A funny movie, or?

6:36 p.m.  Today's project was to plan one-third of my day. I heard very wise counsel for the self-employed business owner with a family as well as church, other employment and community obligations:

WORK TWO PARTS OF A THREE-PART DAY!

The three parts are of course morning, afternoon and evening. It sounds simple and obvious, but you  have no idea how hard it is to stop working when you are called by God to your work, it suits you perfectly, you love the people you have the privilege to serve and bless, and are excited by the goals you are working to achieve! It's a challenge to discipline oneself as a business owner, because no one tells you what to do or when to do it, except the Lord. And Jesus is very creative in the way His Holy Spirit gives direction! Each day presents a novel and often strenuous challenge, with novel solutions.

But I often feel inadequate to the task at hand!

In Exodus 4, Moses kept objecting to God that he couldn't lead the enslaved Hebrew people out of Egypt. Verses 13-15:

But he [Moses] said, "O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send." So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and He said: "Is not Aaron the Levite your brother? I know he can speak well. And look, he is coming out to meet you. When he sees you, he will be glad in his heart. Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and I will be with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do."

Speaking, texting, phoning, emailing or Facebook messaging the right words to the right women is the essence of my Mary Kay business, and guidance and the right words for each one keep me dependent on the Lord! And I could spend almost every waking moment between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. doing it.

But I have followed that good advice, and work very busily at appointments, contacting customers, coaching parties, conducting interviews for new team members and meeting new people all morning, once devotions and prayers are finished and Steve takes off on the bus for Care Connexxus. That's Part I of my day, mornings six days a week.

In Part 2, afternoon, I greet Steve here around 2 :30 p.m. at home most days, and we enjoy an afternoon together. He often nods off, so I can start writing my blog or do other personal tasks or a little housework, but conduct no business. IF I have an afternoon appointment or meeting, then I take Part 3, the evening, off. Otherwise, I will schedule meetings or parties in the evenings, and arrange care for Steve after dinner until his bedtime.

Sundays are days of rest for us both.

Today, I had worked very hard seeing customers and a team member, and setting up a Memorial Day sale by communicating with my customer base, and a pair of hostesses for next week. I had eaten a good high-protein lunch, but still was not relaxed as I should have been. Steve wasn't home yet,. I remembered a bit of advice from a top director about getting those endorphins released by laughter, and her idea was to watch a funny movie or go to YouTube to watch a "laughing baby" video. We have a big supply of comedies on DVD, and everyone laughs with a laughing baby! But the Lord gave me a better idea, one that would engage my body, soul and spirit: get out to the garden this cool and breezy day! I changed into old clothes and shoes, and spent a wonderfully refreshing 30 minutes thinning carrots and pulling weeds.

The benefits were manifold.

Mentally, I felt good about a garden that didn't have quite so many weeds creeping in, and enjoyed seeing several small tomatoes on three of my plants. An immature greenish red potato had poked itself above ground, so I piled some soil over it in hopes that it would keep growing.

Physically, I was getting some gentle exercise and enjoying the cool breeze! 

Personally, I was accomplishing something constructive, with a hobby of my choice, in a relaxed frame of mind!

Spiritually, I could marvel at God's creation in miniature! Only God can turn a seed into a source of food for a family!

Steve came home, and  for the rest of the afternoon, we had a pretty restful time. After dinner, Part 3 of my day, I went to Rite-Aid to pick up some skincare class supplies while a caregiver helped Steve, and then moved my inventory and prepared an order. Now that Steve's in bed, I will call some guests who will be at a class next week.

The Lord has given me a very enjoyable, workable day, and the one-third of it I take off rejuvenates me for the other two parts! That's a wise plan!!