Tag Archives: overcoming challenges

Getting a Round Tuit

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There are many arenas where I can get stuck in the “almost going for it” stance.  The longer I take to leave the starting block, the more overwhelmed I can feel to start or “restart” something I actually really want to do. Then, anticipatory fatigue (thanks Fred Faller, for coining this fitting phrase) sets in.

I got out of my writing habit.  Most days I’ve actually had something on my heart I’ve wanted to write down, I just haven’t taken the time to do it or gotten around to it.  I want to write, I believe it’s a good thing…but somewhere amidst the crazy busyness of this summer, the “actual doing it” has not happened.

At times this pause can happen to me in far more important areas of life – like practicing well thought out and planned Bible study, or praying the kind of prayers that take the needed time and concentration to include the thanksgiving, praise, thoughts, desperation, dreams and needs for others that I really desire to include and to talk with God about. This “stuck” posture can also include following up with needed conversations and continuing to reach out to others around me. There is a war that goes on inside and it’s nothing new.

21  So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22  For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23  but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24  What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25  Thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Romans 7:21-25 (NIV)

I do realize that failure to write is not sinful, however, knowing the good I need to do and not doing it…is.  17  Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
James 4:17 (NIV)

So tonight I’m off the “writing” starting blocks. I finally have my “round tuit,” so there’s no excuse.IMG_4560   It’s really no big deal, but more representative of things that are big deals….like re-starting some more in depth study and making some needed phone calls.  If I don’t now, then when will I?

What do you know that you need to do and actually want to do…but just need to start, or re-start the actual doing it part?  I’d love for you to join me. There is more energy in running or in flying together…just ask the geese.  There is really no better day to start than today.

And once I start….momentum kicks in and I certainly feel God’s Spirit more alive in my life with the energy he promises to inspire within me (Col 1:29)

 

When the Chicken Hits the Fan

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So, lately I’ve written about an electric fan, and various birds.  That combination reminded me of a conversation that leads to today’s post.

There is an odd commercial I have noted of late.  It is an advertisement for directTV, and follows an unlikely and absurd domino of events in a person’s life that could have been “avoided” if they had only purchased directTV.  The commercial reminds me of a conversation I had with someone several years ago.

I noticed this “someone” (I’ll refer to as “person”) had a black eye.  I inquired as to the cause of this malady.  The conversation that ensued went something like this:

Me:  How did you get the black eye?

Person:  Because of the chicken

Me: Because of the chicken?

Person: Yes, I had a friend over and they brought their pet chicken.

Me:  A pet chicken?  So what does that have to do with your black eye?

Person:  I didn’t appreciate him bringing a chicken into my apartment so I asked him to leave and he didn’t.

Me:  And?

Person: So I took the chicken and threw it in the air…but it hit the fan.

Me:  What??!!  Was it ok?

Person:  Lost some feathers, but it was ok…but the guy was mad that his chicken hit the fan.

Me:  And so he punched you?

Person:  Yes, he punched me.  He’s not coming back.

So, I would have never guessed the progression of such a seemingly illogical chain of events.

But, I’m on a bird theme of late…so could not resist sharing this remembrance.

However, while I laugh at this chain of events, I can sometimes be just as disjointed in my chain of thoughts and prayers.

I understand why the scriptures depict prayer as hard work.  Often, I have to wrestle in prayer to keep my concentration.

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.  Col. 4:12

The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.  1 Peter 4:7

I know Satan does not want me to pray as these scriptures teach, as prayer unleashes the power of God.

Sometimes I can begin to pray as I praise and thank God and pray for many situations and people…and then the “chicken hits the fan” so to speak.  I begin with full concentration and then as I pray for my friends and the woman I met at the grocery store who wants to study the Bible….I remember what I need to purchase at the grocery store, which reminds me of the meal I need to schedule next week.  Then I pull it back in focus and pray for people and places in mission work, which reminds me that I need to book our flights for our trip next month, and I hope they have the wandering seat problem fixed by then, and oh yeah, I need to make sure the dogs are taken care of …..

Am I alone in attention deficit prayer temptations and challenges?  I doubt it, otherwise we wouldn’t have the need for the scriptures above and below.

Col. 4:2

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

Prayer is not easy, but oh so necessary.  It is also an incredible privilege.  Given my propensity to do several things at once (to help concentration, really) I like to walk and pray… or to pray out loud and with someone. I know that prayer truly makes a difference.  I desperately need to speak with my Father and amazingly, he wants to hear from me.