Sunday, January 07, 2007

Getting a Grip!!



My Sheepfold Ministry group at church is reading a new book entitled, "Getting a Grip--Finding Balance in Your Daily Life," by Bill Hybels with Kevin and Sherry Harney. The book is divided into 6 sessions: 1.) Getting a Grip on Your Life 2.) Getting a Grip on Your Schedule 3.) Getting a Grip on Your Body 4.) Getting a Grip on Your Finances 5.) Getting a Grip on Your Spiritual Life and 6.) Getting a Grip on Your Relationships. We're only on session 2 and the book has already provided an eye-opening experience for me.

In session one, the text asked the reader to create a pie graph portraying her life. When I created my pie graph, I noticed that my vocation took up 3/4 of my pie graph. This was no surprise to me. I know that my job consumes most of my time; however, what surprised me most was what I tried to squeeze into that last little 1/4 of my life. I had "family," "spritual growth," and "other." It was sad to me. I almost cried. I barely had time for my husband, my other family, myself, and most importantly, God. Fitness, friendships, hobbies, and recreation were not even an option on my circle. I really miss my friends, and sometimes I miss myself.

The text suggests reading Genesis 1:1-27 and asking yourself, "How do you see God creating order out of chaos in the account of creation?" The text also asks, "If human beings are created in the image of God, and God is a God of order, what do you learn about humanity from [Genesis 1:26]?" If God is a God of order, we need to be humans of order and not chaos. While my life doesn't seem chaotic, it certainly isn't well balanced. And in my mind, God is at the center of my life, but looking at my pie graph, it doesn't appear that way.

Bottom line, I am thankful to be going to these sessions and analyzing my life so that I can Get a Grip. As the sessions continue, hopefully I will have more inciteful things to share. I pray that each of you recognize how you are spending time in your life. Make sure that no matter what, God is at the center.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's what's up. My church's theme this year is order. Work can easily overwhelm people. I'm really glad I'm married, because honestly, if Carmen wasn't here, I don't think I'd have tangible initiative to not make my work my life.

Dr. Ronda Taylor Bullock said...

Well I have KB and he is just as much involved with school as I am. People think that just because we work together, we get to see each other all the time. And that is absolutely not true. Quality time is hard to come by, and looking at my pie graph, I can understand why. And when we do have time, we are too tired to do anything but sit on the couch (who knew teaching could be so exhaustive). We have to plan retreats to keep us from drifting apart, which is a harsh reality. We are definitely working on order in our house.

Anonymous said...

I feel you. I'm almost ANAL about making sure we don't spend these few childless years not doing anything, because after they come, it's over! Well not exactly over, but it changes. I don't want to say I spent all of our early years looking at TV.

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