Plans for the future

I've just been doing some work on 'the future'...a topic that is always scary, exciting and impossible to plan for!  And yet, in the long hours of the night, there it is, wanting to be chewed over, thought through, to have every single hypothetical accounted for.  It always seems to take hours and hours to do it justice, and even then, it's never quite figured out.

Something has to be said for Scriptures such as:
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money."  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."  As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes.  All such boasting is evil.  If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them.  (James 4:13-17)

Why, you don't even know...I mean, anything could happen!!

As usual, Scripture addresses the heart of the matter.  Are you investing your time in the future in order that you can boast in your plans?  Do you have arrogance and pride in your heart?  Does planning for the future limit your chances to respond to the opportunities you are presented today/tomorrow/the next day?  All very good questions!

So, Jesus says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself!"  Come on, Joy, don't you have enough today to worry about?  Don't you have enough responsibility today to invest yourself in?  Doesn't Jesus say, instead of worrying, "seek first His Kingdom"?  And I know - there are some pretty solid reasons that I keep reminding myself, that there's no need to stress:

1. My God is in control (Daniel 4:35)
2. My God is for me! (for my good, He loves me, He knows best) (Romans 8:31-32)
3. My God has given me every reason to trust His faithfulness (Hebrews 10:23)
4. No matter what happens, I am being conformed to Christ (every worst case scenario is still a best case scenario!) (Romans 8:29)

All very good reasons to leave the future be, and get on with living it!  Of course, we shouldn't swing from planning to neglect, but let's not live for tomorrow, let's live for the Kingdom!

p.s. I'm not sorry that this post has no information on my current 'plans for the future' ... I don't really have any! 

1 liners from DJ (Prayer)

Why is it that it's always the oldies in prayer meeting praying, and the young guys are swapping recipes on facebook:  Cooked a roast lamb tonight....who cares!

We don't get together to pray for the work....PRAYER IS THE WORK!!

Guest post: Shady Makar (15)

Find a guy:

- That makes you laugh but knows when to be serious

- That puts God first and skips sport to go to Church

- That if you fall away, he will challenge you and pursue you to come back

- Find a guy that actually wants you to be number 2, not number 1

Don’t have your whole future planned out, dream about your prince charming, but don’t have the idea that life will be perfect and you’ll find a guy that you’re happy with.  Don’t get your heart set on a fantasy.

Tips for Productivity #1

This week has been a bit of a struggle in the productivity department!  

I could blame it on trying to do too many things at one time...but that's nothing new.  

I could blame it on actually taking a day-off this week...but that's a good thing, and ultimately should promote productivity.

I could blame it on what the Aussie Olympians blamed theirs on - social media...but that's never an excuse.

I could blame it on the weather (eeek Hayfever), tiredness (sleep?? what!?), sport (coz it's way more fun being outside right now), emotions (I'm finding I do actually have them!), or a whole range of things...

Or, I could stop passing them blame and just sit down and do it! 

Praying the Psalms

150 days and 150 Psalms

With a particular issue on my heart, my friend challenged me to set aside a time period and pray about it every day!  Well, the time is set for me - 150 days.  And I've been learning about the blessings of praying the Psalms.  So, with every new day, there is a new Psalm and a new perspective to pray about.

It's refreshing to be guided by the Scriptures and to consider the real life experiences the Psalmists had, and to let the Holy Spirit prompt my prayers through the context and content of the Psalms.

Mission (3) Things I learnt

Going outside your normally sphere of ministry is bound to be a challenge and stretch you in a number of ways.  I'm always excited about new opportunities, to grow and to see the different things I would learn.  Most of the things I learnt in India, I learnt because I naturally wanted to function the way that's best for me - instead of thinking about how things might be best for our group.  Here's some of the classics:

1. It takes a long time to move people!  I tend to be a fairly quick operator when it comes to getting going, and I'm comfortable operating under a fair bit of urgency (I can always walk faster-or run, skip meals, function on no sleep).  But that's one person.  When you try to move a group of 14 from A to B, and everyone moves at their own pace, it can take a long time.  This became a harsh reality when we missed our train from Delhi - it's not as simple as grabbing your bag and running for the train - so that's where it hit me, how long it takes to move everyone.  This kind of realisation meant over compensating on time for every situation.  Get people up earlier, or meet at the tree earlier - someone was bound to be late anyway...or forget a water bottle, camera, jacket, etc.

2. Even the simplest of everyday routines becomes draining.  For me - routine is everything.  It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's regular, I'm fine - but that's just me!  For others, getting up at 6:30am every morning, having a bucket bath, and being down to breakfast by 7am, can get tiresome after a few days...especially when breakfast is always rice with curry.  For me, it just worked!  Some days, the boys would roll out of bed at 6.59, scoff some food, and go back.  Not everyone operates on routine the same way.  Some times a break, a sleep in, or something different to eat is important to break that monotony.  I had to learn to care for our team the way they needed, not the way I thought was best!

3. You can't fast forward relationships!  When you've got a three week opportunity to meet people, become friends, try and invest, you can't rush things.  Sure, by the end of our time there, we had some close friendships with some of the children.  But, when it comes to relationships - you can't pretend that we can just assume all the groundwork.  Relationships take time - heaps of time - to build camaraderie, friendship, trust!  Maybe investing more time in relationships in the early days, and less time being busy with other things, would have helped a lot!

4. Finding the familiar - in a world where everything is different, there is great comfort in the familiar.  For me, it happened about 10 days into our work.  We were getting pretty tired, and were working on some monotonous library work.  We'd thought we made a mistake (which we hadn't), but ended up having to labour pretty hard over this one thing.  I was pretty annoyed at myself about the mistake (which wasn't actually a mistake), and tired too I guess, but when I knocked on Hepsi's door and asked for a normal cup of black tea (without a million teaspoons of sugar), the familiar was so nice!  Just a cup of tea in the morning, seemed to make it all ok!  I needed to make a greater effort to recognise the familiar for our team!  I think for the boys, it was KFC!

5. Face Time - just talking things through is so important.  Not everyone is going to make the most of time in group meetings to share how they are going - but we need to keep talking things out and helping each other adjust to our different experiences.  Not everyone is going to be 'ok' all the time!  I need to learn to be a good question asker - to be able to make the  most of our time sharing our experiences and responses and getting to the heart of concerns and issues not in a formalised way.  With a group this size, you can't expect to do this in team time, so making the most of other time to invest in each individual is so important - following up on key experiences, checking different responses, gauging different emotional levels.  I needed to find more ways to engage! 

For today!

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, 

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

My God is in control - he has his plan for me.

My God is good!