Simple Things

1 year.
12 months.
52 weeks.
365 days.
8760 hours.
525,600 minutes.
31,536,000 seconds.

Which is better:
1. To make huge goals but never fully reach them?
2. To make small aims and hope to be better sometime in the future?

I will choose the first. Is it unrealistic to set goals? Well, no not quite. But it is unrealistic to set goals, and so many "I will do's", that your grocery list looks pale in comparison to your personal to-do list. Don't get me wrong. I think it's great that people want to be positive and "reach for the stars." The only problem is they forgot to figure in their lack of a spacecraft carrier that will get them there. In essence they don't have the resources, wherewithal, and means necessary to get a hold on their desires. Their grip begins to slip and they quit. Wouldn't a more realistic goal be more appropriate and more attainable?

New Years doesn't have to be filled with the famous all time lies waiting to show you just what a big hypocrite and liar you really are. You know some of them, you've said some of them, you've failed at all of them:

1. I'm gonna lose weight and be skinnier than I was in high school (or at least as skinny) and I think I'll get my 17 year-old pre-baby stretch mark body back.
2. My house will be clean everyday this year.
3. I'm going to pay off all my credit cards and never borrow a single penny again.
4. I'm going to have a perfect marriage.

Enough said.

We cannot attain the looming generalized statements. These kind of promises feature the all or nothing mentality, which single-handedly sets up for immediate failure upon the first inkling of mis-performance. Don't believe me? It's simple. It really is...Just...Simple.

It's the simple things. The little things. The small redirection in attitude, technique, and mindfulness which can bring about lasting change. How about this one? I'm going to purpose to drink more water. When I am out to eat, I'll just get water. I'll reserve pop for a special occasion (even diet) which in turn will cause me to enjoy it more. It will in the long run prove good for my health and body. Or what about this simplicity? I will walk right to the coat closet when I get in the house, hang up my coat, and put my shoes away neatly on the shelf. This is simple because I have to take my coat of right away anyways and the closet is conveniently located upon entry through the door (almost like they specifically built it that way for that reason), so why not just work this right into my schedule--let's see, 1 minute a day times 365....Out of some 500,000 minutes that's not too much. Or what about this simple I will return the shopping cart to the cart corral or better yet to the inside of the store...MY DEAR LORD SHE CAN'T BE SERIOUS!!!

What are the things that make you smile? Are they the huge gigantic feats where you conquered the unimaginable? Or is it the moment a tiny voice, stops whining for just long enough, to whisper "Mom, I love you as high as the sky and as deep as the ocean." It's the simple things that bring joy and pleasure and it's the simple things we can do to be better on a yearly, month by month, week by week, hour by hour, minute by minute, and second by second basis.

Simple, isn't it?

Control Freak

Well, I think today was a very successful day...we ended up in the food court at the mall and I kept my lips tight shut. No french fries, milkshake, or hotdog in this mouth. It took A LOT of self-control, but you know what....I DID IT!!!! I am the only one that decides what goes in my mouth. I am the ONLY one.

I often think about that with my kids...eating is pretty much the only battle they CAN win. Broccoli--mouth tight shut. Asparagus--lips thin as a line. I can make them sit at the dinner table til morning (which I don't do...using this example simply for the illustration) and they can boldly REFUSE to eat the food on their plate. I can use betty-crocker sprinkles to spice up those mashed potatoes (yes, I've tried this). The sprinkles start to bleed, the potatoes get hard, and the colorful mashed potatoes still eventually end up in the garbage. Just like a child refusing to eat...I, too, am the only one that can control what goes into my mouth.

I get a funny picture of my husband and I sitting down to a family dinner. I have a proud look on my face, telling him I'm not going to eat my peas—and by the way “You can’t make me!!!” He gets up out of his chair, points his finger in my face and declares "You will eat your peas young lady or no dessert for you tonight!!!" I stubbornly shake my head and look down. He gets up on the kitchen table, grabs my throat and starts shoveling spoonfuls of peas onto my closed lips. I see green. Smashing green peas everywhere. Peas mushed into the floor by the rolling kitchen chairs, in my face, and in my hair--Peas EVERYWHERE. Split-pea soup for dinner the next night.

Just simply shows how ridiculous it is to think that someone else is responsible for the way I am. Silly isn’t it???????

The irony of this whole not-being-able-to-control-food-issue is the constant desire and acting upon controlling everything and everyone around me. My husband, “Honey turn right at the next stop sign, it’s faster.” My kids, “That is not the right way to make your bed.” My boss, “Well what if we did it this way instead?” I want to control everything I have no control over. And the one thing I CAN control—what goes into my mouth-- I choose not to. If I spent half as much time trying to control myself as I did other people, I would probably be much further along than I am right now. Twisted. Sick. Disappointing.

Proverbs 5:21-23
For the LORD sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his incredible folly.

I read this verse and it floored me. The Lord is not blind to what I do. When I over-indulge it is sin. The Lord is examining the path I am on. My own sins are holding me captive. I can just see it. The French fries, shotguns in hand, waiting to pull the trigger. The chocolate chip cookies, grenade chips ready to pull the plug. The peanut-butter sandwich. All holding me captive, holding me a knife-point screaming at me, as the peanut butter yells out, “SPREAD ME, SPREAD ME, SPREAD ME.” They will kill me and I will die if I refuse to show ‘em whose boss.

I am the only one that can loose myself from the ropes that hold me. I will DIE if I am not able to have self-control.

I Peter 1:13 So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the special blessings that will come to you at the return of Jesus Christ.

There are blessings, special blessings that come as a result of having self-control. Self-control is daily-control. You don’t just turn it on one day and that’s it…it’s on forever. But you continually have to go back and turn it on again and again. That’s why His mercies are new everyday. Every morning when we get up, we have an opportunity to choose to live in the things we can control and not the things we can’t.

I want the special blessing. I’m gonna control to get it!