New Year - New Calendar!!

  The first weekend of the New Year has passed.  I actually had to go and purchase a new calendar - no freebies came in the mail from anyone this year.

  I started entering birthdays and appointments and started thinking about the many things I HAVE TO DO today and tomorrow and next week and next month....

  I heard a great program on the radio on the 2nd day of January. It was a repeat on Moody Radio by Chris Fabry: an interview with Bill Hybels. (Bill Hybels interview)

  It was a good program to listen to as I was sewing on my machine. I was finishing a quilt I had started 30 years ago.  I had never scheduled it into my year and so never found time to finish the quilt and told myself that this would be the year it got done! 

(btw:This quilt has many memories as it contains fabrics from Nigeria, West Africa. It represents friendships from many years ago - finished photo and more story on that will come later.)

  Then some things Bill Hybels said got me to thinking. I started writing down what he said to meditate on later:
 

 "I want to order my life, I want to schedule stuff in, plan for activities and stuff to do. And all those things can push the important to the side."

"What if I plan for WHO I want to BECOME 

instead of WHAT I have to do?"

What if I plan a God first schedule instead of "good stuff"?

"How will I plan my schedule differently if I plan my life around the destiny of my family before God our maker and Savior?"

"How will I plan my schedule differently if I plan my WHOLE LIFE instead of just my work life?"

"If I simplify my life and unclutter my soul how will my calendar change?"

So, as I fill out my calendar I plan to keep these in mind as I start 2015, how about you?

   One of the suggestions given by Bill Hybels was to make sure you have a life passage from the Bible and set the course of your life around those verses.  

  Here is mine - I embraced it when I was 16 years old for the "Rejoice in the Lord Always" portion, but the rest of the passage has lifted me up through the years, and encouraged me, and challenged me.

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 

5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 

7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7