Make Your Bed

I haven’t slept well this week.  Maybe it’s the start of the new semester.  Maybe it’s the outside noises.  Maybe it’s my fault.  I have to admit that I’m not very diligent about making my bed every day.  I can usually manage to clean things up, but the bed doesn’t get made.  When I think about it, how long would it really take?  A couple of minutes?  Still, as soon as I get up in the morning, I’m working toward getting out of the house and to work as quickly as possible.  As a general rule, I take care of the housework when I get home from work.  This week, however, there were some others things that stole my attention.  As a result, my house, especially my bedroom was in a state of mild chaos.  This affected my productivity at home and how well I was sleeping.  By the end of the week, I was exhausted.  Saturday, I spent a considerable part of the day cleaning the house and doing laundry.  I went to bed that night tired, but calm.  When I woke up in the morning, I noticed that I had not only slept really well, but felt rested.  The covers had hardly moved.

Distractions and chaos threaten to steal things in other parts of our lives also.  Just as the small act of not making my bed, meant less restful sleep, small acts of disobedience means less rest in God.  This doesn’t necessarily mean sin.  It could be not listening to what God is prompting us to do.  It could be rushing to do the things that God wants us to do and forgetting to take of the little things in our own hearts that need attention.  We need to examine our lives for those things that might be robbing us of our rest in God and then take time to concentrate on making our relationship with Him a priority.  And trust me, this isn’t something that should be left for the end of the week.  Daily attention to the little things that result in rest keeps them from being the big things that rob us of who we can be in God.

Five in Fridays

1  I’m excited about second semester starting next week.  I continue to change and try new things in the classroom.  This year, I have the added challenge of planning to be gone for a couple of weeks when I have surgery.  It’s coming together, and I am confident that the students will be okay without me.

2  I’ve been trying out different protein drinks to get ready for surgery.  Some of them aren’t too bad, but others taste like feet.

3  Music is incredibly powerful.   Whether it’s a song that brings back smiles or a song that reminds me of pain, music defines those moments in my life when God has blessed me and been my strength.

4  Sometimes it takes drastic measures to accomplish a goal, but unless I am willing to take those steps, I won’t be successful. 

5  Sometimes it’s not so much the person that I miss as much as it is the experiences that the person represents.  I must constantly be aware that people change and move on and often that is the best gift that they can give me.

What I Learned in 2012

1   1.   Letting go is a continual process.

2.  Prayer works.

3.  I really love my job, my students, and the people I get to work with.

4.  It takes courage to make big changes

5.  As much as I hate it, sometimes I have to ask for help.

6.  I am becoming more and more accepting of the fact that most likely I will never be in a relationship that is more than a friendship.

7.  People surprise me.

8.  It’s not smart to teach 5 cooking classes and plan for gastric bypass surgery at the same time.

9.  Kids and grandkids are pretty awesome.

10.  The biggest thing that I learned this year was also the hardest and caused the most change.  I learned that I am “selfish, self-centered, and only think of myself.” (I think “self-centered” and “think only of myself” are basically the same thing, but I wanted to keep the integrity of the direct quote)  These words came directly to me from more than one source so I can’t argue that I didn’t understand.  The thing is that those words have altered my perception of myself, dictated my enjoyment and participation in family events, changed how and if I should celebrate and share accomplishments in my career, determined when and if I use my phone and computer, made me question health decisions and if I should share about those health decisions, and caused me to wonder if those two people were the only ones brave enough to tell me what everyone else is thinking.  All I can do is continue to question and do my best to fade into the background.  I suppose that even writing a blog could be seen as selfish and self-centered, but I see it this way.  Those that have determined me to be selfish and self-centered have already made up their mind about who I am and probably don’t read it anyway.  Maybe there’s someone out there who can look past who I am and find something useful in what I write. 

Have a wonderful and blessed 2013!!