Try as you might – you can’t manage time. Time marches on no matter what you think you can do to it. You can, however, manage yourself. You can be intentional and disciplined in how you choose to spend your time.

How will you spend your time well in 2012?

As we launch into a grand New Year, I want to share one of the best demonstrations I’ve ever seen on the importance of being intentional when planning our days. Stephen Covey, best-selling author best known for his book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People begins his demonstration with a clear container which represents a day. Big rocks, representing big priorities, are then placed in the container and Stephen asks, “Is this full?” He then adds smaller rocks which tumble around to fill the empty spaces in between the big rocks. He asks again, “Is this full?” Sand is poured in and fills the vacant spaces leaving the container visibly full. But Stephen knows it can hold more. He pours water in to prove it.

THE POINT IS WE MUST PUT THE BIG IMPORTANT ROCKS IN FIRST. If we don’t, we’ll get lost in the non-important and the seemingly urgent matters of life will consume our days. To demonstrate this point, Stephen reverses the order and starts with the water, then sand, then small rocks. Reverse the order and there is no room for the big rocks – the big priorities. They simply don’t fit in. Keep this simple yet profound demonstration in mind as you plan your days this year.

I’d like to add one ROCK to Mr. Covey’s demonstration. The most important ROCK of all time. The ROCKstar of all ages. I’d like to suggest you PUT THE ROCK ETERNAL, JESUS CHRIST, IN FIRST. “My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him. HE ALONE IS MY ROCK and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will never be shaken.” Psalm 62:1-2.

Consider starting out most mornings with Him. CARVE OUT A POCKET OF PEACE BEFORE THE DAY CAN TAKE YOU AWAY. SCHEDULE TIME WITH GOD LIKE YOU WOULD ANY OTHER APPOINTMENT. You can certainly hang out with God any time but it’s best to “turn the lights on” at the start of your day. Adopting this discipline may cost you some sleep but the R.O.I. ROCKS!

There is something mightily powerful and perspective-changing about starting the day with sacred moments.
“The man plans his course but the Lord directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:9.
WHAT STEPS MIGHT GOD WANT TO RE-ORDER FOR YOU TODAY?
WHAT BIG ROCKS DOES HE WANT TO PLACE INTO YOUR DAY?

There are so many benefits to getting in touch with the Father each morning. One of my favorites is the PEACE that comes in remembering He is God and I am not. I can REST IN THE SECURITY OF HIS PLANS, NOT MY OWN. I can SURRENDER IT ALL AND TRUST IN HIM. PERIOD. That’s a big deal to this high-octane woman who struggles yet desires to be led, not driven. What I find most interesting is how twisted and stressed-out I can get if I miss a day or two of placing the ROCK Eternal in my day first.

Here are some important things for you to remember as it relates to this early morning time with God:
* IT IS A TRANSFORMATIVE SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE NOT A
GUILT-PRODUCING DUTY.
* THERE IS NO WRONG WAY TO HANG OUT WITH GOD. If you’re wondering what to do in your chair (chair not required) click here for a few ideas.

Sit. Stay. Restore. ROCKon. You’re not a slacker if you miss a day or if you choose never to hang out with God. But IT’S WHERE THE LIFE IS. GET SOME!

Merry Christmas to you!  What does a broken-down chair on the beach have to do with Christmas?  Everything.

When I saw this dilapidated chair on the beach months ago, I instantly thought of Christmas.  Here’s why:

• In part, because my ministry encourages people to carve out time to sit with God and cultivate a deeper relationship with Him.  It is in my own prayer chair that God changed everything about my heart, mind and life.  I used to think I had to have it all together to enter into God’s presence.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Now I bring Him all my brokenness and He makes me whole.   We can approach Him with our fragile, flawed, battered and broken selves.  It’s a “come as you are” invitation that never ends.
• In part, because my first thought on the beach was, “The owner should just throw this one away and get a new one.”  Scripture records, “The wages of sin is death.”  We are all disqualified by birth.  We are all disqualified by the Law.  Instead of throwing us away in our sin, Jesus Christ came to rescue, restore and redeem us.  Through Him we are made new.
• In part, because the chair on the beach clearly had been neglected and possibly abandoned.  It represents me when I neglect to cleanse my heart and renew my mind – I can quickly become a mess if I neglect practicing His presence to many days in a row.

That’s a lot of parts so I snapped a photo.  But here’s the biggest message of all I found hidden in the broken-down chair:

Does your family tree include any prostitutes?  How about multiple murderers?  Any adulterers, evil leaders, incessant liars or deceivers?  Check out the first chapter of the first Gospel.  The book of Matthew traces the ancestry of Jesus all the way back to Abraham.  THE LINEAGE OF JESUS CHRIST INCLUDES ALL OF THESE BROKEN, SHADY, MESSED UP PEOPLE.  AND THAT’S THE POINT OF CHRISTMAS.

JESUS CHRIST CAME TO EARTH AS “GOD IN A BOD” TO SAVE BROKEN PEOPLE.  AND THAT’S PRECISELY THE POINT OF CHRISTMAS.

In the Old Testament Isaiah 61:1-3 predicts Jesus will come to “bind up the brokenhearted…proclaim freedom for captives…comfort all who mourn…give beauty instead of ashes…gladness instead of mourning…a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  And all will be for the display of His splendor.”    Later in the New Testament, in Luke 4:21, Jesus himself quoted Isaiah when he spoke these words, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  Today in your life this Scripture can be fulfilled when you seek out the One who came to this earth to save you.

Christmas puts an exclamation mark on Isaiah’s prophecy.  Jesus didn’t come for the glamorous people who appear to have it all together and all figured out.  That’s a twisted, false idea held by many religious people.  If Jesus came for the glamorous people who have it all together he would have been born at the Bethlehem Ritz-Carlton.  Instead our Savior was born in a broken-down filthy stable.  Don’t miss the message of Christ’s delivery room.  Allow Him to deliver you from your brokenness.

MAY YOU CHERISH THE CHRIST CHILD, THE ROCK ETERNAL, THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON.  MAY YOU ENTER INTO HIS PRESENCE AND BE MADE WHOLE.

Thank you, Mr. Mountain, for allowing me a photo shoot with your gorgeous tree.

 Do your prayers leave room for THANKSGIVING? Are your prayers petitions without praise? Requests without reflection?

It was November of 2006. My friend Kathy visited me at St. Joseph’s Hospital. Again. I was there for a full week. Again. I was sinking into total frustration and fighting depression. At the end of our visit, Kathy gave me the devotional Experiencing God Day-By-Day by Henry Blackaby. Later I read the entry for November 19 and it forever changed me.

Highlighted was the story from Luke 17 of Jesus healing the ten lepers “…and one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down at His feet, giving Him thanks.” Nine men ran off reveling in their newfound health. “But only one considered THE SOURCE OF THAT BLESSING AND STOPPED TO THANK AND WORSHIP THE ONE WHO HAD GIVEN HIM BACK HIS LIFE. ONLY ONE LOOKED BEYOND THE BLESSING TO THE SOURCE.”

At the end of the week I was healthy enough to go home. My family packed up my room then we all headed down the hallway to the elevators. I remembered “the one” and quietly told my family I’d forgotten something in the room. In my heart I knew I’d forgotten to say THANK YOU TO THE SOURCE.

In the stillness of the empty room, I knelt at the side of the hospital bed right next to the gears the kids loved to operate to “fold up into a bed sandwich.” I thanked God for answering so many prayers. Restored health. Discharge papers. A new start. But I also smiled and thanked God for my two beautiful kids who brought luminous joy during a dark week. Not only did Sean and Lauren like to make bed sandwiches but they had a blast making blow-up roosters out of medical gloves. On my knees, I also lifted up thanksgiving for my loving family and friends who had made an invisible God visible to me through their countless acts of love and service.

That was the November I learned to be like the one leper. I returned to the Source to say “THANK YOU.” That was the year I learned to BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT LOOKING PAST ALL THE BLESSINGS OF LIFE TO THE SOURCE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD.

Thanksgiving puts us in the present and makes us acutely aware of the NOW. It creates a sanctuary of gratitude and seems to freeze time if only for a moment. No matter how dark life gets there is always something to be thankful for if we pay attention and refuse to let the darkness eclipse the good in life.

Perhaps this Thanksgiving season we can silence the requesting, questioning and crying out to God. The void created can be abundantly filled to overflowing with gratitude. Let’s find the focus to appreciate the beautiful blessings, precious people, holy happenings and tiny treasures we encounter every single day. It takes being aware. It takes being fully present in the moment.

May you be fully aware this Thanksgiving season and return to the Source of all that is good. I’ll close by sharing “All Good Gifts” – it’s been a Thanksgiving favorite of mine since I first saw GODSPELL in my church basement when in elementary school.

Make Every Day Thanksgiving Day!

“No man for any considerable period of time can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.”
-Nathaniel Hawthorne

It may be that I’ve been living in the South far too long, but that quote makes me want to shout “Amen!” Because I did get “bewildered.” There came a time when I realized that the person I was at the end of the day when the lights went down was NOT the person I was presenting to the world. When out in the world, my dial was locked in on one frequency: perpetually happy. If I was feeling less than perfect, I would do my best to isolate myself until life lightened up. Vulnerabilities are not for public viewing. Can’t let anyone see me without my game face on.

Closing the gap can be a tough journey – it’s one I’m still on. As I find the courage and authenticity to bring more and more of the real me to the world, I’ve uncovered a vital bit of truth. GROWING INTO WHO GOD CREATED YOU TO BE IS ALL ABOUT RECOVERY NOT DISCOVERY. I love what Michelangelo said in 1504 after his masterpiece Renaissance sculpture David was complete. When asked how he was able to create such a masterpiece out of a lifeless form of marble, Michelangelo replied, “I just chipped away at all that was not David.”

Know that THE REAL YOU is in there! And it’s exactly who God envisioned you to be since the beginning of time. RECOVER IT. Chip away at all the layers this world has piled on you. Layer by layer, slowly and gently, make your way back to the core of who God created you to be.

Think back to when you were a kid. In all likelihood YOU WERE FREE AND YOU WERE GENUINELY YOU 24/7 without regard to what other people thought of you. That is until this world took your “!” for life and made it into a “.” And the world shouted “Conform. You must fit into our mold of who you should be.” And sadly, most of us listened. We lost ourselves in the process of putting on ever-changing masks to meet the ever-changing standards of this world.

The great news is OUR GOD NEVER CHANGES. The fact you were created in His image for a very specific purpose doesn’t change either. The quickest way to drop the mask and recover the true you is to hang out with Him and renew your mind. Often. “Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and prove what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2 (NIV)

It’s in those quiet moments you spend with your Heavenly Father that you grow in confidence that WHAT HE SAYS ABOUT YOU IN HIS WORD IS TRUE. You’ll gain the authenticity and courage to get real and bring more of your true self to the world in humble confidence. The world needs the masterpiece God created you to be.

“Labor Day” was never intended to describe a faith journey but that’s exactly what it was for me when I did religion day in and day out.  It was exhausting.  It was an endless cycle of making a list, checking it twice, missing the mark, dealing with the onslaught of guilt and then promising to try harder next time.  Repeat.

This funny video depicts better than anything I could ever express in words what it felt like for me to practice religion for most of my life.  When this life brought me to the very end of myself, I discovered that it was O.K. to turn off my religious treadmill.  I no longer had to rely on my ability to perform.  For a very different reason, the guys in this clever video do not want to turn off their treadmills.  Enjoy the performance:

Jesus enraged the religious leaders of His day.  He confronted their hypocrisy and the fact that they would lose all of their power if they gave up their lengthy list of do’s and don’ts.  In essence, He told them they had it all wrong.

God is not about do’s and don’ts.  He gives love.  Religion gives law.  Religion offers a report card to measure performance.  GOD OFFERS A LIFE GIVING RELATIONSHIP THAT WILL NURTURE YOUR HEART FOREVER.  THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD GIVES LOVE AND LIFE.  Just ask the adulterous woman who was thrown at the feet of Jesus as the crowd raged on about stoning her to death.  They demanded the law be administered.  Jesus chose not to cast the stone only He could throw.  Instead He looked into the eyes of this broken, publicly humiliated woman and SPOKE THE TRUTH IN LOVE.  Condemnation melted into conviction.  And so it can be with us.  His love can shape our behaviors and our hearts.

When we stop the frantic religious activity and gently pursue a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, duty will melt into devotion.  The chains of bondage and performance will fall off and true freedom and rest will be found.

“BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.”  Psalm 46:10

“COME TO ME, ALL YOU WHO ARE WEARY AND BURDENED,
AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST.”  Matthew 11:27-29

Have you turned off your treadmill of performance?  Or are you still breathlessly doing religious gymnastics on a treadmill set on full speed? Perhaps you’ve avoided the treadmill of religion entirely for fear you’d never keep pace with all the do’s and don’ts and all the rituals and rules.

Consider carving out a pocket of peace to meet with God.  Ask Him to reveal Himself to you.  That’s an invitation The ROCK Eternal just can’t resist.  May you encounter and experience Him in fresh new ways.

“YOU WILL SEEK ME AND FIND ME
WHEN YOU SEEK ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART.”  Jeremiah 29:13