Sabbatical update

Hi all - I'm not really "back", just stopping in to say hello! :)

Here are some discoveries I've made so far during my weeks away from daily computer life.

1. I had NO idea how much time I was spending looking at this screen!

2. I'm AMAZED at how much I can get done when I don't spend so much time looking at this screen!!

3. I have been a woman on a mission. So far, I've completed several small projects around the house that have been hanging on for months, even years. Things such as: putting up the valance rods in our new bedroom, hanging family pictures that have been in boxes for months/years, getting Abby's room cleaned and sorted, getting the clutter in the boys' room sorted and put away, going through our storage at "the shed" and deciding what to use, what to toss, what to give away, and what to keep storing, developing a new organizational system in the "gathering room" at our house. . .

4. It has been absolutely exhilerating and hope-giving to work hard and see so many things get done. I'm rejoicing in every empty box because it means the items that used to be in it now have a purpose and a home. It gives me hope because the messages I'm speaking to myself are changing. In the past, whenever I noticed a pile of clutter or a box or bag of "stuff" that I needed to deal with I would be thinking something along the lines of, "Woe is me, I can't keep up with life, I'll NEVER get done with all this. I'm such a bad person, I can't keep my life organized. I have no self discipline. I never put things where they go. If I would just keep up on a daily basis I wouldn't be buried under this avalanche of storage, stuff, papers and clutter." Now I look at the same pile and I think, "Your day is coming. You just sit there and mock me if you want, but you should see the pile of empty boxes I'm collecting and your day is coming!!" It's kind of like, "I am woman, watch me organize!!" :)

5. In the midst of all that, I am realizing that still have a lot to learn about rest. It seems I've just transferred my "busyness" from non-productive things to productive things. I'm still having a bit of trouble knowing when to stop. A new phrase I'm batting around in my head is this, "Time management involves knowing when and what to start, AND knowing when to stop." It's the stopping part that is a bit of a problem for me. I'm like the Energizer bunny, I just keep going and going and going. . .

6. A parallel track in my life to the "task mode" has been a renewed habit of daily time with the Lord.

More on that another time - my kids are stirring and I must be done. It's that starting and stopping thing! Have a blessed day - and days until we meet again. Remind me to tell you about loneliness and computer connectedness, as well as my cleansing diet, posting Easter pictures, and excitement about connecting with some different groups. (and I still haven't told you my dirty laundry story!)