What does that calendar say about me…..

Happy Mothers Day! I pray that all you mothers out there, relaxed and enjoyed your day. A few weeks back I posted the above picture. It sort of said all that needed to be said about the state of the union here in my home. You my friends are mighty insightful.  When guessing what it meant many of you hit the nail right on the ol’ head, but you all know me pretty well by now don’t you? Since today is Mothers Day I thought it was a good day to follow up on this post.

The day before I posted this picture was a Sunday and our pastor had given a sermon that was numbingly convicting.  You know what kind of sermon I’m talking about?  A sermon, that leaves you unable to move, or breath, you feel like you are alone in church, your ears are ringing, and you’re sweating profusely!  Then when the worship band starts playing you can’t sing, because there is a ginormous lump in your throat.  After church it’s hard to talk to others, because you are so distracted about how convicted you were and how much work you need to do on yourself.  Mind boggling.  So, yeh…..that’s the kind of sermon my pastor gave a couple Sundays ago.  Here is the sermon in a nutshell:

Life is busy.  More is not better.  If your hands are full of unnecessary stuff it’s hard to lend a helping hand to someone when God calls you to.  “Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.” Ecclesiastes 4:6  Guilt sets in from all that you are letting slide by, a vicious circle starts.  Pastor Steven used a bowl of sweet tarts to demonstrate.  He loves sweet tarts and you can’t have too much of a good thing now can you?  He dug his hands deep into the bowl and filled them with sweet tarts because you want to fill your life with good things right? So he had his hands full of this “good thing” one of his favorite things.  These good “things”  seemed satisfying, however he didn’t have a free hand to do anything else.   Unless he let go of one handfull of tarts he couldn’t even function well enough to finish his sermon.

Are you content? Or do you always want to do more, have more, be more?

I started thinking about what my bowl would have been full of, that’s easy……chocolate chips.  The thing that struck me about chocolate chips, is that after  hanging on to chocolate chips for a while they start to melt and then you have a mess on your hands…quite literally, and you need to go wash your hands.

So that is me, my hands are full of good things.  Things I want, things I asked for, things I sought out!  But why do I feel stressed, over tired,  discontented??  I need to let go of some things, and ask God for forgiveness for filling my hands with things I didn’t ask him about.  I’m a mess.

Washing melted chocolate off hands = asking Gods forgiveness.

So the Monday morning, that I took this picture, I was still feeling stupefied from Sundays sermon, still feeling like I couldn’t breath because I was so filled with guilt about how I had gotten myself in this spot.  This spot of utter craziness, and sleeplessness, and messiness. As I was helping my littlest with her shoes, she was talking, it sounded like this ” wah wha wah wah wat wat” (because I was distracted) I looked up above her head and saw “the calendar”.

GASP!

“The calendar” said it all.

1. Too busy to write anything on the calendar. (actually I have several calendars which all serve different purposes…again too much stuff!)

2. What month is it?

3 What day is it?

4. What year is it?

5.  Who’s house is this?

I said a quick prayer.  It went like this.  “God help me”

I took my kiddos to school, came home, took a picture of the calendar, posted it on my site.   I told myself that I was taking the day off from the computer, the next day I would write a post about why my calendar looked the way it did.  God answers prayers.  The next day my site went down, and stayed down…for three days!   Three days to think about…

1. How I got so busy?

2. Why  I feel so stressed?

3. What do I need to let go of?   What am I neglecting?

I haven’t gotten it all figured out….it’s too complicated to fix overnight, my hands are still covered with melted chocolate.   I realize this is what it is, it’s a busy time of our lives.  Four active teen/tweenagers, a husband with a busy job, and me a person, who has a hard time sitting still.

I realize that I need to:

CUT BACK

THROW OUT and

TURN OFF

I need to reprioritize, less is more….always.

Hebrews 12:1 says ” let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”  

So here are a few changes that I have started already.

1. Take 2-3 days off from the computer every week….maybe a quick tweet or email check, but that’s it! (This is HARD.)

2. Get things done around my house, deeper cleaning, and get organized.

3. Finish projects I’ve started….QUIT procrastinating.  I am a big, fat, procrastinator!  I don’t know why…it’s the thing I would like  to change the most about myself.

4. This should be #1, but I’ll say it last but not least….get in Gods word more…..everyday.  Seek God and his will for my life.  Pray with out ceasing, keep in constant contact with my Lord and Savior. I’m going to be joining these lovely women in this bible study this Summer, this wonderful friend is leading it.

5. STOP worrying,  number 4,  should help this problem. I found a few good reminders about being content here. 

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  1Peter 5:7  This verse was in my Devotional this morning. Which led me to this Psalm.  Which reminded me of my favorite verse….

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

I need this friend to put that verse on canvas for me. The above verse says it all for me.  I have always been one that has so many things that I want to do, so many in fact that sometimes, I get no where.  This verse reminds me that if I would first delight in my creator that He will fulfill the desires of my heart.

Praying Psalm 37:4 for you!