You Say It's Your Birthday....

It's my birthday, too, YAY! :)

The start of a new year, brings reflection and resolution.  Kind of like my own personal New Years Day.  You?  As I embark on my last year in my thirties, I feel that God wants me to focus on two areas in particular: getting organized and helping the poor and disadvantaged.

You may be thinking, "why in the WORLD would God care if your junk drawer is organized?!?!?" Because that lack of organization in my junk drawer (and in essence, my life) keeps me from being a good steward of my time.  I waste so much time searching for things that I KNOW should be in or around my junk drawer: papers, pens, notes, checks, etc. It causes me to be stressed, run late and generally be grouchy.  Brian Tracy, in his book, Eat That Frog, says that "every minute spent in planning saves as many as ten minutes in execution.  It takes about 10-12 minutes for you to plan out your day, but this small investment will save you up to two hours (100-120 minutes) in wasted time and diffused effort throughout the day."  TWO HOURS!  Just by planning and organizing that I can add to my day.  We just got a pool and I would LOVE an extra two hours next to the pool each day.  But, wait, I could use those two extra hours to help the poor.....

I've read another life changing book, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess and I've realized how much time I have spent focusing on "me" and "my" and not looking past my front door.  I've become a comfortable Christian, asking God to continue to bless me more than I should be blessed, when there are entire nations that could survive on what I throw away each year!  I have told myself for the last 10 years that my mission field is at home.  I need to serve these people right here in my house to help them to be the best Christians that they can be.  But what if I took my mission field out with me to a new mission field?  What if I really helped them to grow in God by taking the focus off of themselves and serving others as God commanded us to do?  Would my daughter care more about people than things?  Would my ADD son turn his full attention to something besides video games?  Would my compassionate boy use his extra-sensitivity to the good?  Would my teenager see that his life really does have meaning?

These are my plans and focus for year 39. I will be following along with the Summer of Seven and focusing on one area of sacrifice per week.  I'm still formulating my plan of weekly fasting, but I know I will grow through it.