Lessons Learned

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Cleaning House… Again

After all the work I put into cleaning the house last week, I need to do it all over again. The company came. The company stayed. The company left behind linens to be washed, a bathroom to be cleaned, and crumbs on the carpet—not to mention the dog drool on the furniture, paw prints on the floor, and fur everywhere.

Of course, it was wonderful to get together, and we’ve very, very happy that everyone visited. But now it’s back to the housework. Houses, especially houses that are lived in, don’t stay clean for long.

Funny how this ties in with my recent reading in the gospels…

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The Unassuming Life

Raise your hands… how many of you want to be significant?

Everybody, right? We all want to “make a difference.” We all want our lives to count for something. As Matt, over at TheChurchOfNoPeople.com recently wrote, “We still hold onto the hope that we have a lot of potential, but the reality of the day-to-day is we’re desperately short on purpose.”

Those of us in the church are under even more pressure—we don’t need just any purpose. We need to fulfill God’s purpose! Over and over we’re told that God has a wonderful plan for our lives, that He made us for a specific reason, and it’s up to us to discover what that is and live it out.

I know I’ve certainly struggled with this issue.

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Cleaning House

For the third day this week, I’m scrubbing floors, disinfecting toilets, and de-fuzzing ceiling fans. Sound like fun? You bet.

It’s a good thing that company’s coming, or this house would never get cleaned. I can think of a zillion other things I’d rather do—like be stuck in traffic, or yank out the spiny thistles threatening my garden—without gloves. (Though it’s interesting that I’m using the housework to avoid balancing the checkbook.)

Three days to clean one house sounds a bit extreme. I can do enough to make things look nice in a few hours—dust, vacuum, swish a brush around a toilet—and that’s what I usually do. And that’s the problem. All the surface stuff looks clean and shiny. The places where guests usually go is neat and clutter-free. Just don’t open the closet.

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Mnmlist

My daughter was all excited about a promotional give-away. Seems you can register online at the HGTV website to win a “green” (as in “environmentally friendly”) house, car, and $100K. She had already entered and was urging me to do so too.

I have to admit, my first thought was “Wow, we could really use $100K!” But that was quickly followed by a bunch of other considerations. We’d have to sell the house. Houses are not selling well right now; it could take months or even years. Most of the money would go to cover taxes on the whole deal. The vehicle was nice, but not one we’d normally choose for ourselves. Even if we beat the odds and won (a very remote possibility!), it would create a ton of work!

As I pointed all this out to our eager daughter, I explained that I was choosing not to enter the contest. We just didn’t have the time or energy we’d need to deal with the prize.

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Summarizing Ourselves

Who am I? What is important to me? What have I been up to recently (in terms of years), and what are my dreams?

Check out this photo from the early 1970’s of Pete (second from left) with his five siblings. Next month, for the first time ever, all six of them are all planning to get together, with their spouses, for a three-day family reunion. In addition, they’ve invited their dad (who will turn 90 later this year) and step-mom to join them. This is a Major Big Deal. One sister will be coming from Germany with her husband and one of their four kids. A brother and his wife are flying in from the east coast, and another brother-and-wife are coming from the west coast. Everyone is meeting here in Colorado.

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Goodness Me

Last month, I wrote about how faith is an essential foundation for effectiveness and productivity, according to 2 Peter 1:3-8. Now I want to look at the second of God’s “Steps to Success”—goodness.

When I was growing up, my parents frequently commented on how “good” I was. It’s true that I tended to be obedient—and when I wasn’t, well, I was pretty good at not getting caught! But this isn’t the kind of “good” that Peter means.

While “good” can mean “satisfactory,” God has higher standards. I was a satisfactory child, but I certainly wasn’t good in the Biblical sense!

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Looking for a Sign

Last week I mentioned that I was trying to make a decision, but had no idea what God wanted me to do. A number of you gave me some excellent points to ponder, and I’ve been doing just that. Thinking back over all the hundreds of times God has clearly directed me, I’ve been trying to remember why I was so confident I was hearing his voice each time. Continue reading →

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Keeping God on the To-do List

Waking to the insistent beeping of my alarm clock, I groggily thought, “I have got to learn to say no!”

Usually, life ambles along at a fairly reasonable pace. There are brief stretches when we’re too busy, and even briefer stretches where I have enough spare time that I consider adding another responsibility, but for the most part, I have a good balance between working hard and relaxing, with plenty of time for contemplating God at work in my life.

Lately, all that balance has come crashing down on the side of overload.

There’s work to attend to, housework needs doing, and I’m spending far more time than I had anticipated on a photography class I’m taking. The perennials out in the yard are clamoring for me to clean off last year’s winter-killed stems and leaves, and the vegetable seeds I ordered need planting.

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More Blessings… (I think)

Last week I wrote about the many ways God was gracious to us on our California adventure. Even through I wrote more than usual, there was no way to fit everything in. It was truly a trip to remember, and I’m very, very thankful.

Eventually you have to come home. We finally walked through the door at midnight, Tuesday night. We dragged our bags up the stairs, ran through a quick shower, and crawled into our own bed. Coming home can be pretty nice.

It wasn’t until morning that we discovered God’s next “blessing”—the kind of blessing you have to examine closely before you see the good part.

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Let God

I’ve always tried to do excellent work whether as a volunteer or a paid employee. I believe God desires for us to do our best at all times, as a reflection of His presence in our lives. As Paul writes in Colossians 3:23-24—“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.’

We’re also told to obey earthly authorities (1 Peter 2:13). But what do we do when these two Godly commandments conflict with one another?

Several times in the course of my life I’ve come up against. circumstances where I was under the authority of someone who told me, “Don’t think—just do it my way.” And each time, their way wasn’t very good.

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