When I woke up this morning I looked over at my closet and thought about how many Christmas presents have been stashed in it over the years. My mother had always stashed our Christmas presents in her closet when we were growing up, and we knew that. I remember the overwhelming urge to peak in the closet and see what we were getting. There were a few years where I gave in to temptation and looked when she was not around. Once I looked, it took away the surprise from it. I remember sitting on the floor as a kid and getting handed my presents and knowing what was in each one just by feeling the package and wishing I had not looked.
If you happen to be reading this blog, Mom, and if I have never confessed this to you, I would like to ask your forgiveness. I learned my lesson! I remember waking up early in the morning before the roosters and sitting on the couch in the dark with my sister with the Christmas tree lights plugged in, just staring at the presents under the tree. We could not wait for Mom and Dad to get up so we could open the presents. Sometimes we would "accidentally"be a little noisy so that they would just happen to wake up early. I remember counting down the days until Christmas and the excitement that I felt that was hard to contain.
That excitement was over material things that would only last a short while. Many of us still get excited over gifts we receive , and that is OK. But the GREATEST gift we have ever received is eternal if we choose to accept it, and that gift is JESUS. We should be more excited about that gift than any other. That gift that has been given is something we can freely share with others and it will last for eternity. One great way to share it is through our actions. We can speak the words, but if love does not show, the words just seem meaningless and empty. After all Jesus was sent to earth because of God's great love for us. There was love behind God's gift, so how can we share God's gift without showing love. ~ 1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ~ Let's see how many people we can share the GREATEST CHRISTMAS PRESENT EVER with!
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
Finding balance in a crazy world
It has been exactly 10 months since I posted my last blog. I wonder how many things I would have accomplished in those 10 months had I stuck with my 10 things a day. I am sure it would have been quite a bit. I learned a lot from my 100 day journey and it gave me the confidence to pursue my interests. I went back to school this year after thinking it over for 20 + years. In fact my final exam is due today. Every week I would begin a new unit, and after glancing at it I would wonder what was I thinking? The beginning of each chapter I either knew very little, or I was completely clueless, by the middle of it I seemed to grasp some of it, and by the end of the chapter it all seemed to make sense. It has taught me not to give up, even when things seem too difficult.
This year has been full of many changes, some difficult and some easy. Trying to balance everything out can be a little challenging at times ( spiritual life, family, work, friends, volunteering, hobbies, health, etc...) It seems like something is always getting short changed, especially if you focus too much on one thing, and that one thing is not God. I have learned to stop and evaluate what I am doing when I start gettting burned out or stressed. I have also found when you are not doing the things you are called to do or passionate about you can easily keep tryng to find things to do to bring that same satisfaction, and pretty soon you have too much on your plate and you are still not satisfied.
There are so many reasons why our lives seem to get out of Whack or why we feel overwhelmed.I found over the years the quickest way to feel stressed out is by putting my spiritual life on the bottom of the list. We can't try to squeeze God into our day when we find a little available space for him. He has to be the center of our day. When we put him first , the rest falls into place and things seem to become more clearer. For me it is easy to try to carry the world on my shoulders and that is not my job. I think it also is easy to become obsessed with trying to please people and to try to fix everything, at least for me anyway. That is the quickest way to drive yourself crazy. I have learned there are people you will NEVER please and that I can't fix anything, and that it is OK. It is hard for me to see people unhappy, and somehow I seem to absorb their feelings like a sponge.
I think one thing some of us seem to miss, is taking the time to play. Yes, we have responsibilities as we get older, but I think it is also important to have some fun. When you really think about it many of us were healthier as children than we are now. Sure, age definitley plays a very big part in it, but we also took time to have fun and spent more time outdoors. We still had to go school, we had chores and homework, but we made time for fun, we hung out with friends, went swimming, built forts in the woods, went camping, picked berries ,went roller skating, played games and went to family reunions. They now seem to be just fond memories, but we can make new ones with our children and grandchildren. How many times have you ran into an old friend or family member and have promised to get together and not let so much time slip by again, but somehow everyone gets so busy and it doesn't happen, and then if the person moves far away, or worse yet if they pass away, we kick ourselves in the butt and regret not making the time.
Why live with so many regrets? If we even pick one or two evenings or a Saturday a month to specifically plan to spend time with someone we seldom see, or to just have fun, I think it would make a difference. Well, it is time to study for my final exam, pray for me!
This year has been full of many changes, some difficult and some easy. Trying to balance everything out can be a little challenging at times ( spiritual life, family, work, friends, volunteering, hobbies, health, etc...) It seems like something is always getting short changed, especially if you focus too much on one thing, and that one thing is not God. I have learned to stop and evaluate what I am doing when I start gettting burned out or stressed. I have also found when you are not doing the things you are called to do or passionate about you can easily keep tryng to find things to do to bring that same satisfaction, and pretty soon you have too much on your plate and you are still not satisfied.
There are so many reasons why our lives seem to get out of Whack or why we feel overwhelmed.I found over the years the quickest way to feel stressed out is by putting my spiritual life on the bottom of the list. We can't try to squeeze God into our day when we find a little available space for him. He has to be the center of our day. When we put him first , the rest falls into place and things seem to become more clearer. For me it is easy to try to carry the world on my shoulders and that is not my job. I think it also is easy to become obsessed with trying to please people and to try to fix everything, at least for me anyway. That is the quickest way to drive yourself crazy. I have learned there are people you will NEVER please and that I can't fix anything, and that it is OK. It is hard for me to see people unhappy, and somehow I seem to absorb their feelings like a sponge.
I think one thing some of us seem to miss, is taking the time to play. Yes, we have responsibilities as we get older, but I think it is also important to have some fun. When you really think about it many of us were healthier as children than we are now. Sure, age definitley plays a very big part in it, but we also took time to have fun and spent more time outdoors. We still had to go school, we had chores and homework, but we made time for fun, we hung out with friends, went swimming, built forts in the woods, went camping, picked berries ,went roller skating, played games and went to family reunions. They now seem to be just fond memories, but we can make new ones with our children and grandchildren. How many times have you ran into an old friend or family member and have promised to get together and not let so much time slip by again, but somehow everyone gets so busy and it doesn't happen, and then if the person moves far away, or worse yet if they pass away, we kick ourselves in the butt and regret not making the time.
Why live with so many regrets? If we even pick one or two evenings or a Saturday a month to specifically plan to spend time with someone we seldom see, or to just have fun, I think it would make a difference. Well, it is time to study for my final exam, pray for me!
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