I've had a bit of a rough week. What it all boils down to is a supreme lack of focus. You would think after all these weeks of talking about focus that I'd have it down pat by now, but apparently I still have more to learn and practice.
At the end of last week we had to scramble because the fee was due for our daughter Allison's study trip to Greece. Getting it in the mail and hoping it would get there quickly caused lots of stress - for Allison and for me. If I had been focused I would have sent it in several weeks ago when Allison gave me the paper copy of the bill.
On Tuesday afternoon I was puttering around the kitchen at about 3:20 and said out loud, "Oh, it's time to get ready for my physical therapy appointment. Our son Blake piped up, "Wasn't that at 2:20?" Apparently he looks at the calendar more than I do. I had gone through the whole day thinking my appointment was at 4:20. I called the office and apologized, nearly in tears, and they kindly rescheduled. I'm sure it inconvenienced them and caused a ton of stress for me. If I had been focused I would have looked at the calendar in the morning and realized the correct time.
Later that evening we sat down for supper and Gary asked innocently, "Didn't you say you were going to make mashed potatoes with this?" Yes, yes I did...but no, no I didn't. It wasn't a huge deal but I gave myself a few emotional lashings before I let it go. If I had been more focused we would have enjoyed some tasty spuds with our supper.
Little things and big things. When we aren't focused we make mistakes and disappoint ourselves and others. Thank goodness for grace. None of us would survive if we were required to be perfect all of the time. There are going to be errors in our human lives. We have to make peace with that and move on.
Experiencing these failings can be a reminder to us about how important it is to really focus. Focus on the details we need to keep straight in our lives, of course, but also focus on the most important things. We need to focus on our relationship with God and make sure we're not forgetting to read His word, talk to Him often, and live for Him so that others can see it. Missing a doctor's appointment once in a while is sad, but missing a divine appointment with our Lord would be tragic.
"I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds." (Psalm 77:11-12 NIV)
Have you been forgetting to focus lately? What can you do to make sure you are not forgetting to focus on God?
Friday, May 9, 2014
Friday, May 2, 2014
Focus Friday: Let's Focus on Progress
I'm frustrated again.
I had gotten used to the hard blue cast on my left ankle over the past month. I was excited about going to the doctor last Friday to get it off, have some x-rays taken, and see what the next step would be. I was getting tired of not being able to put any weight on my left leg. I was hoping for a walking boot, but I knew that I still felt some pain at times so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to walk on my ankle yet.
The time for the appointment came, the cast was removed, x-rays taken, and the doctor came in to discuss them. She was pleased with the healing that was taking place and she pointed out a few things on the pictures. Then she declared that the nurse would come in shortly to fit me for a boot. My heart raced and I looked forward to walking until she went on to say that I still could not put any weight on that leg for at least another month. My hopes crashed as I realized I'd still be using my scooter to get around for a while.
My foot felt like it wasn't even part of my body as I looked at it before getting the boot on. It was swollen and shaky and dry skin was flaking off. Not a pretty sight. At all. That night I had more pain again and I could hardly sleep.
The boot is an improvement in some ways. At least I can take it off and shower without having to put a garbage bag over my leg. That's better. The boot is also worse. It's kind of a pain to undo five velcro straps and take it off and put it on a couple of times a day. It's frustrating to be in a "walking boot" and still not be able to walk. I sigh as I think about a month more of this and then limited weight bearing for probably another month.
Therapy has begun, but it's so basic. I move my foot back and forth, side to side, around in circles. I write the alphabet in the air with my big toe. It's incredible how hard that is. My foot is shaky and doesn't want to move where I want it to. It will come in time, I know, but for now it's just frustrating.
I want to walk now. It's difficult to focus on the progress I've made over the last six or seven weeks. I want to move ahead to the point where I'm taking long walks around our town again. I want to ride on the bike trail and go kayaking. All of that will have to wait until my ankle heals a little more.
We can do that in other areas of life, too. Sometimes we get frustrated when we don't see enough improvements. The weight doesn't come off quickly enough. Our temper doesn't improve fast enough for our liking. We don't spend enough time praying or reading our Bible and we feel like spiritual failures.
We want to jump ahead to the slim, calm, spiritually mature person that we see in our mind's eye. It's frustrating to limp through our imperfect days and not see the results we long for.
What we need to focus on is the progress we're making. Any progress we're making. I'm in a walking boot instead of a cast. That's an improvement. I'm starting to move my ankle after it's been immobile for about six weeks. That's an improvement.
I love a concept that Lysa TerKeurst talks about in her book "Unglued." She introduces the idea of imperfect progress. We don't become perfect, but we keep moving in the right direction. That is what we need to focus on, my friends. Try to focus on how far you've come, not on how far you have yet to go. Thank God for any speck of improvement you can see in your life, and don't focus on the setbacks that are bound to come.
Let's keep focusing on our relationship with the Lord and be glad for any imperfect progress we make.
"...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6 NIV)
Is there some area of your life where you are frustrated with your lack of progress? Can you find some improvement to focus on and rejoice in any "imperfect progress" you can see?
I had gotten used to the hard blue cast on my left ankle over the past month. I was excited about going to the doctor last Friday to get it off, have some x-rays taken, and see what the next step would be. I was getting tired of not being able to put any weight on my left leg. I was hoping for a walking boot, but I knew that I still felt some pain at times so I wasn't sure if I'd be able to walk on my ankle yet.
The time for the appointment came, the cast was removed, x-rays taken, and the doctor came in to discuss them. She was pleased with the healing that was taking place and she pointed out a few things on the pictures. Then she declared that the nurse would come in shortly to fit me for a boot. My heart raced and I looked forward to walking until she went on to say that I still could not put any weight on that leg for at least another month. My hopes crashed as I realized I'd still be using my scooter to get around for a while.
My foot felt like it wasn't even part of my body as I looked at it before getting the boot on. It was swollen and shaky and dry skin was flaking off. Not a pretty sight. At all. That night I had more pain again and I could hardly sleep.
The boot is an improvement in some ways. At least I can take it off and shower without having to put a garbage bag over my leg. That's better. The boot is also worse. It's kind of a pain to undo five velcro straps and take it off and put it on a couple of times a day. It's frustrating to be in a "walking boot" and still not be able to walk. I sigh as I think about a month more of this and then limited weight bearing for probably another month.
Therapy has begun, but it's so basic. I move my foot back and forth, side to side, around in circles. I write the alphabet in the air with my big toe. It's incredible how hard that is. My foot is shaky and doesn't want to move where I want it to. It will come in time, I know, but for now it's just frustrating.
I want to walk now. It's difficult to focus on the progress I've made over the last six or seven weeks. I want to move ahead to the point where I'm taking long walks around our town again. I want to ride on the bike trail and go kayaking. All of that will have to wait until my ankle heals a little more.
We can do that in other areas of life, too. Sometimes we get frustrated when we don't see enough improvements. The weight doesn't come off quickly enough. Our temper doesn't improve fast enough for our liking. We don't spend enough time praying or reading our Bible and we feel like spiritual failures.
We want to jump ahead to the slim, calm, spiritually mature person that we see in our mind's eye. It's frustrating to limp through our imperfect days and not see the results we long for.
What we need to focus on is the progress we're making. Any progress we're making. I'm in a walking boot instead of a cast. That's an improvement. I'm starting to move my ankle after it's been immobile for about six weeks. That's an improvement.
I love a concept that Lysa TerKeurst talks about in her book "Unglued." She introduces the idea of imperfect progress. We don't become perfect, but we keep moving in the right direction. That is what we need to focus on, my friends. Try to focus on how far you've come, not on how far you have yet to go. Thank God for any speck of improvement you can see in your life, and don't focus on the setbacks that are bound to come.
Let's keep focusing on our relationship with the Lord and be glad for any imperfect progress we make.
"...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6 NIV)
Is there some area of your life where you are frustrated with your lack of progress? Can you find some improvement to focus on and rejoice in any "imperfect progress" you can see?
Friday, April 25, 2014
Focus Friday: Let's Focus on Natural Beauty
At the beginning of April, Gary and I took a wonderful trip out west. We put about 2400 miles on a rental car, several miles on my knee walker, and visited seven national parks during our eight day trip. (That's just how we roll!) Since we couldn't hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon as we had originally planned, we decided to do lots of sightseeing. We came back amazed at the beauty that God has created. There was so much variety among all of the parks: mountains, valleys, canyons, forests, rivers, waterfalls. It was truly amazing. I know that pictures can't even begin to do justice to the awesome displays we saw, but I thought I'd try to share a little of it with you here on Focus Friday. Let's focus on the beauty that God has created here in our great country. If you get a chance, I highly recommend going to see each of these parks (maybe not all in one week, though!)
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| Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona |
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| The beginning of the Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ |
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| Capitol Reef National Park, Utah |
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| Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah |
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| Bryce Canyon National Park, UT |
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| Zion National Park, Utah |
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| Gary spent some time hiking The Narrows, Zion National Park, UT |
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| Sequoia National Park, California |
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| General Sherman, Sequoia National Park, CA |
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| General Grant, Kings Canyon National Park, CA |
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| Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite National Park, California |
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| Mirror Lake, Yosemite National Park, CA |
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| Upper Yosemite Falls |
(Psalm 95:1-7 NIV)
Friday, April 4, 2014
Focus Friday: Magnified Force
This quote from Lysa TerKeurst showed up in my Facebook newsfeed a few days ago and I thought it was just right for this week's Focus Friday:
Wherever we focus our attention the most, that will become the driving force in our lives.
The more I focus on trying to figure out how to please people, the more of a magnified force people-pleasing will become in my life. The more I focus on trying to figure out how to please God, the more of a magnified force He will become in my life.
(A Facebook post by author and speaker Lysa TerKeurst)
As a slowly reforming people-pleaser, this resonated with me. Think of the joy, peace, and contentment we could enjoy if we focused more on pleasing God instead of pleasing the people around us.
I think I'll leave it at that for this week. Go back and read Lysa's quote a few more times. Think about it as you go through each day and let God be a "magnified force" in your life.
Are you focused on pleasing people or pleasing God? How would your life look if you let God become a magnified force in your life?
Wherever we focus our attention the most, that will become the driving force in our lives.
The more I focus on trying to figure out how to please people, the more of a magnified force people-pleasing will become in my life. The more I focus on trying to figure out how to please God, the more of a magnified force He will become in my life.
(A Facebook post by author and speaker Lysa TerKeurst)
As a slowly reforming people-pleaser, this resonated with me. Think of the joy, peace, and contentment we could enjoy if we focused more on pleasing God instead of pleasing the people around us.
I think I'll leave it at that for this week. Go back and read Lysa's quote a few more times. Think about it as you go through each day and let God be a "magnified force" in your life.
Are you focused on pleasing people or pleasing God? How would your life look if you let God become a magnified force in your life?
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