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.

Why don't you come over here and make me do it?

Good morning!  Tell me something:  what is your purpose?  No, no, I don’t mean who are you and why are you here.  Rather, I mean what is it that you purpose, propose, plan to do today?  Get the kids off to school so you can start the household chores?  Wear matching shoes to work?  Try to get through the day without losing your calm?

I’m sure we all have something in mind to start off our Mondays on the right foot.  I’d like to share my purpose with you for a moment, if I may, and hope to encourage you along the way to develop yours into one that brings honor to our Jesus.

For too long I have been lazy.  I plan all sorts of things to start my day but before I know it, I’ve been on Facebook too long or searching Pintrest or doing some other recliner-type “work” and then when I look up, I see the clock is nearing 10:00.  That may not sound so bad until you consider that I’ve been in this position since 7:00.  By then, I’m usually starting to get drowsy and think that I’ll just save my real work, do my real plans when I’ve had a little rest and my mind is clearer. Somehow, most days, that just doesn’t really pan out.

So, I decided last week to be proactive.  I purposed to set myself a schedule and stick to it.  Whether it’s the memory of the theme mentioned in my writing class a couple of weeks ago about folks wanting maximum results from minimal effort, or if the lack of discipline in my ol’ self is finally making itself known to me, or whether it’s just time to be better, today I purpose for myself a new plan, a new agenda, and though it’s basic and in some ways elementary, I have no man (this is in reference to the man at the pool of Bethesda in John 5:1-15 that I wrote so much about last year) to do it for me.  I have no dictator standing over my shoulder to tell me what to do and when to do it.  I don’t have an accountability partner in the flesh to motivate me to fulfill my plans although I have asked my husband to “gently remind” me throughout the day when he checks in on me to see how my new schedule is going.  

So, wish me success?  In about ten minutes or so, part one goes into action--literally.  I purpose to walk for about 20-30 minutes each morning before the sun gets too hot for my delicate skin.  One of my neighbors might help me out with this as our relationship develops into a hopeful friendship.  And I’m the kind of girl who really needs feedback, affirmation, and accountability in my life.  Who knows that our paths didn’t cross yesterday for such a time as this?  Reminds me of a song called “Mary Did You Know?”  As for the other parts of my plans?  I need success with them to if I am to accomplish my goals.  And a helper would be nice for that too.  But until she comes along, it’s just me and the Lord, so let’s pray--’cause this ol’ girl has work to do!

Dear Lord, thank You for the ability to be light-hearted about a matter that really needs some work in my life.  While others have successfully dealt with time-management in their lives, self-discipline is something I have struggled with.  As I came across Psalm 143:8 earlier, it really got me.  While some versions use the words “make, show, teach, and reveal,” the KJV states “Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in Thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee” (emphasis is mine).  Thank You for showing me that purpose is needed and You and I both know I need to be determined in my steps.  Self-control is not one fruit of Your Spirit that I have in my basket so help me today, Father, to obtain it.  I ask this in the name of Jesus, 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.

Put me in, Coach!

Is this verse true to you?  Do you know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose?  If it is, then that means you have some sense.  Your eyes, ears, mouth, touch, and smell can tell what is going on around you, working on your behalf and on the behalves of others who have been chosen by Him to fulfill certain assignments in life.  

Chosen.  Isn't that such a wonderful word?  For most of my life, I was the one left behind, the last one picked for the team, for the group activity.  Except when someone needed the use of my special talents and skills. My brains, if you will.  I was always the "smart one" and when group assignments came to class, guess who was selected to be one of its members?  Oh no:  still not as first choice because--after all--there are just some loyalties that know no limits.  Often I was dumbfounded as the less-intelligent kids were picked by their friends to partake in something that counted for a large percentage of the grade.  How I envied such acceptance!

Guess what?  I have it.  Had it all along.  Those little stumbling stones from my past that made my self-confidence nearly non-existent were working, even then, to make me who I am today.  Bold.  Willing to volunteer rather than waiting to be called upon.  Unafraid to voice my thoughts and opinions for fear of ridicule.  The one who initiates activities instead of wondering why no one does anything around here.

Friends, is this you today?  It doesn't have to be.  As children of God, we have been specially selected--before we were even brought into existence!  Talk about being first choice!  

And we know... states this verse.  We know.  No more doubt.  No more feeling less than.  No more desperation to fit in.  We are His.  He chose us.  Us.  You.  Me.  But He didn't stop there:  oh no.  He chose us to work together:  together for good.  We aren't in it alone anymore.  Woo hoo!!  

If some of you are scratching your heads and thinking "Uh, Stef?  The verse says all 'things.'  I'm a person not a thing"  then let me point you on to the words following:  to them that love God.  Mmn hmn.  See it now?  You love God, right?  Thus, you are working with your fellow man because--once again--you are the called.  Called according to His purpose, not some grand scheme of man.  Nor for popularity contests.  Called according to His purpose.  God's.  Got it?

So, because you are so smart, because you know that you are working alongside of others, and since you love God then I guess there's just one thing left.  Work.  Oh come on now.  If everything was easy everyone would do it but since it's not, since some things just cannot be done through wishful thinking.  We've got to step up, offer assistance, and join our brothers and sisters in Christ in working what needs to be worked for the greater good of us all.

Here's an example.  Yesterday at the Card Ministry Meeting, we were short two ladies.  But, we also had a new one to join us.  Throw in the sweet young girl who came with her babysitter and voila!  Mission accomplished.  Needs discussed, cards divvied up, and...and then someone had the bright idea of asking the Sunday School Classes to help pay for stamps.  Hmn.  Now how about that?  Why would we ask for others to assist us when we--regardless of how many came to participate--had up unto this point just paid for the stamps ourselves?  Oh yeah:  I remember!  It's so that others could be a blessing too.  Much as some of us would like to have unlimited funds, sometimes there are so many cards to send that it can get a little expensive for those who live on fixed budgets.  And because ol' slew foot is out there, trying every way he can to get us to not work together, he could easily make this ministry a drudgery when folks feel like they just can't participate because of a few stamps--a few stamps that a couple of dollars can easily be obtained by a willing few who want to be a part in some way but cannot attend meetings.  Ta Da!  Purpose fulfilled!!  

As I conclude today, let me challenge you to examine yourselves.  Are you working together or are you trying to do it all on your own?  Don't you know, dear one, that when you do this what you mean for good can too often be turned into a task that you dread, that there is no joy in, and that you soon neglect?  Don't be a grumbler, murmurer, nor a whiny goat.  Get in there and support your teammates.  Ask for help when you find yourself floundering.  Mostly though?  Remember, God picked you.  You!  He's using us all and there aren't any bench warmers on His team.  We all get to play so get out there and do what needs to be done.  Amen?