Budgeting the Bible

Over the weekend I was reading Romans 12 and decided that my "budgeting" mode for the month of March, might just apply to my Bible study, too.  Well, not so much to budget how I study, but more, to budget how I apply it. 

As I read through verses 9 to the end of the chapter, Paul lists out a whole, long series of instructions:

"Love must be sincere."

"Hate what is evil, cling to what is good."

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love."

"Honor one another above yourselves."

"Never be lacking in zeal."....

And he goes on to list 17 more instructions.  This is just in half of one chapter! 

My thoughts as I read this was, I'm just glossing over this as I read.  I'm thinking, yes, those are all good things.  I need to be good.  But really, I need to do all of these.  Individually.  And not lose them in the fact that it's a long list.  So I'm going to (fully intending here, at least on day 1) take one a day and focus on it and look for opportunities to live out that point.  My hope being that if I can focus on one a day, that will help me remember, ongoing, to live that out when presented with the opportunity.  

So, I'm budgeting my Bible.  Today is Day 1: Love must be sincere. 

I'd love for you to join me if you'd like.  While I doubt I will blog every day, I will definitely tweet my "Budgeting Bible of the Day" so you will see there what point I'm on each day.

I want to be a doer of the Word, not a hearer, or a "glosser", only. 

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Budgets, Lists & Life

So getting back into a blogging rhythm is taking a little longer than I thought.. but here's to hoping March will be more "budgeted" than February has been!  In my quest to make time to breathe, I am learning that old habits are easy to fall back into, and, let me just be honest, budgeting isn't one of my natural gifts.  Ok, it's not one of my gifts, it's not one of my priorities, nor is it something I even like.  And budgets don't apply to just money.  We budget our time, we budget our energy, and, yes, we budget our money, too.  Here's my issue:

Budgets have limits and I don't like limits.

Especially when I know that I have more to do than those limits will allow.  That's why I don't want to put it on paper.  There's no way.  It can't be done.  And writing those things down only makes it even more plain to see that I can't do all that I want to do.  So, I tend to make mini-budgets and daily to-do lists.  And leave the big picture stuff off the paper completely.  I like to live each day, doing all that must be done that day, and beyond that working on all the other "non-urgent" projects and duties as they present themselves.

Sometime back I watched David Allen's Do Lecture "The Mind is for Having Ideas Not Holding Them".     He lays out a template for staging idea, projects and getting all the stuff swirling in your brain OUT of your brain and ON a file, a to-do list, a calendar.  Whatever your mode of follow-up, put your ideas there.  First, it frees up your brain for new ideas and second, it gives you a systematic way to approach those unending projects that, for me, end up lost between today's urgent and next month's project, never to be accomplished.

I'm going to attempt to put some of this into practice this month.  And while much of what I have unending, the house, the yard, the laundry, doesn't ever get finished, there are many other projects that I have dabbled with for years that may benefit from a bit of budgeting.

 I will share how that goes.  Here's to teaching an old dog new tricks!

Breathe

So, I'm back at this again!  I have chased away all the spiders that had made themselves at home in my blog space and cleared a spot for my ever-tumbling mind to dump it's contents again.

Thanks, both of you, for returning to read what I post!  

It has been a year and a half since I have posted here.  That's a long time for someone who loves to read and write and talk.  But during that time I was having trouble breathing, mentally, much less doing the things I love.  I'm thankful to say that the chaos and mayhem was not caused by any tragedy or illness in my family, simple a complete upheaval of life.  In fact, I stepped into my dream job in the middle of this.  And in all of that, I did what I have told so many others not to do.  I didn't rest.  I didn't stop.  I didn't force myself to balance.  

I didn't breathe.

I didn't breathe mentally and I even found myself often holding my breath physically.  As I would be thinking though pressing situations and making plans to accommodate those, I would realize I was actually holding my breath as I thought. 

I pushed and struggled and stayed up late and got up early.  And while it's inevitable to have to push and struggle and stay up late and get up early if you are going to make a difference in the world, you can't live that way night and day, day in and day out.   

I know that. I've taught that in conferences on how to lead.  But how often do we do what we know we should do?  And how often do we do what we know we shouldn't do?

It all comes back to that sabbath thing.  We know what we should do.  We know that it's wise and sensible and logical.  But how often, when we are pressed, do we give that up first.  

Before I miss a deadline, I miss my sabbath.  

Before I cancel a meeting, I cancel my sabbath.

Before I let the laundry go, I let my sabbath go.  (Ok.  That one's not a struggle for me)

God gave commandments to keep order in our lives.  Don't kill, don't steal, keep the Sabbath. 

And while we would never consider killing or stealing, it just doesn't seems as big of a deal to let the Sabbath go.  

It became apparent to me this last year that He listed that one as well and it's that important.  I've learned (am learning still) to let somethings wait.  And somethings, I have let go completely. 

And I'm breathing.  You can do so much more when you breathe.