WORK

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

~ Hebrews 13:20-21 NIV [biblegateway.com]

A few weeks ago, our pastor used this passage as his benediction. I love this sort of passage - the blessings of Scripture, the "May God" passages.

In this particular one, the word "work" caught my attention. "... May he work in us what is pleasing to him." 

Work.

Change and improvement isn't granted like a genie granting a wish or a fairy waving a wand. The things God wants to see in me come from work. They take time. Just when I think I have grasped something He wants to teach me, I realize it has come around again - maybe in a slightly different form, but there it is again. Often, it takes months just for me to cultivate an awareness that I'm even doing whatever it is that God is showing me. I guess if I was conscious of it in the first place, I wouldn't do it. Instead, it is such a part of my behavior or my character, it takes repeated effort to even recognize it is there, much less try to do something about it.

It takes work.

Within the work, I take comfort in the fact that God cares enough about me and about my character to even bother with me and my flaws and defects. Apparently He thinks it's worth the time and effort to bring about His purposes, even in a sinner like me.

The Countdown Continues

My Countdown to Spring Break Survival Kit continues to give me a reason to get out of bed in the morning. This is crunch time. This is when life is ridiculously busy and when the days will barrel on with little break until Spring Break arrives.

The envelopes are losing a little of their umph on their own. Opening one has gotten to be a little "old hat." But the blessings inside have taken on increased importance. They feel like a message from the Lord and from myself every day. I take a picture of each day's message and post it on Facebook in case any one else is playing along. I find myself pulling that picture up on my phone several times a day to remind me of the message - a little encouragement for the moment or hours ahead.

I am very glad I did this. And I am glad I have kept each message and each envelope. I hope I won't need this level of encouragement for awhile, but I'm glad to know I have it available if I do!

       

Survival Kit Update

The survival kit is working! I enjoy re-reading each day's scripture or blessing as a reminder of positive ways to focus my mind each day. The tasks so far have been small but enjoyable - something else I look forward to every day. I look forward to getting up in the morning and opening my envelope - and sharing the picture on Facebook. I've had fun conversations with folks about the project - I might even make one for our school's auction later this spring.

So far this has been an entirely worthwhile investment of time, energy and a little bit of money - and it is making the incredibly busy days leading up to spring break a little more positive!

         

Survival Kit

Once upon a time I worked for a non-profit that was pursuing national accreditation. I was responsible for coordinating everything and everyone across two agencies in different states to make that happen.

As we moved closer to "crunch time," I decided to make a survival kit for each member of our leadership team. I don't remember how many envelopes there were, but there were several and each one had a treat of some sort: a comic, some gum, a note of encouragement, money for a can of soda, something from our reward system, etc. The staff could pull an envelope any time they needed a break or a reward for their work. I'm sure there were some who didn't care and never opened an envelope, but others seemed to enjoy the fun and surprise. I know I did, and I made the thing in the first place.

Recently I have been struggling emotionally. I don't know what it's from - delayed grief/depression, the consequence of two summers full of work (one dealing with Dad's estate and one working at school) without a break, the winter blahs, or some combination - but it's been a daily struggle. And frankly, March is too busy for me this year to deal with a daily struggle to just get out of bed.

This "survival kit" idea came back to me as I was reading a book about creativity. When I put the memory of those long-ago survival kits together with how I was feeling, I started to get excited about creating a countdown to spring break that might make the next few weeks tolerable. So, I made this:

This is my Countdown to Spring Break Survival Kit. I started it this past Monday and I have enough envelopes to open one a day until Good Friday, which is the first official day of Spring Break. 

I made each envelope by cutting down some of my favorite 12x12 scrapbook papers to 8x10 and then folding them to 8x5 and gluing the sides together. I didn't seal the tops, so I can use them again.

Then I took some resume paper and cut them into 4 squares (5.5x4.25) and I wrote a blessing or note of encouragement on each one. The blessings were either scriptural blessings (the "May God..." passages from the New Testament, like Romans 15:13) or blessings from Max Lucado's piece on blessings. 

On the back side of those blessings, I wrote a task. Here are some examples:

• Schedule a one hour date with yourself - take a nap, listen to headphones, write - be alone for awhile and take a break
• Research something you have been wondering about - grad school, vacation spot, etc.
• Read a chapter from a book you have wanted to read for awhile
• Read a chapter from your favorite book
• Write out your to do list. Then tear it up and take the day off.
• Write about your earliest memories for 30 minutes
• Order a treat for yourself from Amazon that will deliver after Spring Break - extend the joy beyond these 26 days

Frankly, I had more ideas of tasks than I used. If I ever want/need to do this again, I could try some different things. I also included some cash to buy myself lunch a couple times and I put a candy bar or a gift card in a couple of the envelopes instead of a task.

I had my husband actually load the envelopes for me and put them in order on his own, except for the final envelope which I planned myself. That way, I have NO IDEA what each envelope holds. 

I am hopeful this will add some joy and fun to the next few weeks of hard work and anticipation of a much needed break.