STOP, LOOK AND LISTEN

  Ever feel like your mind is going in a million different directions at the same time? I feel this way, waaay to often. I have this bad habit of starting something because it's a good idea. But it rarely goes smoothly and I run into roadblocks that leave me with the option to vary off of the course I'm on. The next thing I know, wham! there's another roadblock. Vary. Wham, another. etc. etc. Finally I get to a place where I no-longer feel in charge of the situation and the decisions I need to make to proceed are beyond my wisdom or capabilities. I'm left feeling incompetent, frustrated, lost, annoyed, confused and like I've wasted a lot of valuable time. 
    It's easy at that point for the old devil to take over and encourage me with names like "loser", "pathetic" and "failure". I know now, after some hard life lessons, that I can choose; yes it is my choice, to believe him and eat my way through every chip & cookie bag in the house or I can stop, take a breath and talk to my papa (God). Some questions I ask are, "Okay, what is it you want me to learn from this?, What do you want to show me? If this isn't the direction You want me to take, will You show me what is?" If I then just clean up the mess I've started and let go of the situation, I at least have peace. I still may not have an answer but I have peace so that when God does choose to reveal something to me, I'm in the right frame of mind to "hear" it.
     I'm the type of female who struggles with speeding. (Ha ha, no, not in my car. I'm a granny sometimes when it comes to driving.) I have trouble not plowing through my day without much thought. I do get a lot done if I don't have any of those road blocks I mentioned earlier. But if it's something new or requires more effort than I can muster, I'm likely to walk away thinking I will get back to it and then start something else. I do it all the time. It's ridiculous! I can't even go to the bathroom without taking the mail, a book or grabbing for my makeup bag. Seriously! So with my personality and past history, I've come to believe, as the Waterboy's mama would say,

multitasking is :

of the devil!!

      

Again, Stop, Look and Listen. I have to stop before I go head on to another project. I Breathe. I Pray, asking one or all those questions I suggested and any more I can think of. Then, I take time to listen. If I don't hear anything right away, I thank Him for peace, for saving me from wasting any more time; clean up, (the clean up step is important so it's not hanging over my head) and then if I have time and ambition, start something else (hopefully less stressful).

     Life's not about how many projects I get done or how fast I do them. It's about maintaining peace so that God can use me for His glory. And it's always His desire for me to enjoy a good life. Think of how difficult it would be for me to lead anyone to Him if I was always feeling stressed out and unfulfilled. Remember to "Stop, Look & Listen and...
     Live the Blessed Life!   

                                     Chris

Starting a Blog

     Starting a blog has been one of the most difficult things I've ever done. I get the notion one moment and then get discouraged by all the details and I talk myself out of it. It just follows my life. I've been through so much (excuse my crassness) crap that I'm like one of those little wind-up cars that go in one direction until it bumps into something. Then it backs up, turns a circle and heads in another direction. This continues on and on and if you watch it, it just keeps going in the same circles! I'm ready to move on so pass or fail, if I keep my eyes on the right goal, failure won't even be an issue.
So, starting a blog sounds simple, right? You just write something and hope people like it & are interested enough to read it. But then you have to choose a name; a name you'll be stuck with so you better like it and not only today, but tomorrow and next week and next year, and so on. (I can't even shop without putting something back that I've carried around the store for an hour-drives my hubs buggy. My name is well known in the Customer Service department because I often change my mind about something I've bought. I end up not liking it or more often than not, decide I don't really need it.) When you finally decide on a name it's already taken. And what about a URL? I had to Google it to find out what it was. 
     After jumping that hurdle, there are all the well-meaning "tricks of the trade" to get your blog to stand out; then there's the expenses if you really want your blog to be successful. Maybe your blog can even generate an income. A person can get really overwhelmed fast. It's like I started out wanting to open up a lemonade stand and now, all of a sudden I'm looking for investors so I can write a few paragraphs!
     I've started this blog a lot of times and ended up scrapping it each time because of some "well known blogger crime" I've committed. In the end, I realized that this, just like everything else in my life, is a God thing. (yes, mentioning God is one of the many blogger laws I'll break that hinders a "successful" blog, so I've been told). It's He who inspires me and whom I can't make it through a day without. If my blog is read by anyone, it's because He led them to me. If it is successful, it is because He inspires me and sees a good purpose for it. If it fails, it's because He wants to take me in a new direction. But for now, I feel led to write.
Report me to the blogger police if you feel inclined. This girl doesn't want to be like that little wind-up car anymore.

                                       Chris