Day of Prayer and Vision

Today was a special day. TEAM asks us to set aside a day each year to spend extended time alone with God in worship, prayer, and listening to God directing us to come up with a growth plan. It sounds like a great idea and I did it before Russ' stroke, but I've wondered how I could do that now. I'm always either with Russ staying attentive to his needs or at school working. I rarely have uninterrupted time to myself. I feel comfortable leaving Russ for a few hours on his own, but not all day.

Yesterday afternoon I suddenly realized that I had an opportunity today for my Day of Prayer and Vision. We have Fall Break from school today and next Monday. Since Russ goes to the care center every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, that means I had this day free.

It was a very refreshing day. I listened to Scripture songs as I worked on my scrapbook of God's attributes. I enjoyed doing a Bible study using the book Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. I worked on my life purpose statement and came up with an overarching goal for 2010. (I know I'm a little early, but I need a little time to practice my goals before the year actually arrives. Smile.)

I wrote up my goals for each area of my life (mental, physical, spiritual, social, home, financial, vocational, personal, and ministry). Before you panic and think That's too many goals, let me share with you my overarching goal for 2010. Simplify my life to keep focused on my life purpose.

I jotted down how each subgoal could simplify my life. It was pretty amazing how they all fit together. Since there are still 12 weeks before 2010, I have time to try them out and revise them in case some of them are too idealistic.

One of my goals was to get this blog started. Rachel (a young lady living with us for seven weeks) has been a huge help to me in many ways. She has patiently worked with me a little bit each night to set up this blog. God is using her to help simplify my life...all for the purpose of spending more time getting to know Jesus. Thank you God for Rachel!