Only 16 Shopping Days...

...'til Christmas. Don't hate me. I finished my Christmas shopping several weeks ago. If it makes you feel any better, I still have many things to do. I haven't sent out my Christmas cards yet. In fact, I still need to buy the stamps. And I need to make some goodies and treats for special friends, neighbors, Sunday school teachers, etc. I haven't wrapped anything either! And there are a couple of small handmade things I need to finish. And...is my list making you weary?

This time of year, many of us are weary. Take a deep breath and hang in there. In just 16 days, you'll be sitting amidst a heap of torn wrapping paper, empty boxes and tangled ribbons breathing that satisfied sigh of relief as your family delights in those carefully chosen gifts. And I know that out of sheer gratitude, those same family members will volunteer to clean up the mess and maybe even to clean the entire house for the next year! We can dream, can't we?

Blessings to you,
Michelle

P.S. Looking for a gift idea for the writer in your family? How about the book "Writing so Heaven Will Be Different?" It's an anthology for writers, and here's a shameless plug; I wrote one of the chapters in the book. Each chapter contains the story of a writer and how attending the Write to Publish writer's conference has played a role in his or her writing journey.

Simple Answered Prayers

My son shot his first buck this past weekend and he was tracking it with some difficulty. Every time he got close, it jumped up and ran off into the brush. Finally, he enlisted the help of Dad and his younger brother. Before heading off into the woods, they stopped to pray that they could find the deer and that it would stop before it headed onto neighboring property where they wouldn't be allowed to track any further.

After some time of searching, they were approaching the property line and they started to worry. They stopped to pray again and just after they lifted their heads, one of them spotted the deer just yards in front of them. Dad took care of "finishing off" the wounded deer with his Magnum 357, but the stories of how he looked like Barney Fife from "The Andy Griffith Show" live on. The simple story of faith and prayer in the woods will also live in the memories of my boys.

What prayers has God answered for you recently? Click on "comments" to share your story.

Trade Hobbies With Your Spouse

Have you ever tried something you never believed you would enjoy? I used to ridicule my husband's love for deer hunting and fishing until I tried it and discovered it wasn't so bad. In fact, I really enjoyed it! It gave me a new appreciation for him and his interests as well. You can read more about it in my article in the November 2008, Focus on the Family couple's issue on their website. Follow the link: "Hunting Deer and Gluing Sparkles".

Don't forget to leave a comment about how you have tried one of your spouse's hobbies. How did that turn out for you?

Taming the To-Do List Monster

Small Accomplishments

Have you ever noticed that as your to-do list continues to grow it becomes as overwhelming as moving a mountain of pea gravel with a spoon? Mine does. But, how many of those things could have been accomplished in not much more time than it took to add it to your list. My to-do list is on my computer, so it means going to my office, turning on the computer, clicking on the sticky notes program, adding another bulleted line for the item and typing the name of my feat to accomplish. Then there is the time wasted recopying the to-do list. You do it too don’t you? When I kept my list on paper, I recopied it every week to tidy it up.

Sadly, many of the tasks on my list would take less time to complete than I waste with the whole to-do list process. For months—five to be exact—I have wanted to go through my spice drawer with a black sharpie and write the names of the spices on the lids so that I wouldn’t have to select a dozen or more other spices before landing on the cinnamon bottle. Today, after enough irritation in my attempt to find garlic salt, I got out the marker and wrote the names on. Do you know how long it took? Ten minutes. Ten!

Let’s do the math of five months, approximately two minutes consumed each day playing spice roulette on the four days per week that I actually cook something that doesn’t come out of a box…That’s twenty weeks, multiplied by four, multiplied by two…That comes to a minimum of one hundred and sixty minutes or 2.66 hours consumed by the problem.

Now, comparing the 2.66 hours to the ten minutes it took me, which would have been wiser—writing it on my list, or just getting it done?

Look through your to-do list. How many things on there could you complete in less than thirty minutes? How about setting the timer for 30 minutes today to work on your revolving list? If you like the technique, you might want to do it two more times this week. Instead of recopying today, I’m going to see how many things I can slice off the list. It would be nice to have just one thing left on the list by December 24^th—RELAX!

Excuses

We moved 5 1/2 months ago and I realized that my moving excuse pass has run out.

• Can't update my blog.

• "I just moved and I'm way behind."

• Forgot your birthday?

• I recently moved and I'm not organized yet.

• Remembered your birthday, but can't find the gift bags?

• "I moved. They are in a box somewhere. Will a brown bag work?"

• No time for a social life.

• "I'm unpacking boxes and I'm too busy looking for the gift bags."

• My house is a mess.

• "I'm still settling in."
  

Sometimes we just move from one excuse to another. I have a new one. For each of the above problems, my new excuse is that I'm a student. Wait. That won't work.

I have realized that although I think I will have all this time when I graduate, I will just find a new excuse. I'm going to have to learn to live in the reality that I'm busy, I'm behind, and it isn't getting any better anytime soon. Enough excuses. It's time to start living in reality.

That long to-do list isn't going anywhere. The heap of laundry in the basement reappears every day. So does its cousin, the dishes. There are bills to pay, basketball games to attend, and friends to visit. So, goodbye excuses, and hello responsibility.

Change

I suppose that with every good change comes a little sorrow. In just sixteen days I will be moved. New town, new house, new friends, new church. This morning I was chatting on the phone and looking out the window and there was this family of geese wandering around in the front yard. Momma and Papa and their fuzzy yellow trail of youngsters. I was sad to think that this would be the last spring where I could see little geese so close to my house. In sixteen days there will be a main county highway running through my front yard.

It made me realize that with every exciting change comes a little pang of sorrow for what is left behind. No matter how wonderful the new life, the wonderful parts of the old life give a brief reason to mourn. I have truly loved life here for the past eleven years. Ok, maybe not the pitted and potholed gravel road...and not the five-mile drive to the mailbox either...Nor the 20-mile drive to town...or the black clouds of bugs in summer...

Now that I think about it, this life had its drawbacks too. But I chose to focus on the good parts for the past eleven years and not the bad. And that's what I will do with my new life as well. I will focus on the nice big house that we fixed up, and the mailbox right out front! And short distance to town...and Phil's wonderful new job in camp ministry.

Despite our lack of furniture here except for a couple of lawn chairs, some mattresses on the floor, and a folding table, it still doesn't seem quite real that I'm not going to live here anymore. I have actually lived here longer than any home in my entire life, including childhood.

Change. It's here, and I'm ready to discover the wonder of new beginnings.

Persistence, the Opposite of Procrastination

Could it be almost a month since I posted last? It's been pretty hard to keep up-- with moving coming soon, a big paper for school due, trips up north to work on the house, and all of the usual activities added in.

In being back in school and having imposed deadlines for work to be submitted, I'm learning to let go of my habit of procrastination. Oh, I have my share of that habit still, but I'm better than before. I have realized the joy of persisting and meeting deadlines ahead of time. There is something satisfying about turning something in 6 days early and moving on to a new task.

I'm trying to set goals each week and block time for meeting them. Some weeks it is hard and I have to flex a lot, but still, it's great to see the rewards of being organized. I'm hoping to squeeze some writing in between packing in the next few weeks!