“It’s easy to not notice where we are headed.” As a recovering procrastinator, I heard those words in church today and began to ponder. I heard warning, but I also heard encouragement.
Our children have gone now after a wonderful Thanksgiving visit and I am filled with gratitude for many things. One of those is that this year I responded better than ever to the Lord’s promptings! Like many of you, we’ve had a hugely busy week. Due to present and upcoming schedules we gathered Friday night for Thanksgiving and Saturday had Christmas brunch and decorated. I was preparing for two very different meals and activities.
I knew I had to be ready for our family time together or our fellowship would suffer. Also, real or perceived demands and my stress level would prevent my personal participation and enjoyment. By thinking ahead and doing what needed doing when it needed doing, I was able to serve the family and have a good time myself. Praise the Lord!
Please understand this is the first time I’ve ever been able to say I was ready. God is at work! Thank you, ladies, because knowing you are out there, I wanted to be faithful to act on what I say I’m learning. You helped me!
Did I do everything I wanted to do? No. Did I do what was needful? Yes!
In my mind I kept hearing “early is always better than later” (husband quote) so I baked ahead and learned things I thought had to be last minute really did not have to be. So relieving!
True, I forgot the pumpkin pie (I let it go), did not have all the parts for the tree, (I hear you fresh tree people!), misplaced some decorations, etc. My biggest mistake was staying up late three nights in a row. Bad move. I did not accomplish one significant thing during that time and I drained my energy.
Still, in spite of mistakes, I am tremendously encouraged that God is changing me into a diligent person. I want to notice His goodness in this. He is walking me into a more peaceful and Christlike way of living. What did you see of God’s goodness this week?
We can step into December with thankfulness and joy!
Thank you Beth for sharing. It amazes me how much we learn from each other. If only we all could share our struggles and successes with one another, life would be so much easier! I loved what you said, “Did I do everything I wanted to do? No. Did I do what was needful? Yes!” If only we could have peace with that 🙂
It’s taken me years to get this Thanksgiving Day pretty much where I want it. One thing that has helped is to create a computer file with all of my recipes and ingredients. Keep those posts coming!
I agree, Elena. Sharing our struggles and successes definitely helps me learn. Reviewing, I think it was key to give time and attention to the ‘must do’ things and not focus on the ‘want to’ things. Praise God, He helped me tell the difference!
Thank you for the computer file suggestion! That is just what I need. What a simplifier that would be. Pre-computer, my mom had a master list for camping. We should do a blog on your idea!