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Ok. I admit it. I am dragging my feet big time. Comittment scares me. As I am looking over some of the things on my three lists, it looks like an awful lot to do. I'm also not sure what things belong in what categories. I need help with getting up to 10 items on each one. Here's what I have so far. Am I doing this right? I am afraid of failing.

MIND: 1) Pray 3 times; 2) Read a chapter of Bible; 3) Read 1 Psalm; 4)Read 3 Proverbs; 5) Read spiritual related material or book 15 min.; 6)practice memorizing one Bible verse per week; 7) Read "Who I am in Christ" daily; 8) stepping stones; Need 9 and 10, but what I have seems quite overwhelming already.

BODY: 1) exercise 10-30 min daily; 2) Encourage someone; 3) do physical act of service; 4) meditate 10 min on God's love/faith; 5) skip breakfast or lunch; 6) limit coffee to 1 cup in am; 7) stop fininishing others' sentences; 8) show affection (difficult); 9) express thanks verbally, written or tangibly. Need one more for 10.

SPIRIT: 1) Christian music - concentrate on words; 2) Meditate on God's love and faith (have that in body - not sure where it goes); 3) Bible study; 4) sing a hymn (tone deaf); 5) praise God for 5 min; write a psalm or words to God. Need 5 more for this. Humor is something I am sorely lacking. Since it is an emotion, is there a way to incorporate something with that in mind? Any ideas?

Hi dabs

As I am looking over some of the things on my three lists, it looks like an awful lot to do.

I agree. A list like that would consume me. It looks a lot like my first list. When I failed miserably I made it lighter. Still failed. So I broke it down till it was less of a chore and more of things I enjoyed doing. I added things that made me jump for joy when I looked at the list. Do you have things on your list that bring you joy? Do you have things that support your spiritual gifts? What are things you enjoy doing with the Lord and for the Lord? Maybe it's things you already do, but want to make time to do more of or improve on.

What were your child hood dreams? Did you reach them? What can you do to take tiny steps back to achieving them, if you haven't.

Think of it as not a commitment but a journey. A journey with the Lord to be more of what the two of you dream of being together.

I had a friend who felt I wasn't living up to what a christian should be unless I read a chapter a day from the old testament, new testament, psalm and proverb. I tried and found myself just trying to speed read so I could be this "good christian" in her eyes. The words had little to no effect on me because it was a chore, not an experience. Better to read on verse with the Lord than an entire chapter with out Him.

Do you drive much? You could listen to the bible on cd or ipod. There's a free audio bible here in KJV if you like to listen to the word out loud. Or listen to music that directs your thoughts towards Him.

I had "listen" on mine. I made myself sit still and just listen to God. Was so super hard at first. And I failed often. Began with one minute. Sounds like not much but it is really hard if you're use to your mind just going and going.

Do you like to make things? You could make things for people. To give to charity or someone who comes to mind. And pray for them as you make it. Someone here posted in hobby lobby about making prayer beads. That sounds really cool. I know a gal that makes Christmas ornaments and gives them to people in her church. Others make quilts and crochet caps for preemies.

It would be ok to start with 5 and work your way up over time. Just remember it's not created to bind you but to bring you to where you really dream of being. It's a help, a step up, not a devise to bind you.

Take it easy. Love ya! Jesus loves you to.

Hello dabs

Not much can be added to Pine's suggestions , good strategy .

When I found myself "overwhelmed" by the size of the list of things to do (which I think everyone of us does) I normally resorted to my M/O , which was basically , "I can't do ALL of those things !! .. so why bother doing them AT ALL ?" . In effect I signed my own "failure slip" , But with the guidance and encouragement of others , I began to realize that , on that list , there were a lot of things that I COULD do , in fact , I was doing them anyway . Right there the list was minimized to half its size , I didn't do anything yet .

My experience ? I simply asked myself , upon going down the list , " DO I do this anyway ? (Like , do I listen to the radio ? do I read ? do I take walks ? do I talk to God ?)

Just concentrate on the things that needs to be worked on , and practice to improve on those parts , because the other "Easier" stuff needs not any effort at all .

Hoping that would help a bit .



In Christ , our Lord

Hi hun I addressed earlier that maybe you want to start smaller with the chart...maybe 3 things...get them down good and then add a 4th and so on and so on....too much at once can be detrimental to what you need to do to make the charts beneficial to you.

luv ya