I was going to wait and make it a Super Saturday, but then I started thinking.
That happens way too often.
I don’t feel like cleaning, so I let the dust build up and the floor gets more and more full of crumbs and dirt.
I don’t feel like saying no to myself, so I eat when I’m not really hungry.
I don’t feel like figuring out what to write, so I put it off another day.
Maybe you find yourself doing that, too. Putting off the things you don’t feel like doing until they become more urgent, and usually more difficult.
So tonight I’m doing it anyway. I don’t feel like it, but I’m writing this post.
This week I started to work on overcoming that tendency to not do the things I don’t feel like doing. I wrote at least 500 words every day on my latest writing project, even when I didn’t feel like doing it. They weren’t all brilliant words and many of them may not make it to the final version of the book, but that’s okay. I did it anyway.
As we begin this new year, let’s all work on doing it anyway.
We may not feel like exercising. Let’s do it anyway.
We may not feel like being kind to our spouse, our children, or someone at work. Let’s do it anyway.
We may not feel like working on that goal we set on January 1. Let’s do it anyway.
We may not feel like reading our Bible, praying, or sharing our faith. Let’s do it anyway.
We may not feel like pressing on when our anxiety or depression gets bad. Let’s do it anyway.
Truth is, we usually aren’t going to feel like doing most of the things we do. But if we do them anyway, I can almost guarantee we’ll feel good afterward.
Well, what do you know! I finished this blog post, and that feels pretty good.
“We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.” (Hebrews 6:11 NIV)
Do you have a hard time doing something when you don’t feel like it? How can focusing on God help you to do it anyway?
She downloaded an app and chose a 1 second video snippet to represent each day. On December 31 she posted it to Facebook and all of her friends and family could watch 365 seconds of her life go by. It was so interesting!
Of course, I recognized what was happening in many of the little snippets of her life (and I even saw myself and the rest of the family a couple of times). I was inspired and immediately downloaded the “1 Second Everyday: Video Diary” app (more info at 1secondeveryday.com).
Today I watched Erin’s video again and noticed even more than I had the first time.
I was reinspired, so I opened the app on my phone and added snippets for the first two days of the year. (You’re curious? For Wednesday I added a picture of my 3 big goals for this year and said “Here we go!”; for yesterday I took a video of our cribbage board with a deck of cards spread out in front of it and said “The guys won” – because, of course, I forgot to take a video when our friends were over last night.)
As the days go by, I think I’ll get better at capturing a moment on my phone as it happens and adding it to the app so I can look back at the year and remember it in a cool way.
The exciting and the mundane.
The highs and the lows.
The little moments that make up another year of living.
Even if you don’t get the app and record your 1 second each day, I encourage you to be more aware of each second that goes by. Take notice of it. See what’s happening around you. Who are you with? What are you doing? How are you feeling? What mental snapshot can you take to make sure you remember?
The older I get, the more I realize that our years fly by faster and faster.
If we aren’t deliberate about how we’re living, we’ll look back someday and wonder what we actually did with all of those seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years.
I predict that if I actually use this app, I’m going to be more conscious of all the things going on as I live each day. I might even do some things I normally would be too lazy to do, just so I can add them to my app. I’m going to be more aware of what I’m doing, what others are doing, and what I want to take note of before the day is over.
I can’t wait to see what my little 365 second movie looks like on December 31, but I’m even more excited about being more deliberate about living each second of 2020.
“Teach us to number our days [and our seconds], that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12 NIV – brackets mine)
Does time seem to fly by without you taking much notice? How can focusing on God help you to be more mindful of each second that goes by this year?
There’s something special about designing, preparing, and assembling a handmade Christmas card for family and friends. It’s so relaxing.
Except when you start making them on December 19.
If you begin on that date, with the intention of getting them in church mailboxes by Sunday, December 22, then it’s not very relaxing at all. It’s rushed and tension builds up in your shoulders and neck. Your shoulder burns a bit as you stamp another image and you wonder if you’ll have to visit the chiropractor or physical therapist next week.
There goes anything you might have saved by making cards instead of buying them.
I bought this stamp years ago. I have no idea what my cost per card averages out to, but I have fun!
I haven’t made cards every year, but when I have, I’ve made some beauties.
These are the cards I made from 2003 to 2008. Look at all of the cutting, embossing, gluing, and coloring I did. And I had four kids at home!
This year’s card will be plain and simple. A nativity silhouette with a star above it and the caption: Silent Night, Holy Night. I think there’s a chance I’ll get them done and in the church mailboxes by Sunday morning, but I’ll have to work steadily the rest of today and much of tomorrow to get it done.
Here are my card and envelope piles, ready to be assembled and finished.
As usual, I’m wondering why I didn’t start earlier. I mean, really, I know Christmas is coming every year. There’s no reason I can’t start a few months early and make these at a more leisurely pace.
I got cards done for church last year, but I didn’t send any to family and friends. I made some cute cards during the spring and summer, but I didn’t get them sent out, and here we are back to Christmas again! (Am I a hopeless cause or what?)
I actually made 15 cards like this. So do I send them out now…or wait and send them super late so they make sense?
Maybe you struggle with doing things on time, too. If so, it might be good for all of us to spend some time planning for the new year that will begin soon. We can look at what we want to accomplish, break our goals into smaller pieces, and schedule time into each week to work on those things.
Then maybe we won’t find ourselves:
*making cards on December 20
*figuring out our finances on April 14
*cramming for a test the morning we take it
*trying to lose ten pounds the week before our class reunion
*writing something right up until the midnight deadline
*cleaning madly right before company is scheduled to arrive
The key is doing the work instead of putting it off and doing things that don’t matter as much.
I realize that all of this is subjective. For some people, Christmas cards are far down on their list of priorities. Something else probably rises to the top of their list.
Whatever it is, we need to work hard at it, remembering that God is with us and he’ll help us.
I love making Christmas cards. Next year I’m going to start making them in July.
“‘Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” (Haggai 2:4b NIV)
Are there things you feel are important, but you put them off til the last minute? How can focusing on God help you to work hard and get things done on time?
I attended my 35 year high school class reunion last Saturday evening.
I had never been back to any of my other class reunions. We’ve always lived too far away to make the trip back to Michigan when they happened.
But this time, it worked. I was in Michigan to attend the Breathe Christian Writers Conference (also a reunion, of sorts, as I reconnected with the writer friends I’ve made over the years) and my class reunion was at a restaurant right down the street from my conference, starting right after the conference ended. Perfect!
I have to admit, I got a little nervous before that night.
Would I revert back to the way-too-quiet, insecure teenager I was back then? Would my classmates be interested in who I was now, or would they only remember the awkward, skinny kid I was back then? (And would they comment on how I was no longer skinny?) 🙂
I shouldn’t have worried.
As soon as I got there, I met up with two good friends. It felt comfortable to walk into the reunion with someone by my side. We ate a delicious meal together and caught up on each other’s lives.
Some people (like us) sat in one spot most of the night. Others worked the room and visited as many people as they could. We got up and took a group picture (not the best lighting, but we tried) and then got some pictures of smaller groups of friends with our 1984 State Basketball Finalist Banner in the background.
There was quite a bit of whispering and pointing. You could see it going on all around the room. Who’s that? Oh! Now I recognize them!
There were a few people I had absolutely no recollection of. We must have run in different circles and seldom crossed paths. There were some that I knew, but didn’t get a chance to talk to, and there were others that I probably hadn’t connected with in high school, but we had a good conversation on Saturday night. I pushed myself and moved around to visit with some former classmates, especially some who attended East Elementary School with me.
We all paused by the display of the classmates we’ve lost over the years. We found out about some people who couldn’t make it to the reunion, but the committee knew where they were now. We asked about others and had to be content to not know where they are.
We ate cake.
I was surprised at how comfortable it felt to be with all of these people I’ve hardly seen in 35 years. Before I went, I thought maybe I’d stay til 9/9:30 and then head for my sister’s house for the night. But no, I hardly wanted to leave after 11 when I caught a ride back to my car with the two friends I had arrived with.
It felt good just to be in the same room with these people I had shared life with so long ago. So many memories came flooding back: classes and teachers and walks home from school and football and basketball games and slumber parties and movies at Studio 28. I wished I could sit down with each person and find out what they had been doing since high school. I caught bits and pieces, of course. I heard about families and jobs and saw pictures of cute grandkids, but I wanted to know more. What dreams had they chased (and caught)? What disappointments and trials had they endured?
But there wasn’t time for that on Saturday. It was just four hours of sharing the same space, peering into each other’s faces to see the younger version hiding somewhere, and remembering where we had all come from so many years ago.
I loved it, and it got me thinking about other reunions. Some will happen here on earth (with family or classmates or work friends) and some will be out of this world.
If we believe in and accept Jesus as our Savior, someday we’ll enjoy a heavenly reunion, one where we’ll recognize each and every face and we’ll have an eternity to sit down and tell each other our life stories.
I know I’m going to love that, too.
“People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast [A reunion!] in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 13:29 NIV – brackets mine)
Have you ever attended one of your class reunions? How did you feel when you were there? How can focusing on God help you to look forward to the awesome reunion believers will have in heaven someday?
A few weeks ago, I attended a Beth Moore simulcast at one of the churches in our town. It was such a wonderful event.
Beth opened up the Bible and shared so much from it with the thousands of women attending the live event and watching the simulcast around the world. She wove in stories from her own life and the lives of others to help apply the principles we were looking at in the Bible.
I think I’m still processing all that I learned that day, but I wanted to take a few minutes to share one point that really hit me hard.
Share your space.
That’s it. Share your space. It can look different for every single woman on the planet, but it is so important.
In today’s society, it seems like we try to do things alone way too much. It certainly is easier sometimes, but we’re missing out when we don’t do life together.
Beth talked many times about how important it is to pass on our faith to the next generation. Depression and anxiety in teen girls has risen greatly in the past ten years. They need to see older women relying on God’s strength and living by God’s promises.
That’s a hard one for me, because I have dealt with depression and anxiety often over the years. But God is doing great things in my life. I’m learning to have better mental heath as I cling to God’s promises instead of all the lies I used to tell myself. (I think that’s a topic for a future Focus Friday.)
Share your space.
Maybe that looks like teaching a Sunday School class. Maybe you invite a group of younger women (or any women) over to cook together, or do a craft together, or do a Bible study together, or just sit and talk together. Maybe your family invites another family over for a meal. The possibilities are endless, we just have to do something.
We might think we’re just doing it for the other person, but the amazing thing is that we will find ourselves benefiting just as much (or maybe even more!).
We will put more time into preparing for these times when we do life together, and we’ll grow in all sorts of ways as a result.
Are you interested in doing life together? Share your space.
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17 NIV)
Do you find it hard or easy to share your space? How can focusing on God help you to be more willing to put the time and effort into doing life together?
Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. (Proverbs 4:25-27 NIV)
I’m starting this week’s post with a Bible verse so we make sure we know what we’re focusing on. We’re focusing on–
SQUIRRELS!
No, that’s not our focus for today. We have to keep our eyes looking straight ahead so we can go toward the prize and not get distracted by–
SQUIRRELS!
Okay, I’ll stop that before it gets way too annoying. It’s funny when we see that happen in a cartoon, isn’t it? The cute dog gets distracted and loses all of its focus when it catches a glimpse of one of those furry animals.
It’s much less funny when it happens to us. But it does happen, doesn’t it?
We start out our day determined to complete a task, work on a goal, get something done. Then the “squirrels” show up and we go off chasing them.
I’m sure everyone has different varieties of squirrels they chase.
I get distracted by too many emails in my inbox. I signed up for something recently and got on about 20 email lists. I delete quickly, but I can’t quite unsubscribe because I’m afraid I’ll miss something wonderful.
YouTube videos grab my attention. I’m watching something I wanted to see, and then I notice other videos that look interesting lined up along the right side of the screen.
There are all sorts of distractions that tempt us to get our eyes off the prize we’re headed toward: snacks between meals, TV shows, online shopping, and getting stuck in uncertainty (A big one for me – I don’t know what to do next, so I don’t do anything at all).
Joshua Becker over at becomingminimalist.com has a great article about 9 things that can distract us and keep us from living fully. You can click over and read the whole article, but here are a few distractions that hit me hard: Thinking too much about tomorrow, pursuing perfection, ruminating on regrets, and spending too much time comparing ourselves to others.
I’m convinced that the more we resist going after the distractions around us and inside us, the happier and more fulfilled we’ll be. If you don’t believe me, just try–
SQUIRRELS!
“Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions. Watch your step, and the road will stretch out smooth before you. Look neither right nor left; leave evil in the dust. ” (Proverbs 4:25-27 The Message)
Are you often distracted by things going on around you or thoughts inside your head? How can focusing on God help you to ignore those distractions and move forward with Him?
As I was reading someone’s blog post this week, this line stopped me in my tracks: Every second of every day counts.
Wait, what? Every second?
Oh, the guilt that washed over me as I contemplated that sentence. Because, truth is, I don’t always treat every second as if it counts much at all. I’ve piddled away hundreds of thousands of seconds, I’d guess.
What does it really mean that every second counts? Does that mean we should be constantly working, using every second to accomplish our goals and projects? Should we feel guilty when we just sit and watch a sunset, our young child playing, or another rerun of Friends?
To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure what to think about it, but it’s definitely worth contemplating.
I think God wants us to spend time resting, relaxing, and enjoying his creation. So the seconds we spend watching a beautiful sunset or a playing child do count for something. (The rerun of Friends is a bit more questionable, but I think there may even be room for that if we’re spending the rest of our seconds wisely. Or maybe not.)
Where I need some work is really being deliberate about the seconds I have every day. Too often I say that I’m going to work on something “today” or “this week” and then the day or the week is over and I haven’t spent even sixty seconds on that task or project.
That’s why my book proposal isn’t finished. That’s why my podcast isn’t launched. That’s why so many of my good ideas don’t get done.
I don’t acknowledge that every second of every day counts, and so I go through many days distracted and restless, thinking about the things I want to do, but not spending the seconds I need to on them. I’m frustrated and stuck in one place.
If we take each second seriously, we can feel good about the seconds we spend working (because we’ll actually see the results of our hard work) and the seconds we spend relaxing (because we know that we deserve the break and we’ll get back to work again when it’s time). Every second of every day will count and we’ll see forward motion in more areas of our life.
Thanks for taking the seconds needed to read this post. Let’s all make each second count – every day.
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise,making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. ” (Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV)
Do you ever think about how every second counts? How can focusing on God help you to use each second wisely, whether you’re working or relaxing?
This past Sunday we went to Orange City, Iowa to help Dylan move into the dorm for his sophomore year of college.
When we got to Northwestern and parked by Dylan’s dorm, I had a chance encounter with a friend. We were getting some things out of the trunk when all of a sudden I noticed someone coming up behind us, calling out a greeting.
I turned around and she was right there, with a huge smile on her face.
“Laura!” We laughed and hugged. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I was out for my walk and I just saw Gary and realized it was him and then I saw you!”
We chatted for a couple of minutes, and then we hugged again before she continued on her walk and we took Dylan’s things to his dorm. It brought a smile to my face every time I thought of our chance encounter.
How awesome is God to work out the timing so that we were parking in that exact spot right when Laura was walking by? A few minutes either way for either of us and we would have missed the chance to connect.
Laura and I hadn’t seen each other for about two years, but our meeting felt just as comfortable as if we had been getting together regularly (something we used to do when our family lived in Orange City for two years: walks around town, Bible studies, and activities at Maurice Reformed Church).
It got me thinking about all sorts of things.
We have to pay attention. If Laura had been walking with her head down, staring at the ground, she wouldn’t have seen Gary and then me. She would have walked right by and we wouldn’t have connected.
We have to act. When Laura saw Gary, she could have kept going, even if she had seen me. She could have thought we were too busy moving Dylan in and wouldn’t want to take time to talk to her. She could have just kept on walking by (I’m so glad she didn’t do that!).
We have to show emotion. Sure, I would have liked it if my friend had waited on the sidewalk and calmly said, “Hi Robyn” when we started heading to the dorm, but it was so much better to see her excitement and joy at seeing me. Our fun chance encounter filled my heart with so much joy (in the moment and every time I think of it even now).
What if we did a little more of those things every day? Pay attention, act, and show emotion.
At home, at school, at work, at church, around town, or wherever we are. Pay attention to the people around us. Act instead of just thinking about how much we appreciate and love others. Show emotion so our friends and family members know how much we love them.
Now that would make life pretty fun!
“We love because he [God] first loved us.” (1 John 4:19 NIV)
Do you enjoy chance encounters? How can focusing on God help you to make the most of every encounter you have?
Back in 1997, Chuck Swindoll published a book called Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back. I don’t know if it’s an actual saying that people use now. When I tried to look it up, the closest I got was “One step forward, two steps back.” Now that’s a discouraging thought, trying to move ahead and ending up even further behind than when you began.
What got me thinking about all of this was my scale. I had a couple of really good weeks a while back, watching what I was eating and exercising a little bit more. The scale went down two weeks in a row and I was feeling great. I was sure that I was on my way to going down a pants size and losing the rest of the pounds I had allowed to creep on over the last few years.
Then we moved Blake to Chicago.
I skipped exercising for several days.
We ate out while we were on the road.
Klondike bars were on sale at the grocery store by Blake’s apartment, so we just had to get some and eat three in one day because there was no way to take them with us on the bus and the L when we headed back to our hotel.
When we got home and I weighed myself, I found that all of the pounds I had lost were back. Bummer.
So what I want us to focus on this week is “Three steps forward.”
For a couple of weeks I made good choices and dropped some pounds. That’s good progress.
If I focus on the “Two steps back” that happened because we traveled and I made lots of poor choices, I might decide to just give up and not worry about my weight at all. But that wouldn’t be good for my physical or emotional health.
Instead, I’m going to focus on the “Three steps forward” and remind myself that better choices and hard work produce good results. It’s inevitable. I can’t give up just because I slid back a couple of steps.
We can apply that to any area of our lives.
We learn to control our temper and don’t yell at our children for two weeks straight, then we have a bad morning and totally blow it, scaring our kids with a giant temper tantrum.
Focus on the “Three steps forward.” Apologize to your children and move ahead with the resolve to do your best and be as calm as you can be. Not perfect, but better.
We decide to get our overspending under control and refuse to shop online for a whole month, then our favorite store sends out an email with an amazing sale and a super coupon, and we order enough to get free shipping.
Focus on the “Three steps forward.” Unsubscribe from the store’s email list and either enjoy your purchases or maybe return some of it next time you go to the store. Not rich, but less poor.
We go to work, clean the house, and keep on top of the bills and laundry for six months straight, then we call in sick, binge-watch Netflix all day, and let everything fall to pieces around us.
Focus on the “Three steps forward.” Go back to work, do the dishes, and save Netflix for a treat on the weekend. Not a workaholic, but a hard worker who enjoys life.
Whenever we have a setback – physically, emotionally, or spiritually – we have to focus on the “Three steps forward” we’ve made, not the “Two steps back” (or more!). Only that focus will help us to press on and not give up.
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14 ESV)
Have you fallen “two steps back”? How can focusing on God help you to focus instead on the “three steps forward” you’ve made?
Monday morning started out so nice. It was a beautiful morning, so I rode my bike down to the bakery and had coffee with two of my friends. After that I rode over to one of their houses to see her new puppy. Such a cutie!
I took the long way home and pedaled across town. I got a block from home, started to turn the corner, and CRASH!
All of a sudden I was lying on my side in the street, wondering what had happened. I gingerly got to my feet and lifted my bike from the ground. My entire right side was covered in mud and I realized that I had landed mostly on my shoulder.
I had tipped just a bit too far to the right while I turned the corner, going through some mud and water (it had rained the night before). Just like that, my bike had slid out from under me and I had landed – hard – on my right side.
When I got on the bike I found out that the chain had come off, so I got off and walked my bike slowly down the block back to our house.
I peeled off my muddy clothes and took a shower to get the gravel off my bloody hand (just a little scratch), my arm, and out of my hair. I found out I had a couple of bloody scrapes by my right knee and a bit of road rash on the back of my arm, but other than that, I was fine. It could have been so much worse.
As the day wore on, it was worse. It was surprising how I gradually got more stiff and sore as the hours went by.
And the next day proved to be even more painful. I was popping ibuprofen quite a bit, and I even had to ask Gary to get me some when I woke up at 5 a.m. on Wednesday and could hardly stand the pain. I developed a really pretty purple bruise on my right thigh (sorry, no picture, you’ll have to take my word for it).
I’ve been thinking about how much I used to take my pain-free, healthy body for granted.
Every time I try to raise my arm to do something and my shoulder protests – loudly – I realize how much I just expected that I could work and play so easily.
I think of friends who have had shoulder surgery and think about the years of pain they had to endure before they had the surgery, and the time they spent recovering.
I’ve also been thinking metaphorically about crashes and how often we don’t feel all of the pain at the time of the “crash.” It might take a little time before the shock wears off and we feel the full effects of what has happened.
After I had my bike crash, I thought I mostly hurt my shoulder, but in the days since then I have felt more pain in my entire neck. All of those muscles were jarred, and they’re all going to complain a bit until I heal.
When we have a figurative “crash” in our lives, we may think just one problem occurred: one person’s job was lost, one person’s health suffered, one person passed away, one person made a poor choice that resulted in some sort of crash.
It doesn’t take long to realize that those crashes produce all sorts of pain in other people’s lives and other areas of our own lives. We have to be aware of where we hurt and be prepared to do something about the pain if we need to.
At this point, I’m pretty sure I just have sore muscles, but if I had had excruciating pain in my arm or shoulder I would have gone to the doctor to get checked out. I need to take some medicine for the pain and make sure I’m not overdoing it with using my right side until it heals.
If we have emotional pain from sort of crash in our lives, we also have to get it treated if it’s severe or if it lingers for a long time. We need to cut ourselves some slack and take it easy while we heal from any kind of “crash” in our lives.
We may have some visible (or invisible) scars from our crash, but with some time we’ll be able to move on and continue life’s journey.
My bike seat will never be the same after my crash.
If we live life at all, we’re probably going to experience some crashes. They’re so difficult, but they also teach us. They teach us to get back up. They teach us to empathize with others. They teach us to have compassion. They teach us to slow down and then keep going.
And they teach us to make sure we’re careful and riding straight when we go through a muddy puddle on our bike.
“My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word. ” (Psalm 119:28 NIV)
Have you experienced a “crash” in life lately? How can focusing on God help you to get through it and move on after you’ve healed?
