Every once in awhile I step back to recalibrate and consider: How well does my calendar and planning reflect my heart and my priorities? Transitions are great times to step back and assess. Overbooked calendars create another opportunity. Perhaps you find yourself double or triple booking. That can be a warning sign that something is askew with planning. Difficulty in making choices or delaying decisions can begin to stack up conflicts and wreak havoc on calendaring, actually impacting many aspects of our lives including work, personal life and relationships.
While at an appointment a friend of this person stopped by and said ‘We were supposed to have dinner tonight again. You blew me off again!’ It was an awkward moment, in which I was empathetic to both sides having both experienced and delivered the same train wreck.
What if you stepped back from your daily life and tried to plan your calendar out loosely for the next three years? What would that look like?
As you consider the planning – Where is your heart? Another way to ask the question might be – What drives the activities on your calendar: work, family, other people?
It’s a lot of questions, but as you do step back, perhaps you see some things getting lost in the day-to-day activities on your calendar.
We have a choice. We can choose to turn a corner and reclaim the territory we have allowed the enemy to encroach on. We can choose to clean up our land! But how?
Below are are some ‘heart-learning’ suggestions I am experiencing in my own life that may be supportive to you:
- Protect your contemplative time with the Lord. Regain that time by learning to breathe again. What are you reading? Where do you get your encouragement from? Sometimes a dormant component of your heart can be rekindled by learning from other believers.
- Fast from challenges. Challenges can be intoxicating and give us such a sense of importance. We may need to fast from so many activities that are so worldly important but utterly foolishness in God’s eyes.
- Expand the interior. We who worship I AM, the Nameless One, all must find our way back to the empty mercy seat and the fullness of His presence therein. The angels guard Unseen for us while we toil in the visible. He is truly a patient Father.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)
Have you been encouraged by someone’s story or by a particular scripture or verse? I would love to hear about it and share it with our community. Let us lift each other up and encourage each other to clean up our land in Christ Jesus.
About Cheryl
Cheryl has, since 2004, been helping clients realize sustainable, transformational change and growth through Way of Life Coaching LLC. Find out more about Cheryl here.