whether it’s paper work of various things such as bills, letters, to-do lists, or if it’s stacks of dishes and/or laundry, toys that seem to be everywhere, or what have you) and we sigh, look the other direction, and hope it magically goes away.  Then after a while when we come back, it’s still there, still needing tended to, still waiting to be completed.  We sigh again and lose our joy.   

It doesn’t have to be this way.  Now, hold on:  I’m not saying we don’t have to complete because Lord knows, we do.  We each have a race to run and a purpose to fulfill.  However, we don’t have to do it all in one day.  We couldn’t if we wanted to, realistically.  What our Good Lord looks on is our heart and the motives found in it.  When we try to honor Him with intentions that line up with His, we will be successful.  As I’ve written a few times before, we can either be done or well-done at the end.  Which do you choose, my friends?

Let’s pray!

Dear Lord, so often I start one thing and then move onto another and then chase that rabbit and then that squirrel and before You know it, I need a nap because I have exhausted myself without really accomplishing anything.  You above all people know this and You know it makes me feel like a failure too often.

Father?  I need some discipline in my life.  I need to not have so much chaos and focus on one thing at a time, giving it my all instead of my meager part.  I’m lazy and my follow-through is lacking.  Help me, I ask, to stop, to slow down, and to only take on what can be handled at any given moment.  My plans are many and my vision is wide but my achieving leaves much to be desired.  Grant me tunnel vision in my endeavors, Lord, so that I may do them well rather than leaving too many uncompleted projects lying around, gathering dust.  I want to please You with my works, Father.  Nudge me, I pray, to control my self and my selfish desires and instead to focus on the things that need to be finished.  In Christ’s name I pray:  amen.

Right Now

As I contemplate Part Two of my life verse for this year, woohoo!  I get to use another of my favorite all-time verses to go along with it.  Hot dog!  Can you guess what it is?  No?  Well, let’s re-read my life verse and then see if you get it, keeping in mind we’re going through this step by step.  Ready?

“The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands.” (2 Corinthians 8:10-12, The Message)

Did you guess correctly?  Here it is, one that is always a timely verse for us all (🕧):  

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”  (Ecclesiastes 3:1, King James Version)

Timing is everything and the best thing I can do when?  Right now.  Not tomorrow.  Not in a little while.  Not when I get all this other fluff dealt with but right now.  How many times have I put things off because I just didn’t want to deal with them?  My sweater can answer you that.  It has sat on my dresser for many months, awaiting its chance to be taken care of so that it could be worn instead of bundled up, useless, not serving its purpose.  Just look at this picture and see how pretty it is, now that I have sewn it back together!  If I had left it there, then you wouldn’t be seeing this sweet picture, nor how it brings out the blue in my eyes to match those of the clouds and the river.😛

Now, obviously, when I chose this life verse about completing what I had started last year I had more on my mind than this sweater.  But I had--have!!--to start somewhere, right?  Why not begin with what’s staring me right in the face?  If you’ve been to my Pretty Purple Room lately, you would also see something...um, not quite completed but definitely gaining a sense of order!  You might be shocked to see my room is not as chaotic as it has been for a while now as I am endeavoring to make it orderly and to tie up the many loose ends in it.  I’ll be there for a while so look for me there when you need me.

As I close today’s blog, I want to encourage you to start.  Somewhere.  Look at that glaring thing that won’t leave you alone until you deal with.  Maybe it’s your checkbook that needs tidied up.  Maybe it’s your closet that needs cleaned out.  Your kitchen (which, by the way, I also recently tackled and my drawers sure are sweet now that my silverware is separated, my cabinets are better defined, and my junk drawer even has a separator to keep it in some sense of arrangement).  Maybe it’s your sewing pile or your private dreams of getting to “one day.”  Maybe it’s even those feelings you’ve been putting aside, putting off dealing with, because you know when you do, things will be different and that difference scares you.  But again friends, let me encourage you to make this the day that you start.  Don’t feel overwhelmed and try to do it all today but at least try to make a dent in it, would you?  I think you will be glad you did!

Let’s pray!

Dear Lord, thank You for gentle proddings to get my butt out of this recliner and into the work arena.  There is so much that I need to finish and You and I both know how often I look at those things and give up before even trying because it just seems too big, too much, and too tedious.  You have commanded me to finish what I began, just as Paul spoke of in his writings to Your children in our daily walks with You, in our race to complete the job You assigned for each of us.

Help us all, I ask, to not be quitters.  And no, I’m not just referring to the box of cookies, the pack of chips, or the candy from Christmas that needs to be  eaten.  Sadly, although I wrote that with teasing in mind, some of us would rather turn to the fun stuff to complete and ignore the less-fun things to do, the things that require discipline.  Help us to throw out the things that hinder us, that weigh us down (in more ways than one), and help us to not hang on to things, Lord, that should have been let go of a long time ago.  Mmn hmn.  Those things, Father, that only serve a purpose of harm because their reminders gently prick us of things we don’t need to be considering.  Prick, I say, because Lord You know if they were objects of comfort then they wouldn’t jab at us and open those wounds and irritate the scars that they initially left behind.

I love You, Lord God, and ask You to keep us on the ball.  Or in my case, in my Pretty Purple Room where so much still needs to be done. May the things I complete bring honor to You, satisfaction to me, and help others to see Your glory in my life is my earnest prayer.  In the abiding name of Christ Jesus I ask this:  amen.

The Best Thing

“The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands.” (2 Corinthians 8:10-12, The Message)

As I continue to ponder these verses that I have chosen to be ones I especially implement into my life this year, I am struck by several thoughts that are within them.  To begin with, the words “the best thing” remind me of when Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen that good part, the part that would not be taken away from her (Luke 10:42). Now, I don’t know about you but as for me?  I like the good parts of things, such as the biggest slice of chocolate pie, the nachos with the most cheese, or the yellow pieces of popcorn over the white ones (next time maybe I should eat lunch first so I don’t focus so much on food!).  I like the good part of a novel when the storytelling is rich and about to reach a climactic point.  I like the chorus of a song that reverberates in my head as the words touch my heart.  I like the good deals at the grocery store, the good times had with friends and loved ones, and the good memories made throughout the years.

Have you ever been given a choice between something good and something better?  You weighed the pros and cons and tried to decide which was really necessary, which you really really wanted, and which would bring you the longer happiness rather than the instant gratification.  Most of us, I daresay, would choose the better thing, right?  I mean, after all, why settle for good when one can have the best?  That’s what advertisements tell us, don’t they?  The announcers croon in our ears, telling us the most enticing details of the product, and then they zoom in on us personally, telling us what?  You deserve this!

You know what, friends?  I rarely feel worthy of such items.  It’s not often that I allow myself to believe that I deserve something unless I have truly put a lot of hard effort into obtaining it.  But for the verses above when I am told what the best thing is?  When I am told from the precious Word of God what the best thing for me to do is--from Someone Who knows the end from the beginning?  Well, let’s just say it causes me to sit up a little straighter and to pay more attention.  How many times do I wonder what the best thing to do in certain situations is?  How many folks have I asked for wisdom and advice on a topic and listened to them?  Many!  And often their helpful words have led me to pursue things differently.  Yet, when the chips are down (ugh!  More food, Stef?), most of what I need to follow is right here, in the Good Book, just waiting for me to seek it.  

That’s all.  For today, anyways.  I intend to follow up on the other portions of this verse later.  Right now I am going to consider the best thing and appreciate God for showing me that He always has my best planned.  I must be pretty special, huh?  He thinks so!  He thinks that about you too, friends, so I encourage you to revel in that for today.  He gave His best.  For me.  For you.  Wow!

Let’s pray!

Dear Lord, how wonderful You are.  How marvelous are Your thoughts and plans!  Why You care so much about me is in itself amazing and oftentimes I just don’t fully appreciate what that means.  Out of all the peoples in the world, You chose me to reveal Jesus to.  You chose me to share the beauty You and He created and to fill my heart with hope and love.  

Thank You, Lord God.  Thank You for giving me Your best.  I love You!  In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Five Years?!

Recently I was with a very special friend in my Pretty Purple Room.  As I gazed at the closet behind me, I asked him if thought I’d ever use all of these supplies I had bought for crafts and for scrapbooking.  His response?  “If you’d stop buying more, maybe you could use these up that you already have.”

Smart alec.

But his words echo in my mind today and I can’t help but smile.  This friend definitely has some wisdom and words that I should apply.  Words that I should apply today as I ponder on my life verses for this year.  In case you need a reminder of what they are, here they are from 2 Corinthians 8:10-12:

The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart's been in the right place all along. You've got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can't. The heart regulates the hands.

Intentions are all well and good but until they become deeds they just...well, they sit on a shelf, much like my crafting items do.  They’re great to ponder and look upon and to think about all the wonderful things they could do and become and the beauty that could be the end result.  However, until they become tools in my hand and are put together in whatever project it is that I work on, they are just empty vessels.

This friend told me I probably had enough to keep me busy for five years.  I wouldn’t disagree with that.  This picture only partially shows the things I have to work on.  My other storage areas would reveal many more items that are just sitting there, waiting for their turn to be molded into works of art.  Compare this to the things in my mind that I think of doing and indeed:  five years could be an appropriate measure of time until their purpose has been completed!

Sigh.  But we just aren’t guaranteed time, friends, are we?  We have today and today is what matters.  Those cards I have been meaning to send?  I think I shall go back to my PPR and get them out.  They aren’t much good, are they, sitting in the box, encouraging it instead of the ones I bought them for?  Those stamps in their container don’t need to just sit there when instead they could be stuck to said cards and be put into motion, and those pens?  Yeah, now would be a good time to practice my handwriting skills as I pray over the words that I will write with them, words that will hopefully build up and motivate and perhaps even bring some smiles to some folks who could use a pick-me-up.

Goodbye then, for now.  Hopefully I can put a dent into some of these things and see you before five years is over.  😏

Let’s pray!

Dear Lord, as I purpose now to go be a doer I ask You to guide my words that will go onto these cards.  I ask You to bless the ones who are hurting that I shall be sending them to.  And mostly Lord, I thank You for this opportunity to make good use of my time instead of wasting it.  

Thank You for friends who point out the obvious and thank You for setting the example of how to be a true friend.  Your love is the difference, Father, and I pray that difference will be shown in my actions today.  In the precious name of Jesus I pray this.  Amen.

Happy 2017!!

Good morning!  Today is January 1, 2017.  As always, I like starting new, starting fresh, and starting with a blank slate.  I’m excited about what this year holds for me and have been considering my resolutions, if you will, and about how to achieve what I need to complete so that I may be better this year than ever before.

On those lines, I must confess:  I’m really good at starting new things, making plans, and initiating projects and the like.  However, my weak spot is in the completion of such endeavors.  I cannot tell you how many ideas I have that started off strong and ended up...well, that’s just it.  They haven’t ended.  They’ve not been concluded.  Whether they are files that didn’t get organized, pictures that weren’t properly labeled, Bible Studies that weren’t completed, blogs that were only half-written, cards not sent, scrapbooks that--ooh, let’s not even go there!  👀

Therefore, I have chosen my life verses this year to be from The Message, where often the Word of God is translated into plain, blunt, and what-I-need-to-hear language.  Here they are, from 2 Corinthians 8, verses 10-12:

"The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you
started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale.
Your heart's been in the right place all along. You've got what
it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is
clear, you do what you can, not what you can't. The heart
regulates the hands."

Do you love them?  Ahh, I certainly do and am pricked in my heart that’s “in the right place” and I purpose to “regulate the hands” on this ol’ body of mine!  This passage tells me what the best thing for me to do is:  to finish what I started.  Yes, it says “last year” and there is certainly enough to keep me busy with all those great ideas.  I don’t need my good intentions to grow stale.  I do have what it takes and it’s time to implement it.  And I also love the part that tells me to do what I can, not what I can’t.  I know my limitations so this is vital yet it’s often a challenge of sorts.  I cannot do some things because of my lack of willpower.  I sometimes fail to complete projects because of laziness.  Often I put off until tomorrow what needs done today and before I know it, tomorrow has become the next week, month, or...or today, January 1, 2017.

My life verse last year (John 5:7) dealt with the fact that I had no man to help me.  For much of the year, I finally learned--accepted, rather--that help was not coming from an earthly friend.  I had to suck it up and decide just how important the things in my heart were.  I lost four loved ones in 2016 and that helped to emphasize that regardless of how much love there is from others, in the end it’s all on me what I am going to allow Christ to do in me.  Ahh, you were wondering, weren’t you, when His name would show up?  Lest you think this blog is all about me, let’s get down to the heart of the matter and put the truth out there:  it’s not about me.  It’s all about Christ.  

All, Stef?  Really?

Yes.  Really.  Without Him in my life, I am useless.  My attempts will all fall short.  I will remain impotent.  As I told my Uncle Horace last night before he passed, I just knew Christ would be waiting for him, arms opened wide, smiling broadly, and telling him “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”  Horace completed his tasks on earth and now gets to go on to his reward.  My hope is that I too will receive that reception from Jesus, as He looks at me with love in His sweet eyes, and welcomes me to where I truly belong.  But first I have to let Him complete what He started in me.  He has some works in me yet to perform and my intent is to help Him out by doing my part.  

Let’s pray together now that our Great God will bless our resolutions, lining them up to His will in our lives, and that we will finish our races, complete our courses, and please Him with our purposes.  Ready?

Dear Lord God, another year has been granted to us because of Your unfailing mercies.  So many times last year You could have said “Enough!”  You could have come and had many of us bowing our heads in shame and regrets for what we didn’t do that we promised You we would.  Not that we can boast of anything we’ve done, Lord, but...but You know what I mean, Father.  As Your children, we seek to please You.  Knowing we can never pay You back for what Christ did on the cross for us, our earthly vessels still try.  We try to do things to glorify You, which is our reasonable service.  

But God?  We failed in parts.  We didn’t measure up to the love Your Son taught us.  We didn’t seek peaceably to live with all men, didn’t turn the other cheek often enough, and didn’t mend what was broken.  Instead, we sought our own desires, refusing to humble ourselves, and refusing to submit so that You could prevail and prove Yourself mighty.

So this day, this first day of this new year, we come before You, asking again for Your blessings, Your leadership, and for Your love to shine through us.  Will You help us, Lord, to be better?  Will You remind us to seek You out in all of the plans we make?  Will You guide us what to participate in and what we should stay away from?  Mostly Father, will You continue having mercy on us, patience with us, and supplying the grace we so desperately need to survive down here until You come and get us?  We need You!

Lord, as I close, I want to commit 2017 to You.  I want this year to stand out as the one where I chose love, where I chose obedience to You and Your commands, where I chose to humble myself in areas that are unchartered, and the year Lord that I consider Your will above my own.  Help me to lose this flesh that weighs me down and prevents me from being who You designed me to be all those years ago.  I ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Saviour.  Amen!