- to do chores a little at a time.
I used to think I had to wait until I had time to do a chore (like weeding the garden, vacuuming the house, or cleaning mulberries) all at once. Now, I would never get anything done if I still had that expectation. It's okay to do a small section of the garden-it's better than nothing. It's okay to have the vacuum sitting out for days at a time because there's still another room to vacuum. Sometimes, it's okay to start vacuuming the house all over again before the vacuum goes back to it's home in the closet. It's okay if I have two bowls of mulberries--one with stems and one stemmed-- in the fridge all week long. My baby girl takes short naps and likes lots of attention, and I have work to do. This leaves me two three options:
A) Ignore her, and get stuff done
B) Play with her, and let the house and everything else fall to pieces.
See? Both of those stink! I'm learning there's an option C. I can work with her on my hip teaching her along the way. I can work for the two-five minutes she's happily playing by herself. I can leave my work and be with her when she needs me.
- that there is no perfect, but better is better.
I had/have this problem. I think it has to be all or nothing. This lesson is closely related to the lesson above. In this case, I'm not talking about chores. I'm talking about avoiding all the crud "they" put in our foods, soaps, lotions, etc. I have this urge to be obsessed with buying organic and making my own. There are a few problems with this. First, it's nearly impossible (unless I decide to stop eating and die) to avoid eating anything harmful. Second, it causes stress and unhealthy obsession which are just as detrimental to my health as all the junk. So, better is better. I buy organic fruits and veggies most of the time. I make my own bread, but buy buns and tortilla shells. I'm going to try making soap, but it might be too expensive. Surely, the small efforts I make are better than making no effort at all. At least I'm putting less disease causing junk into my body.
- to listen to my "gut."
I learned as a child that I don't always get to do or say what I feel like doing. That's a truth. We have to learn to push ourselves to eat vegetables, get up early, go to work, etc. I've been pretty good at being able to do that. I push myself make friends when it's uncomfortable. I push myself to be unselfish and do what is good for other people. I push myself to do what's good for me. But, do I push too far?
I've learned in church to be careful about following my heart because according to Jeremiah (the biblical prophet) "the heart is deceitful above all things."
But, the gut feeling isn't necessarily keeping myself comfortable. It isn't necessarily abandoning truth (Truth) and reason to do what I "feel" is right.
I think my gut is made up of two things. First, there's a part of me that is more honest than the people-pleasing surface. On the surface, I want to do what other people want me to do. I want to make the choice that will make everyone happy. Deep down, there's a part of me that counts the cost. Too frequently, I ignore that part. I do what I think other people want me to do. I get in over my head. I become unhappy and stressed out. I feel like I'm drowning. If I'd listened to my gut. I would have said no. Or yes. There are times I say no because I think I'm going to cause an inconvenience to someone when I should have said yes because God placed a passion deep down in my heart.
Second, my gut feelings can come from the Holy Spirit. I believe God speaks to me about what He wants me to do, about what He has made me to do. I shouldn't let pleasing people hinder even in the smallest way doing what God has made me to do.
- that there is freedom and power in not knowing.
Sometimes knowing will just cause more curiosity, assumptions, hurt, etc. Sometimes, it's better to just not know
*why that person said that
*what is going on with those people who are better left in my past
*what problems so and so has with so and so
I don't want to know!
What are you learning? It's important to stop and think about what God is teaching you about how to live this life.
Jordon
