Writing

Busy is not new. People have been filling their lives with clutter, too busy with daily life, for thousands of years.

A cluttered life leads to a cluttered heart.

And clutter chokes out the joy and peace that we are meant to have.

The Bible talks about this a lot, but it’s common sense. You don’t have to believe in Jesus, or anything really, to know this.

So why do we worship at the altar of busy?

It would be really easy to just say “it’s in our nature.” But I want better for me. And if I read the Bible and actually believe what it says, I find out God wants better for me too.

The problem I keep struggling with is kind of a chicken and egg thing. I know better is out there, but somehow I can’t seem to make the time to make the time. I’m too busy to slow down.

I‘m too frazzled to find peace.

The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over and expecting different results. The same thing, for me, for now, is clearly not working.

I’m not sleeping well (it’s 2AM as I’m writing this). I’m not eating all that well (because I die a little inside when I think of Wal-Mart).

Masha had her tonsils out last week (ouch). Lena has show choir rehearsals and previews and competitions (they won Grand Champion on Saturday!).

Mark and I have meetings, and ministry, and coffee with old friends, and coffee with new friends, and coffee at home (OK, so coffee hasn’t suffered).

Every week, every day, I say it’s time to do something different, and then busy gets in the way and then the day is gone. And it looked exactly like the one before it.

I beat myself up for what I didn’t get done and for what I wasted time on.

I poke myself when I mess up.

It’s time for some grace.

My friend Joseph released a devotional last Friday (and he’s offering seven free bonus gifts with it this week, too!).

It’s about finding grace and hope. And with grace and hope comes peace.

Ever since I saw an early draft last summer, his words have danced around the walls of my heart, inviting me out. Inviting me to find peace. To make changes. To know grace. To lead me home.

Maybe it’s time to let those words sink into cultivated soil rather than falling among the thorns of my cluttered life.

So what’s the secret??

I’m a writer. I can write a really great search-optimized titles like “Seven Ways to Clear a Cluttered Heart” or “The Obvious Secret To Peace You Might Never Imagine.” I can probably even write 500 words of BS with some made-up answer.

But really, folks, I don’t have it all figured out.

If there’s a secret, I haven’t imagined it yet. Or at least I haven’t let go of the garbage that’s cluttering my life enough to see it. (yes, that was meant to be ironic…or whatever.)

So the simple secret, I guess, is to just let go of some of the clutter.

To focus on what’s important…the hearts of my familiy (and their bellies). the word of God. Rest.

And to let the rest of it go.

Simple, right?

Simple, but oh, so hard.

What’s cluttering up your life? Leave a comment…

The final frontier.

These are the voyages of the Family Niles….

Its permanent mission: to explore strange new teenagers; to seek out new life and new ways of living; to boldly go where no one in their right mind has gone before. (cue Star Trek theme song…)

OK, so that might be a little bit extreme (and a little lame), but yeah. Life is happening, people. My head is spinning.

We’re stepping into a season where God is proving his faithfulness and where we’ll need to rely on that more than ever. Changes are facing us on every front. And while all of them will ultimately end well, managing them and finding the new harmony are going to take a lot of attention.

Some of these changes relate to some great opportunities for my dream, and they are going to take a lot of focus.

Some of them have to do with family schedule and focus, which always must be top priority.

And…I leave for Guatemala on Saturday morning!

As I’m starting a week that’s going to be insanely busy, I caught a post from my friend and mentor Jeff Goins about the importance of making space for creativity to happen. He reminded me that busy is not a good problem to have.

Mental clutter blocks creativity. (click here to tweet that.)

Because busy is bad, I’m going to be making some changes to the blog for the next month or so:

• You’ll be seeing a few more guest posts from friends that I respect and admire (starting with a great one tomorrow).
• I’ll be posting even more randomly…some more short posts, maybe sharing some photos, or poems, or just amusing thoughts.
• Every now and then, I’ll be putting together a newsletter with sneak peaks into what’s coming up.

I’m also ramping up to release an short Ebook in the spring, so I’ll be sharing little bits and pieces as that comes together.

All that to say, if you’re not subscribed to receive updates via email, I really would recommend it. It’s super-easy, you won’t miss anything, AND you’ll also get a free copy of my first eBook about perseverence as you chase a dream of your own (and about how important it is to take care of yourself when you hit the wall).

Join my email list here:

Literally, and in the blog sense.

Today, I’m visiting the Adventures in Missions offices in Gainesville, Georgia to finally meet the amazing marketing team that I serve with, and I’m also virtually visiting while my friend Jim Woods of UnknownJim.com anticipates the arrival of his new baby boy!

My post for Jim is called One Dreamer’s Map to the Promised Land:

Once upon a time, Christine lived a nice normal busy life. Great career, family, two cars and a house. Living the dream.

Except the dream was a nightmare. Not the “chased by monsters” kind, but the “constant dread of the insignificant” kind.

Rodent of your choice running for the ridiculous disappearing reward of choice.

(click here to read the rest)

Haters are everywhere.

I hear about them from bloggers I admire and I fear the day a hater shows up in my comments.

I hear about them from my kids and it leaps to a whole new level. My heart breaks. I want to punch them in the face.

Haters are the black cloud in a clear blue sky. They will bitch and whine about anything. Everything.

“I wanted a yellow Ferrari, not a red one. You suck.”

They hide behind clever pseudonyms and fake facebook accounts; they strike and slither away into deep, dark holes.

They are no one.

The Ugly Truth

I’m a glass half full of scorpions kind of girl. Keeping a positive attitude? Tough stuff. Especially around the kids, and especially in my writing, I work at the positive tone.

But inside, the voice that mocks me is mine.

I am my own worst hater.

I am the one asking, “Who are you to change the world?”

I am the one thinking, “You pretend you’re good, but you’re not. The people reading and encouraging you? They’re just really nice people. But they lie.”

It’s hard to ignore that hater.

The Beautiful Reality

I’m not alone.

Ask a room full of dreamers about their inner voices? Surprise! They all say the same things.

Our inner haters aren’t very creative. So why give them power?

If the haters in our heads all use the same talking points–if each one of us has that in common–we can band together against them.

Together, we can do what alone is too hard. Too scary. Too intimidating.

We can punch our inner haters in the face.

A tribe full of dreamers is an amazing, uplifting thing. Let’s banish the haters in our own heads. Let’s punch them in the face and get on with chasing our dreams.

What does your inner hater tell you? Leave a comment…

*Photo Credit Andrius Petrucenia (Creative Commons)