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The Get-Your-Life-Together Plan 4

Filed under self
Written by Annie on 17th Apr -09

It’s a funny thing about life, especially when you have kids involved: just when you start to figure things out, everything changes. If you’re in the midst of babies, diapers, and frequent feedings, if you’re juggling toddlers and finger foods, if you’re trying to teach phonics and make dinner, if you spend more time in the car than at home…it doesn’t matter where you are in the process of life, work, and mothering. Change comes.

We might welcome change, but it always causes a setback in terms of knowing how to deal with the new day-to-day. Sometimes the setback is small and you adjust without really thinking about it. Sometimes it takes a few weeks before you realize that what did work isn’t working any longer. And sometimes it isn’t easy to figure out what will work now – new routine? New schedule? Drop something? Add something? More restriction? More freedom?

Whatever the change you’re dealing with, there’s a way to start getting back in control instead of scurrying through your day confused and overwhelmed. This series will walk you through the 8 essential steps of dealing with your life, figuring out what works, and making it happen. Go through the steps one at a time; you may have the initial enthusiasm to take them all on, but that will quickly become overwhelm and fatigue. I’ll give you recommended starting spots, and you can adjust to match your own priorities.

The articles will be appearing over the next week in the order listed below; once they’re all live, however, feel free to choose the one that makes most sense for you. What area frustrates you the most right now? Pick the step that deals with that area and make that change first, give yourself a few days, and then tackle the next. You’ll find as you go that you gain momentum, so though you may need a few days or even a week between steps 1 and 2, by steps 5 and 6 you will have gained more enthusiasm and energy, and you’ll progress through each step faster.

The first article is a primer on how to apply these changes so they make a real difference; the last article is the final step – an overview of how to successfully establish a habit – as well as tips, ideas, and reminders to help you succeed in these changes you’ve just made.

Image courtesy of Crystian Cruz.

Get Committed. Comments Off

Filed under self
Written by Annie on 16th Mar -09

Proverbs 16:3

Commit your works to the LORD And your plans will be established.

Commit: Strong’s 1556 (Hebrew) – to roll, roll down, flow, to roll oneself

Works: Strong’s 4639 (Hebrew) – deed, work, labor, business, pursuit, undertaking, enterprise, achievement, thing made, thing done, act, product.

Plans: Strong’s 4284 (Hebrew) – thoughts, plans, devices, purposes, inventions

Established: Strong’s 3559 (Hebrew) – be made firm, be stable, be set up, be fixed, be securely determined, be directed aright, be fixed aright, be steadfast, be ready, be arranged, be settled, to be prepared, arranged, ordered, restored.

Get committed in the right direction, and you’ll move in the right direction.

“Every single life only becomes great when the individual sets upon a goal or goals which they really believe in, which they can really commit themselves to, which they can put their whole heart and soul into.” -Brian Tracy

“When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love.” -Martin Luther King

Day 24: The Get Up Early Challenge Comments Off

Filed under monthly challenges
Written by Annie on 25th Feb -08

Challenge Update: Progress again. I hit snooze a couple of times. (I had my phone, which functions as my alarm, beside me in my little bedside basket. Bad idea. It works better when it’s in the kitchen and I have to get out of bed to turn it off.) I had no trouble staying awake, though, once I was out of bed, and I enjoyed the time to sip my coffee, write, think, pray, read.

I’ve just started a Bible reading plan again. I had been wandering kind of aimlessly through parts of the Old and New Testament. My church had copies of this one-year plan, and it has you read four different passages each day, with about five catch-up days per month. I started in Genesis, Psalms, Matthew, and Acts. I like the structure. Sometimes I need to be told what to do or I get lost in the options. I also like putting a little check mark in the box beside each portion of the day’s reading. Genesis 9 – 11, check. Psalm 4, check. Matthew 2: 13-23, check. Acts 2:22-44, check.

One Year Bible Online has a similar plan available. You can download it (it is a .pdf document) and print it out. However, it has no little checkboxes and no catch up days in the schedule.

For the ultimate in check box accomplishment, check into the reading plan offered by Christianity.com. You become a member (it’s free), and record your progress online.

I don’t want to degrade the Scripture to a tick mark on my to-do list, but I do need help being consistent at reading the Bible and having a plan to follow helps me.

Improve Your Life: It could help you too. Find a Bible reading plan and get started. If you don’t want to tackle the Bible in one year, do a search on Bible reading plans. You can find one to fit your schedule.

Be Open-Minded: If you’re thinking, Why would I want to read the Bible every day? here is a chance to think outside your box. Oh-ho, my secular friend, are you tolerant enough to read something regarded as a holy book? Try it. I dare you. Even if you don’t believe the Bible is holy, it is full of stories and wisdom and principles that will challenge and help you. Are you open-minded enough to try it?

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