organization · Priorities · Refreshment · Time management

Planning Can Bring Rest

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All those pretty planners that were sold in the month of December or January were so inviting.  There were stickers and binders as well as pretty pens to mark up the dates.  Did you purchase one?  Maybe you got one from Target or ordered a special Erin Condren version.  At any rate, how’s it going?  Is it still in use?  I think it’s easy to get started in those kinds of organizational tools and then let it slip off into the Ocean of Good Intentions.

Sometimes our feelings of being overwhelmed are due to over-scheduling ourselves.  Over-scheduling can come from lack of planning, and a lack of planning comes from getting a bit careless.  This is true of my own life.  I’ll tuck my planner in the cabinet, then start the week off and realize I’m going in circles, and not really sure what needs to be done that day/week.  The reason?  I didn’t write it down!  Why?  I was just too lazy to sit down and do it.

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If you feel overwhelmed and don’t have a planner, can I encourage you to try some sort of daily list?  It can be written in a simple notebook.  It doesn’t have to be anything fancy to get you organized.  Here’s my strategy:

  1. At the beginning of the week, I fill in all the appointments and daily routines I know I need to do.
  2. Each day I add the other things that I’d like to accomplish, such as blog posts, cleaning, service to others, etc.
  3. As I accomplish each task, I check it off.  This lets me realize at the end of the day, that even if some things were left undone, I did  get some things completed!

If other things come in and keep you from doing what you’d planned, accept it as the Lord’s intervention and go with it!  If you give each day to Him, your time is not your own and He will allow you to do what is necessary.

If you find you’re not getting things done and there was no “Divine Intervention,” make sure to look over your day and see where you’re wastitng time.  You might want to

  • Limit social media until after noon or after those tasks are completed.
  • Get up earlier, if possible.
  • Try to work on a time schedule – write out the time in the day when you think you should be on that next task.

Proverbs 28:19a He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread

Hard work pays off.  If we forget to “till the land” (prepare for a future time) we will feel overwhelmed with everything that is left undone.  A little tilling now will allow you to reap more than just bread!  You’ll reap the blessing of a rested heart.

Do you use a planner each day or do you need to start one?

Denise

 

Bread · Overwhelmed · Priorities · Uncategorized

Overwhelmed or Refreshed By Life?

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road 1

I’m just so overwhelmed!

Those words came from a wife, mom, employee, church member, daughter, daughter-in-law, who probably has lots more roles that she plays.  We’ve all been in the place where we feel like the pressures from every side are coming in on us.  So, how in the world DO we handle all those responsibilities?  They all need attention.  They’re all important, but we know we aren’t superwoman with super-powers enabling us to conquer the world in which we are engulfed.

What’s a woman to do? How do we get it all done?

I think we all have to re-evaluate often.  When we feel pressure about several things that need our attention, we have to stop and ask:

Is my life exemplifying a life that a is given over to the Lord to do as He wills each day?
Am I obeying His Word and priorities for my life?
Do my words and my actions match?

For instance, I love writing my blog, and my passion here is all about refreshment that begins with a relationship with Jesus Christ and then moves to family/home, then church and others.  If I follow the things I teach from God’s Word, I will keep blogging its right place.

This week we were able to make a quick trip to visit my family in Kentucky.  We celebrated Memorial Day on the lake with my sisters, their husbands and our parents.  It was a fabulous day.  At the end of the boating excursion and return to my parent’s home, we decided since it was late in the afternoon, we would wait and come home on Tuesday.  No blog post had been written for Tuesday, but I had a decision to make – visit with my family for those hours, or interrupt it with computer time.  The choice was simple. We had a great visit!

Here are some other practical examples that might happen in my life:

If it comes between…

  • Quiet time in God’s Word and rushing out the door…which will I choose? God is first.
  • Time at my church for services or time with visiting relatives?  God is first.
  • Time with friends at an extra outside activity or time I’d planned with my family?  Family is first.
  • Bible study with my small group or time to chill and watch a movie?  Others are first.
  • Time with my grandsons or time with my husband?  He is first.
  • Time to exercise or time to pray? God is first.
  • Time watching my friend’s children or watching my grandsons?  Family is first.

There are many times that I have regretted the poor decision to shift my priorities.  But I pray each day that the Lord will direct my steps and help me make the best choice, and He does when I lean in for His guidance.

One day last week I had an idea of what I would do that day and it got completely changed.  One event was when a friend stopped by.  She later sent a text apologizing for “keeping me,” but as I told her, when you give your day to the Lord, you take whatever He sends, and sometimes He sends the blessing of time with a friend when you didn’t expect it!  The Lord knew I needed that, even though I didn’t schedule it, He did! It refreshed me!

We need the Lord every single day for every moment of the day.  Rather than feeling overwhelmed, rest in God’s priorities for your life, and listen to His leading.  His plans are always better than what we could dream up, and when we lay our head on our pillow at night, we can say what Jesus said, “Lord, I have done the work you gave me to do.” His ways don’t overwhelm; they refresh.

What areas of your life do you need to re-evaluate according to God’s priorities for your life? Where do you feel most overwhelmed?

Don’t stress – Stay refreshed.

Denise

 

 

Uncategorized

Memorial Day

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I think this may be my favorite song about our great country –

My country, ’tis of Thee,

Sweet land of Liberty,

Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrims’ pride,

From every mountainside

Let Freedom ring.

Our fathers’ God to Thee

Author of liberty,

To Thee we sing.

Long may our land be bright

With freedom’s holy light,

Protect us by Thy might,

Great God our King.

Happy Memorial Day!

Denise

Family life · Marriage · Refreshment in marriage · Wife's Role

Having a Royal Marriage Without the Royal Wedding That Precedes It

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Royal Marriage
roy·al
ˈroi(ə)l/
adjective
  1. having the status of a king or queen or a member of their family.

I admit that I am kind of taking liberties with the word royal, but in all reality, if you and your husband are believers in Jesus Christ, you are a royal priesthood.  We learn that here –

I Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Because of who we are in Christ, everything about us should show to the world the praise of our God Who saved us.  In other words, our marriages should display the Gospel.  If we do that, then our relationship with one another will truly be royal.

How can we have a Royal Marriage?

  1. Think of your spouse as royalty. If we were in the presence of a king, would we forget it? Of course not!  We should remind ourselves every day that we chose to marry this man!  He is our Prince Charming!  We must remember what we loved about him in the beginning. If he doesn’t seem quite so charming today, it’s our thoughts that have changed, so we need to change them back. Instead of dwelling on the negative, we must think on the things that we love about our prince!
  2. Keep your eyes on your royal family.  When any of the British royalty are out in  public, all eyes are on them!  We must keep our eyes on only our mate, and not even consider looking at someone else.  Keep your vows you made before God.  He wants your marriage to succeed even more than you do!
  3. Treat your spouse like royalty.  Yes, treat him like a king.  Do it as a way to show your love.  Be watching and anticipating his needs so you can meet them.  Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:3,4 But in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.  We’re not going to think of ourselves first – we’ll think of our mate. Doing this is a true blessing!
  4. Speak endearingly about your spouse.  We were all talking about the the royal couple after their wedding.  What do you say to others about your spouse?   Do you praise him and share the traits that you admire most?
  5. Stay in the same country!  Royal families don’t divide – with one person ruling one country and the other spouse ruling another.  To have a royal marriage, we have to stay on the same track, rather than each spouse doing their own thing.  We must come together for time to grow, talk, share, and make memories.   Without this we will just be like roommates, rather than a Royal married couple!
  6. Talk to the King of Kings about your marriage.  Pray and ask God to give you wisdom as to how to respond to your mate.  He made that man and knows him!  Ask for understanding about how to talk to him.  Ask for God’s protection on his life, his thoughts, and his heart.
  7. Enjoy your castle!  Have fun in your home, no matter how humble it is.  Make it the best place on earth for you both to retreat to and share this life.  Draw up the bridge and let intruders “meet the dragons in the moat” from time to time so you and your spouse can spend uninterrupted time together. Every couple needs some time away – even if it’s just an afternoon or evening.

Perhaps you need to watch the video of your wedding again, if you’re blessed to have one.  If not, look at the photos and remember the day you took the royal title of “Mrs.”  It’s a high calling! Let’s show it and enjoy it!

Refresh your royal marriage!

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Freedom · God's character · Truth

Lies We Believe About God

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Isn’t it fun when we get to practice what we preach? I did that last night in regards to this very blog post. I’ve written this entire post twice (before this current attempt). Then something happened and the whole thing disappeared as quickly as a dandelion in the wind. No action would bring it back. What was I to do? I felt frustrated and irritated until I remembered the quote that has been permeating my thoughts in regards to thinking the truth about my God…

If you are irritable, frustrated or depressed,
it is likely because you are believing a lie about either yourself or God.

If I truly understand that the Lord is in control and knows my desire to publish this post about thinking truth, then I can let go of my attempts and just rest in His timing and His ways. It’s really okay. The world will not fall apart because RefreshHer didn’t get a post up at six this morning! That is the truth and it brings rest.

As I’m making my way through Nancy’s book, Lies Women Believe, Chapter two reminded me that there are many occasions that Satan whispers lies to us about God, as he did to Adam and Eve. If we’re not replacing those false statements with truth, we will be in great danger, because our belief about God is fundamental to everything in our lives!

Our belief determines our actions and our actions determine our outcome.

The book goes into several lies we are tempted to believe about God.

  1. God is not good. We might think God is good to others, but we don’t see His goodness to us because of ___________________. A cruel action by others, a crime, a disaster, or a hardship happens and some are tempted to question the goodness of God because, after all, couldn’t He have kept that from happening?
    The Truth – Of course He could have stopped it, but when Adam and Eve sinned, they plunged the world into sin and the result of that sin is everything I just listed. In His goodness, God sent His Son as the remedy! Titus 3:4,5 After that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. He provided an escape! He is good!
  2. God doesn’t love ME. When we sin we may feel we’ve pushed the limits of God’s love. We are tempted to judge God’s love by how we feel, but we have to tell ourselves the truth, that no matter how we feel.  God’s love is different from human love that is conditional and wavering.
    The truth – Jeremiah 31:3 – I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
  3. God is just like my father. If a woman had a cruel earthly father she may feel God is in heaven waiting for the chance to knock her down. For the girl who could say what I heard a child say to me this week,I’ve never had a father love me in my whole life.This little child was only seven, but when you don’t know the love of a father, it can feel like an eternity. I had the joy of telling him that God loves him very much! I get the joy of telling you, too, my friend that God is a loving, caring Father!
    The truth – Hebrews 12:9, 10 Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in subjection Unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
  4. God is not enough. We may be glad we’re on our way to heaven, but we believe the lie that we need a little bit of Jesus plus… It might be a relationship – a husband, or a child. Perhaps we think if we just had a few more cute outfits, a bigger house or more money, then we’d have all we need. One writer said,

    When you get to the place where this is nothing left but God,
    you find that He is enough    .


    Not many of us have absolutely nothing else but God, but one day we will all be in that place. As I recently watched a dear man in our church pass from this life into heaven, I got a clear picture of what it means to get to the place where you have nothing else but God. This man had peace in death. He had the joy of knowing he would see Christ soon and he stated that he was ready. He didn’t ask about all his stuff or his money. He was simply ready to go home.
    The truth – Psalm 73:25, 26 Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. My flesh and my heart fails, but God is the strength of my life and my portion forever.

  5. God’s laws and ways are too restrictive. When we desire to go after something that God has said NO to, we may be like that toddler who is determined to put his hands on the things his loving mommy has put out of reach, like a sharp knife. So we “grab hold of that blade” and suffer the consequences.
    Nancy brings out in her book a thought that was so interesting to me. She talked about how many women have issues with food. We don’t like telling ourselves No, and keeping a “good” thing from our lips, do we? Didn’t Eve’s sin deal with the desire for good food, too? Perhaps that’s why we, too, deal with food and eating indulgences that could be categorized as sin because we’re overeating or binging and purging, or not eating at all.
    The truth – Joshua 1:8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shall meditate therein. Then shalt thou make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. God’s laws are for our protection and ability to succeed as a child of god!
  6. God should fix my problems. We have a headache so we take Tylenol. We don’t like our boss so we quit and find another job. Our husband isn’t meeting our expectations, so we leave. We know how to fix those irritations and we think God should be ready to make everything better.
    The truth – God is more interested in my spiritual growth in the midst of that trial than about getting me out of that difficulty. So many of these truths overlap. We have to remember God’s goodness, His love and His care as a father. II Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Let me close with this quote by Ken Collier of The Wilds –

You say what you say and you do what you do because you think what you think,

And you think what you think because you believe what you believe about God and His Word.

Everthing we do will come from our acceptance of the Truth – or lies – about our God.

What truth do you need to plant deeply in your heart today?

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