Is it April, already?

I can hardly believe it is already April.  A whole fourth of 2015 has already passed.  Mind boggling how fast time flies by; especially when you’re having fun.  Are we having fun yet?  Just saying…  Maybe it’s because I’ve been really busy!  I was thinking about that this afternoon.  Situations, which I don’t care to discuss, created a big pile-up of stuff on my things-to-do-list.  I’m talking serious things like taxes that were due two years ago.  You get the picture?  Now, don’t go blasting me for procrastination because I think it was a God thing I didn’t get them done until now.  And, no, I didn’t get penalized because they owed me money.  But, let’s get off taxes and back to what I want to talk about today.  And that is, getting what God wants us to do, done! A while back, I made a little book for my friend Marejohn for her birthday.  You might say it was a compilation of life anecdotes, scriptures, cartoons, and thought-provoking ideas I’ve picked up all along my journey of life.  One of the cartoons pictured a bunch of hungry-looking alligators watching a little fellow sunk up to his waste in the mud.  The caption read, “It’s hard to remember your original purpose was to drain the swamp when you’re surrounded by alligators!”  I think this happens to the best of us from time to time.  We’re on track.  We’re doing our best to do what God has told us to do.  Then, suddenly we find ourselves in a quagmire of issues, conflicts, or circumstances that pull our attention away from completing our assignments from God.  Oh, they come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and events.  Sometimes, it’s health issues.  Other times, things that rob our finances show up.  The next may be issues in relationships. The list can go on and on.  It doesn’t really matter what the situation or event is.  The important thing is that we recognize it for what it is and not allow it to send us down a road that is not aligned with the purpose God has for our lives.  And, even if that happens and we take a slight detour, it’s not the end of the world.  All we have to do is pick up from where we are, get re-grouped, re-focused, and go at it again.  That’s what I’m doing now.  You see, for the past few months I’ve been like that little guy in the swamp.  It’s been like the harder I tried to get things done the more interference showed up.  The proverbial take two steps forward and one step back was about to become my daily mantra.   Oh, I’m not saying the things I was doing were not important; they were and they had to be done.  The problem was I let them become a swamp that almost swallowed me.  And, I definitely let the time-stealing alligators distract me and keep me from completing the tasks God has assigned me to do.  One of which is to write and post these not-so exciting life lessons on a regular (probably almost daily) basis.  You know, I just love to encourage other people.  I think it’s a gift God has given me.  I love writing these posts.  I truly believe God uses my life lessons to show others how much He loves them and that He’s always ready to help them.  And, I especially love the encouragement I receive from the likes and comments I get back.  It’s that law of sowing and reaping thing.  You plant encouragement; you get encouragement!  Pretty simple, huh? I don’t know anyone that would turn down encouragement; certainly not me!  So you’re asking, “What’s the problem?” Well, it’s like this.  I haven’t been giving this task its rightful place of priority at the top of my daily things-to-do- list(s).   It’s an easy thing to talk about what we should do, but doing it can be a lot more difficult. Sometimes it takes this thing called self-discipline to get back where we need to be.  Sometimes it means checking our priorities.  Do we have the important things in the right order on our lists?  Or, have we let the time-stealers squirm their way to the top.  Sometimes it means laying something else down to make time for the things that should have the greatest priority.  It means we have to make a conscious decision; choices have to be made.  Let’s choose Jesus!  Let’s choose to place the things that are important to Him at the top of our lists.  Let’s choose to complete His assignments before we do anything else. Anyway, I’m sure that’s what He wants me to do about these posts.  I believe if we put Him first, He will help us and keep the time-stealers at bay.  How about we put Him to the test?  If He will help me, He will help you, too.  I challenge you to give His tasks priority and see what happens!  But, there’s one thing that is sure; that never has to be tested.  That is, no matter where He is on your priority list, “Jesus Loves YOU!”

 

Shannon Howllett – Make Him famous!

Reply!  That sounds like a great idea!  I think I’ll give it a try.  I truly want to reach and encourage as many people as I possibly can.  Must not become so involved in the logistics and mechanics that I don’t have time for the message.  Just so you’ll know, a big part of my time has gone to resting in order to recuperate from the liver failure. In what time I had left, I’ve been focused on getting the ministry legally established as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation.  I keep reminding myself this is a “one time” thing and as soon as I can get it finished all the time allocated to this can then be directed to actually doing the ministry.  I love what Randy Chandler says about prophesying on his blog talk show, “It’s the place where we do it more than we talk about it.”  That’s the cry of my heart.  I want to “BE” ministering to people rather than just thinking and talking about it.  Father has shown me that Facebook and the internet are the most efficient and effective tools and through them I can reach a vast number of people.  Please pray for me that I can figure out how to best use every tool and opportunity God has given me (especially that I can improve my writing skills).  God gave me the tagline “Changing Lives One Heart At A Time”.  (Note to self – get the Facebook cover photo changed to match the website).  He touches my heart with what He wants shared. I write it down and post it. He prompts others to read it and individually touches their hearts.  Like you and many others, they make a comment, hit the like button, or the share button and then the message is forwarded to another group of people.  Again, He moves in individual hearts. It goes on and on like ripples on a lake; especially if those reading will hit the share button.  Talk about exponential multiplication! The possibilities are mind boggling!   Love you, girl.  Take care of yourself and tell all the family hello for me.  We should get together for coffee someday.  That thought makes my heart smile.