The Fosters

Imagine this: you’re given a shopping list, then you’re fired out of a canon through a market, and when you land on the other side, you’re supposed to have picked up everything on the list. That’s how I feel when I look back at 2010 and assess whether or not I accomplished my goals for the year!

I think 2010 just might have been one of the quickest years I’ve experienced in my whole life! Now most people tell me that’s good because it meant I wasn’t idle but somehow I don’t find comfort in that. On the contrary, I feel like the year flew by and I’m left wondering if I did what I was supposed to have done… sigh.

Okay, so what’s done is done and there’s no point in looking back so I choose to look forward and try to learn from my mistakes. I asked Ranette, “What can I do differently so I don’t feel like this at the end of next year?” Not taking me seriously, she replies, “Have a shorter shopping list!” …Not the answer I was looking for.

After some deep soul searching, here’s what I came up with: my frustration with not getting enough done this year is the result of an overemphasis on tasks, programs, strategies, planning, budgeting, technology, email, and well… stuff. And I’m talking about the kind of stuff that never ends because the more you focus on it, the more it multiplies. So where, then, should I focus my energy? It’s time, once again, to look to Christ as the ultimate example. Jesus had the immense task of bringing salvation to the world and establishing a new Kingdom on Earth. You’d think he would have at least needed to build an office from which to base his operations but a quick look at his life reveals something very different. Jesus put all of his energy and time into people… not stuff. He unreservedly poured himself out into everyone he met. Wow. But can that really work? I mean let’s be real; the culture and way of life back in Jesus’ day is totally different from what we work in now. Certainly he would have to adjust his strategy to fit our modern times? He’d at least need an iPhone and a Twitter account to get his message out there, no?

I guess because I’ve grown up with images of the life of Christ from childhood right up until the present, it’s easy to picture him moving about in his day but I’ve not yet been able to picture him moving about and working in my day. Well, let me qualify that; while I may not be able to get an accurate idea of what he would do, I think I can be pretty certain about a lot of things that he wouldn’t do! And to be brutally honest with myself, it’s highly likely that those things he wouldn’t do comprises a lot of the stuff that is eating up my time and leaving me frustrated at the end of each year.

Ephesians 5:15-17 “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”

With 2011 right on the horizon, my prayer is for wisdom; wisdom that can help me to clearly draw the line between pointless busyness and actually doing what the Lord wants me to do. And there’s great irony here because when we’re focused on what God wants us to be focused on, I believe that’s when a lot of stuff actually get’s done!