168 Hours...So Little Devoted to God

I just completed a 168-hour log of every minute of my day. That's seven days of logging my time. After I finished the assessment, I had to write a summary and analysis and sadly, last week, only 4.75 hours of my week were devoted to studying God's word and worshipping. Granted it was a busy week and 4 days of it were away from home, but it's still sad.

I wasted plenty of time on nothing, spent enough time on the Internet to add up to a factory shift, and spent one fifth of the week looking at the backs of my eyelids. But in the end, God had only 2.8 percent of my week. Sure, I snuck some God-moments in my multitasking. I heard sermons in the car, songs on the radio, and studied the Bible during part of my homework, but I didn't listen quietly to His voice. In fact, only one percent of my time was really spent in uninterrupted time with the One whom I claim as Lord of my life.

168 hours....what will I do with it this week?

Planning and Prioritizing

I challenged myself to spend some time applying what I have learned in school this week about prioritizing tasks. In seeking God, the scripture reminded me that Jesus'’ purpose was to give life in all its fullness (John 10:10). Because of his purpose, I have purpose. If he gives life in all its fullness, it is my responsibility to live it in all its fullness. But how can I live life to the fullest when I'’m randomly moving from one activity to another?

I started with a blank calendar in front of me and filled in my priorities to accomplish this week. It looks so easy on paper, with blank spaces even. Of course, I didn'’t block in “"wasted time"”. It is the wasted time that robs me of the ability to accomplish what I need to!

Psalm 37:23-24 says, "“If the LORD delights in a man'’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand."” Today, I long for God to delight in what I have placed on my planning list for the week; that He would make my steps firm and have me firmly in the grip of His hand.

Servant Leadership

What is leadership? Is it giving orders, bossing people around, receiving a title? Check none of the above. It is accomplishing a mission with the help of others while remaining focused on serving those on your team.

Nehemiah was a great leader because he led from his knees. He prayed before he acted, he prayed on impulse, prayed when he encountered opposition and finally prayed when as he celebrated and worshipped God for His faithfulness.

I have thoroughly enjoyed studying leadership for these past weeks as I apply what I have learned to my own life. Of all of the biblical examples of leadership that I have studied, Jesus' leadership style has given me the most insight into what I need to be as a leader. He was a servant first and that's what I want to emulate.

Remodeling the Old

I can tell that I am back in school again as I haven't had as much time to post on my blog again. Between the studying, I have been going up to work on the "new" house, if you can call a house from 1950 new. Actually, it is from 1950, 1970 something, and 1900 something. Unique, with old house charm, complete with old house headaches.

I have two bedrooms painted, floors sanded, trim and blinds up...ready for occupancy. I'm squeezing some homework in again this week before heading up to work on some more. In the meantime, I have to read another book this week and write two book reviews.

I think of this old house and the areas that need fixing. It is much like the people we meet in ministry. The paint and wallpaper were peeling, the floor had big gaps with cold air coming in and the olive green carpet was less than attractive, but somehow I knew it had great potential. We meet so many people through ministry who are a little rough on the outside, but God knows their potential. And just like my surprise hardwood floors under the worn green eyesore, sometimes we are surprised at what is just below the surface, beneath the veneer that life's hardships places over people with great potential.

Great mentors know how to help people plug up the gaps where Satan's lies creep in and threaten to steal the warmth that comes from God's love. They know how to help people strip away the sense of worthlessness that clings like peeling wallpaper. They know how to apply fresh insights from God's word that cover up the ugliness of the old self as God remodels them into new creatures.

Just as with an old house, the remaking of the man isn't ever totally complete. There is always work to be done, but by the grace of the Holy Spirit, we see that no person is ever beyond hope.

Leadership and Vision

I officially started my masters classes this week after finishing my prerequisite work and my first course is "Biblical Foundations for Leadership". Our studies and discussion this week have centered around Jesus as a model for leadership paying special attention to the importance of having a vision.

The textbooks are excellent and I'm finding myself spiritually challenged to apply what I am learning. More than ever I am convinced that no ministry can ever be effective without a clearly defined mission (where we are going) and vision (how we are going to get there).

The other thing that has struck me is Jesus' model. He led as a servant. He commanded respect without being demanding. He was Lord but never lorded it over anyone. He understood everything but accepted his disciples in their lack of understanding. He was a humble servant and not a fast-talking CEO.

I want to be like him!

Packing up a Packrat

Ahh the joy of packing up stuff. We are moving a load to our new house tomorrow even though we won't be officially moved for five months. I'm packing up things I won't need for five months but I'm starting to think, if I don't need it for five months, do I really need it at all? Makes me wonder about thinning out some more stuff. I'm such a packrat.

I have to laugh at the "furniture" that we are bringing. We are going to use a folding banquet table or the patio table as our dining table on weekends and then the plastic patio chairs for our dining chairs. Our living room furniture up at the new house will consist of some patio lounge chairs and one sad little recliner from the basement until we move our "real" furniture. It will be like camping! My excitement is building as this will be the first time we go to the house and it is ours!! We can explore every nook and cranny. Of course the boys are even more excited than I am.

I have worked on some writing this week, resurrecting old unfinished works. It will be a thrill to get them finished.

It's Tuesday...but it feels like a Monday

Wow. It was hard to get back into a routine today. And then it felt like a Monday. I've been feeling kind of blue and then on the news tonight they mentioned that it has been 12 days since we have seen the sun. That could explain it! Now that I think about it, I do miss the sun.

Had one of those treasured mom's moments tonight when my son scored a goal at the basketball game and did his usual glance into the stands follwed by his "I'm trying not to grin" grin. I gave him the mom smile complete with applause. I love it. He always looks after he scores.

I realized today that I would feel so much better at the end of the day if I had done some writing every day, even if it was only 30 minutes. I would like to set a goal of writing for 30 minutes minimum every day in addition to what I have to write for class. There are three things in fact that I need to do every day. Read my Bible/ do my devotions, exercise, and write. If I devote 30 minutes to each one, that's only an hour-and-a-half. I waste that much time some days surfing E-bay or the net. So the new rule is: No web surfing until the other three are finished! And if I got more sleep at night, I would feel like I needed a nap every morning! How does one break the night owl habit?

I got access to my next class today and scanned around the site to see the assignments. Looks like I'm in for some work! I got spoiled by my entry level classes. These have longer writing assignments, more research, but wow, the content looks great! And the textbooks look great too.

Perhaps I should start breaking the late night habit by signing off right now and getting myself into bed. Maybe a book and a flashlight....