Somedays

Somedays my list looks like this!

It was composed at a table at Barnes and Noble yesterday afternoon.

If you're interested, you can see more HERE.

I've already accomplished #1, 2 and 4 this morning!

^16 [a]making the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish and thoughtless, but understand and firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ Do not get drunk with wine, for that is wickedness (corruption, stupidity), but be filled with the [Holy] Spirit and constantly guided by Him.

Ephesians 5, Amplified Bible 

Exercise, Organize, Prioritize

A while ago, I copied this Morning Blessing from Susie Larson's facebook page

to the top of a document that I visit frequently:

  May you be motivated to exercise, organize, and prioritize. 

May you embrace the grace to tend to the important things so they don't become urgent things.

 May God bless you with focus, clarity, and inspiration 
to live an anointed and purposeful life starting today. 

May abundant grace and startling clarity be yours today!

 

A few days later, Alvin Reid's tweet sealed the deal.  

If you reschedule 15 minutes a day from wasted time to productive time 

you gain nine 10-hour days of productivity (91.25 hours).

 It sounded too good to be true, so I got out pad and pencil and did the math.

Sure enough!

In one year I could accomplish 91.25 hours of work just by using 15 "wasted" minutes a day.

And so I consciously committed to this yesterday.

My 15 minutes were spent washing these enamelware pieces

that had sat on our porch all winter.

Having accomplished that task, I realized I didn't need all of them anymore.

I listed them on a local facebook garage sale site and within minutes they were pending sale.

Today I will meet the buyer and make the exchange.

~ exercise, organize, and prioritize ~

Numbering My Days

 In years past, September has been the month in which I shop

for a replacement to the calendar that I carry with me most everywhere.

The ones I have been using include the last 3 months of the current year

along with the 12 of the coming year.

For some reason, I had difficulty finding one like them this year.

I settled for this one...a bit wider, minus some note pages

(which I seemed to not use anyway

 thinking I needed to save them for something "important").

My search turned into a comedy of sorts beginning in a Meijer store,

moving into Walmart, and ending in an Office Depot 

which sadly was closing its location nearest us.

In the end, it was THIS feature - two pockets - that sold me on this particular calendar.

I'll just finish out this year in the 2016 version

and wait to begin the new one in January--

which makes sense anyway!

I have been using the calendar on my cell phone more regularly

but can't quite divorce myself from a paper version just yet...

 Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.
Psalm 90:12

 All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. 
~J.R.R. Tolkien

How & Why I Do It

 Thrifty Style at Sixty(two)

Besides THIS blog (which is the most active of my various sites), l have four others.  By clicking on the captions under the pictures, you can check out my other ones if you're interested.  Sometimes I'm asked how I find time to maintain five blogs...

Scene in our Garden

Well, first of all, I'm a fairly fast typist.  Secondly, I never run out of ideas that seem to need expression!  At various times, one or another of the five take precedent - either out of need (weight management),  because of a particular season (gardening), or to express an interest (thrift store finds for home decorating and fashion).

Power, Love and Self-Control

The main reason I keep the blogs separate rather than combining them into one and using tabs to separate topics is that each blog has its own small set of "followers" and friends--people who might not have a particular interest in the other topics. 

The Gates' Post

<-- This one I keep to post pictures and news about our children and grandchildren (and to offer occasional subtle and not-so-subtle advice to them).



A third way I'm able to keep this many blogs relatively active is that I frequently "double up", using the same pictures or events on more than one blog and approaching them from a slightly different angle.  It doesn't take as much time for me as it might seem.  The pleasure I receive from this creative outlet and the friends I've come to know are well worth the time.  I consider it a hobby.  The inspiration and encouragement for Christian living that I've received from interaction with friends is another reason I continue to post--especially on THIS blog! Here I pass along the lessons God is teaching me from His Word, hoping that others will be encouraged and strengthened in their relationship with the Lord Jesus. 

From time to time I evaluate the time I'm investing 

and try to make the appropriate adjustments.

How about you?  Are you comfortable with your level of participation in the blogging community?
Have you recently evaluated or made adjustments to your blogging habits?
Any tips or suggestions for maintaining a balanced approach?

Whatever you do, work at it wholeheartedly 

as though you were doing it for the Lord and not merely for people.

Colossians 3:23