ALL IS CALM!

Calm!

These days is "calm" used much any more in our multi tasking society?

Do we know how to be still?

Be still before the Lord?? (Psalm 46:10)

In today's terms, is this God's way of encouraging us in our time of worry, busyness and anxious thoughts? "Relax. I got this." (Psalm 94:19)

His consolations certainly can bring "bright" to our lives and delight to our souls.!

WORDLE

Even Wordle has my Number. 

(Notice I waited a day to publish it so as not to spoil the surprise.)

When one has not had a "calm brain" in an entire week, God has to really step in to get your attention.

He can even use a  game. I had been "keeping on-keeping on" as well as I could........but my mind kept moving with my circumstances. Yes, I started my day praying for my "daily" people, keeping up somewhat with zoom prayer groups, taking hubby to ER & helped him with virtual doc visit, attending Bible study, taking food to a suffering friend, etc. Busyness is a way I cope....it's always been that way for me. At this time in life it seems worse. I know because I can't keep up. I even have a "come apart" when I put my compression socks on the wrong feet. I mix up my meds or forget  to take them. My hand shakes as I type or lift spoon to mouth with my granola. I can feel shakes even when I don't see them.  As brother Buddy said, "Feet moving. Going nowhere."

What's a gal to do? Take time for the "pause that refreshes"---More time alone with Him!

To pause is difficult. It requires being still---even in my mind!

SCATTERED, SMOTHERED, COVERED & _______________!

Sometimes it seems so difficult to live a spirit-filled life in a "Waffle House World."

Waffle House defines its hashbrowns as scattered, smothered and covered.
Lately that describes my life. Scattered. Smothered. Covered.
Scattered thinking is putting it lightly for  my ADD--"Always Distracted Dotsy"!
Smothered with an unrelenting schedule. My calendar is a jumble with crossed out appointments, rescheduled doc visits and interrupted plans, think "shingles". "Tyranny of the urgent" seems to reign while I try so hard to get a handle on it.
Covered in doubts and fears and a lethargy that has a way of zapping my zeal. Yet, I believe. (Mark 9:24)
Sadly, I could add "out of focus or overwhelmed" to my blank. Yet, that's not the desire of my heart.

So....I pray---whether I feel like it or not.

A.W. Tozer quoted Dr. Moody Stuart, who said, "Pray until you pray."

That's my plan for the day---barring no interruptions.

CHOOSE: SLOWING

Choosing slowing is easier for me to type than for me to do. Obviously. Busyness and slowing have been topics in several Dotsy Details blog entries.

I will slow down; set limits on my commitments and work; And make certain that those whom I love remain first in my life. 

That sounded like such a good idea when I read it. So, I brewed a cuppa intentionali-TEA and wrote "slow down" post-it notes to place throughout the house.
Then "my  plan" fell apart.
I "lost" the book before I could get citation info for the blog. I know that's a big literary publishing no-no....so a lawsuit could be in my future. I certainly don't have time for that.

I should have put a slow down post-it in my car since his afternoon I hurried through a light that went from yellow to red. I don't have court time or money for that either--if those lights still operate.
DING! Calendar reminders popped up that reminded me of pre-scheduled events. Then, 2 of the post it notes lost adhesive and "bit the dust."

So....did I give up? No. Once again I just needed to change my focus.

Seek Him first.
...make His Kingdom and righteousness your chief aim and then these things shall all be given you in addition. (Weymouth New Testament)

I choose to allow Him to choose my best schedules or pare appointments as needed,and am joyfully expectant to see how He will work this out in my life.

SABBATH SNAPSHOT: "productivi-TEA" not just "activi-TEA"

Mary Ewing pointed out the disparity between the vernacular of the Medicare grandmoms and the language of the young (both moms and singles) she heard at the recent Downline Women's Summit.
"I have been "crazy busy" all week. how about you? Me too---"crazy busy," the young mom answered. These girls have to get up "crazy early" to even have a semblance of a quiet time.
"Crazy Busy!" "Crazy Early!"
Mary thought , "I don't talk like that." 

Me either, Mary. "Busy, certainly. Overwhelmed, at times, but "crazy busy" isn't a phrase in my vocabulary. But God....knows it and even had a young pastor, Kevin DeYoung, write a book with that title, in the lingo of the Generation Y folks.

Crazy Busy, A (MERCIFULLY) short book about a (REALLY) Big Problem. It really is a great book for the "stressed out" of any age.

Beware the Barrenness of a busy life. Remember activity and productivity are not the same thing.(Rick Warren)

"Crazy busy" is defined as frenzied activity---trying to do all one can do in order to impress, please or control others. That type of busyness is diametrically opposed to the "busyness" of Christ, who went about discipling and building relationships.

DeYoung breaks the book down into a simple outline---3,7, and 1; 3 dangers to avoid (chapter 2), 7 diagnosis to consider (Chapters 3-9) and 1 thing you must do (chapter 10)

Questions this book will have readers asking themselves:

When people ask you how you are doing, is the word"busy" almost always included in your answer?

Do I want to keep up this same "busy" pace the rest of my life?

Am I over-programming my children these days?

Am I trying to do what God doesn't expect me to do?

Do I expect to never suffer?
Could I go an entire day without checking my Facebook?
Could I even go an afternoon without looking at my phone, especially when I hear that "text" alert?
Am I more engaged with my thumbs than with my heart?

The "Deep Calls to Deep" chapter had me "thinking" the most because "tech talk is tricky." (p. 78)

As DeYoung says, some things are better because we are wired but somethings are not better. It's the insatiable appetite for constantly being plugged in that has one hungry to be fed the way the Net feeds us----immediately. That seems to be the danger. Most folks now depend on the internet for information and activity. (p. 80-81)

We seem to "keep downloading information, but rarely get down into the depths of our hearts. (p. 82) That's "crazy busy."