Getting Unstuck in my walk with Christ - Day 25

Good morning.  The new semester starts in just 5 days and I'm actually quite confident in having a nicely organized house by then.  This series has been so great for me and I sincerely hope that you've enjoyed reading it.  Just a few more days to go, but plenty more to write about...

Cleaning successes::

1.  Movies - I have 4 baskets full of DVDs, VHSs, and N64 games under my TV in the living room.  These baskets had slowly become cluttered disasters...that is, until the day before yesterday.  Now I can actually tell what's there and enjoy what I have!

  

     a.  All DVDs in cardboard sleeves or unlabeled cases 

          >> in small CD holder

          This reduced the clutter more than I expected.

     b.  I pulled out 1 DVD and 4 Wii games, all of which are not mine 

          >> going back to their owners

     c.  VHS recordings of old TV shows that are accessible on Netflix 

          >> trash

     d.  Computer information/documents 

          >> folder in back room

 See how pretty it all is now!  The DVDs on the left are all in alphabetical order, and notice how there's nothing on top of the DVDs making it ridiculously difficult to know what's inside!  That was a HUGE problem for me...

2.  Library books - They fit so nicely on my living room's bookshelf.  A perfect location where they are easily seen and easily accessed - no more late fees is the goal!

3.  Empty vials - Having been sitting in those 2 large "buckets" drying for a good while now, it was definitely time for them to get out of sight out of mind.  I separated them by type/size and put them with my full vials.  Yes, all of those pallets (except the top one on the left) contain bugs...lol :-P

4.  Easter/Valentine's Day decorations - I managed to come up with a small pile to give away and was able to then fit everything nicely back in the box (including some extra stuff that didn't fit).

5.  Pens/Markers - I went through my shoe box full of pens, as well as 2 pencil cases full that I had forgotten about (of course) and ended up throwing away 55 dried out pens and markers!!  That didn't even account for 1/2 of the pens and markers I have though...I won't need to buy pens for YEARS!

And here is the donation/sell pile up to this point >>>

This photo makes the pile look much smaller than it is in reality,

but compare it to this and you'll see the difference...

And on to spiritual matters >>>

Continuing with yesterday's "course-plotting"::

FOURTH STEP:: Double-Check Your Wiring

-I was to choose from a list of 7 options the ways in which I grow best spiritually.  

   My choices:

          Sermons and Inspiring Messages (This is my favorite way to 

     pass the time when driving a long distance.  Check out "Covenant 

     Life Church" podcasts - they are fantastic!  Joshua Harris and C.J. 

     Mahaney are some of the pastors there ;-)

          Music and Art (Well, I was saved by God speaking to me 

     through a song so this was an obvious one and just take note 

     of all the song lyrics I reference on this blog.)

          Time Alone in Deep Reflection and Meditation (This goes back 

     to the whole idea of my engaging in nature.  Whenever I sit alone 

     on my balcony and take in a good thunderstorm, I am filled with 

     an incredibly powerful peace.)

-Other things that help me grow include:

          Struggles is a big one for me.  I've mentioned several times 

     throughout this series how bad situations have simply led me 

     closer to God.

-Key ways in which I'm going to nurture a relational faith include:

          Powered by 4 (I read Hebrews the other night and plan on 

     beginning an in-depth study of it.  I had no idea how powerful 

     this book of the Bible was!)

          Have conversations with God (Like I did back when I was 

     a newbie Christian)

          Continue blogging about my faith (I hope y'all are enjoying 

     this as much as me :-)

          Serve more (definitely my biggest weakness right now)

FIFTH STEP:: Set Some Spiritual-Growth Goals

Make sure they are:

-Concrete = can put into words

-Measurable = can see your progress

-Attainable = can reasonably be completed

     My goal at the moment is to spend the next 30 days seriously engaging with the book of Hebrews through commentaries, prayer, meditation, and memorization.  To assess my progress, I think I'll make some sort of spreadsheet that lays out what I want to accomplish each day - to make this goal a truly attainable one (since the unforeseen always happens), I'll stick with "Powered by 4" and only make plans ahead of time for 4 days each week.

SIXTH STEP:: Seek God

     Our relational interaction with Christ is an ever-evolving thing and with that in mind, our goals will change and should change to help us grow ever more sanctified into His image.  As I develop new goals and find new resources for delving into my relationship with Christ, you will be the first to know!

     I've come across so many more fabulous things in Chapter 11 of Unstuck, but if I were to mention them all here, it would make this post way too long.  So for now, that's all :-)

State-of-mind pic of the day.

One of those thunderstorms I was talking about ;-)

Yesterday, from my balcony [taken by me].