A Trajectory of Destruction

Have you ever heard of “hurry up sickness”?

 

Even if you haven’t heard of it, you have probably suffered from it. Don’t be confused, hurry up sickness is not busyness. Being busy might be a symptom, but most of us who are trying to make a difference in someone else’s life, our families life, or even our own life will be busy to some degree.

 

What i’m talking about is a schedule that leads to a behavior that causes a mindset which produces irritability, feelings of futility, difficulty in relationships and a general displeasure with things that should be fun and/or satisfying.

 

When busy turns your everyday into something like this, you have hurry up sickness. This has been the subject of my daily devotions in a journal thatI am working through recently. It’s been a challenge to hear words like slowdown, process, and “be in the moment you’re already in”.

 

Most of us seldom sit down long enough to enjoy the moments of our day. In fact, wherever we are at any given point on the timeline of our lives we are usually rushing to get on to the next point. So, during these devotional times I have been required to slow down, meditate and really try and let the Lord speak.

 

The Lords prayer which is so familiar to us is easy to skim over because we think we’ve already covered it. But, that seems to be the point. I was instructed to go over each line of that incredible prayer, chewing on each word and thought, journaling what the Lord was saying. I want to encourage you to do the exact same thing.

 

It might take you a half an hour, or an hour, or maybe even a weekend. But, one thing I know for sure… it will be worth it!

 

I don’t want this to influence your own experience, but let me share with you right out of my journal as an example of what I hope god will produce in your life. The following reflects my reflections of the Lord’s prayer back to God.

 

After you read this, scratch out your own time where you are alone and in relative quiet… read through the Lords prayer slowly (Matthew 6:9–13)… write down everything you think and feel.

 

There are no wrong answers, just the opportunity to spend some time with your Maker.

 

Our Father- I have never really known a father, but I desire that role for my own life more than all others. I believe a father to be Continue reading “A Trajectory of Destruction”

Willing and Able

Here is where I have been all week…

In my personal devotions I have been studying meditation and discipline. The focus for this spiritual exercise has been on the Lord’s Prayer. Each day I have been guided to meditate/focus on a specific line from the prayer in Matthew 6:9-13.

Meditation is not sitting on the floor chanting ooga booga. It’s chewing on, centralizing your heart, continuing to return to a thought over and over again until it is ingrained within you.

Basically, it’s everything bad about worrying, but used for the forces of good. Yeah, that’s about it… meditation is positive worrying… if that’s even possible.

While every line from the prayer is worthy of daily focus, I have not been able to get around the first line. Even though I need to move on, I feel like God isn’t done with me as it relates to these 4 little words:

“Our Father in heaven…”

Here’s what meditation on this sentence fragment is revealing to me: my God is willing and able.

Our Father – As my Father I know He wants to Continue reading “Willing and Able”

Behave yourself

What’s better than getting up at 4 am on Black Friday to fight the crowds and strategically rifle through a well-thought out plan of attack documented only by a string of newspaper ads marked in Sharpie and ordered by store opening times?

Almost anything.

Anything is better than that.

Still, that was today for my bride and I as the kiddos slept in at Grandmas. We spent a small fortune (as opposed to the large fortune it could have been) and got about 90% of what we hunted.

We dominated Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target Mart and Home Depot Mart and even squeezed in a romantic breakfast for two at IHOP Mart.

While we were wolfing down some pancakes (actually, I was wolfing… Kathy never wolfs… she delicately cuts, slowly eats and cutely chews… she never wolfs) we were discussing how crazy some people were. Continue reading “Behave yourself”