Contentment

Week 2 of Melissa Taylor's online-bible study of An Untroubled Heart


Chapter 4 : The Pressure's On
(an excerpt from Micca Campbell's An Untroubled Heart)


Finding Balance in Contentment
...Balance comes when I lay my to-do list before God and allow Him to prioritize my life. My life does not belong to me as a Christian. I shouldn't be the one ordering my days. When I do, my life becomes unstable. When this happens I've learned to do a quick review of my life by using this acrostic on priorities given to me by a friend:
P - Pray. Ask God for wisdom. Ask Him to show you his priorities for this season of your life.
R - Review God's priorities for your life. Study God's word to determine His priorities for you as His child and as a woman.
I - Take Inventory. Examine the activities that consume your time. (what are my true priorities? Are they the right ones?)
O - Order your schedule. Ask, "what is important?" Make the hard choices based on God's priorities for your life.
R - Resist the "tyranny of the urgent". Don't let the urgent keep you from focusing on the truly important.
I - Input from others. Seek input, counsel, and accountability from authorities, your husband, godly friends, and mentors.
T - Take advantage of the time God gives you. Don't waste time. Do all to the glory of God.
I - Identify time robbers. What saps your energy and robs your time? Activities, attitudes, distractions, interruptions?
E - Experience this season fully. Be all there in this season of life. Weep, rejoice, work hard, and celebrate with all your hear. Don't waste time living in the past or future.
S - Sabbaths. Take regular time-outs to refresh, regain perspective, reflect and evaluate, and reprioritize. Make adjustments accordingly.

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As I read through this chapter again, I regain perspective on what God wants me to be. God wants me to accomplish things according to His will. God wants me to accomplish it and not lose my eye on Him. God wants me to take advantage of the time He has given me. God doesn't want me to procrastinate and waste my time being..."useless". God wants me to PRIORITIZE.

It hits me every time. I know I've been always organized with my life and all, but ever since things happened with my life in the past 2 years, I've been...well...disorganized. Life is cruel at times, but we can always count on God. God is awesome. :)

Lord God,
Thank you for opening my heart and mind again to your word. Thank you for giving me resources to constantly remind me from time to time that YOU will never leave my side. Thank you for reminding me to prioritize and be content with life. Teach me to balance life. Teach me to lay my to-do list before You. Thank you for another promise that you have unfolded. Amen.

STAY TUNED.

Where to start?

I have been sitting on my desk for a little over 2 hours now hoping to write another insightful blog entry, but I couldn't. See, ever since I've moved from the old house, I seem to be less organized now. I remember my desk used to be less chaotic and well kept. Now, I struggle from putting away pens, highlighters, post-its, water bottles and even candy. (yes,  I have candy everywhere on my desk). Looking at my desk right now makes me realize how this symbolizes my life at the moment.

my desk as of 1/18/12

CLUTTER. JUNK. AND WHAT-NOTS. Two months ago I started (or tried to anyways) to de-clutter my room, i.e, throw away, sort, or keep "junk". I admit, I did pretty well on the first month. I tried to minimize the items on my dresser. Stored memorabilia in boxes, organized desk and gave away clothes and accessories which I didn't use anymore. Now I ask myself, "What happened?!". I have to admit, after the holidays, I've been just really lazy in maintaining a new game plan. 

GAME PLAN? After giving this much thought, I realized that if I can't even start changing (in this case, organizing) such a simple thing such as my desk, how could I ever start changing MY LIFE. It's such a simple concept: Keep, give, throw, maintain.  And this simple concept should be applied in my life too. Keep the good. Give to those in need. Throw the bad. Maintain.

MAINTAIN. I admit, I have difficulty maintaining my desk, my closet, my life in general. I would start strong, get all pumped up and have a clear vision on what's going to happen, but along the way, all the hype dies and I get derailed. This goes to (pretty) much most aspects in my life may it be in academics, church activities, relationships, etc. I want this to change and I want to keep a steady pace in my life. I want to maintain and finish strong just as I have started. START STRONG. FINISH STRONG.

And so, with those goals, I am just so hyped to start it! Let's hope there's consistency and lots (and lots) of patience. And now, I think it's best if I should start on my desk tonight. Don't ya think? Let that be a short-term goal for this week. 

STAY TUNED.