Well done, sister! Well done

I am so proud of Amy. I had to write this for a May 31 time stamp. I'll update it this weekend. (I didn't update it. Sigh.)

Grateful for the pause

When my world starts to spin out of control, logic tells me I need to multitask. I need to do more to keep up.

Recently, spiritual practices have been giving a different answer. When things get crazy, it's more important than ever to pause, to pray, to focus on God. To be reminded that it's not my job to make sure everything turns out the way I or someone else thinks it should.

If the world is starting to go to fast, I can trust God to let me slow down. It's an act of faith,  demonstrating my belief that God, and not I, am in control.

My job is to do what I can, the best that I can. I can trust that if, in fact, I need to work harder and faster, God will give me the wisdom and energy to know what to do and get it done.

Even though I know these things, it's hard not to return to my default pattern of getting anxious and worrying and spinning my wheels in inefficient activity.

Old habits are hard to break. Last weekend, I committed to get to bed by 11 p.m. I said I would drop whatever I was doing by 10:30 or 10:45 at the latest to give my chance to have the light out by 11.

With my husband as an ally, I had pretty good success with this commitment from Saturday through Tuesday. I was feeling positive effects.

I'm not sure what all happened Thursday (other than the fact that my husband left for a multiday trip), but when I realized I wouldn't be finished with a task by 10:30, I kept working. Before I knew it, it was after 12:30 a.m., and I was still working on various aspects. I didn't turn off the light to go to sleep until about 1:30 a..m.

The unfortunate result was that, when I awoke this morning, my head was spinning more than ever. That's what got me back on the multitask track -- until I finally realized it was making things worse instead of better. The more I tried to do, the more I saw that I needed to do.

Finally, I hit the pause button. I stopped to pray, to focus on God, to reaffirm my faith. I wrote about what I had experienced. 

I also started making a list as things came to mind I thought I needed to get done. I could sort them by priorities and urgency.  The day started to look more manageable. I could thank God, and I did. 

More to come ....

Best intentions

I finally have ideas I'd like to write about, but where did the time go? I hope to soon get back to write about the thrill of knowing another generation of Mom's girls will be singing solos at church.

I could also write about how helpful it has been to have a few nights of getting to bed by 11 p.m. -- even though I'm missing that by more than an hour tonight.

I could write about weathering storm warnings, and trying to decide whether to wean off a medication, whether the risks outweigh the benefits.

Would I be fishing for compliments if I told how I hooked another one or three on Memorial Day -- and one person to whom I showed the picture thought it was from last year, an honest mistake since I had on similar if not the very same clothes!

Suffice it to say, despite my lack of fulfillment of my best intentions on blogging tonight, life is good and I am grateful!

Who's keeping score?

I think this is the longest I've ever gone without "checking in" on the blog, except perhaps a time or two I announced in advance that I would be taking a break.


This time, life interrupted. It wasn't more life than was happening while I was continuing to check in with a word or two. It was just enough to keep me distracted from thinking about blogging or not blogging.

As the month nears its conclusion, that scorekeeper in my brain has me aware that time is running out and I haven't made any points!! Ha!

And even though I'm typing now and will post this, I'm pretty sure the truth is I'm still not going to make a point. That will continue the streak that has been ongoing! (Where but here can I score without making a point??)

Maybe the point is that as hard as I try to not come back to this blog to post until I have something worthwhile to write, I can't resist for long. And that's OK, too.


I'll still be pleased if at some POINT, eventually, I manage to write something of significance.