Category: Productivity and Perseverance

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Fighting Ourselves

I had a fight with a robin last week.

Looking out my kitchen window, I could see something in the dish full of jelly for the orioles. I went and picked a couple of twigs out of the dish, chuckled at the silly robin, and went back inside.

A little while later, I was shocked to see the beginnings of a nest!

I ran out and plucked the brush and twigs out of the feeder. Dumb bird.

I got busy with things inside and the next time I looked out it was worse.

Now I was getting mad! This bird was not going to win. I went out there every once in a while and tossed out the beginnings of several nests.

When I told Gary and the boys about it at lunchtime, Blake laughed and said, “It’s kind of like you’re fighting yourself!”

In the afternoon, Gary pointed out that I was being pretty cruel to the poor robin. She was just trying to build a nest so she could lay her eggs. He was right, and I felt terrible. I did what he suggested and put a bag over the feeder to force her to build her nest somewhere else.

It worked. I left the bag on for a day or so, and when I took it off she didn’t try to build there again. She must have found another spot.

As I fought with the bird that day, I realized that Blake was right. I was fighting myself. The silly robin wanted to build her nest in the wrong place, and this silly Robyn sometimes wants to stay in places that are wrong for me.

I put time and energy into things that don’t really matter way too often, and, even worse, I let negative ideas fill my mind and crowd out more helpful, productive thoughts. Instead of brooding over the bad thoughts, I need to catch hold of every single one and get it out of my head.

I could barely keep ahead of that ambitious robin, and it can be even harder to stay ahead of all of the thoughts that try to take up residence in my brain. If only there were a way to cover everything and keep those thoughts out.

That may not be possible, but there is something I can do. When I get confused and frustrated by my tendency to keep going back to the same old thoughts and sins, I can focus on something else instead. Looking to the Lord for his wisdom and strength just may help me stop fighting myself and find the perfect place to rest.

“I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” (Romans 7:15 NIV)

“Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” (1 Chronicles 16:11 NIV)

Do you ever get frustrated by your tendency to do the things you don’t want to do? How can focusing on God help you to turn from those things and rest in him instead?

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Focus Friday: Let’s Focus on Cream Puff Dessert

I made two pans of Cream Puff Dessert earlier this week. (I’ve included the recipe after this post.)

It’s one of my favorite things to take to our family get-togethers. It’s not too difficult to make and it tastes delicious.

It is kind of a weird process to make the cream puff base, though.

First you boil some water and butter, then add a cup of flour and mix until it’s smooth.

You let it cool a bit, and then add four eggs, one at a time.

This is where it gets a little weird. As you begin to stir, your nice smooth batter seems to fall apart.

You find yourself thinking “This can’t be right! It looks disgusting and slimy. Maybe I did something wrong.”

You stir and stir and stir some more…and finally the batter comes back together and looks a little more normal.

Then you add the next egg and the process starts all over again. Separation. Slime. Stirring, stirring, stirring until you feel like your hand is going to fall off.

Then it finally gets better.

After four eggs, you have a nice smooth batter.

You spread it into a pan and bake for a half hour.

You end up with a puffy base that gets a pudding layer and a whipped cream layer added to it after it cools.

Finally you drizzle some chocolate syrup on right before serving…and enjoy!

(This is not mine…mine is not this fancy and we ate it all before I thought of taking a picture.)

Now, I found myself thinking as I stirred this time.

Sometimes we add something to our life and it doesn’t feel good right away. It doesn’t seem like things are coming together right and we think we’ve ruined everything. We feel like giving up and starting over, or worse, not trying that again.

Maybe we try a new method of discipline with our children. We know they need it, but they resist. Loudly.

It’s tempting to give up and just go back to the way things were before, but if we persist and keep at it we just might get to a new, more pleasant, way of relating to our kids.

Perhaps we want to learn a new skill. We watch videos and read articles and books about painting, or writing, or finances, or underwater basket weaving. We begin our attempts, but it’s harder than we expected. The painting is not a Picasso, the writing project stinks, the bank account stays empty, and the basket sinks.

It’s tempting to give up and stick with what we already can do, but if we keep trying we may surprise ourselves with what we accomplish. A painting good enough to frame. A book with our name on it. A nice little nest egg. A cute little soggy basket.

When I’m making a Cream Puff Dessert, I have to remind myself that the stirring is important. I can’t stop while the mixture is still a slimy mess or the dessert won’t turn out right. I have to keep going. I have to remember that something good will come from my hard work.

I have to do that in life, too. I have to remember that something good will come from my hard work.

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest [or a Cream Puff Dessert] if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 NIV)

Do you get tired of trying sometimes? How can focusing on God help you to persevere and keep going until you get to something good?

*Cream Puff Dessert (recipe from Sharon Tilstra, many years ago)
1/2 C. butter or margarine
1 C. water
1 C. flour
4 eggs
– Combine butter and water on stove in pan. When it starts to boil, add flour and mix ’til mixture forms a ball. Let cool a while, then add eggs one at a time.
– Spread in greased 9×13 pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
– Cool.

Topping:
8 oz. cream cheese
2 small pkgs. instant french vanilla pudding
3 C. milk
– Beat cream cheese. Mix all together and spread over crust. Spread 8 oz. whipped topping over all and drizzle with chocolate syrup shortly before serving.