Tuesday, March 29, 2016

One-Legged Man Busy

I've been busy.

How busy?

Busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest!

I'm too busy. But you already knew that- especially if you're one of my regular readers. Sometimes I'm too busy to blog!

I still marvel at how much of my time is spent doing stuff. I work, come home, work some more, work in between work, then go to bed.

Oh, let the madness end! 

This week I came to a decision. I'd have to let something go. Maybe more than one something, if possible. After a lot of thinking and grinding of teeth, I decided I had to let a community program go.

How can I express the guilt I feel for doing this? Especially since I was the one that started the project? Yet the guilt doesn't outweigh the relief I felt when I made my decision. The project is a good one, but the waning support through the past three years left me doing most of the work. Not a problem if I was still at home full time, but alas, I'm no longer at home, but working multiple jobs- not exactly something I'd planned! But until the finances are stable and I can build up one or two of the freelance jobs, I have to nix something. So the community project was tabled, my notes and lists handed to another to take the reins- at least until I can take over again. If I take over again. Right now I'm too tired to blink.

A bit of advice to all of you superwomen out there- if you feel relief after deciding to drop something from your schedule, it's the right thing to do. Let yourself feel a little guilty for not doing everything, but get over it quick, because you now have more time to focus on all the other things you're already doing!

And do not take on any additional projects! I know exactly what you're thinking...if you give this up, that gives you more time to take on something new! 

Don't. You. Dare.

See how I snagged those thoughts you just had and nipped them right in the bud? I know what you were thinking, because we awesome women tend to think alike. Oh yeah!

The project I dropped took up six months of my life. Six months I now don't have to spare. Now that time is spent on writing research and scheduling face painting gigs.

I also cut a few hours from my driving jobs to spend a little more time at home. It's not easy, but I can already see a difference in my family, now that I'm home when they are.

Who knows? I might even have my blogs come out on time for a change!

Being busy is a good thing- even the Bible has quotes about idle hands making mischief- but being One-Legged Man Busy is not what God intended!

Even God rested on the seventh day- who am I to argue with God by filling my days with never-ending work? 

As soon as I'm done this post, I'm taking a nap!


Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Finding Joy

I miss being a kid.

My daughter goes to a high school that specializes in animals and agriculture. She also volunteers at a horse therapy ranch after school twice a week and Saturdays, and is an avid horse fan- the horses are also fans of hers!

Sometimes she gets the chore of 'field picking'. This simply means she gets to walk all over the pasture, cleaning up horse poo. None of the other volunteers likes doing this job. My daughter loves it.

I never said she was an ordinary kid.

One afternoon she came home with a big grin on her face. "I got to pick the field again!" she exclaimed.
"You sound happy about that." I replied with a grin. "Why do you sound so happy about that?"
She just smiled and said, "Because it's peaceful and quiet, and I get a chance to think and pray about stuff- and since no one else wants the job, people leave me alone to do it."

Wow. Who knew field picking could be joyful? But she found a way. She's amazing.

I remember the Mary Poppins movie where Mary tells her charges " Find the fun, and the job becomes a game." I want to amend that by saying "Find the joy and the job becomes a blessing!"

Sometimes my kids are my best teachers.

It doesn't matter what you do in this life, as long as you find joy in it. If there isn't joy, you might be in the wrong employment! God doesn't give a hoot what you do, as long as you're doing it for Him.

With joy.

I need to apply this thought to everything I do- including housework. Maybe every task I take will become a piece of cake if I find the joy in it. And not only would I bless myself and God, I'd bless my family too!


Monday, March 7, 2016

Tolerance vs. Acceptance

Too many times do I hear the words tolerance and acceptance tossed around in casual conversations and heated debates. These are two very different words, yet they are often given the same meaning. We must tolerate others. Accept them. We as Christians are deemed wrong for standing up for ourselves; we are accused of not being tolerant or accepting.

But wait...has anyone actually looked at the meaning of these words? And the implied attitudes?

Tolerate. It can mean accept, but the spirit of this word is to accept something without joy, without happiness, but with an attitude of suffering. Tolerating someone simply means you put up with them. Not an enjoyable prospect.

Accept. To accept someone is to love them as they are- despite their faults. And yes, we all have faults. However, the spirit of this word means to truly care about someone. To love them. To enjoy them. 

Does this mean we should be okay with a person's sin? Nope. The adage is true; hate the sin, not the sinner. Don't tolerate the sin. Don't ignore the sin. Don't accept the sin. But love the person with all of your heart. God says that love is more important than anything else. That's some powerful good words right there!

It's not easy to love someone who is blatantly sinning. God says to love, but He never said it would be easy.

It's hard to gently confront those we care about- especially if they aren't Christians themselves. They respond with wagging fingers and clucking tongues, chastening us for being intolerant and unaccepting people. Some even say that if you truly love the person, you have to love everything they do. Yikes!

Accept everything, or accept nothing and tolerate the sin- are those our only choices?

God doesn't think so.

I love a family member. This family member does a lot of things I don't agree with biblically. Do I shun this person? Nope. 
Do I keep quiet if this person does something disrespectful concerning God? Nope! 
Do I yell and scream and beat them over the head with the Bible? My human nature might want to (a lot, trust me), but the answer is still the same. Nope! 

God wants me to speak of Him in love and show this person why it's disrespectful. Talk it out. Pray it up. Make it right. Or make it as right as I can. He does the rest, not me.

Trends can twist the meaning of words. 'Gay' used to mean happy, and 'wicked' used to mean acting evil. 'Ain't' wasn't a word, and now it is. Don't let these trends twist our beliefs into something that doesn't honor God.

Tolerance is not the same as acceptance. Acceptance is not the same as loving everything about someone. God speaks of it in His book. 

Now I just need to learn to squash the desire to swat someone upside the head with the Bible. I guess I have a lot more scripture to read!