Tag: choices

5 Steps to Getting Things Done Now

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

The time is now. This moment is all I have. Time has been on my mind a lot lately. I have been trying to get my family history scrapbooks caught up after years of neglect. Assembling photos and pages detailing long-past events I am struck by how much time I no longer have to spend. Then I think about what I hope and plan to do tomorrow or even this afternoon, and I realize I don’t have that time to spend, either. The only time I have is literally this moment. Right now. Only now.

My to-do lists are everywhere. I am a serious, some might say ‘compulsive,’ list maker. So many of those lists have the same projects and plans listed and often in the exact same order. One of my constant thoughts is “what is the most important item on those lists to be doing now?” Hmmm. It is so much easier to make lists instead of actually starting on the projects on the list. So, chastened by this truth, I talk to myself and say “pick one thing. It isn’t important what, but pick one things and start. Start now.”

So here I am writing. ‘Writing for my blog’ is on each list. “Good for me,” I silently congratulate myself. ‘Making art’ is on each list so I’ve made some calligraphy to go with this post. Again I pat myself on the back for seizing this moment. So the question arises, “how can I help myself stay in this mode of using the time I have now?” I’ve set up a game plan.

  1. Make a list. What do you really want to do? Be detailed, but don’t get bogged down.
  2. Prioritize the list. Think of all reasons every item should or could be done. Given where you are in life situation, what is the priority for each item? Make a fresh, prioritized list.
  3. Start now. Start with the top item. NOW. (This step requires a bit of “self-talk” – grab myself by the scruff of my mental neck and look myself squarely in my internal ‘face’ and give myself a serious command to “get going, now!”) Begin the doing the top task.
  4. Go back to the list when you find yourself milling around with a sense of “what should I do?“ Take the top item and start. NOW.
  5. Congratulate yourself when you have taken the moment in hand and gotten one of the items done. “Good for you!” Enjoy the sense of accomplishment and maturity you have gained by this process. Don’t stop now! Go back to #3. Soon you will have a list of accomplishments rather than “to-do’s.” And won’t that feel great?
Actor Hugh Laurie puts a fine point on the way to get going. Just start.

Let me encourage you to get going on your list. Do now what you have been stalling while you get “ready.” As the quote by Hugh Laurie puts it, “There is no such thing as ready. Now is as good a time as any.”

With practice, you and I can get much accomplished and who knows, we might just improve the world in which we live as an added bonus!

QUESTION: What are you doing NOW? Have you thought about the loss of letting this moment slip by un-used?

Preparing to Travel

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

While I write this post I am in the midst of preparing to travel. Beloved Spouse and I are taking a road trip to see our Granddaughter dance “on pointe” in a grand end-of-year production of The Wizard of Oz. We will stay and help with family projects and enjoy the exuberance of the Ballet Girl’s four brothers, two dogs and 19 chickens. What a fun week it will be! Then our trip will take us to a family celebration of a great nephew’s recent marriage. The gathering of family we rarely see will no doubt be a joyful time.

Preparing for this travel has me making lists to ensure that all of what should be in our travel bags, in the camper’s kitchen, what should be prepared for Mother and the house left behind is fully thought out. This planning for the immediate future is important. What shoes will be needed for the ballet performance and the wedding party? What attire is appropriate for helping wrangle children and chickens and assist with yard and house projects for a week? What details about food in the freezer and notes reminding about yard maintenance should be made for short-term memory-challenged Mother?

Do you know where you will spend eternity?

This puts me in mind of all our lives. We should be preparing for our biggest trip of all. The destination will determine what we do to ready ourselves. So what is your eternal destination? Heaven? Hell? Those are the only two choices for every human being.

Destination: Heaven

If you intend to spend eternity in the presence of the Almighty and Holy God, you must prepare on His terms. First you must have your “ticket” and “passport.” There is only one way to Heaven. Because we are all sinners and separated from our Creator, we may only approach Him if we bow in humility and repentance before Him. He has provided a way for us to live with Him forever, but the “ticket” isn’t automatic. If you know and believe that Jesus– God enrobed in flesh– came to earth, lived as a true man, died under the wrath of the Father in place of us for our sins, was buried and is now raised to life, you may have eternal life in Heaven with Him.  This is the only valid “ticket” to the presence of God and Heaven.

Once you have your “ticket” your preparations will be an ongoing process. But don’t worry. The Spirit of God who lives in the one who embraces Jesus will be sure that soul will be clothed appropriately. You will have the robes of Christ’s righteousness and the shoes of peace. (Philippians 3:9, Ephesians 6:15)

You won’t have to worry about food or drink. Jesus declares and provides Himself as Living Water and the Bread of Life. (John 4:13-14; 6:35)

The trip may be rough. There are likely going to be some tumultuous times and difficult places on the “road.” Your route may take you past perilous ravines that threaten your faith in God. But He is watching over you and calling you onward to Heaven’s gates.  You may think you’ve taken wrong turns and are alone in a deserted place. But God is there and Jesus has promised never to leave or forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5) And just like He promised the thief on the cross in their dying hour, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.”(Luke 23:43) Jesus will see you all the way to Heaven.

Destination: Hell

If, however, you decide to go to Hell, don’t worry about taking Jesus’s claims seriously. He says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6). You can just go into eternity on your own. No problem. You–your own self– is the goal, right? “I’ll do it MY way.” No need for this “Jesus is the only way” idea.

That way you don’t have to worry about a thing. No God, no light, no comfort. Just yourself for eternity. (That equals pure misery for eternity, I think.)

There isn’t much to pack since you came into the world naked and will leave it naked. (Job 1:21) “Nah,” you say. “God will let me into heaven. I’ve been pretty good. He’s a God of Love, isn’t He?” But be reminded, that there is only one Way to Heaven: Jesus. All your good works will stay right here. Utterly useless as a way to get through the “Pearly Gates.” God does not grade on the curve. He has a definite requirement for entry into heaven that is non-negotiable. Believe in Jesus, be born again and enter Heaven, or ignore God’s offer of salvation and inhabit Hell for eternity.

Maybe you’ve talked yourself into thinking about eternity later. If that is the case, my advice would be to work hard now to get great clothing and accumulate lots of “cool” possessions and spend every moment of your life relishing them. You need to be sure you have every delight and comfort you can possibly gather. Enjoy them as much as you can. One caution, though.  Be prepared to leave for Hell at any moment. God is the One who decided the day your birth and He is the one who has set the day of your death. Remember His warning to the rich man who was deciding to pull down his barns and build bigger, better ones: “But God said to Him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you’ and now who will own what you have prepared?” (Luke 12:20) Meanwhile, just drift on a river of hedonistic pleasures. Don’t worry about eternity.  It will get here soon enough. Or more likely sooner than you expect.

Prepare to travel! Know your destination! I’m praying you will be sensible and talk with God about your eternal destination. Only He can affect where you go. On your own, you are bound for Hell. If you turn to Him His grace will give you eternal life– in Heaven.

QUESTION: What preparations are you making for your eternal destiny?

Every Choice Counts

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Several months ago I tried a campaign of intermittent fasting because I had a pretty sizeable number of pounds I wanted to shed. As I was thinking and preparing for that discipline, I came up with the phrase: “Every Choice Counts.” It is very possible that I didn’t come up with it, but rather someone else said it, I heard it and it came out of my mental archives without a credit.  No matter. It has worked quite well for me these past several months. I was able to shed several pounds. But along with the summer drifting and winter waffling (almost literally), I began to make little compromises and small choices. Argh! They have begun to add up to something: the return of those unwanted pounds!

All this puts me in mind of the way that small things can really trip us up. The Scriptures say in that rather neglected book Song of Solomon,

“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, while our vineyards are in blossom.” Song of Solomon 2:15.

The context isn’t about weight loss or anything so “un-romantic” but the principle that small things—“little foxes”—can spoil something lovely or good is quite true.


We all have choices to make that may seem small and inconsequential. But they do matter.  Each time I reach for that Little Debbie Nutty Buddy rather than drinking a glass of water or having a cheese stick instead of a carrot stick, I derail my eating plan just a little more. Last night I had “just a few” tortilla chips, silently excusing the little choice as “it’s probably only about 150 calories.” Those “little foxes” are what are sabotaging my weight loss plan. It was all going so well and then bit by tiny bit I am losing the hard-won ground.

So, today, I am going back to this mantra that has been so helpful.

A new calligraphy piece. I used the Blackletter style and added small glitter dots with “Stickles” gold.

But enough about dieting. What about my art work? What about the reading and writing that are part of my “work”? What about the little failures to speak a loving word or do a kind thing? Those moment by moment choices, little though they be, add up to the whole tenor of my life.

Another new calligraphy piece. I lettered in Foundational hand and used gouache (opaque watercolor paint) to letter and paint the little picture.

Every day that I pick up my pen or pencil and spend a few minutes practicing my calligraphy or writing for my blog, I am adding “little grains of sand” that will help me master and accomplish my goals for these areas of my life. Every time I make time to visit with my elderly mother, I am choosing the path of love that will define my life.  All those little choices and all those little things matter.

QUESTION: What little things are tearing up your “vineyard”? What choices will you make today that will define your life?