To Whom Shall We Go?

Well...we bought a house. Pretty cool. We haven't moved in yet so it doesn't quite feel that cool. Lots of work remains. I seem to be thinking about new kinds of things like: What do I do about all that water that collects in the driveway? Should I get an electric, or gas-powered edger? Did I buy the right grade of sandpaper? These are weird things to think about.

Randy Alcorn has helpful thoughts and quotes on prayer over at his blog. I really like this one from John Bunyan: "He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day." I strongly encourage you to read the whole thing. I also highly recommend his book called The Treasure Principle . I've yet to read the fuller version called Money, Wealth, and Possessions, though it is on my list!

Relationships, not things, are what bring satisfaction in life. This is true even for toddlers. This is the basic argument of Jay Younts over at the Shepherd's Press blog . They publish helpful books such as Shepherding a Child's Heart. I've not read others from this publisher, but I have little doubt about their usefulness. Especially Instructing a Child's Heart . I'm sure it is excellent So how then do you help the toddler to see that relationships matter more than things, especially when your ultimate aim is bring them into the primary relationship they were created for: a relationship totally dependent on their God and Maker? Even though the spiritual condition of your toddler is uncertain, you can bring the certainty and stability of your own relationship with Christ to your toddler. This is an important application of Deuteronomy 6:7 that is often missed. God wants you to talk about him with all of your children, even-- and perhaps especially--with your...

I feel like I've been trying to get my act together with productivity for years. Well, by the grace of God, the last 6 months have seen some great progress in this area of my life. Matt Perman's blog has been a tremendous asset in this regard, and I credit him with really sparking my interest. His original vision-casting posts from when he launched the blog are quite helpful: see here and here . Not to mention his great method for the best use of email . (It's long, but well worth your time!). Recently he provided this encouraging quote from Time Management from the Inside Out : The worst thing to do is berate yourself for not getting everything done, for periodically procrastinating, and for slowing down from time to time. The time and energy you spend feeling guilty create a downward spiral of nonproductivity. Even the most productive people occasionally have off days. The thing that makes them good time managers is that they realize these things are a part of life, f...