More Than One

Reminiscent of the nine lives that cats claim to have, I claim to have more than one life. In fact, I have more than two too! [get it...TUTU...ha...I'm a dork]. I have my spiritual life, my family life, my lame joke life, my church life, my work life, my exercise life, my hobby life, my you-name-it life. They are all there, present and accounted for! Each doing it's own thing!

As if it is against the rules to start over on, say, March 3rd or December 16th, the new year certainly encourages us to start over, to begin again, and to resolve to do this or that with my food life, weight life, or work life. If you are hitting reset this year, let me offer a thought that may take some pressure off your shoulders.

My thought: my plethora of lives are more fused to be one than I think!

I have recently been on a journey to clean out my office to get it in order! Thoughts may circle around in some people's brain about how Chris is finally getting his work life organized! These thoughts, if they actually happened, would be accurate. My work life IS getting more organized and more manageable!

At the same time, a funny surprise continues to unfold in front of me. As my office is getting more organized, my financial life is getting more organized, my spiritual life is getting more attention, and my time with family is being managed better! This is cool! Work on one and get four! To be a math nerd for a second, maybe one times one CAN equal four! Awesome!

Um...no! Epic fail, Chris!

The reality is that one times one equals...wait for it...one! We have one life. Work to enhance it even in small things, and your life improves. Your one, God-breathed life--every aspect of it--responds and adjusts to every small, seemingly-insignificant tweak. It is as if we are hard-wired in the image of God to be a whole and complete living being! Nice.

So, go for it all this year with a bang as you hit reset and work on your life again! My excitement and anticipation grows as I wonder what will be affected this year as I work to get organized at work. What about you?

Advisers and Action, Part 2

"Where there is no guidance, a nation falls, but with many advisers victory is won." Proverbs 11:14

Today I continue yesterday's thought concerning the challenge associated with asking for advice and following through with action. I ended yesterday saying that asking for advice is only the first step in moving forward. A much more difficult step is actually taking a step!

Looking at the Proverb above it is obvious that the king of a nation must act to address the enemies looking to take the nation. No wise king would seek the counsel of his advisers and say, "Hey, that is great advice! Thanks for giving me that advice about preventing our enemy from destroying us!" and then do nothing. Yet, how quick I am to ask my friends for advice and put off any decision because it is a hard decision!

Regarding my office, one day I went to the library in Conroe with Tanya and the kids. While they ran with excitement to pick their own books, I went upstairs on a quest of my own. I left with a book called, Order From Chaos by Liz Davenport. Going through that book helped me begin to take another step I needed to get organized.

Interestingly enough, as I completely gutted my office to create some space to organize I found Adonna's written plan I mentioned yesterday. Reading through Adonna's plan again, I was amazed at how similar they were.

It baffles me why I never saw her advice and acted on it back in 2008! All I know is that now, I'm ready to act on the advice. The difference is found in me. I am ready to make a plan and follow through with it. What advice have you already received that you are needing to act on?

I've found that good intentions are only that...good intentions!

I also hear James 2:14-19 humming a little ditty in the background:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that...and shudder.

Advisers and Action, Part 1

Breaks have generally been the time when I concentrate on getting things more organized, especially in my office. As I have been doing this again, I recall a time when an anonymous person (still unknown) hired a professional organizer to help me overcome my organizational struggles. At first, it was difficult to admit that I needed someone else to help me do something as simple as organize my office. "After all," I blindly reasoned, "I can do this 'simple' stuff myself! Why bring someone else in?"

Well, I learned through this exercise that having many advisers is wise. Several Proverbs (11:14; 15:22; 24:6) make this incredibly obvious! Proverbs 24:6 is characteristic: "Surely you need guidance to wage war, and victory is won through many advisers." They bring various perspectives and offer varying opinions. So, Adonna came in and helped me a great deal! She wrote out a plan of action and gave me great advice! I'm incredibly grateful for her expertise!

Here is what happened.

I kept the plan she developed near my desk for a while. It made me feel good. I had a plan! It was awesome! So...I made sure the plan was close, laying near enough for me to see it so that I could hop on it as soon as I had some time! Every time I looked at it, good emotions and smiles came to my heart, especially since my desk stayed clean for much longer than any other time I'd cleaned it off before! I had a plan after all!

Occasionally, I would take her plan into my hands and flip through it's pages reminding myself of the plan! Stirring myself once again I resolved to get to it soon, maybe even this coming weekend. Having made this "absolutely definitive and concrete plan" with the awesome word "maybe" (cough, cough), I put her plan back in it's place. Well, as you can imagine, the busyness of ministry continued. Eventually, another "important thing" to remember got placed on top of this great organization plan that never completely materialized!

While I will continue this story tomorrow, here is a concluding thought for today. Asking for advice is difficult! It forces us to come to terms with our own deficiencies. We see the weaknesses...and so do our advisers! In the end, however, we must recognize it is only a FIRST STEP in moving forward. Following through with the plan is much more difficult!

Organization, Part 2

So I received a call this morning from a random person. She introduced herself as my mind thought...telemarketer. She said she was a professional organizer. I thought that this was strange, but interesting. Some anonymous person from my church called her to come help me with my office. I started laughing out loud at the thought!! She asked what my thoughts were and I couldn't stop laughing. It was hard for me to admit to a stranger. She wanted to find a time when we could meet. After deciding on a time later this week, we discussed my office situation in a little more detail. This lady is now going to help me develop a plan for organizing my office. Is that cool or what?

My initial thoughts turn toward my relentless and sometimes unhealthy self-reliance. To hear myself say I need to get organized sounds completely different when someone else says the same thing! I briefly felt embarrassed to admit that I needed someone else to come help me get organized. But, I came to my senses understanding this is exactly what I need...a plan.

What do you need to admit that you need help with? What's stopping you from asking for it?

Organization

I don't know whether this is an excuse for not being polished or organized in ministry like I should, but my organization skills are lacking. Don't get me wrong, I can organize things, but compared to others (specifically my wife...I love you sweetie) my organization looks...well...like unorganized.

Then in my spiritual reflection on this issue I hear a small voice. I'm not sure if it is something inside me or if it is God, but a voice nonetheless. The voice tells me that if I manage to get my office organized, the grace of God might overtake me in regards to my organization skills. I don't know how to take this, but I do know that I would like my office consistently cleaned and organized. It makes me feel good about myself among other things.

A lot must happen before the semester begins...I pray that God's grace comes when and where He needs it. Maybe organization will come as part of that grace. We will see.

Cleaning Up

You won't notice it when you first walk into my office, but there is a shelf that I just finished cleaning up. It wa full of books, paper, junk mail, notepads, and stuff I don't even know why it was there.

This morning I chose to begin slowly cleaning up all the junk in my office...starting with that shelf. It jut makes me feel good to have that part of my office clean! I can't explain it. I might even keep it completely empty for a while so I can just enjoy it...we will see.

As I look around my office right now I know there are places that I do not need to touch. My nice bookshelf is spotless, my cabnet is cleaned up, my notebooks are organized, my study resources are neat, and my Bibles are in place.

There are also places in my office that I know I need to work on. Most people really don't even know until they get to looking. Hidden behind my desk is a mess that I can't put into words. If I don't want to deal with something at the moment, I put it on the floor with the other things I haven't dealt with. Also, haphazardly thrown into my drawers is something I just call "office stuff." Pens, staplers, sissors, highlighters, business cards, etc. I think I could even find cassette tapes (I don't even have a way to play these suckers! Aaahhhh!)

I will begin to clean these up too...but I will do so slowly over the next few weeks.


This got me to thinking. Imagine that!! I've got to begin cleaning up my life spiritually. I could start in areas that everyone can see, but I could also start cleaning up areas that no one sees. I am intentionally keeping this vague, but the stuff I keep putting behind my "desk" to deal with later need to be dealt with now.

Lord, help me start cleaning.

Where do you need to start cleaning?

Clean Desk

Cleaning my desk was a good move. Ever since I came to Huntsville last June, I have had a really messy desk. Some days were better than others, but for the most part I could not really see the wood of my desk. I couldn't stand it, but I didn't do anything about it.
When I came back from Abilene, I decided to put everything up in folders or trash it. For a whole week now I have been able to keep things clean. There is nothing on my desk except my calendar (and maybe a book I want to read the following day). I have committed every day to clearing everything off my desk before I go home. It really make me feel good. Rock on!