The Home Photo Challenge was fun for me last year. Since I do not think much is going to be changing for me in the way of travel this year, I am going to continue the challenge for myself into 2021. This year I am going to add a little twist. I will give a brief description of each photo I take and write a Haiku to go along with it.
IF YOU WANT TO JOIN IN THE FUN.JUST TAKE A PHOTO IN OR AROUND YOUR HOME AND WRITE YOUR OWN BLOG AND POST THE LINK IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW IT.
Have you noticed that the world has gone bonkers?
I guess the world has always been bonkers…well at least since that Adam and Eve with the tree episode.
Every once in a while though the world just chooses to show its true nature more flamboyantly than others. Now is such a time. This has been a season of “Wowsie-Wowsie-Woo-Woo” to beat the groovy off a hippie poet.
I guess I should not be much surprised by what is happening in the world. This is what God has been telling people to prepare for… for well a long time. Maybe part of the problem is we really didn’t believe God or His prophets or His Word.We don’t really want to accept that the truths of the end of the Bible are coming to pass before our eyes.
The Christian believers among us want to keep believing that Jesus is coming back to judge the world, but we want it to be painless. We want it to happen. We even say “Even so Lord Jesus come quickly.” We just don’t want anything to do with the process of His coming. We certainly don’t want to admit that there are aspects of our lives which will experience that process of judgment, because we’ve let bits of the world’s bonkers into ourselves.
Bonkers is going to be with us for a little while longer folks. So we had better figure out what to do with it. Here are some suggestions for dealing with bonkers:
3. Pray about things and leave the results with God.- Stop telling God how to do His job. Give Him the situations that are vexing you, that are above your pay grade and trust Him to deal with them.
4. Stay in your lane- God has given you an area of influence. Stop pretending its bigger than it is and influence things you actually have authority over. Stop trying to influence things outside your realm of influence. You will only make things worse by involving yourself in things you have no business in.
5. Choose the fruit of the Spirit not the works of the flesh-
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. Galatians 5: 19-26
Wow! Yesterday’s article brought forth such good discussion on the subject of rhythm and schedule! Check out the full convo at RHYTHM OVER SCHEDULE.
In developing my thought process on the subject of life rhythm and scheduling life I thought it might be helpful to use an analogy here….
RHYTHM IS TO SCHEDULE AS MUSIC IS TO MATH.
MATH IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF MUSIC BUT MATH BY ITSELF IS NOT MUSIC. CONVERSELY MUSIC WITHOUT MATH IS JUST DISORGANIZED SOUND.
In order for music to be music there must be intentional variation in pitch (speed of vibration) and intentional meter and rhythm which comes by counting out the pace of the notes. But there is something else music possesses which is harder to quantify. That is the spiritual/ emotional connection with the human soul. Music is more than just pitch and rhythm. It is heart. It is connection. It is divine spark.
IN LIKE MANNER SCHEDULING IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF LIFE RHYTHM BUT SCHEDULING BY ITSELF IS NOT LIFE RHYTHM. CONVERSELY LIFE RHYTHM WITHOUT INTENTIONAL SCHEDULING IS JUST A COMFORTABLE WAY OF LIVING DEVOID OF CREATED PURPOSE .
Our life rhythm is the pattern of living that taps into our giftedness from God. So in order to tap into our divine gifts we need to intentionally schedule the pattern of living that draws them out.
What I learned, was that just having a schedule planned out according to my life roles did not necessarily mean I was tapping into the divine giftedness God had planned for me. My mistake in scheduling was that I allowed others to define my life rhythm by placing their expectations upon me. I let other people tell me what my role in the world was. I scheduled my life only according to what other people required of me. I was not strong enough to assert my own rhythm. I was not strong enough to say “no” when the expectations of others led me away from the life rhythm which fed my soul. I was like the tiger above…filled with all kinds of power but not using any of it.
So about three years ago I began to create a schedule which served my life rhythm rather than making my life rhythm serve my schedule. I view my rhythm as a cycle or a circle….like a clock. The rhythm is divided into seven sections: prayer (this is the first section of the cycle and for my giftedness to be released the most important), physical activity, rest, writing, work, relationship, and study (this is the final section of the cycle and for my giftedness to be released I think of it as second in importance).
Just like on a clock you cannot go to the second hour without making it through the first hour. So in my rhythm I cannot go onto physical activity without first praying. On the other hand I cannot jump from work into prayer without first spending at least some time in relationship and study.
Is this the right way to do it? Honestly, I don’t know if there is A RIGHT WAY of scheduling or living according to a life rhythm, but it is the way I have found that works for me in this moment.
SO TELL ME HOW YOU SCHEDULE OR WORK ACCORDING TO LIFE RHYTHM.
Those of you who have followed me for any length of time, know that I have been toying with the writing of a book for several years now.
I actually started the publishing process a few years back and had a contract signed with a publishing company. Then life got in the way and the dream died.
But here’s the thing, I am a big believer in dead things coming back to life!
This year the book came out of its proverbial grave clothes and now it is coming out of the shadows. I finished Pork Chops With the Sentinels Of Azatan just before Christmas!
Yes Ray it is done (Ray is the guy who keeps asking me about it)!!!!
I have contacted my publisher and they have released me from my contract as they are no longer in a position to be able to publish me. This frees me up to take the next steps towards publication of my first novel!
So here I am posting the first steps on this journey to the first completed work by J. Lillie. 2021 is the year folks! Here we go!!!
In my post from a few days ago entitled NEW DIRECTIONS, NEXT STEPS, I used the phrase, “I have shifted from a life schedule to a life rhythm.”
I want to camp there for a few moments and explain what I think is the difference between a schedule and a rhythm
I was taught the importance of writing and keeping a schedule almost twenty years ago. Since that time I have always kept a day planner and I set aside time weekly to create my schedule, to plan my calendar.
This has been an important aspect of becoming effective in my roles as a human being. I will continue to plan a weekly agenda going forward. I need to do that so I don’t miss meetings because I was busy watching television!
In spite of its importance I have learned that rhythm trumps schedule every time. I have learned I can make and keep a schedule and still lose my effectiveness if I do not consider and surrender to my created rhythm…hmmm. I think that’s a term that will need some explaining….I sense another post coming on this subject.
If I do not plan and practice my life rhythm, schedule takes over. Much of our world has fallen victim to this issue. As a result we have become a culture of racing activity junkies tied to calendars that other people have made for us.
Three years ago I was there. I was living by my schedule, made for me by other people, without my life rhythm. I had lost my individuality, my divine spark and sadly much of my usefulness to the community I served. The sad thing was I was so busy, so tired, I didn’t realize it.
But God….
The last three years have been painful as God stripped away all my schedule (all the things I and others previously thought were important). The last year has been my full acceptance of my life rhythm and its practice.
Today I still keep a planner. It still holds all my meetings (though fewer they be and of a far different nature). But now my day planner intentionally displays my life rhythm. I follow that rhythm now as doggedly as I ever followed the schedule. The schedule serves the rhythm now…and that has made all the difference.
At this time last year I was preparing to visit the Philippines for my son’s wedding.
I had also just embarked on a massive lifestyle change, the seeds of which had been planted in November of 2018. Way back then the Lord had spoken to me about embracing a lifestyle of faith with my finances that would involve me giving up my salary from the church. I did this in November of 2019 and received my final check from the church on Dec. 31st 2019.
I still work for the church as a pastor and as a volunteer.
One of the things the Lord told me in January was that this move to a lifestyle of faith was about a personal shift which was going to take a year to complete. I was launching on a journey. I had the method of travel. I just didn’t know where the walk of faith would lead me.
Here I am one year later and my life has totally changed. I have shifted from a life schedule to a life rhythm. My prayer life has deepened and changed from intercessor to watchman on the wall. I have finished my book. I have learned much more about my office in the church as a prophet. My leadership style flows chiefly from prayer (rather than from a church schedule) and manifests more as a caretaker than as a facilitator.
As 2021 dawns I am posed to take the next steps of this journey: Next steps in ministry; Next steps in publishing my book; Next steps in being the co-owner of the Vicarage; The next steps in my family; The next steps financially.
I don’t know what all of those steps are yet, but I do know they will take me in new directions. I have tried to follow the threads prophetically so I can see my future but they vanish a bit up the road into a bank of fog God has created to keep me on the pathway of slow constant intentional living by faith in the day to day.
Here are the things I know: The world is not done with its troubles just because it is 2021; America is in the cross-hairs; Prosperity is still possible; Faith is more necessary in the days ahead than in the days past; It is time to operate in my God-given authority; God has equipped me with what I need for the road ahead; I need to focus on the step I see not the ones I don’t; It is time to write; It is time to publish; People are more important than programs.
New directions, Next steps. Anything could happen and probably will. Isn’t that exciting?
I don’t think many of us will miss 2020. It was a year of challenges the world has not faced in several generations, and for which we as a global community were woefully unprepared.
Yet I am thankful for 2020 too. First for the fact that it showed us our cultural soft spots. We cannot fix what we do not recognize. I am also thankful for what it has stripped away from my personal life and for what it has stripped away from the church. This year has certainly showed me what was important and what was just so much frivolous packaging.
2020 also had its own beauty. In the forced slowing down of life, many of us learned to watch the birds, to enjoy nature, to watch the sunrise, the sunsets, the moonrise and the stars.
Some of us also learned to prioritize family. We learned to sit on our porches, and tell our stories. We engaged in game nights and learned the Sabbath rhythm of life again. For all that we complained a lot about it because we had become culturally addicted to the race-pace of our corporate existence.
These last few days of 2020, I have not been blogging much because we have had a visitor to the Vicarage. My daughter Melanie is ready any day to give birth to my second grand daughter. Since we are so far away from her and James, we decided to have ‘Lella come and stay with us for the last days of Melanie’s seclusion.
Having ‘Lella with us has been so much fun, but it has been a long time since this house was graced for longer than an overnight by a two-year-old. The schedule of life has changed even if the rhythm has remained. The new priorities have made themselves felt. Things like blogging have been temporarily interrupted by activities like legos, throwing pine cones into the brook and plinking the piano.
Every December I ask God for a word or phrase to base my next year on. Last year my phrase was “shift focus to wonder.” There was wonder in 2020… We were awe struck by the magnitude of destruction a one celled creature could wreak. We were dumbfounded by fires and storms and earthquakes….and all these things have made me wonder, what comes next?
My word for 2021 is “Seperate”.
How can I curse
those whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce
those whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 From the rocky peaks I see them,
from the heights I view them.
I see a people who live apart
and do not consider themselves one of the nations. Nu. 23:8,9
This will be a year of becoming holy, a year of becoming new and different. More change is in the air. New challenges await. Like 2020, 2021 will have its own wonders and its own things to wonder about. That said, I am ready to leave mourning behind and to embrace the beauty of spiritual battle. I am ready to stop being shocked to dumbness by the fresh horrors of the world. I am ready to summon the beauty of God and His creation to the forefront of my life and ministry. I am ready to bring that beauty to fight against all this darkness which has consumed 2020 and to speak forth the FAITH HOPE AND LOVE which remain no matter how the darkness grows. I am ready to be separated from the hopelessness of the world and to become a creature of the Son who brings beauty to the twilight of this age. Good bye 2020. Welcome 2021!
2 Good people obtain favor from the Lord,
but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes.
3 No one can be established through wickedness,
but the righteous cannot be uprooted.
4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown,
but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
5 The plans of the righteous are just,
but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.
6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the speech of the upright rescues them.
7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
but the house of the righteous stands firm.
8 A person is praised according to their prudence,
and one with a warped mind is despised.
9 Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant
than pretend to be somebody and have no food.
10 The righteous care for the needs of their animals,
but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
11 Those who work their land will have abundant food,
but those who chase fantasies have no sense. PROV. 12:2-11
2 Good people obtain favor from the Lord,
but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes.
3 No one can be established through wickedness,
but the righteous cannot be uprooted.
4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown,
but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
5 The plans of the righteous are just,
but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.
6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the speech of the upright rescues them.
7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
but the house of the righteous stands firm.
8 A person is praised according to their prudence,
and one with a warped mind is despised.
9 Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant
than pretend to be somebody and have no food.
10 The righteous care for the needs of their animals,
but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
11 Those who work their land will have abundant food,
but those who chase fantasies have no sense. PROV. 12:2-11
2 Good people obtain favor from the Lord,
but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes.
3 No one can be established through wickedness,
but the righteous cannot be uprooted.
4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown,
but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
5 The plans of the righteous are just,
but the advice of the wicked is deceitful.
6 The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood,
but the speech of the upright rescues them.
7 The wicked are overthrown and are no more,
but the house of the righteous stands firm.
8 A person is praised according to their prudence,
and one with a warped mind is despised.
9 Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant
than pretend to be somebody and have no food.
10 The righteous care for the needs of their animals,
but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
11 Those who work their land will have abundant food,
but those who chase fantasies have no sense. PROV. 12:2-11
Lillie-Put 