ORGANIZED PEOPLE ARE HEALTHIER PEOPLE
Did you know that getting and keeping ourselves organized is one of the secret first-steps to staying healthy and stress-free?
This is something we need to take to heart if we really want to begin to live a true IN SEASON lifestyle.
MAINTAINING AN ORGANIZED LIFESTYLE
In the past we published a series of articles about getting organized. Parts of this article may be review for a few of you. Now we want to continue our thoughts and suggestions on this wide-ranged and often complex subject. A few updates seem to be in order. We will be building on the foundation we laid a few years ago.
Why?
Because we are so interested in living a healthier lifestyle. Good organization contributes to good health.
THINKING HEBRAIC ABOUT TIME
Also; the subject of time is near and dear to our way of Hebraic thinking. We recognize that “time” came to us from God as a great big gift when He first created the world. He also gave us special portions of “time” to spend with Him in worship, study, prayer and listening.
How we spend our time matters greatly to how we are living out our destiny and the purposes God has ordained for our lives.
Our time has a beginning and an ending. Of course we will just be beginning again whenever we enter eternity; but the time we spend right now on this earth matters more than we know or realize most of the time. It is limited. We can’t waste our minutes and hours on things that waste or do not matter to our time. Yet; we must also be careful to take “time-outs” and rest in order to remain healthy and revitalized.
So; today we begin the art of considering how we are spending our time wisely.
How do we start?
By organizing of course!
We will start out by sorting through our thoughts and putting them in the right order.
WHAT DOES GOD HAVE TO SAY ON THE SUBJECT OF ORGANIZATION?
The bible is full of scriptural examples of the ways which God has provided for learning how to plan and organize our lives in a healthy manner.
For instance; the first scripture verse that comes to mind as I ponder such things is the one that says: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself; sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” We find this scripture hiding in Matthew, Chapter 6, verse 34.
SUFFICIENT FOR THE DAY
I often make jokes about how many people forget to read this particular verse. Being a bit of a “prepper” myself these days; my finger points right back to myself.
There is a thin line between planning, organizing, being prepared and becoming an over-stressed fanatic. Let’s face it; we live in a stressed out/burned out/do-it-now; have-it-now world.
We over-worry and over-think everything!
BEING WITH THE PEACE OF GOD
To plan and organize properly and orderly; you must begin with the peace of God. Take a moment right now and spend some time in prayer. Ask God what He wants from you in the next year. Seek God’s help and guidance on how to best spend your time.
Relax and quietly breath in God’s instructions specifically for you. Make notes if you need to.
Let’s just stop and remember that Our Great God is in control of everything.
SOMETHING I’VE LEARNED TO DO
When the weight of this need for planning begins to hit me in my own personal life; I’ve learned a little trick that helps me a lot. I take a deep breath then begin to look backwards. Stopping and pausing; I consider whether or not one day has ever passed when God did not provide for me in some special and amazing way. As I remember; I offer thanks to our Great Provider.
GRATITUDE COMES FIRST
Then I remember all the stressful, hard times. I ponder how each time and each circumstance turned out in the end.
On the other side; you can see clearly.
God always provides for us.
CONSIDER THE LILIES OF THE FIELD
We must learn to trust this concept more as we go into the new year. Most are predicting a hard year in 2024, especially for Christians. Hard circumstances and tough times will come and go; but God is always faithful to those that are following Him and living out His ways.
Consider the lilies of the field; how they grow so beautiful without a care.
BIRDS SING EVEN IN HARD TIMES
Think of the little birds that have nowhere to lay their heads. Yet: God has programmed instincts right into them that lead them to gather twigs and build their nests.
Some of these birds might even mistakenly put their nest in one of the most precarious of places. Still; God looks after them in the storms and the little nests rest safely until time for the eggs within them to hatch out and bring new life.
WAITING ON NEW LIFE REQUIRES FAITH
We must have the faith and the trust of the flowers and the birds. They do not toil and they are not full of strife.
One day at a time they take the moments they are given in each day to do the things that God has taught them best.
It always works out beautifully in the end.
New life always appears and replenishes the earth.
OVER-PLANNING IS NOT WISE
There is such a thing as over-planning and over-organizing and forgetting to take the time we all need to enjoy life.
Let’s let our planning be for good reasons, and not for the sake of being a perfectionist.
REMEMBER THE GOAL
The goal for those wanting to lead a healthy IN SEASON Lifestyle is to make and create more down-time, worship time, leisure-time and rest-time in our lives; not to add more work and stress.
KEEPING SABBATH MATTERS MOST
I will caution you with this first article on this subject: If you haven’t yet learned how to keep Sabbath; I doubt any amount of planning or organizing will work out well for you.
Keeping Sabbath seems to be God’s first step toward having a happy and productive life.
UNDERSTANDING SABBATH IS CRUCIAL
If you need to review some of the articles in this blog on that subject; here are a few links to get you started. https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/sign-of-the-sabbath/,https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/sacred-appointed-times-and-seasons/ https://theinseasonlifestyle.com/keeping-sabbath/,
Keeping Sabbath and keeping a proper time-balance is a good thing to remember as we go into a new year. It separates our thinking from other people who are frantically trying to change the world they live in during a matter of only one or two weeks as the new Gregorian civil year begins.
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE TAKE TIME
Life is a process.
Each Sabbath renews our soul.
God is always transforming us. Patiently He is shaping us into the unique destinies that He has planned especially for each of us. Sometimes He takes us down side-streets. We are on His schedule; not ours.
Remember, this organization skill takes time, so don’t dive in and overestimate how long you need to get good results, then get discouraged and quit.
It isn’t easy; but it is worth the effort.
GOD’S SCHEDULE; NOT OURS
So; we have a new year, a fresh clean page. Let’s not get overwhelmed as we begin; that would only cause burn-out.
Let’s be sure to trust God for our joy and keep a good healthy balance.
BALANCE IS IMPORTANT
By the same token; there is no cause to work against God by being constantly disorganized and never considering any workable plans for making a better life.
God does tell us not to be slothful. I have to think of Joseph warning Egypt to store up food before a famine. When God tells you to prepare for something; He expects you to do it. Just make sure you are using balanced thinking as you go about your task.
REMEMBER TO USE BALANCED THINKING
Let’s get some godly balance into our days and make that balance work in our favor for this new year.
By completing one baby step at a time we can make this organizing process work in the favor of our good health for the next civil new year.
PICK YOUR WORD FOR THE NEW YEAR
This “getting-life-organized is a long, continuing process. My word for starting the year several years back was “organized.” At that point I had SO MUCH to do. I’ve made a good start; but I’m far from reaching the finish line.
My plan in the years since has been to continue slowly walking down the same path.
WHAT IS YOUR WORD?
Maybe my word for this present year will be “prepare.”
What is one word that describes your goals for this year?
Perhaps you have followed our organization routines before. I hope you decide to join in with us on this journey again. It is an on-going process.
LAYER UPON LAYER
In this mini-series of articles each year; we are building layer-upon-layer of destressing, preparing and making life a bit more organized and easier. Each year we update these techniques and add whatever we feel is appropriate for the season of life we find ourselves living out. Every year is full of different needs. All participants must evaluate where they are right now and what goals they are trying to achieve.
We do not all have to be alike. As a matter of fact, it is useful for us to all be unique and different from each other. This balance helps us to learn and grow and makes our time so much more interesting in the end.
Each turn of the calendar turns into another great adventure that we can share together.
ADDITIONAL NEW GOALS FOR THIS YEAR
In previous years we have presented ways to organize time, clutter, home-spaces and meals. We want to expand on each of those subjects a little deeper this year.
Also; we have some new subjects and areas to explore. There will be an emphasis on keeping God’s calendar, living healthy as we age, and developing useful ways to use our time in retirement. These all sound like articles for the ageing; but most of it could apply to any age actually. Everyone grows older and it is good to gain the wisdom about that fact when you are younger. Don’t feel you need to skip these parts of our journey because they are valuable to anyone at any age.
There are also articles about how to cope with the world we live in today. So much has changed in the world. We need to change and grow into the times in which we are living. The world we lived in five years ago and the world we live in today are drastically different in nature. Government has changed. Food supply is different. The economy has changed. Laws over education, work and labor and banking and finance are changed. We could go on naming things. Hopefully we will find answers as we explore keeping our time together.
NAVIGATING WITH GOD
Let’s learn how to navigate these changes together in a godly way. Of course we will also include all of the older things that still apply to keeping our time. Much of what we have discussed before is beneficial in helping us to order and number our days in accordance with God’s calendar.
NUMBERING OUR DAYS
If we simply learn what matters most, then decide to follow a few simple steps, we might actually find ourselves enjoying a more organized and peaceful life by the end of the next new year.
PREPARING FOR EMERGENCIES TOGETHER
Working together, we can be ready to face emergencies, or any changes that the world might throw in our direction. Even better; perhaps our thinking ahead a bit might help to prevent emergencies.
We all might be surprised at the burst of energy we will suddenly receive simply from using a few new suggestions for getting our lives a bit more organized for ANY situation or circumstance.
Come along and join the fun. I would love to hear your thoughts and comments as we go.
In the meantime; remember to pick your word for the new year. Write it down and keep it handy. By doing that; you have taken the first step to getting organized without even realizing it.