Piles of books. Stacks of magazines. Untried recipes. Unfinished projects. Does any of this sound familiar to you? Truth be told, I have way more plans I want to accomplish and things I want to do then time to finish them all in. I often feel frustrated when I see around me the evidence of my yet-to-be completed projects.

Lately, well actually over the last year, I’ve felt the pull from God to get this under control, to learn how to hone my ability to truly focus on a task from start to finish. It’s not that I never complete anything. I’ve even hit a milestone this past year with one of my finished projects. It’s more that I’m not the best at planning and prioritizing. So, before I look at ways to improve this area of my life, I need to understand what throws me off track. Maybe this honest look will help you too.

Ways to Derail Your Projects

1. Not having a long-term plan. It seems to me that the people who get the most done are the ones who plan  ahead of time. They sit down with a calendar and plot out what each of their major projects will be for the entire year and roughly when they will work on each one. They then further break them down into monthly, weekly, and daily goals.
2. Not allowing enough time. I’m learning that most projects–whether they be writing books or reorganizing closets–take  longer than I think they will.
3. Not planning for the urgent. Emergencies and last-minute changes to my schedule happen more often than I realize. So that means I need to add even more time to point #2.
4. Procrastination. Perhaps a beautiful day is beckoning me outside, or someone calls with an invitation that’s hard to resist, and I put off my priority for the new thing that’s come along.
5. Being overwhelmed by the size of the project. Sometimes I just don’t know where to start, so I don’t.
6. Not having God’s perspective on a project. On the other hand, I also have a tendency to jump right in with an exciting idea before I’ve really hashed it out with God to see if this is something I should be pursuing.
7. Being overcommitted. Impulsively saying yes to too many things. This follows closely on the heels of #6.
8. Not taking my goals seriously. So often, I will stop what I’m doing to help someone else. This can actually be a good thing, but not when it becomes a regular occurrence. As my husband says, “Sometimes you have to learn how to say ‘no.'”

Does God Want Me to Be Productive?

You don’t have to read too far in the Bible to see the importance God placed on doing things in order. God created our world in an orderly fashion, and the universe functions in an orderly manner. Consider the following facts: *We know that every year we cyclically move through four seasons. *We can see an order to how animals live. *God gave Moses detailed directions on how to build the ark and finish the mammoth project of rounding up all the animals.*Look at all the precise detail that went into building the tabernacle. *In the book of 1 Corinthians, God makes it very clear that He wants our worship services to have a sense of order to them when He says in verse 40 “But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.” *The human body is a masterpiece of design.

It just makes sense that God wants us to have a semblance of order, balance, and thought in our daily lives too.

In the next blog post, I’m going to address ways to overcome some of the obstacles of finishing what we start. In the meantime, I’d like to hear your thoughts on what keeps you from being productive in your days. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Thanks and pray on!

I need your help with something. I’d like your feedback for a blog post I’m writing, so here’s my question: do you have trouble finishing what you start?

I seem to leave a trail of unfinished books, projects, and ideas in my wake. Let me know if you struggle with that, too, and any thoughts that you have on this problem. Just leave your ideas in the comment section below and thanks for your help!

Fish and Loaves Faith

“Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barely loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” John 6:8

Read John 6:1-15

Miracle Story

Of all the miracle stories in the Bible, this is one of my favorites–for many reasons. First of all, I love the fact that the lunch of five small barley loaves and two small fish belonged to a child.

Understand, the Bible leaves some of the details of this exchange to our imaginations, so I don’t know that this is exactly how the story unfolded, but I imagine it playing out in the following way:

The Bible tells us that Jesus asks Philip where they should go to buy bread for the five thousand people to eat. Philip replies that eight months of salary wouldn’t be nearly enough to feed the crowd of people.

Here is where things get interesting. I think that perhaps a young boy who is sitting close to where Jesus is teaching hears the conversation between Jesus and his friends and eagerly offers his lunch that his mom packed for him that morning. It would be just like a child not to see the futility of his meager lunch feeding such a crowd, but to instead faithfully hand over his bread and fish to Andrew to give to Jesus. And it would be just the typical adult thing to then bring it to Jesus—with the caveat of “but how far will they go among so many?”

Spark of Faith

Jesus was just waiting for that spark of faith. He takes the lunch, has everyone sit down, gives thanks for the fish and bread, and passes it around–and everyone took as much as they wanted (v. 11). After they had all eaten, Jesus wants nothing wasted, so the disciples gather up 12 baskets of leftovers!

Doesn’t it seem that we could learn a lot about faith from children? In most cases, their minds have not yet been clouded by the harsh realities of life. It’s not hard for them to believe in the improbable, or the impossible.Their eyes can easily see the thin space between the reality of this world and the unseen heavenlies where angels, miracles, and God all live. Jesus took the little boy’s lunch and multiplied it into a buffet for 5000.

That’s the kind of faith that Jesus is watching for, that we need to cultivate. A faith that causes us to unflinchingly step forward and offer up our bread and fish to Jesus to multiply beyond our wildest expectations.

When we feel that nudge of the Spirit to take our offering to God, we need to stamp out the adult voice that rises up with a “But, …” and just give it. Or just do it.

What does this look like in our lives?

• The nudge to give that $20 to a charity, even though it’s just a drop in the bucket of what’s needed.
• The nudge to teach a Bible class, even though you’re not a “real” teacher.
• The nudge to keep praying for your wayward child, even though you haven’t seen any change in three years.
• The nudge to start a Moms-In-Touch prayer group at your child’s school, even though you’ve never led anything in the past.

A vibrant faith requires that I present to God what I have. Jesus is waiting for people with a fish-and-loaves faith to take Him up on His promises so He can to equip us (2 Timothy 3:17) and set us loose in His kingdom. The results are up to Him.

What do you have to offer Him today? We’d love to hear your thoughts.

Fish-and-Loaves Faith is the second post in our  faith series. Please leave a comment below on your thoughts, feelings, or experiences in growing your faith.

Image courtesy of [FrameAngel] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

“I would hasten my escape From the windy storm and tempest.” Psalm 55:8

When I see a storm approaching my first impulse is to flee. I run around my yard, picking up toys, putting away bikes, closing the doors to the shed and workshop, moving small potted plants into the garage, and bringing my border collie, Daisy, into the house. Before I go inside, I shut the garage door.

Once inside, I watch the storm in all its fury play out across my yard. The wind blows leaves and branches everywhere. Lightning lights up the sky and sometimes strikes a tree close to my home. Thunder booms and makes me jump. The rain beats relentlessly against my windows.

Despite the destruction of the storm, I’ve noticed that storms also bring good things.

• No matter how much I run my sprinkler on my vegetable garden (especially this year in the drought), my plants always seem to be stronger and healthier and grow faster after they have been watered by a storm.
• Storms clear the air and bring a refreshing breeze.
• The sun returns after a storm.

Perhaps the same thing can apply to the storms we experience in our lives. Nobody likes bad things –accidents, illnesses, death, divorce, job loss–all of these things are difficult to walk through. Yet just like my garden plants, I find that my times of strongest spiritual growth come from weathering the storms in my life. After I have suffered through my storms, God brings a refreshing breeze of peace. The depression lifts and joy or contentment returns.

What do you notice about the storms in your life? Can you see any good come out of them?

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

This has been a favorite scripture of mine, ever since I lost my 11-day-old daughter 22 years ago. God used it to encourage me during a difficult time.

What I found to be true is that God doesn’t leave our hearts in shambles, but that over time He heals us–if we let Him. He is able to put back together even the most splintered, shattered pieces of ourselves that the old nursery rhyme tells us are beyond repair. He binds up our wounds and is able to make us whole again.

Sometimes this is an infinitely slow process. It’s an excruciating day-by-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute choice to believe that He is working, that life will not always be this hard, or hurt this much. As we hang in there with God in the nitty-gritty pain in our lives, our hearts begin to mend. God’s radical soul surgery, when viewed on a daily basis, may not seem to be making much of a difference.We may feel stuck, stagnant, and frustrated, blinded by the darkness in our souls.

But when looked at over the course of weeks or months, and definitely years, we can see the evidence of a skilled surgeon who is setting the broken bones and stitching together the unraveled edges of our lives. We emerge with some scars. But what we become is a person made stronger, deeper, and richer, with a depth of maturity that was not there before.

If you’re in despair of where you are now, just make the decision for one more day to get up and believe again that God is working. One more day to care for your family, go to work, clean the house. And then do it again the next day. Your heart will mend, because you’re not being operated on by the all the king’s horses and all the king’s men, but by the King of Kings. He alone can put all of us Humpty Dumptys back together again.

Pray on!

By Denslow’s_Humpty_Dumpty.djvu: W. W. Denslowderivative work: Theornamentalist [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him.

Psalm 91:15

This verse stood out to me today in my reading, because it is so encouraging. Initially, it may not seem so. I can’t think of anyone I know, myself included, who thinks Oh yea! Another problem to deal with! I’d rather my life sail along without any obstacles to get in the way of my plans. But I’ve lived long enough to know that problems and tragedies are a part of life, as Jesus tells us in John 16:33.

As I meditated on this verse, the truth of it rang clear in my life, because I’ve also lived long enough to find out that God does walk through problems and tragedies with me. Two words in this verse captured my attention, and I wanted to explore them further: deliver and honor. I think you’ll be encouraged by the nuances of these two words and the meaning that they give to our sufferings.

First of all, the word deliver is chalats in Hebrew. It has some interesting meanings including “to be equipped,” “to be armed,” “to make strong,” “brace up,” and “to invigorate.” This gave me pause. How many times have I thought as I was walking through a trial that I didn’t know if I had enough strength to get through this? Most recently, I remember thinking that when my son was burned in an accident two years ago. As I went through the debriding process with him, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to handle the horror of that procedure. But did you see what God promises us? God equips me, arms me, makes me strong, braces me up, and even invigorates (!) me so that I can withstand the troubles I am in. And He did. It was not easy, but God was true to His word. God will not let our troubles defeat us if we trust Him!

The word honor also has an interesting meaning. It is transliterated kabad, and it means “to be glorious,” “be honored,” and “gain glory.” I’ve never thought of my trials as being a means of honor and glory, but it would seem that in the process of our suffering, God gives us a spiritual honor and glory.

I know it is excruciatingly difficult to walk through times of trials, but I hope that this encourages you today to hold on to God. Don’t let go. He will walk with you, equipping you, strengthening you, and bracing you up for whatever lies ahead. If you feel like you’ve reached the end of your strength, then be even more encouraged, because that’s when the Holy Spirit takes over, if you let Him. He’ll give you a supernatural strength, or He will give you a time of rest to recharge.

Pray on!

Image: David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net