Focus

Have you ever heard Michael Medved on the radio? He's a political talk show host who frequently takes calls on his show and attempts to answer their questions. The only problem is, some of these callers cannot seem to focus on a topic for more than say, 10 seconds. They meander all over God's green earth talking about who-knows-what-and-who-cares so often that Michael has to tell them what he tells his children at home while they do their homework: "Focus like a laser beam."  Still, some refuse to stay on topic.

I love good lines like that and I borrow them and use them for myself.  Sometimes I get so distracted while doing one job or task that 4 or 5 others call out to me and I never finish the first one. When I realize the problem, I say to myself, "Focus like a laser beam," and it helps.

So all of that said, I am trying to cut out the non-essential stuff in my life and focus like a laser beam on the important, or at least what I deem is important right now: the family, starting a garden (however pathetic it may be), keeping the house cleaner than it is at this moment (glad you can't see it), and to make time for what renews me: writing, reading and studying the Bible (just started Thessalonians :) ), prayer, and organizing this mess at home.

The family will always be on the list, as I am told by much older parents (and grandparents) that parenting never ends, and just when you think it does, grandparenting begins. That's okay. I'm learning to enjoy my kids at whatever age they are right now.

The garden?  Hmmmm.  I tend to compare myself here and am weighed and found wanting, as the Bible says. I don't put in the time or energy it takes to have a great garden, so I usually just grow a few things besides  flowers.  I really have to chicken-proof the little garden I have this year, as they both love fresh greens and seeds (think tomatoes!).  They can already jump the little white plastic fence I so carefully put around the herb garden. It was almost comical how quickly they saw through my little plan there.  And when I plant the lettuce, watch out!  They LOVE lettuce!  So I'm thinking a bigger fence around that garden.

The house. Now there's a project.  Though small, it contains 5 people, a cat and a hamster. Let me hasten to say the cat and hamster are NOT the problem. I have three wonderful children who think that "clean up!" means to shove everything out of sight from mom. Like under the bed, in a closet, or in those nice, neat little Rubbermaid storage containers that used to hold their toys but now hold every other personal belonging of theirs EXCEPT toys. They leave the house messy, and I mean really messy, every single day. Trying to fight these three messers leaves me depleted, frustrated and sometimes angry.  I like things in order. I like things clean, not hospital clean, just keeping-your-sanity clean. Like surfaces wiped off and no food on the floor clean. Is that a lot to ask? So this continues and I don't see any changing it in the near future.

Writing. I am writing for the first time in years. I write stuff in my head all the time. Sentences, paragraphs, essays even. But getting it down on paper or even computer was another thing. Some of my best stuff was written in my head when I was just on the verge of sleep, or awakening, or in the shower.  But this blog helps a lot.

Reading. I have been reading more lately too. There are about 6 or 7 books I'm reading at a time. And I just finished a few more that were excellent. So that's actually going great. Right now I'm challenged by a book on prayer by Bill Thrasher from Moody Bible Institute (a fantastic book to get you praying again), a book on Ephesians by Chip Ingram (another great one recommended by my friend Beth), a book on ADD, another in the series of the Mitford books which I never finished but recently picked a few up at a church book sale, of course my Bible (all over the place but starting a study in Thessalonians thanks to a book by John Walvoord that was a gift from our friend Jim Seffinga - thanks Jim!), The Americans, by Daniel Boorstin which is as fascinating as it is long (682 pages), and a Bible study workbook by Beth Moore on the life of David (Psalms and 1 & 2 Samuel mostly).  So I ALWAYS have something great to read. Can't understand people who say they're bored, with so many books to be read.

Prayer. Thanks to our church's prayer meeting every Tuesday and my own personal prayer life (which is growing), this is going well also. I don't think you can really pray TOO much unless you neglect everything else in life and just do that.

And finally organizing the house, garage, and shed.  This may take a while, as I am a perfectionist to some degree and hate jobs that are done half-baked.  Ok, I am trying not to swear or I would have said the more common term there. Aren't you proud of me?  But I love turning things from chaos to order and from messy to neat and from tornado-affected to organized. My only problem here is that like I said before, I live with messy children and it seems as soon as I organize something, like the video/DVD closet, and make it beautiful and orderly, they mess it up again. It's hard to stay motivated when the street sweeper is followed by the leaky dump truck full of dirt.  I am sabotaged at every turn. They call me a neat freak and dismiss my efforts with a roll of their eyes. So this remains one of my biggest challenges, but I'm working on it.

Those are the areas I am trying to focus my time and energy on at the time of this writing.  Remember, Beth: Focus like a laser beam!