All I can say is TGIF! I’m very, very, very tired, and I look forward to sleeping in one of these days. Unfortunately, it will not be tomorrow as I have a retreat for the editing team at my church.
It’s amazing how a small thing like a retreat can get one back motivated and focused on the assignment at hand. One of the most important things we do is set an editorial calendar for the year. Each issue is outlined with themes and topics.
Maybe I need to apply this to my life. Better planning and more organization. As the saying goes, when you fail to plan, you plan to fail!
And time marches on too quickly. Tomorrow is already the end of July and the year is more than half gone.
Today is one of those days that I wonder what is around the corner. Life has this way of coasting and then suddenly changing very quickly. Things like death interrupt the even flow of life. I am trying to stay present and live and enjoy today, but I can’t help wanting a sneak peak.
And reading the news is not helping. All I see is crazy headlines, and I ask Lord, what on earth is going on here? Where is this country and world headed to? It is my faith that in times like this God’s grace abounds the more.
And this question runs through my mind. How do we give people what they need when they only desire what they want?
Friday, July 30, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Making Room for the New
I’m currently in the process of giving my home a very deep cleaning. When I say cleaning, it’s more like a purging. I have many clothes and items that I don’t use. It’s not only time for me to give the items to people who actually would use them but also time to make room for things that I will actually use.
A good example is my closet. I abhor dry clean only clothes. I don’t wear them because I am too cheap/lazy to dry clean them. Yes, I could hand wash them. Yes, I could stop being cheap and put dry cleaning in my budget. But, I won’t. As I cleared the clothes, I realized this will help me see more items that got drowned out in the sea of clothes. I’m going to budget a little each month to buy more. One of my Facebook friends commented that her grandmother taught her to buy an outfit each pay period. Sounds good to me! I will stop buying/accepting dry clean only items. I will also only buy jewelry that screams out at me. I don’t need a lot. Just some classic pieces I want to wear.
I went through each room and removed things I hadn’t used in the last year (or two or three or four). In my kitchen, there were honestly items I hadn’t used since I moved in ten years ago. I am sure there is someone out there who could/would use the items!
It did get hard when I came across items that were given to me as gifts. I felt bad giving those up, but I tried to look past who gave me the gift and look more to it’s time to give up items that aren’t being used.
I’m just about done. I need to go through some items stored in my closet. Once that it is done, I will look through each room one more time. Then I will take what hasn’t been claimed by my friends.
A good example is my closet. I abhor dry clean only clothes. I don’t wear them because I am too cheap/lazy to dry clean them. Yes, I could hand wash them. Yes, I could stop being cheap and put dry cleaning in my budget. But, I won’t. As I cleared the clothes, I realized this will help me see more items that got drowned out in the sea of clothes. I’m going to budget a little each month to buy more. One of my Facebook friends commented that her grandmother taught her to buy an outfit each pay period. Sounds good to me! I will stop buying/accepting dry clean only items. I will also only buy jewelry that screams out at me. I don’t need a lot. Just some classic pieces I want to wear.
I went through each room and removed things I hadn’t used in the last year (or two or three or four). In my kitchen, there were honestly items I hadn’t used since I moved in ten years ago. I am sure there is someone out there who could/would use the items!
It did get hard when I came across items that were given to me as gifts. I felt bad giving those up, but I tried to look past who gave me the gift and look more to it’s time to give up items that aren’t being used.
I’m just about done. I need to go through some items stored in my closet. Once that it is done, I will look through each room one more time. Then I will take what hasn’t been claimed by my friends.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Chronic Dissatisfaction
As I was walking during my lunch hour, I realized I had forgotten/neglected by blog. For shame! However, there is a lot going on in my mind!
The fallout from my aunt’s death continues. We have to clear out/up the house, which is hard for so many different reasons. I continue to step outside of myself and ask myself was I really raised in this town, this house, this neighborhood, this family. The iron curtain of my mind has really blocked the experience out. It’s bizarre. In some ways, the experience just becomes another role I perform. What a strange family I was born into. There has to be a reason we were put together, greater than our current roles of driving each other crazy.
As I was walking, I was thinking about satisfaction. I ask myself will I ever be satisfied or do I suffer from chronic dissatisfaction. What is it about us that wants more and more and more? It seems like we can’t enjoy what we do have because we are so focused on what we don’t have. What we don’t want. What we want. What we can’t have. It’s actually kind of sad.
I do this game with God where I say if this is meant to be cause this to happen. Then, when it doesn’t happen, I am strangely disappoint, but does God even operate like that?
With all the blessings I have in my life and all the good could I really long/desire more than I have? If I were God, I would be so disappointed in me right about now.
It’s a strange journey this thing called life.
The fallout from my aunt’s death continues. We have to clear out/up the house, which is hard for so many different reasons. I continue to step outside of myself and ask myself was I really raised in this town, this house, this neighborhood, this family. The iron curtain of my mind has really blocked the experience out. It’s bizarre. In some ways, the experience just becomes another role I perform. What a strange family I was born into. There has to be a reason we were put together, greater than our current roles of driving each other crazy.
As I was walking, I was thinking about satisfaction. I ask myself will I ever be satisfied or do I suffer from chronic dissatisfaction. What is it about us that wants more and more and more? It seems like we can’t enjoy what we do have because we are so focused on what we don’t have. What we don’t want. What we want. What we can’t have. It’s actually kind of sad.
I do this game with God where I say if this is meant to be cause this to happen. Then, when it doesn’t happen, I am strangely disappoint, but does God even operate like that?
With all the blessings I have in my life and all the good could I really long/desire more than I have? If I were God, I would be so disappointed in me right about now.
It’s a strange journey this thing called life.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Relationship Freedom
From July 1, 2010 PCC Scroll
My aunt that raised me died in early June. Death brings many questions about the health of a relationship. Did I visit enough? Did I call enough? What was our last conversation? Did I make time for them, or did I rush them off of the phone? Did I tell them I loved them?
Relationships are like gardens. They must be nourished, watered, and groomed. If not, they will be forgotten, abandoned, and grow wild. A week will become a month. A month will become a year. Weeds will consume the relationship and suck it dry. In the end, the root of the issues that caused the problems become so entangled and intertwined that they are hard to sort out.
An important step in maintaining a relationship is having closure with people. If past grudges, hurts, and disappointments have not been addressed, get them out in the open so healing can begin. Life is too short to hold on to past pain. At some point in time, it will be too late for regrets. What would have, could have, and should have been is not what is.
Matthew 18:15-17 says, “… if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”
Matthew 5:23-24 says, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”
The Bible puts ownership on you! Relationship closure leads to emotional freedom. If people don’t know they hurt you, they have no way of making amends. How many of us have held on to past transgressions and seen it impact other relationships in a negative way? Meanwhile, the person causing so much emotional stress is living their life fancy free without the slightest idea of the torment in your life. God wants you to be free.
I will leave you with Matthew 7:2-5. It says, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” None of us are perfect. Forgive, let go, and move on.
My aunt that raised me died in early June. Death brings many questions about the health of a relationship. Did I visit enough? Did I call enough? What was our last conversation? Did I make time for them, or did I rush them off of the phone? Did I tell them I loved them?
Relationships are like gardens. They must be nourished, watered, and groomed. If not, they will be forgotten, abandoned, and grow wild. A week will become a month. A month will become a year. Weeds will consume the relationship and suck it dry. In the end, the root of the issues that caused the problems become so entangled and intertwined that they are hard to sort out.
An important step in maintaining a relationship is having closure with people. If past grudges, hurts, and disappointments have not been addressed, get them out in the open so healing can begin. Life is too short to hold on to past pain. At some point in time, it will be too late for regrets. What would have, could have, and should have been is not what is.
Matthew 18:15-17 says, “… if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”
Matthew 5:23-24 says, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.”
The Bible puts ownership on you! Relationship closure leads to emotional freedom. If people don’t know they hurt you, they have no way of making amends. How many of us have held on to past transgressions and seen it impact other relationships in a negative way? Meanwhile, the person causing so much emotional stress is living their life fancy free without the slightest idea of the torment in your life. God wants you to be free.
I will leave you with Matthew 7:2-5. It says, “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” None of us are perfect. Forgive, let go, and move on.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)