Sunday Inspiration, 9th December 2012

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Today’s first encouraging thought comes from Melissa Little’s blog The Inner Beauty of a Restless Heart. Melissa’s post ‘Don’t Worry. Be Happy’ struck a chord with me so I asked permission to quote her.

“If you have the mental power to imagine greater things for yourself, you also have the power to make it reality”.

So instead of looking at your life and feeling discouraged because you’re not where you want to be (and like me, you may think you’ll never get there), take responsibility for your life, make some changes and move towards your goals. If you can imagine it, you can make it happen. With God’s help, as John rightly reminded me.

Of course I’m preaching to myself here! 😉

For me the list of things that need to be done (or that I want to do) often becomes overwhelmingly long. This causes a lot of stressful emotions and makes it difficult to even get started. Then I’m really hard on myself for procrastinating, not getting things done, and not reaching the standards I set for myself…

So I was also encouraged recently by another blog post ‘All or nothing, or somewhere in between’ on setting small goals, rather than larger ones which are unattainable in the time frame available. Thanks to Helen of ‘Being, Nothingness and 1000 quilt blocks’ for these words of wisdom from your own experience.

I guess it’s all about priorities, time management, little steps, staying focused and being kind to myself.

What should my priorities and goals be, though? How do I know I’m following the right path for my life?

Today I was reminded of these verses from Proverbs 3. 5-6: ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will direct your paths.’

Now to put it all into practice. 🙂

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Whither Thou Goest

This week we have been talking again about possibilities for the future, a.k.a. ‘where do we go from here?’.

I’m torn between the desire for security and stability, and the need for change because things aren’t working well as they are. We keep cycling around; economically things improve for a while so the dreams go on the back burner, then work drops off again so we have to consider other options.

One of these options is uprooting and becoming mobile in a way that combines John’s work and our budding photography business, while still allowing me to continue with my job. I’m not sure how I will handle the mobile lifestyle, however they say that when you look back on your life you’re far more likely to regret the things you didn’t do, than the things you did.

This week I have a new appreciation for Ruth (in the Bible), who for love of her mother-in-law gave up other options for her future in order to stay with and support Naomi.

In the same way, it seems right to me to support and encourage my husband & help him fulfill his dreams and potential, trusting that along the way my own will also be fulfilled. We are a team; our relationship will be strongest when we are pulling in the same direction.

“And Ruth said, entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.” – Ruth 1.16, King James Version.

I would like to know where the road leads before we start out, but that’s not possible. I have to trust God that we will make the right decisions and be guided in the right direction.

Destination Unknown

(photographed  on our honeymoon in 2005, somewhere in the South Island)

All Change

Okay, so the holiday is over and I’m back at work…

Its been an especially busy week because my workplace shifted to a new environment on Monday. This involved a huge amount of organisation before the event, which I missed most of because I was on leave. I was back at work Monday morning though, a full-on day despite lots of extra staff and other assorted helpers. Then I had a few days at home before working a long day on Friday, a crazy busy day when the work just kept coming, and I wondered if I’d ever get to stop & eat! The most difficult thing seems to be orientating ourselves to the new environment and locating everything (‘Where is…??!!’ is a very common question).  Activities which seemed simple to carry out before, now take much longer and are more stressful because of that. We are having to get used to the distances between places; somehow everything seems to be much further apart than in the old environment. There are different rules too, so we are having to develop some new routines, such as where to go for lunch. Others outside the workplace have not been as patient as we would like, in some instances. Yesterday evening I had a phone conversation during which I was asked “Don’t you people have anything there?!” when I requested a fax number.

All this with a high workload as we go into the winter months, and less staff than we really need to cope with it. Aaagh, I think I need a holiday! 😉

As you can see, the new area has some disadvantages at the moment, but I’m also finding some positives. It’s new and therefore more physically attractive. There are extra rooms which means people and equipment can be spread out more. Some things are in better places than they were in the old environment. It’s been purpose-built (or at least renovated) for us. The view is great. And the new staff bathroom is way more private than the other one was!

I remember our last workplace move, about 4 years ago. After struggling initially, we gradually became used to the changes and the new routines became second nature. Here’s hoping the same will apply – and we won’t be moving again for a long while, if ever.

Season of Change