Catching Up

Well, it seems I've fallen behind on doing my Weekly Wrap-Ups...  Oops.  I don't think I would have much good news to share anyway, but I'm still plugging along with my goals and trying to come up with ways that I can rework them and/or my strategies in order to fit into real life.

One reason why they have taken a beating lately is because the ministry I help with and my Bible study have both started up again, and both take up quite a bit of time.  On Mondays, I leave work mid-afternoon and drive straight to the church to serve with a ministry I love, and I don't leave there till 8:30 or 9.  Add almost an hour to get home, and I'm walking in the door pretty late.  On Tuesdays, I leave work mid-afternoon and drive straight to a library near the church so that I can do my Bible study homework and pass the time until we all gather for dinner at 6:30.  Bible study ends at 9, and one hour-long drive later and I'm finally getting home.  Come Wednesday, I'm tired but thankful to have those things I love in my life.  So the workouts that I thought I'd be doing during the week aren't happening as frequently as I'd like, the evening pick-ups around the house don't get done, and my projects happen in spurts on the weekends.  Since these activities will be a part of my life until the end of April, I need to figure out how to adjust my plans in order to be more realistic and achieve what I want.

On the organization front, my office is coming along alright.  I haven't sorted through as much stuff as I would've liked to by now, but it is definitely looking cleaner and cuter, thanks to some storage containers and accessories from IKEA.  I also finally went through all my books and decided which ones I'd like to part with for now.  This freed up a whole shelf on my five-shelf bookcase, which is a pretty big deal for me considering I've been holding onto some of these books forever thinking that someday I'd read them or refer back to them.  Ah, the elusive "someday" that never comes...  If you're interested in seeing which books are up for grabs, I've put them all in a Goodreads list here.  Hopefully I'll get some more work done on the office this weekend.  I haven't figured out if I'll tackle some of the clutter that belongs to the hubs... :)

My time with God has been good.  I'm still going through Jesus Calling and my New-Testament-in-a-year plan, although some days I'm on schedule and some days I'm playing catch-up.  I don't beat myself up about it.  Some days my time with God doesn't involve those things, and that's okay.

[source, found via Pinterest]

I had started to think that simply reading the short devotions in Jesus Calling was good but not really "doing anything" for my day-to-day, moment-to-moment life.  But lately I've noticed something.  You see, I have this bad habit of swearing.  I have the two or three that are my "favorites," and they tend to come out when I'm having an annoyed/angry/worked-up outburst (not justification, just context).  And I noticed yesterday in particular, as I blew a fuse in our kitchen while frying ravioli on the stove-top, that as I dropped each four-letter word while running around in the dark, immediately after the word came out, Jesus' name came to mind.  And not in a cursing, taking-the-Lord's-name-in-vain sort of way.  In the way like the Holy Spirit was reminding me of Who I should be turning to and calling out for in these moments.  It was an interesting realization, a kind I've needed.  Even the shortest moments of time spent aware of God and what He may be trying to teach me are valuable.

And in addition to the wrap-ups I haven't been writing, I've also been pondering another post that I'd like to write in the near future...  I need to make more time for blogging. :)