Don't Tell Mama, but My Room Still Isn't Clean

I think we find time in life to do the things we really want to do. In other words, I still don't have "time" to keep my house clean. LOL I have a magnet on my refrigerator that says, "I understand the concept of cleaning and organizing. Just not as it applies to me."

Seriously, though, my bad habits are a lifetime long, and it will take time to retrain myself to remember picking up as I go and all those "cleanie" things that come naturally to some folks. The good news is, I get my dishes and laundry done more than once a week. I'm making progress, but I expect instant miracles. If I can imagine it, I want it to be that way right now. 99 times out of a hundred it won't happen that way. Darn. Avoiding work just makes MORE WORK!

God's Cake

Well, I had a pretty bad couple of days. I had to reschedule my Dr appt because I just felt too crappy to shower and go. My husband always says, "You'll feel better if you shower." He recommends this remedy for sinus, migraine, depression...everything. Showering does make me feel better, but what about when I can't make myself care enough about myself to go do it? Today was better. I heard from my cousin whom I haven't seen in years. She had some good news for me. I also heard from a dear friend I had lost touch with. Another friend sent a great FWD email that I just had to share. It's called "God's Cake" and I have no idea to whom I should give the credit. If the person who originally wrote this happens to read my blog, I apologize for the plagiarism. It's not intentional, and you can feel free to make yourself known by commenting or emailing. Here it is:

Sometimes we wonder, "What did I do to deserve this?" or "Why did God have to do this to me?" Here is a wonderful explanation! A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, I love your cake."
"Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers.
"Yuck" says her daughter. "How about a couple raw eggs?"
"Gross, Mom!"
"Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?"
"Mom, those are all yucky!"
To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! "
God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!

God's Loving Favor

"I (the Lord) will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you." Psalm 32:8 Our family devotion this morning was so appropriate for me. I have always felt so guilty about my lack of discipline when it comes to daily Bible study and devotion time. This morning's devotion came from Joyce Meyer's "Beginning Every Day Right." She said that the devil wants us feeling guilty but God loves us no matter what. All that's required for salvation is to put your trust in Jesus and His redeeming sacrifice and power. That's all. Now, we should WANT to study the Word because that's how we get to know our God better and gain understanding of the best way to live and receive all He has for us. But He never condemns us or hates us because of our weakness and lack of discipline. Praise God for His loving favor.

I am working on a novel again. It feels really good to be writing something fun. I enjoy writing my ehow.com articles, but I have seven books in my head right at this moment that are screaming to get out. I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Let me know how you are doing. You can always leave a comment, or if you have a personal question or comment, feel free to email me by clicking HERE.

Hope for the Hopeless

According to my therapist (and my husband before her), I tend to be really hard on myself. Other people I can forgive, live and let live, encourage...Me, I must be perfect or nothing at all. I'm not entirely sure where that came from, but I know it can be overcome. So many things in my life have been abandoned or never started because I knew I didn't have the skill or the time to "do it right (i.e.perfectly)." And as we all know, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing RIGHT!! Well, not necessarily. Many things just need to be DONE and it doesn't really matter if it's done perfectly. For your own sanity, if you struggle with this, I beg you...take the advice of the NIKE shoe company and just do it. If it turns out badly, at least it got done. At least it isn't still sitting in your inbox making you feel guilty with its incompleteness. You folks know who you are and you know the kinds of things I'm talking about. "I can't clean out the utility room because I don't have the right kind of trash bag. I can't start writing that book, because I have to regrout my tile; but I can't do that till I get to the store for more grout; but I can't go to the store because I haven't showered today..." YOU know.

Okay, so what's the one thing that's putting the biggest guilt trip on you? Get up right now and TAKE ONE SMALL STEP toward getting it done. Yep. You don't have to get it all done right now, just do something so you know that you WILL get it done. You will feel so much better. I promise.

Discoveries

I'd like to tell you about a couple of sites I heard about on Glenn Beck's show. A couple of ladies like myself have taken to the internet to express their thoughts, feelings and beliefs, and they do a great job! Check them out at http://mommylife.net/ and http://asamom.org/. Read their messages and leave comments. Tell them Theresa from Wisdom From the Couch sent you!

Keep it Simple

I am re-reading the book Living With Less by Mark Tabb. I understand why folks say they are sickened by "The America Way." But we have no one to blame but ourselves. Think about it. We are all in debt because we want more stuff than we can really afford. We want this stuff because the advertisers have spent a lot of money telling us how wonderful our lives will be if we have it. Besides, everybody else has it. Is it the advertisers' fault? No. If the ads didn't work, if we didn't go spend the money, they would quit doing it. We can't blame the ad companies or pop culture spreaders any more than we can blame the government for our materialism. The desire for more is human nature. God gave us minds to think about decisions before we make them, so we don't have to be slaves to that urge to grasp for more. The capitalist system is not responsible for greed in America any more than the NRA is responsible for gang related shooting deaths. Individual responsibility has to come into play somewhere. We want to blame someone or something else, but the fact is we choose most of what happens in our lives. If we refuse to make a choice, that is also a choice to let things happen instead. If you don't like greed, start by looking into your own heart and root out the greed there. Live more simply yourself and be an example to others of the lower stress and higher level of quiet joy that can be had. Don't expect the government to legislate to others something you are not willing to do and espouse yourself. So. In many ways I am preaching to myself. We have a lot of stuff. Stuff I don't even see anymore because it's in boxes stored away. The next project at the Johnston household is to go through the stuff and only keep what we really love, need and use. The point of life is not the stuff we have. Our stuff has nothing to do with who we are. Our relationships define us. God created humanity because He wanted somoeone to love Him of their own free will. Did you ever wonder why He gave us a choice when He knew we would abuse it? Think about it. Would you want a love that was coerced or given mindlessly from someone who didn't know they could choose any other way? Of course not. We all want to be loved by someone who has a choice and chose us. How much more the God Who created us? So what are you doing with your free will? Don't give it away to pop culture or the propaganda of the hour. THINK and CHOOSE. Don't drift and wind up where everybody else is going.