Busyness (Part 2)

In a previous post this month, I wrote about busyness. This has, indeed, been a crazy and busy month for me. It's why I haven't posted anything lately. I've been running in high gear since December. With the exception of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day when I went to Charlotte with Beth (see previous post), I've worked every day this month. This morning I woke up at 5 AM in pain. I think my body was rebelling and trying to tell me to stay home. So I did.

This isn't a whiny post though. I'm not complaining. It's actually a very exciting time for TNC as we move our student ministry and offices into a new location. I can't wait for the job to be finished. Hopefully, one week from today I can say we're almost done.

Even in the midst of the busyness, God has revealed himself to me in ordinary and extraordinary ways. Ordinary, in that, even in these fast-paced days I've made sure to take time each morning for Bible reading, devotional reading, and prayer. This year I am reading at least one chapter from my Ryrie Study Bible (NASB) starting at Genesis 1. I'm also reading Francis Chan's, Crazy Love. I will be through with it in a couple of days. Not sure what book is next on the list.

During this ordinary time, God has continued to speak to me, remind me of his strength, give me confidence, and stretch my faith.

God has shown himself in extraordinary ways too. He has used this time to remind me of the power of his family, the Church. The renovation project that we've undertaken has been fun and frustrating at the same time. But God's people have been extremely generous in this endeavor. Donations of time, tools, supplies, and money have saved us tens of thousands of dollars. I can't believe some of the contributions we've received during our move to The Blok.

Not to sound trite but God is good.

He really is.

For readers who attend TrueNorth Church, I can't wait for you to see our new location. There's still room for improvement, but I think you're going to like it.

For all of you who might find yourself busier than you want to be, I trust that you will stop and take the time to spend with the One who gives us strength. He is able to help you prosper and be successful even when things around you seem crazy. I promise.

PS - Guess where this picture was taken.

IKEA & Toothpaste

Yesterday, Beth (my bride of 26+ years) and I went to a happy place - IKEA. IKEA is like the Disney of home furnishing stores. I have never in my life been excited about going to a furniture store until I discovered IKEA. Last year, we spent a day in the IKEA Atlanta store. Yesterday we visited the new IKEA in Charlotte - over 6 hours in a furniture store! This kind of thing is not normal for me.

It is overwhelming. Put it this way, IKEA has a cafeteria and a children's daycare area. You can literally spend all day there.

Needless to say, we looked for things we "need" as well as things that we want. I put need in quotation marks because, in reality, we don't need anything. We "need" more bookshelves. That was the primary reason for our visit. Honestly, we "want" more bookshelves. We will be fine without them. We want to rearrange our house and update some furniture. We don't really need to do it.

The funny thing for Beth and me is we enjoy dreaming and thinking about these kinds of things but we have a hard time pulling the trigger on such purchases because a: We're never really confident in our interior decorating skills. b: We hate spending a lot of money on stuff.

Regardless, we had fun and we made a few decisions about purchases and it was a tiring but fun day in Charlotte.

Then I opened the newspaper this morning...

In Haiti, one week after the tragic earthquake, they are saying that over 200,000 people are believed to be dead. There is so much death and destruction there. Relief efforts can't come in fast enough. 1.5 million people are suddenly homeless and toothpaste is a hot commodity now.

Toothpaste?

The stench of the dead is so great that people want toothpaste to line their nostrils so that the smell will not nauseate them.

And I need more bookshelves...

I just finished reading Chapter 2 of Francis Chan's book, Crazy Love. The title of this chapter is "You Might Not Finish this Chapter." Francis writes about the brevity of life and the fact that we don't know what a day might bring. We don't know if we will live through this day. I remember the day my mom died. If you had told me at 12:00 noon that day that my mom would die before 2 PM, I wouldn't have believed you. But she did.

We don't know what a day might bring. But we are to rejoice in the day. Rejoice in God's blessings. Rejoice always. Rejoice even in the pain.

For Those Interested in Publishing a Book

I am a regular reader of Chip MacGregor's blog. Chip is one of the leading literary agents in the world. I've also had the privilege of chatting with him at a writer's conference and hearing him speak. (That's us in the pic. I'm the tall goofy one.) If you are interested in the business of writing, I highly recommend that you follow his blog.

Chip's associate, Sandra, posted this yesterday. It's not a pleasant thought. In fact, it explains just how the publishing industry is changing and how difficult it is to sell a book today. If you want to write the Great American Novel some day, go for it. But know that the road to the mountaintop is steep!

Quotes from Deliberate Simplicity

I recently finished reading Deliberate Simplicity: How the Church Does More by Doing Less by Dave Browning. Here are some things that I underlined as I read it:

The Great Commission does not say, "Come," it says, "Go." But we (the Church) create events, programs, services, and classes, then hope and pray that people will come to us.

When we lack passion, it is often because we have allowed something precious to become familiar.

Is church a place you go to or is church a place you go from?

We have churches full of people who love Jesus. But that's not enough. We need to love what Jesus loves: the world.

The greatest sin of the Church today is not any sin of commission or sin of omission but the sin of no mission.

A survey was performed in San Francisco asking, "What do Christians do?" The two most prominent answers: "They go to a lot of meetings" & "They are against things."

Worship is the way we stay centered. Small groups are the way we stay connected. Outreach is the way we stay concerned.

The gap holding back most believers is not the gap between what they know and what they don't know. It's the gap between what they know and what they are living.

Test Your Awareness: Whodunnit?

Found this on novelist Angela Hunt's blog

Busyness: The Devil's Workshop?

It's been said that, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop." While that may be true, I've always contended that, "Busyness is the devil's workshop." The past several weeks have been pretty crazy. Along with the busyness of the holidays, our church has recently acquired a new building to house our offices and student ministries. We have 20 days to complete the renovations in the building. TWENTY!

We may be pulling some all-nighters soon.

Because of the busyness, I have to be careful not to let it take it's toll on me. I have to make myself start the day off with time with God - and a cup of coffee, of course! I must remember to enjoy the journey as it unfolds and look for divine appointments. I must remember to keep priorities in order. I must maintain a people-first attitude. It's easy for me to get into "task-oriented mode" and forget those around me.

I feel like I'm doing okay with it. I like to be busy. I rarely sit and do nothing. There's always a job to do, book to read or write, - and, of course, Facebook. :)

I found this brief blog post at Bianca Stingl's website.

She makes some good points about busyness.

Roll Tide!

Over Five Years Old

I was wondering the other day how long I've had this blog so I went back to my first blog post. It was on November 28, 2004 - over 5 years ago. Not many people knew what a blog was then. I think I was blogging before blogging was cool.

I started this to promote Timely Words. In my reading and research about online marketing and promotion, I learned about weblogs, AKA, blogs. Thanks to Blogger, this has been a fun experience. I look forward to posting more in 2010. Hopefully, I will have some "timely words" for you.

Obeying the Law

I just added this at the bottom right column. It's the law.

As of December 1, 2009, the FTC requires that bloggers disclose if there could be hidden interests or unspoken biases related to recommendations or endorsements. Therefore, you might want to know that most books that I review on this blog are provided to me free by the publishers. My reviews and thoughts are honest and genuine. I am not persuaded in any way to manipulate readers to buy a book that I do not fully endorse. Books that contain a link to Amazon.com products provide a small (VERY SMALL) royalty to me as well.

Julie & Julia: A Reminder to Writers about Perseverance

Beth and I brought in 2010 by watching Julie & Julia - a movie about two women in different eras aspiring to be writers. Julie Powell worked a dead-end job, was a wanna-be writer, and needed some excitement in her life. So she started a blog journaling her crazy resolution to cook her way through Julia Child's book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Julia Child worked for the OSS (pre-CIA) during World War II. Her husband, Paul, continued to work after the war for the US Embassy in France but Julia had no job, no hobbies, and no aspirations. Finally, she signed up for a cooking class for professional chefs in Paris. Food soon became Julia's passion.

Julia saw a need for a book on French cooking written in English for "servantless Americans." It took eight years of hard labor to write the book and appeal to publishers but the book eventually became a success.

Julie's blog began with no fanfare and no readers. Over time, she gained followers and before the end of the year she had a successful blog and publishers, TV producers, and film makers calling. It is a great story of success through nothing but good old-fashioned hard work.

I appreciated the movie because it shows how difficult and how hard it is to write and publish a book. As a wanna-be writer myself, I was encouraged and challenged by Julie and Julia's persistence and perseverance.

If you are writing a book or want to write a book, Julie & Julia, might inspire you. It's not easy. That's obvious from the film. But hard work often pays off when you stick with it. Congrats to Julie Powell who blogged her way to success.

PS - The movie was a lot of fun to watch. Meryl Steep was incredible as usual!