My awesome husband just created a brand spanking new blog for me. You can find me at brookgray.com
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Patterned
Romans 12:2
New International Version (NIV)
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
I just love our small group. It is so good to connect weekly to a group of people who I can learn from and share my life with.
This week we were asked what patterns of the world we had taken on in our lives. Sounds like a simple question but it really stumped me. I consider myself someone who is pretty careful about my decisions so it was a little difficult to come up with an answer. Then it came to me. Busyness. Going here, and then there, and then back to here again. That has become my life. Continuing to cross items off my never-ending list. If I'm not busy, then I must not be doing a very good job at "things".
Immediately, in the middle of small group my mind started wondering to high school when learning about priorities was number one priority. It was something that was so aggravating to me because it was impossible for me to make my list of things that were important to me and then number them in order of importance. But, like all teenagers, I had to learn how to decide how to spend my time. Now, as an adult if I were to sit down and make a list of my top ten I'm afraid that I'm spending most of my time on the bottom seven things and doing the top three in my spare time. It should be the other way around! How did I get so off?
Busyness is a lie of the enemy! It is a pattern of the world. We don't have to be busy...we choose to be. I'm tired of feeling like I'm spinning my wheels in mud only to get out of that hole to then start sinking in quicksand. That feeling of getting nowhere is due to spending my time on important things, but not the most important things.
This week we were asked what patterns of the world we had taken on in our lives. Sounds like a simple question but it really stumped me. I consider myself someone who is pretty careful about my decisions so it was a little difficult to come up with an answer. Then it came to me. Busyness. Going here, and then there, and then back to here again. That has become my life. Continuing to cross items off my never-ending list. If I'm not busy, then I must not be doing a very good job at "things".
Immediately, in the middle of small group my mind started wondering to high school when learning about priorities was number one priority. It was something that was so aggravating to me because it was impossible for me to make my list of things that were important to me and then number them in order of importance. But, like all teenagers, I had to learn how to decide how to spend my time. Now, as an adult if I were to sit down and make a list of my top ten I'm afraid that I'm spending most of my time on the bottom seven things and doing the top three in my spare time. It should be the other way around! How did I get so off?
Busyness is a lie of the enemy! It is a pattern of the world. We don't have to be busy...we choose to be. I'm tired of feeling like I'm spinning my wheels in mud only to get out of that hole to then start sinking in quicksand. That feeling of getting nowhere is due to spending my time on important things, but not the most important things.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Why Wait
God gave me a little gift this morning. I woke up an hour and a half early unable to go back to sleep. I had so much anticipation the moment I opened my eyes. It's as if I were traveling to Disney today. Normally I wouldn't look at this as a gift. I like my sleep. I like waking up at the same time. I even like setting my alarm early just so I can hit snooze for the feeling that I've somehow cheated the day out of ten extra minutes of sleep. I lay there, forcing my eyes shut just to notice a moment later that they are wide awake staring at the walls. Why?
I blame Erwin McManus. Last night in small group we discussed chapter two of the book Wide Awake. So far, it has been about dreaming big so your life will be big and letting obstacles become springboards for a fresh start. The author of this book is, you guessed it, Erwin McManus.
Now, even though the book has been about springing off into your dreams, God always has a similar but different lesson for me. Last night I couldn't stop thinking about how much time I spent waiting. My life is past the point of doing the same routine day-in and day-out. One member of our small group shared that her big decisions for the day was what to make for dinner and what show to watch at night. While I completely relate to that, God took it a bit farther. I kind of examined the surface level of my typical week. I found that I pretty much spend Monday through Friday waiting to live on the weekend.
There are many reasons for this. I figure there is not enough time in a "normal" day to do anything extra. Or, I tell myself that I'm too tired. Or, I say I'll do it Saturday so I won't add to the stress of my current day.
Well, I say...WHY WAIT??? Do I really want to spend 250 days of the year waiting to live the other 115? That's 64% of my year waiting! That's just ridiculous. I will not let stress, tiredness, or daily frustrations dictate my zeal for life anymore. Thank you God for revealing this to me!
Living everyday doesn't mean shirking responsibilities at work so I can go to the zoo and just spend the day watching the baboons. (Yes, in my mind that would be a great way to spend a day.) For me, it means to
For me, it's that simple. I'm not going to make it hard. Just do one thing different than yesterday.
So, when I woke up early today, instead of forcing myself back to sleep only to be jolted by my robot alarm ninety minutes later, I got up and blogged the first time since May. It's one of the things I've been putting off and waiting to do for a while.
No more waiting for life...I'm going to live it!
I blame Erwin McManus. Last night in small group we discussed chapter two of the book Wide Awake. So far, it has been about dreaming big so your life will be big and letting obstacles become springboards for a fresh start. The author of this book is, you guessed it, Erwin McManus.
Now, even though the book has been about springing off into your dreams, God always has a similar but different lesson for me. Last night I couldn't stop thinking about how much time I spent waiting. My life is past the point of doing the same routine day-in and day-out. One member of our small group shared that her big decisions for the day was what to make for dinner and what show to watch at night. While I completely relate to that, God took it a bit farther. I kind of examined the surface level of my typical week. I found that I pretty much spend Monday through Friday waiting to live on the weekend.
There are many reasons for this. I figure there is not enough time in a "normal" day to do anything extra. Or, I tell myself that I'm too tired. Or, I say I'll do it Saturday so I won't add to the stress of my current day.
Well, I say...WHY WAIT??? Do I really want to spend 250 days of the year waiting to live the other 115? That's 64% of my year waiting! That's just ridiculous. I will not let stress, tiredness, or daily frustrations dictate my zeal for life anymore. Thank you God for revealing this to me!
Living everyday doesn't mean shirking responsibilities at work so I can go to the zoo and just spend the day watching the baboons. (Yes, in my mind that would be a great way to spend a day.) For me, it means to
do something today that I didn't do yesterday.
For me, it's that simple. I'm not going to make it hard. Just do one thing different than yesterday.
So, when I woke up early today, instead of forcing myself back to sleep only to be jolted by my robot alarm ninety minutes later, I got up and blogged the first time since May. It's one of the things I've been putting off and waiting to do for a while.
No more waiting for life...I'm going to live it!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Not the Reason I Married Him, but Close
Twelve years ago, when I married Shawn, he didn't know anything about computers. Now, thanks to good friends, sleepless nights and endless patience, I would call him a whiz. He can build computers, build websites and help his helpless wife with her blog (eventhough she is being stubborn and not switching to tumbler). So, thanks Babe for making this look so good. I love you!
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