One Bite at a Time

"I wish I’d known, as a small child, the value of time," says Dawn Wilson. "From the very beginning of our days, we have countless daily opportunities to use time efficiently … or waste it, sometimes with incalculable loss. Most of us could use a Time UPGRADE."

The philosopher and American colonist William Penn said, “Time is what we want most, but what we use worst.”

Some people are time management experts, but others are “experts” in the haphazard use of time! And even if time is not thrown away, it might not be used wisely or well.

Former UCLA Coach John Wooden explained the value of time and excellence when he said, “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”

I’ve been focusing lately on “recapturing” time that I often let slip through my fingers by redeeming snippets of time for simple tasks, even for things I’ve put off. Sometimes we procrastinate tackling big projects, not realizing how they might be accomplished with bite-size tasks.

The timer has become my new friend.

I set my timer for 10 minutes and tackle timed tasks (lots of “Ts” there!). Some days, I tackle lots of these tasks. In fact, I set aside a chunk of time on Tuesdays to accomplish lots of things—my Tuesday Timer Tasks.

What can you do in 10 minutes?

• Make an appointment on the phone.
• Write a thank you note… or encouragement note.
• Water your garden (unless it’s huge).
• Sew on a button.
• Make a grocery or shopping list.
• Brush your dog’s fur.
• Vacuum under the beds.
• Fold a basket of laundry.
• Clean the bathtub.
• Read a “Golden Book” to a child.

What helps is to make a Tuesday Timer Task list! Think of all the things you can do in 10 minutes and list them – maybe in categories (cleaning, correspondence, personal care, pets, yard/garden, etc.)

The Bible talks about redeeming time (buying up each opportunity), “because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16). Verse 15 talks about living in a purposeful, wise way.

The “days are evil” part should remind us to watch our step and use our head because these are desperate times. Some things just aren’t as important or as valuable now as they used to be, in light of all we have to deal with in our culture.

It goes back to priorities, doesn’t it? What is important?

For the Christian, our priorities are: (1) God and our relationship with Him; (2) Family needs and responsibilities; (3) Career and ministry (Kingdom work) – especially in (4) outreach to others, telling them about Jesus.

Try thinking about all the “tasks” in your day and see how they fit in with your God-given priorities. Let some things go that don’t fit in, but plan more time for things that are truly important.

God things. Family things. Ministry things. Eternal things!

What are some Tuesday Timer Tasks you could list?

Dawn Wilson, founder and President of Heart Choices Ministries, is the creator of three blogs: Heart Choices Today, LOL with God (with Pam Farrel), and Upgrade with Dawn. She is the President of the San Diego chapter of Network of Evangelical Women in MInistry (NEWIM San Diego). Dawn is the co-author of LOL with God and contributed "The Blessing Basket" in It's a God Thing. She and her husband Bob have two grown, married sons, three granddaughters and a rascally maltipoo, Roscoe.

Searching for God's Will

Author and speaker Ava Pennington is a Bible teacher whose heart’s desire is to drive women to the scriptures and help them focus on God. In this Spiritual Life UPGRADE, she helps us learn how to discover God’s will.

“I love a good mystery … unless I’m searching for God’s will in a particular situation,” Ava writes.

And yet God’s will often seems to be a mystery, doesn’t it? I know I (Dawn) would like His will to be easier to discover. Maybe you would too?

Ava continues…

• Should I take that job?
• Is he the right man for me?
• Which house should we buy?

God’s will doesn’t have to be a mystery, but first we need to begin with another question.

Do we really WANT to know God’s will for our lives? What if God’s will is for us to persevere with an insufferable boss? Remain in a loveless marriage? Serve as missionaries in Bangladesh?

Some things are God’s will for all of us.

Isaiah 43:7 says we are created to display God’s glory. Anything that doesn’t bring Him glory cannot be His will for us.

We also know God wants “all people to be saved” (1 Timothy 2:4). We glorify God by living in a way that reflects this relationship.

The apostle Paul said, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified” (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

God’s will for our lives is also found in transformation by renewing our minds to prove his will (Romans 12:1-2).

But what about gray areas not spelled out in the Bible? Should you take a new job? Marry that Christian man? Buy the house? God said, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you.…” (Psalm 32:8).

The answers may not seem clear at first, but if we’re seeking God’s will, He will reveal it through:

1. Prayer - Regular time in prayer is a must for the child of God. But few of us stay on our knees after we’ve made our requests. Instead, we end our prayers and we’re out the door, unmindful of the Holy Spirit’s prompting. Our iPods, car radios, or racing thoughts drown Him out.

Tip: The next time you pray, stay on your knees and listen as the Lord speaks to your heart.

2. The Bible - The Bible has answers, but they may not be spelled out. For example, it won’t tell you what car to buy, but instead, provides stewardship principles about giving, saving, debt, and spending.

Tip: Study God’s Word to identify spiritual, emotional, financial, and relational principles.

3. Circumstances - Christians often look for signs of God’s leading. If a door opens, it must be God’s will, right? Maybe not. God may lead by creating opportunities, but He isn’t the only one who opens doors. Satan also manipulates events (John 8:44). 

Tip: The next time you’re tempted to act because a door opens or closes, remember circumstances are only one piece of the puzzle.

4. Counsel - Proverbs 15:22 says, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Still, we must choose counselors wisely.

Tip: Instead of seeking those who tell us what we want, seek mature Christians whose lives reflect God’s principles.

5. Confirmation - If we’re seeking God’s will unreservedly, praying and listening, reading His Word for applicable principles, and seeking godly counsel, God will give confirmation. He does so by giving us peace through His Holy Spirit.

Tip: Peace doesn’t mean the absence of trouble. Times of obedience to God’s leading are often times of greatest attack by Satan.

As we seek God’s will, we’ll see that it’s not mysterious and it’s not a destination. God’s will is the life we live as we walk with Him!

In what area are you searching for God’s will today? Will you commit to seeking His will, not as a destination, but as a way of life?

Ava Pennington’s newest book, Daily Reflections on the Names of God: A Devotional, is endorsed by Kay Arthur, founder of Precept Ministries. She has also written numerous magazine articles and is a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers (AWSA) and the Christian Authors Network (CAN). Ava also teaches a weekly Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) class of 175+ women. She is a passionate speaker who engages audiences with relevant, enjoyable presentations. Visit her at AvaWrites.com.

Graphic Image adapted, courtesy of stockimages / FreeD

Are You Flirting with Burnout or Action Addiction?

Joan Webb encourages women to breathe. She knows the stress our constant struggle for perfection can do to harm us, as she notes in this Attitude UPGRADE.

“Have you dreamed of slowing down,” Joan says, “but keep hearing your internal-bully whisper, ‘There’s no stinkin’ way you can do that!’”

      

Oh my. Joan, you’ve nailed one of my (Dawn’s) personal struggles. And you are pointing us to our true source of help.

Joan continues …

Perhaps you’re one of many in service-related careers or ministries who are on the fast track to burnout.

Just in case you wondering, here’s a good definition of burnout. 

Burnout is the type of stress and emotional fatigue that occurs when a series of (or combination of) events in a relationship, mission, way of life or job fail to produce an expected result.

Awareness is an important step in changing this self-defeating lifestyle of overworking, overdoing, over-helping and over-committing.

The following questionnaire can help you identify your need:

• Do you have a difficult time relaxing?
• Are you crankier than you used to be–even though you try hard to keep it to yourself?
• Do you rush from one project to another?
• Are you tired on an ongoing basis?
• Do you feel increasingly depressed, anxious or hopeless?
• Are you increasingly angry and don’t know why?
• Do you spend less time with friends and family or in doing what you previously enjoyed?
• Do you work hard and long, but accomplish less?
• Is life (and/or your ministry) becoming a drag?

If you answered “yes” to several of these, you may be headed in the opposite direction of real life.

I know the prospect of changing is frightening and overwhelming, yet there is a way. Really.

The Bible says, “He [God] gives strength to the weary … those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:29, 31).

I felt positive that my commitment to hard work would bring me what I desired and was flabbergasted when I ran out of energy, enthusiasm and faith. Disillusioned, I asked: “Is there any hope for renewal?”

“Yes, Joan! Assured my loving Creator. “Though you stumble, you’ll one day soar on wings like an eagle, run and not grow weary, walk and not faith. Trust Me. I’ll renew your lost strength.”

I didn’t feel it or foresee it. I didn’t even have the strength to believe it, but since I couldn’t do it anymore, I stopped trying and left my stuff with God.

Miraculously, when I stopped striving, God took over.

There is HOPE … in the Lord.

(1) Admit your need.

(2) Ask God for guidance and insight.

(3) Seek help and resources.

(4) Take active steps to reshape your thoughts and behavior.

Then show someone you love (preferably a healthy, supportive person!) your responses to the questionnaire, above. Get honest, and then don’t back down.

God honors truth-telling, even if that truth—the reality facing you—feels negative.

There is life on the other side of burnout!

What do you do, where do you go—who do you seek—when you’re experiencing burnout? Have you sought the Lord, the source of hope?

Joan C. Webb is a speaker and author who has written thirteen books including The Intentional Woman (co-authored with Carol Travilla), The Relief of Imperfection: For Women Who Try Too Hard to Make It Just Right and a four book devotional series for children. As a Life Coach who specializes in working with writers and communicators, Joan helps set people free to become who they were designed to be and from what holds them back. For more information about becoming an intentional woman, visit Joan's website.

Note: Part of this post is an excerpt from It’s a Wonderful (Imperfect) Life, p. 24.

Graphic adapted, Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Survival Kit for 'Overwhelm City'

Dianne Barker lived in a "city" none of us likes to visit, but she found ways to survive, as she shares in this helpful UPGRADE post.

“Lord, please!” Dianne prayed. “Not Overwhelm City again!”

Overwhelm City. I (Dawn) hate that place. I keep finding myself there. But like Dianne, the Lord is teaching me how to choose wise responses in the midst of struggles and stresses I can't avoid.

Dianne continues . . .  

I didn’t see this coming. Over-commitment teamed with complicated circumstances and carried me kicking and screaming back to this place.

One, I could control. The other—not so much.

Saying “no” is a hard choice—but it is a choice . . . and the only fix for over-commitment.

Circumstances are life in action, piling stress upon stress:

crumbling marriages, prodigal children, career adjustments, financial difficulties, relationship issues, care-giving responsibilities, health concerns, assorted calamities, grief, terrorism, and fear.

Most of us relate to the Psalmist’s cry: “Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck . . . the flood sweeps over me” (Psalm 69:1-2).

My husband and I have been taking care of people we love for our entire forty-nine year marriage—our parents, other relatives, and even friends who were close as family.

After leaving a successful journalism career to be a stay-at-home mom, I continued writing. My 1986 book Twice Pardoned was a number-one national Christian best-seller. The ink had barely dried when God led me from my public life as author and speaker to a secluded life—caring for our parents as their health declined.

I spent the next fifteen years in Overwhelm City, struggling to keep my head above water.

Routine housework wasn’t at the bottom of the list . . . it didn’t make the list. I did the gottas: cook, wash dishes, make beds, clean bathrooms, do laundry.

My priorities: driving our parents to medical appointments, grocery shopping, cooking and doing laundry for our three families. One week I made three trips to the coin laundry due to plumbing problems at home and washed a total thirty-two loads. Attending school functions involving our children and attending church completed my schedule.

During that complicated period, the Lord gave me an amazing gift:

• peace that I was exactly where He wanted me,
• purpose, doing what He designed;
• and a promise that someday He would expand my life again.

If this fresh New Year finds you at the outskirts of Overwhelm City, a few tools from my Survival Kit will help you make the most of the experience and sweeten the stay.

1. Simplify life. Eliminate non-essentials.

“He has told you. O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).

2. Draw near to Jesus.

He said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

3. Accept that you are here by God’s design.

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (Job 23:10).

4. Believe God has a purpose. We don’t have to see it to believe it. If nothing else, He’s developing endurance.

“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised” (Hebrews 10:36).

5. Keep a teachable heart. Ask: Lord, what do you want me to learn?

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” (Psalm 32:8).

6. Encourage yourself with truth.

“Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you” (Jeremiah 32:17).

7. Rejoice. If I rejoice today, I rejoice in these circumstances.

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances…” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

How will you spend your time in Overwhelm City? (It’s a sweet community of broken people. Visit me anytime. I’m right next door!)

Dianne Barker is a conference speaker, freelance journalist, radio host, and author. This post is adapted from I Don’t Chase the Garbage Truck Down the Street in My Bathrobe Anymore! Organizing for the Maximum Life, which won the Christian Authors Network Golden Scrolls 2014 third-place award for non-fiction book of the year. Her forthcoming book, Help! I’m Stuck and I Can’t Get Out! The Maximum Marriage Maintenance and Repair Kit, will be available at www.diannebarker.com.

Get Back on Track after Holiday Spending

In this special, much-needed Financial UPGRADE, Ellie Kay—"America’s Family Financial Expert" ®—will help us become better stewards of our resources, helping us get back on track in the New Year.

"The worst decision you can make in regards to your finances," Ellie says, "is to have no plan for financial recovery."

Financial stewardship and use of resources is taught throughout the Bible, encouraging wisdom (Proverbs 21:20), proportionate, unselfish, cheerful giving (Deuteronomy 16:17; Luke 6:38; 2 Corinthians 9:7) and right priorities—putting God and His work first (Malachi 3:10).

Whether we've been careful in our spending or we've "blown it" financially over the holidays, I (Dawn) think Ellie has some wise principles to help us move forward into greater financial freedom.

She continues . . .

Sometimes, a decision that starts as a New Year’s Resolution can end in a dream come true when you let those resolutions become a new way of life.

Our family did this to get out of debt and pay cash for our cars. We wanted to be better stewards of the resources that God gave us and we decided to give our finances an upgrade by doing things wisely.

Here are some common resolutions that can get you back on track in the New Year, even as they did for our own family.

Resolution #1: Pay off Consumer Debt

An excessive amount of consumer debt usually means a lower credit score (FICO), which means higher annual percentage rates (APRs) on existing credit cards. By improving your FICO, you can lower the APRs, thus paying off that debt in a fraction of the time.

It’s not hard to improve your FICO by following three easy steps:

Step 1 - Pay on Time 

Not only does a late payment mean high late fees, but part of your score is determined by payment history. Set up automatic payments online with each card to make sure you’re never late again.

Step 2 - Pay in Proportionally 

Utilization, which is the ratio of debt to available credit is important. For example, if your card has a limit of $5,000 and you have $2,500 charged, your ratio is 50%.  Adjust the balances on your cards to make sure each has no more than a 50% ratio.

Step 3 - Pay it Down!

Pay as little as $5 to $10 more than your minimum credit card payment.  It shows up on paper as the consumer trying to “pay down” the debt. 

You can also get out of holiday debt sooner if you reduce spending and repurpose those funds.

As soon as you save in one area, immediately channel the money you saved toward your debt load. If you don’t take that saved money and put it toward a credit card or other debt, then it will just get reabsorbed into your spending.

Resolution #2: Pay Cash for Your Cars

The least expensive car you can own is the paid-for car that you currently drive.

By going to my tool section at EllieKay.com and clicking onto the “Automobile Affordibility Calculator” you can see how much to save each month in order to afford to pay cash for a newer car. It is a lot easier than you think.

Once you’ve paid off your current car, don’t trade it in, but keep making payments to yourself in the amount of the former loan. So let’s say you put $350 per month into a car fund and invest it in a fund that makes 5% annually. You would have around $4400 at the end of the year, plus the value of your existing car (let’s estimate $5,000) to put almost $10,000 down on a newer car than you now own.

If you keep saving and keep trading up, then you’ll be able to pay cash for your cars for the rest of your life!

In the first fifteen years of our marriage, on one (military man’s) income, we bought 11 cars this way, paying cash and even donated some of those used cars to charity! When you do things God’s way, He often provides ways for you to be a blessing to others.

What will you do to get on track after Holiday spending?

Ellie Kay is a regular expert on national television with ABC NEWS NOW’s Money Matters and Good Money shows. Ellie is also a national radio commentator, a frequent media guest on Fox News, and CNBC, a popular international speaker, and the best-selling author of fourteen books including her  newest release, The Little Book of Big Savings (Waterbrook, 2009).

Graphic adapted, Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.