Rejoice in a new year, former procrastinators! So refreshing! I find that selecting a theme and a scripture to focus on all year has been very helpful.
Last year was “Feet.” Proverbs 4:26 – “Ponder the path of your feet; and let all your ways be established.”
It is what I actually DO, not what I intend that moves me on a path to a destination. If I intend a certain destination or goal (clean the closet, start grad school) I need to be certain my actions – my feet – are moving me in that direction. Where my feet go, there I am!
Looking back, I am grateful to have made good progress in some areas – continuing a weekly blog with you, reserving the morning for procrastination work, cleaning out many books, reading particular books, starting at the gym, focusing time with friends, etc. Thank you, Lord!
I also see that I have a major problem with lack of routine. I still continue re-making decisions on a daily basis that do not have to be made over and over. (When to start dinner, check email, read for fun, etc.) I’m draining my time and energy. I need to decide and be done. Then I would just follow the pattern. (Of course, there’s flexibility.) I actually long for this. I long for the relief and for the fruitfulness that would come as a result.
Therefore, the scripture for this year is Psalm 119:4-5. “You have commanded us to keep your precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways were directed to keep your statutes!”
This is my heart cry. Oh that my ways – my habits, my routines – were directed to help me be faithful to Him and what He calls me to!
So my theme this year is “Bumpers.”
I keep thinking about the first time I went bowling as a child and scored only one or two. I needed the help of bumpers. Bumpers are pads that lie in the gutter and block the ball from going there. Gutter balls miss the pins. When the ball hits a bumper, the bumper directs it back into the lane and it continues on. Bumpers ensure the ball stays out of the gutter and makes it to the pins. The pins are the priorities God calls me to. Routines are the bumpers I need to help me get to them. I don’t make it to my priorities when I roll off into something that carries me away from the lane I should be in. Routines are bumpers that keep me in the lane doing what I ought to do when I ought to do it.
Please pray for me and I will for you. I’m excited about this scripture and bumpers directing my ways!
This year, what routine will direct you AWAY from the “gutter” and direct you TOWARD your priority “pins”?
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