Time and Lack of It

For most of my adult life, and especially since my daughter was born, I have been a proponent of not over-scheduling.  Something of a "less is more" advocate you might say.  How then is it that I feel like I have fallen "off the wagon" so to speak with my time management recently?

To begin answering my own question, life is hard, and we have so many things coming at us that we often don't realize just how full we are loading our plates until we feel the overwhelm.  That is where I am today.  I feel a little of the overwhelm, and some of it is not strictly my own, but a nice portion vicariously for my wife and daughter as well.  We each have a lot going on in our lives, as do you I'm quite sure.  The question becomes, how much of it is necessary, and how much have we chosen as excess and how much of the excess is truly too much?

This brings us back to that tried and true topic of priorities.  Yes, I'm going there!  Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines priority as:

Definition of priority

plural priorities

1a (1) : the quality or state of being prior 

(2) : precedence in date or position of publication—used of taxa

b (1) : superiority in rank, position, or privilege 

(2) : legal precedence in exercise of rights over the same subject matter

2: a preferential rating; especially : one that allocates rights to goods and services usually in limited supply 

• that project has top priority

: something given or meriting attention before competing alternatives

Do we really set priorities?  This is a question we must grapple with if we indeed want to master the allocation of our time.  Currently I would say that I am failing, but less miserably than most.  How about you?  Are you setting your life up around a small number of priorities?  If so, then that is fabulous.  My guess however, is that you are not, and that you are working hard to keep your head above water trying to do it all.  Am I right?

Today take a moment and rediscover what is important to you.  Find those few building blocks that need to be in place as a foundation upon which you build the rest of your activity.  I can't speak to what this will look like for you, but here are a few suggestions from my own self-examination:

1. Faith - there should be time in each and every day to practice and express your faith.  Nothing can bring you back to your essence quite like recognizing that God provides for our needs, and sustains us on our journey.
2. Family - recognize the value of those who are closest to you, and build one another up with love, understanding, and encouragement.  When this building block is neglected your foundation will assuredly be shaky.
3. Fitness - again a foundational issue.  We cannot function at the high levels we desire when we don't take care of the machine (our mind and body).  As someone who deals with chronic illness I now recognize this more than ever, and to be honest this has been one of my greatest recent struggles.  Understand your body, and the phrase "your health is your wealth".  Recently I have forgotten this and made too many poor choices.  I have seen it revealed in some of my numbers, known it in my mind, and excused it to my own detriment.  Don't make this mistake.  I am personally re-committing to finding the joy of improved health and hope that you will too.  Let's do this together.
4. Finance - Yes this old bugaboo is troublesome for most of us.  Take a few minutes today to sit and do a financial inventory to see where you are in this area of life as well.  Finances can be a huge stressor for us affecting each of the three other building blocks listed before it.  Most of us are not wealthy by the "American Dream" standard, and many of us struggle to keep the right balance in this area between living for today and planning for tomorrow.  We should remember though that just by virtue of being an American we are wealthy by the standards of most of the world.

Yes these four come up over and over again as some of the top building blocks for creating a life that rocks!  I encourage you, and remind myself, to take a look, fine tune, and Make Today Great!

Agents of Change

Yesterday was a beautiful day across Arkansas and my family and I enjoyed it in the Little Rock area.  As the afternoon grew toward evening we spent a little bit of time walking around the Arkansas State Capitol grounds.  There we found flowering trees in bloom, the distinctive architecture of the Capitol structure and the several memorials spread across the property to be quite interesting and beautiful.

Among the various memorials was one that was quite striking.  Pictured above is a sculpture of "The Little Rock Nine."  This group of 9 students bravely walked a path that no student had walked before as they were the first African-American students to enroll at Little Rock Central High School.  Their entry into the school was a national, if not international news story, which stirred emotions and involved not only police but National Guardsmen, and a power struggle between the Arkansas governor, and the President of the United States.

These brave young people paved the way for others of their time, and for generations to come, to be afforded the dignity of a full and equal education as they were integrated into Central High.  These young lives served as agents of change in a society that didn't know that it was ready, and in need of, such change.  So it is with so many others, perhaps not on this grand of a stage, but on whatever stage they may be cast.  Change never comes easy, and often evokes emotion, or extracts a high price in the short run.  Change, however, is necessary. 

There is only one thing that is unchanging and that is God's love for us.  God offers us stability in changing times, and is a refuge for the believer.  

The Lord will also be

a refuge for the oppressed,

a refuge in times of trouble.

Psalm 9:9

God expects us, His children, to be agents of change as we walk through this world.  He knows that from the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, up until Jesus returns in glory, there will be a constant need for change.  With the propensity of man to seek pleasure in sin and to spurn the will of God, there would be a need for faithful folks to take up the call of faith.  The Christian agent of change is actually quite paradoxical, in that we change by seeking to stay the same.  We hold a course, in Christ, that doesn't waver and becomes attractive to those with an honest heart who seek shelter from the storms of life that are exacerbated by the powerful consequences of our poor choices.

Though the Christian is spiritually set apart, we are not perfect and do endure storms in our lives.  The difference makes all the difference.  We walk through these storms with a hope that rings eternal.  It is the dignity and the convictions of our faith that make others take note.  Today can you as my brother or sister in Christ be an agent of change?  Stand firm in your convictions and share your hope.  Through this maybe you can spark change in the soul of another, leading them to the place of refuge in the Lord.  If you will choose this path, then that is a fundamental way to Make Today Great!

The New Man

Life is full of struggles both great and small.  Some struggle with their health, others with relationships, and yet others with their finances.  The struggle is REAL!  The struggle is a part of the human condition.

The struggle doesn't have to be debilitating.  Yes, you heard me right our struggles don't have to be debilitating.  There is hope beyond the struggle.  It comes through our faith.

There is a section of Ephesians chapter 4 in the New King James version of the Bible which has a heading of "The New Man".  

 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind,  having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart;  who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

 But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

I just want to say a few things about this passage.  The first thing is in that very first verse where it says that we shouldn't walk as the Gentiles, "in the futility of their mind".  Do you see that word futility?  That is a strong word.  Futility is what we feel when we feel powerless or that what we are doing is useless or meaningless, that is futility.  This passage says we don't have to feel that way with God.  Hallelujah for that!

The next thing I want to point out is a little further into the passage where it says, " who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness."  There is a lot for us to ponder in this section.  I want to zero in on that phrase, "being past feeling."  That is when Satan feels that he has you securely in his grasp.  He wants the struggles of this world to overtake you into that sense of desperation to the point where you feel defeated and nothing more matters.  It is precisely at this point when many give up and no longer even try to walk by faith.  However, if we will reach out God will be there and He can and will restore our hope.

The final thing I want to leave you with is found in the phrase, "and be renewed in the spirit of your mind."  The mind they say is a powerful thing, and scripture speaks to it repeatedly.  If you are in the depths of struggle look for opportunities to renew your mind.  What does this really mean?  Change your way of thinking.  The mind is the ultimate sponge with a tremendous capacity.  Think about that sponge you may have under your sink or in your garage.  When it has been in pure water and you squeeze it what will come out?  Pure water.  Likewise, when it has been run through the muck and the mire or muddy water what will come out under the pressure of that squeeze?  Muddy, dirty water.  Our mind works that same way.  We need to begin filling it with the good, the pure, and the positive.  We know that we are going to be put to the test, under pressure.  If we will renew our minds by continually choosing to fill it with the good then as we face the pressures and challenges of life the old and dirty can be expelled in favor of the new, the pure, and the good.  This is when we prove ourselves to be living like the passage is titled, "The New Man."

This week take bold steps to renew your mind and find "The New Man" within you.  If you do, then you will Make Today Great!

Valuing Others

As humans, and particularly Americans, we tend to put a value on everything.  Typically that value is measured in economic terms.  Is that the proper model for viewing other individuals, or ourselves?

As Christians we should value one another as God values us, not in economic terms, but rather in relational terms.  Genesis 1:26 tells us that we are all created in the image of God.  This alone makes us very special in his view, and should be a cornerstone for how we relate to one another.  In the book of John we are told:

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another;

as I have loved you, that you also may love one another.  By this

all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

John 13:34-35

This past week, in the same day, I had reminders of this on both ends of the spectrum.  During a meeting at work I posed a question that, at its core, was rather cold and lacking compassion.  Thankfully, when the meeting was over my boss called me out on it and helped me realize the selfish nature of what I had said.  Just a few hours later I was having a running correspondence with one of my daughter's teachers (not from this school year, but the past) who was encouraging her and some other former students to participate in an event at a nearby university on Saturday.  Not only was he taking care of his current students, but also continuing to watch out for and develop his former students.  In this case I took the opportunity to thank him for this and made the following statement,

"thank you for the confidence you instill in your students

especially Olivia.  The school system would be so much

better if all faculty invested in kids the way you do."

Since Friday when these events occurred I have had several thoughts on how inconsistent I was in my actions and words that day.  As a leader in my home, my church family, and my workplace I must do a better job of recognizing the value of others.  Beyond that I need to help others recognize that value in themselves.  Many around us need an encouraging word, or the confidence boost of sharing our trust in them.  

5 Ways of Showing

Others Their Value

1) Give your undivided attention

2) Express thanks whenever possible

3) Teach them something new

4) Be consistent

5) In the words of Ronald Reagan, "trust but verify"

I intend to take these to heart and put them more consistently into practice, and hope that you may do likewise.  If you we would all do this it would Make Today GREAT!