Can Just Enjoying Today Prepare us for Tomorrow?
by Barbara Henderson
‘Whatsoever they hand findeth to do, do it with they might;’ Ecclesiastes 9:10a
There has been a great deal said recently about the uncertainty of the future. Economic collapse is predicted. Food shortages are predicted. Lawlessness is predicted to increase. Persecution of our Christian brethren is on the rise, and there is legitimate concern that it may be invading even the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave.’ It seems foolish not to prepare. And I am not talking about just storing 3 extra cans of chili and a box of powdered eggs in the pantry. Food storage, self defense, mobility, grab and go bags, at least three plans for each potential disaster should be on the top of everyone’s list of things that must be done before next Tuesday. Or, should they? Let’s look at things from a slightly different angle.
Why not enjoy life right now?
Why not eat, drink, and be merry today?
After all, we don’t even know if we have tomorrow.
So, let me propose a slightly different approach to preparedness. Be prepared to enjoy life! Take it one day at a time. Follow your interests. Follow your opportunities. You might be surprised at how much these things will help you in being prepared for whatever the world throws at you.
You could start like this.
First, consider your duties. Your first allegiance is to God, then to your family. For most people there is a job that requires a lot of your time, and your duty is to do a good job, whether you like the job or not. If you are the homemaker, then you have a lot going on that must be done repeatedly. (By the way, if you are in a situation where one person in the marriage team works outside the home, and the other stays home to care for the family and manage the house, then the duty of the one who works outside the home does not stop when he/she walks through the door after a hard days work. That person is still required to do whatever needs to be done to make the home run smoothly.)
But then what? No matter how busy your schedule, there will be a little time that you are able to be selective in what you do. The choices you make then can enrich your life and help you be prepared for the future, both mentally and materially. The point is to not be frivolous or unkind in how you spend a few extra minutes now and then, but rather to be industrious in exercising your mind and body. You never know how something learned today, no matter how unimportant it may seem, may be a ‘lifesaver’ tomorrow.
Now, consider your likes. What is something that you sincerely and consistently enjoy? I enjoy spending time with my family. I just like to be part of their lives. What this requires on my part is setting aside how I would probably manage the day if it were just me, or just me and Jerry. I do what the group wants to do, or needs to do. This has put me out of my comfort zone on many occasions. For instance, if you have been reading my articles long, you know that my family goes camping fairly often. When I was a child, my family went camping. Honestly, while I love the great outdoors, I love indoor plumbing more. If it were just me, I would definitely be a ‘picnicer’ instead of a ‘camper’. A few hours of communing with nature would be sufficient for me. I would especially enjoy it if the weather was lovely and I had my camera. I would take photos all day, and go home and view them on my computer that evening. However, in learning to camp I have gained some survival skills that would be helpful in any primitive environment. I have also learned to enjoy something that was not really my cup of tea to begin with. That in itself is a survival skill that is more valuable than most skills. Adaptability cannot be overrated as a survival skill. (An extremely important thing you can learn while camping is how to consistently build a campfire under a variety of conditions. You absolutely cannot overstate the importance of being able to efficiently build a fire. The time to learn that skill is long before you actually need it. Cooking on a campfire is another skill that needs to be learned before you actually need it. A hint on cooking is to put your coals from the main fire in a small ring of rocks that will hold your skillet just above the coals for the actual cooking.)
Many years ago, my mom asked me to go with her to take oil painting lessons from a local artist. He was a very fine Christian man, an artist with not only an ability to paint, but an ability to teach that skill to others. He gave lessons from his home. His wife worked at a day job away from home. To mom’s old fashioned way of thinking, it just wouldn’t look quite right for a married woman to be in a man’s house when his wife was at work, even if he did give art lessons. So mom asked me to go with her and take lessons. I agreed because I liked to spend time with my mom. Well, guess what? I absolutely loved the lessons. Oil painting is something that I love doing even now. So, I got a twofold blessing there. I spent time with mom and I learned something wonderful. The principles that apply to oil painting (color, composition, perspective) apply to many things that we deal with in our daily lives. They have been helpful in everything from how to put together a nice looking clothing outfit to how to design/decorate a room that is functional and looks nice as well. I didn’t need to read those books that came out a few years ago on what colors to wear together and how to dress for your size. And the books on makeup – I just always go with the theory that ‘any old barn looks better with a coat of paint’ and slap on a little foundation and a few other things in the morning.
I could give you many examples of things that I did for the purpose of just spending time with my family or one family member that were out of my comfort zone. I usually enjoyed whatever it was that we did, but often I learned to do and even like something that I would not have normally tried as well..
Here are some examples of things that people I know have done that provided them with a lot of enjoyment at the moment, taught them new skills, and helped them ‘be prepared’ for the future. (By the way, changes and disasters are coming. We just don’t know what, when, where, why, or how.)
My father in law retired from his job. He had time on his hands. He began to grow a garden. Before retirement, he thought that it was his Christian duty to mow down anything and everything that dared sprout on his property. He could mow at midnight during the dark of the moon without fear of mowing down anything that shouldn’t get whacked with the lawn mower because everything had already been whacked! All he had to do was avoid running into the bricks on the house. But, with time on his hands, and opportunity, he started to grow a garden. It turned out that:
He grew most of the produce for his household for years.
He ate foods that were fresher and healthier.
As his health began to deteriorate, he had incentive to keep on working at growing a garden. Between football and gardening, he stayed busy up until the very end of his life.
In becoming a gardener he learned a useful skill and enriched his life besides.
He was a hands on sort of person. He had the time to garden. He had the place to garden. A good neighbor offered to lend him a tractor to begin with. He stepped out of his comfort zone and into gardening. His hands found something to do and he did with his might.
Because of all the produce that was suddenly available for ‘free’, my mother in law leaned the skill of canning vegetables and making pickles. Don’t discount that as unimportant. She was frugal with her money anyway, but this allowed her to save a little money on food that she then had available to spend somewhere else. My mother in law had the time, and the opportunity. She stepped out of her comfort zone and into ‘produce management’. Her hands found something to do and she did it with her might.
My brother Wade was invited by a very good friend to go visiting/soul winning at a local county jail. He went to spend time with his friend. An ulterior motive was to watch over his friend, as my brother wasn’t quite sure that his friend would be safe working that closely with prisoners. Then, he saw the need of the prisoners and now has his own prison ministry. His hands found something to do and he did it/does it with his might. ( http://precioussoulsministires.com to learn about Wade)
My mom wanted a way to make extra money after dad died. She heard about raising hypoallergenic Siberian Forest Cats. She took a leap of faith and got herself a male and female cat. (Actually, my son bought her the cats. He prefers to tell people that he set his gramma up in business – and he doesn’t like relatives teasing him that he set his gramma with a cat house.) She has enjoyed the company of the cats, and sold two litters of kittens. This would not be for everyone because it does take a lot of time, and the money is not that much. However, given mom’s circumstances, the money and company are sufficient for the effort. This was definitely out of mom’s comfort zone by about a million miles, but it was something her hands found to do, and she did it with her might.
There are two important things to look at when considering how to spend your time that is not already committed to fulfilling the things you are bound by duty and love to do. I don’t know which is more important, but the things are:
opportunity, and
inclination.
What are you inclined to want to do? As I mentioned, I am inclined to want to spend time with family. If they invite me to do something, then I am going to do it, and make an effort to be an enjoyable companion, and enjoy whatever it is that we are doing. It doesn’t always work out as well as I would like, but I don’t want to ever regret missing the opportunity. There are things that you are inclined toward doing as well. What are these things?
What opportunities present themselves? I will give you a big word of advice here. An opportunity is not necessarily, even not likely, to be something that will promise to make you a ton of money immediately. Just quit looking at ‘opportunity’ like that. It is more a chance to do something you could/might enjoy, and learn something at the same time.
Then there is adaptability. Little things crop up every day that require you to adapt to something that is slightly different. It can be as small as adapting to Lipton tea instead of Luzianne tea according to whatever is available or on sale. Or maybe you have to adapt to Coke instead of Pepsi, or (perish the thought) you have to take a thermos of coffee instead of stopping in at Starbucks. If you can set a pattern/paradigm of adapting to small changes as cheerfully and quickly as possible, then you are practicing for surprise changes that are coming in everyone’s future. The quicker you adapt, the quicker you have set a ‘new normal’ in small situations, the better you are prepared to adapt to bigger changes in your future.
So, we are up to three things to keep in mind in order to be prepared:
• Inclination
• Opportunity
• Adaptability
I really couldn’t say what order of importance these three things should be in.
An important point is that even though these three things should be considered, they must not over shadow the fact that preparing for the future requires actually living like the Christian you profess to be on a daily basis. That means treating others the way you want to be treated. Loving others the way Christ loves us. It means actually doing the things that Christ says to do.
‘‘Whatsoever they hand findeth to do, do it with they might;’ Ecclesiastes 9:10a
There well may be a lot of practical things that you find to do that are specifically related to preparedness for hard times or social turmoil or economic downturns. There will likely be more opportunities to just learn and do things at a particular moment in time. You will be surprised at how what seems like just a way to pass the time today will be very helpful to you tomorrow.
Enjoy today, and thanks for reading my article.
Barbara Henderson
barbara@askbh.com
http://ourhomeschoolideas.com has a new DVD useful for building vocabulary in infants and toddlers, understanding concepts such as over and under, or help for those learning English as a second language.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Hiding During Difficulties
(story begins)
Well, I have to tell someone about this. It was a visit from a most difficult and aggravating relative. To make matters worse, the relative wasn’t even on my husband’s side of the family. He really does have a worse relative, even a couple of them, but this relative was on my side of the family. It was going to be doom, gloom, and nosey questions for at least a couple of hours. The only consolation was that a lot of family was there that day, and everyone would stand up and take their share of dealing with the ‘nameless person’ who had come to torment us all.
So, a little while into the visit, I noticed that someone was missing from the friendly conversation going on in the living room. I quietly got up to get myself a glass of freshly brewed iced tea, and check around to see what was happening. I peeked into various rooms throughout the house as discretely as possible under the circumstances. The missing relative was nowhere to be found.
Perplexed, I went back into the living room for more of the scintillating conversation. Ok, it wasn’t scintillating. It was more like dodge and evade the questions shooting from the difficult relative’s mouth. I mean, how many times can you answer a question with just a sound like, ‘Ohhh’, ‘Hmmmm’, ‘Aaaa’, and things like that. (If you never say an actual word it is a lot harder for Mr. or Mz. negative/gossip to quote you on anything.)
I went back into the kitchen again, and then I heard a very small and unusual sound. It appeared to have come from under the kitchen table behind the long tablecloth. ‘Rat?’ I asked myself. Bravely I peeked under the table, and there she was – the missing relative. A totally grown college graduate, well respected at work, church, and socially sought after as one who enlivened any get-together, was hiding under the table getting eye strain trying to read a magazine. ‘Can you get me a flashlight?’ the one hiding mouthed at me. Not one audible peep escaped from the mouth of the coward.
My first thought was to denounce the coward for hiding under the table when the rest of us were in the lion’s den facing such a formidable foe. Ultimately, I had compassion and let the person in hiding just stay hidden. I did not fetch a flashlight, but I did toss a pillow under the table as a thoughtful gesture.
Eventually, the difficult relative left, and the cowardly relative came out of hiding. We all had a good laugh, but it wasn’t really that funny. To recover from a couple of hours with a person like that takes a full week. And it wasn’t really fair that anyone in the family got out of suffering along with the rest of us. Or – was it? Were the rest of us suffering needlessly? Should we have all been hiding under the table? It might have been a little crowded under there, but at least a few more of us could have hidden. I found myself wishing I had been the one to crawl under the table and stay there until the calamitous relative had gone on to torment someone else.
(end of story)
Of course we can’t exactly hide under the table most of the time. But we do have a hiding place. Isaiah 26:20 says, ‘Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.’ Christians have a place of refuge in Jesus Christ. We can rest in Him.
The world is full of difficulties that are even worse than the negative gossipy relative. Things are happening in the world today that are just unbelievable. I don’t care to list all the ills going on in the world today, because you already know what is going on. What can I say? With so called ministers of the gospel who do not preach the gospel, but preach a ‘different gospel’, of course the world is in trouble. The foundations of Christian civilization are being destroyed, and those who are righteous through Christ are powerless to do anything about it. Or – are we?
First, the foundations of the things of mankind may be destroyed, but the things of God will not be destroyed. The foundation on which our faith stands – stands. The foundations laid by God are not going to be destroyed. We are told in Matthew 24:35, Mark 13:31, and Luke 21:33, ‘Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.’ Well, that’s a relief.
(In case you are not Bible literate, the idea of heaven and earth passing away may cause you some distress. Don’t worry. God also has that detail covered. In 1 Peter 3:10-13 we are told that the earth will pass away, but that ‘we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.’ Read it all for yourself. It is very comforting.)
So, we now live in a world in which the foundations of righteousness are being destroyed, but where the foundations of the things of God cannot be destroyed. Good, in a collapsing world, we have a firm foundation on which to stand. Figuratively speaking, the earth is not going to open up and swallow Christians.
Nevertheless, we are in dire circumstances. And we find ourselves asking, ‘What can the righteous do?’ Or, ‘What can the children of God do?’ The answer is we can hide in the Lord. We can rest in Him. It isn’t quite as simple as hiding under the kitchen table until difficult people leave the house, but it is something along that line.
Psalm 57:1 says, ‘Be merciful unto me, O god, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast.’
We are to hide or rest in the Lord in times of turmoil, sorrow, peril, and just plain boredom. (Don’t underestimate the danger of boredom. Remember King David and his episode with Bathsheba. If he had not been bored with the war, he would have been in the battle instead of at home messing around on top of his palace when he should have been working.)
Resting in the Lord is the smart thing to do. Think about it like this. If you are tired, you want to go to the most restful place available. You go to the comfort of your own bed. At bedtime you don’t ask yourself if you should sleep sitting up in the car so you will be in the right place to head to work the next day. You automatically go to bed to sleep. You face getting up in the morning when it comes. When Christians face a difficult situation, the automatic response should be to go directly to the Lord for help, comfort, and rest. Christians are to ‘hide’ in the Lord.
When our resting place or hiding place is in the Lord, it isn’t going to change. It will always be there for us. Christians are to live/abide in the Lord. Our place of rest may be rocked by events and circumstances beyond our control, but it will stand. We may be so shocked or traumatized by events that we leave the safety of our hiding place, but our hiding place itself will not be destroyed. All the foes and antagonists of the Christian cannot bring down this stronghold. Our human frailties and small faith can cause us added conflict, turmoil, and even pain and sorrow; but, the hiding place itself cannot be moved.
Today is the day to set your course to enter the haven of rest, which of course is the Lord. You don’t want to look back or turn back. Christians who have set out to enter into God’s rest should be like the farmer who has set his shoulder to the plow. He isn’t going to stop until he reaches the goal. In the farmer’s case it is the end of the row. Then he will rest a spell and set his shoulder to the plow once again to reach the end of the next row. Christians seeking God’s rest are really advancing in about the same way. Every row plowed brings the farmer closer to the goal of plowing the entire field. For the Christian, every calamity causes us to run deeper into the rest offered by the Lord.
The opposition you will face in hiding in the Lord/entering into His rest are the things of this world. There will always be something dire and distressing that ‘slaps you up side the head’ every time you stick your head out of the fox hole. You do have a target on your back that says, ‘hit me’. Don’t take it personal. Everyone is in the same boat; we live in a world that is in turmoil. The boat does have two divisions. There are the saved of the Lord in one division, and the lost of the world in the other division. The children of God certainly have a better position because they have the promised rest that the lost of the world do not have. So, here we are with a place to hide, a place to rest, and sometimes we don’t make use of it. We stumble around and fret and worry like the children of this world. (The rest of the Lord is only available to the children of the Lord. ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.’ Acts 16:31)
Resting in the Lord is not easy. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to be all that hard. Other times it seems to require a vice that holds our head pointed in the right direction. It is hard to stay focused on the Lord when a calamity is ripping through our family or our country. I have a suggestion that can be very helpful.
Choose a Bible topic and study that topic every spare minute. There are two types of topics from which to choose.
Number one is a topic related to the calamity you are facing. This is the topic of choice if you are seeking direction and guidance in a specific matter. Ultimately, you will have made a decision regarding most things in your life. You will know the right course of action, or what you should do, or what you shouldn’t do. You wind up with time on your hands waiting on the Lord’s time. You are stuck living in that limbo land where the only smart thing to do is to learn patience. Then it is time to move on to topic number two.
Topic number two is just choosing something in the Bible in which you are interested. Creation is a great subject with lots of wonderful Biblical resources. In following this subject, or any subject for that matter you first read what God Himself has to say on the subject. God can be trusted to always tell you the truth. Then, you have to be careful to use only reference books that are written by people who comment on the word of God in order to help people better understand what God is saying. You don’t want to bother with people trying to explain that while God said one thing, He/he really meant something else. If a Bible commentary presents error as truth, then it is really preaching a different gospel. Chunk it in the trash.
My personal experience is that time spent waiting on the Lord is really study time. If you don’t have the time or inclination to read and study, then make the time to listen! There are audio versions of the entire Bible and numerous audio resources available free at many web sites. Make use of these resources. Some people say, and perhaps I agree, that there are more temptations available today than ever before. Fortunately, there are more resources readily available for Christians seeking to live a Godly life than ever before.
A good way to begin or continue your journey into resting and hiding in the Lord, or to go deeper into the hiding place is:
Read the Bible cover to cover. I recommend investing in a Thompson Chain Reference KJV Bible. The references are wonderful study helps.
If you are not a reader, then be a listener. Listen to the Bible on audio. I recommend the Alexander Scourby audio, and I have a link to it at my web site http://askbh.com . There are others available that are good, and someone you know may have one they will lend to you.
Then just follow your interests.
Pick a book that you found easy reading or easy listening and read some good commentaries on that book. Everyone has favorite books of the Bible. Because of my interest in history, I have a great interest in the historical records in the Bible. Genealogy is also interesting to me, but is just mind boggling for me when I am trying to focus off of something troubling and onto a specific subject. When I am trying to take my mind off a worldly problem, I need something that is easier to get into. There will be a lot of free sermon audios on different web sites if you don’t feel like reading. Sometimes you can just be so ‘down’ or depressed that you can’t read. You can listen. Be sure you are listening to something good that will pull you up and through the problems. Don’t listen to things that pull you down deeper into the mire.
Pick a subject that interests you. Use a good concordance or study Bible to read every word the Bible has to say on the subject, and then go to good commentaries. Of course a favorite subject of mine is Bible prophecy.
Some people say that you need a specific study time, or quiet time, with the Lord. I wouldn’t dispute that. However, when you are facing something that wants to gain control of your thoughts like an illness or financial problem, or even something wicked like an addiction, then every spare second not required in your work becomes study time. Remember the subject of your study (prophecy, creation, gifts of the spirit, …) and keep your thoughts on that subject. Diligently and passionately pursue a better understanding of the Bible subject you have chosen. You will be delighted with what you learn.
Bear you one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2
Pray for one another – and help those in need as best you can.
'Soul Wars Trilogy' - book two now available on Kindle.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Just Enjoying Today Can Help Prepare for Tomorrow
Can Just Enjoying Today Prepare us for Tomorrow?
by Barbara Henderson
‘Whatsoever they hand findeth to do, do it with they might;’ Ecclesiastes 9:10a
There has been a great deal said recently about the uncertainty of the future. Economic collapse is predicted. Food shortages are predicted. Lawlessness is predicted to increase. Persecution of our Christian brethren is on the rise, and there is legitimate concern that it may be invading even the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave.’ It seems foolish not to prepare. And I am not talking about just storing 3 extra cans of chili and a box of powdered eggs in the pantry. Food storage, self defense, mobility, grab and go bags, at least three plans for each potential disaster should be on the top of everyone’s list of things that must be done before next Tuesday. Or, should they? Let’s look at things from a slightly different angle.
Why not enjoy life right now?
Why not eat, drink, and be merry today?
After all, we don’t even know if we have tomorrow.
So, let me propose a slightly different approach to preparedness. Be prepared to enjoy life! Take it one day at a time. Follow your interests. Follow your opportunities. You might be surprised at how much these things will help you in being prepared for whatever the world throws at you.
You could start like this.
First, consider your duties. Your first allegiance is to God, then to your family. For most people there is a job that requires a lot of your time, and your duty is to do a good job, whether you like the job or not. If you are the homemaker, then you have a lot going on that must be done repeatedly. (By the way, if you are in a situation where one person in the marriage team works outside the home, and the other stays home to care for the family and manage the house, then the duty of the one who works outside the home does not stop when he/she walks through the door after a hard days work. That person is still required to do whatever needs to be done to make the home run smoothly.)
But then what? No matter how busy your schedule, there will be a little time that you are able to be selective in what you do. The choices you make then can enrich your life and help you be prepared for the future, both mentally and materially. The point is to not be frivolous or unkind in how you spend a few extra minutes now and then, but rather to be industrious in exercising your mind and body. You never know how something learned today, no matter how unimportant it may seem, may be a ‘lifesaver’ tomorrow.
Now, consider your likes. What is something that you sincerely and consistently enjoy? I enjoy spending time with my family. I just like to be part of their lives. What this requires on my part is setting aside how I would probably manage the day if it were just me, or just me and Jerry. I do what the group wants to do, or needs to do. This has put me out of my comfort zone on many occasions. For instance, if you have been reading my articles long, you know that my family goes camping fairly often. When I was a child, my family went camping. Honestly, while I love the great outdoors, I love indoor plumbing more. If it were just me, I would definitely be a ‘picnicer’ instead of a ‘camper’. A few hours of communing with nature would be sufficient for me. I would especially enjoy it if the weather was lovely and I had my camera. I would take photos all day, and go home and view them on my computer that evening. However, in learning to camp I have gained some survival skills that would be helpful in any primitive environment. I have also learned to enjoy something that was not really my cup of tea to begin with. That in itself is a survival skill that is more valuable than most skills. Adaptability cannot be overrated as a survival skill. (An extremely important thing you can learn while camping is how to consistently build a campfire under a variety of conditions. You absolutely cannot overstate the importance of being able to efficiently build a fire. The time to learn that skill is long before you actually need it. Cooking on a campfire is another skill that needs to be learned before you actually need it. A hint on cooking is to put your coals from the main fire in a small ring of rocks that will hold your skillet just above the coals for the actual cooking.)
Many years ago, my mom asked me to go with her to take oil painting lessons from a local artist. He was a very fine Christian man, an artist with not only an ability to paint, but an ability to teach that skill to others. He gave lessons from his home. His wife worked at a day job away from home. To mom’s old fashioned way of thinking, it just wouldn’t look quite right for a married woman to be in a man’s house when his wife was at work, even if he did give art lessons. So mom asked me to go with her and take lessons. I agreed because I liked to spend time with my mom. Well, guess what? I absolutely loved the lessons. Oil painting is something that I love doing even now. So, I got a twofold blessing there. I spent time with mom and I learned something wonderful. The principles that apply to oil painting (color, composition, perspective) apply to many things that we deal with in our daily lives. They have been helpful in everything from how to put together a nice looking clothing outfit to how to design/decorate a room that is functional and looks nice as well. I didn’t need to read those books that came out a few years ago on what colors to wear together and how to dress for your size. And the books on makeup – I just always go with the theory that ‘any old barn looks better with a coat of paint’ and slap on a little foundation and a few other things in the morning.
I could give you many examples of things that I did for the purpose of just spending time with my family or one family member that were out of my comfort zone. I usually enjoyed whatever it was that we did, but often I learned to do and even like something that I would not have normally tried as well..
Here are some examples of things that people I know have done that provided them with a lot of enjoyment at the moment, taught them new skills, and helped them ‘be prepared’ for the future. (By the way, changes and disasters are coming. We just don’t know what, when, where, why, or how.)
My father in law retired from his job. He had time on his hands. He began to grow a garden. Before retirement, he thought that it was his Christian duty to mow down anything and everything that dared sprout on his property. He could mow at midnight during the dark of the moon without fear of mowing down anything that shouldn’t get whacked with the lawn mower because everything had already been whacked! All he had to do was avoid running into the bricks on the house. But, with time on his hands, and opportunity, he started to grow a garden. It turned out that:
He grew most of the produce for his household for years.
He ate foods that were fresher and healthier.
As his health began to deteriorate, he had incentive to keep on working at growing a garden. Between football and gardening, he stayed busy up until the very end of his life.
In becoming a gardener he learned a useful skill and enriched his life besides.
He was a hands on sort of person. He had the time to garden. He had the place to garden. A good neighbor offered to lend him a tractor to begin with. He stepped out of his comfort zone and into gardening. His hands found something to do and he did with his might.
Because of all the produce that was suddenly available for ‘free’, my mother in law leaned the skill of canning vegetables and making pickles. Don’t discount that as unimportant. She was frugal with her money anyway, but this allowed her to save a little money on food that she then had available to spend somewhere else. My mother in law had the time, and the opportunity. She stepped out of her comfort zone and into ‘produce management’. Her hands found something to do and she did it with her might.
My brother Wade was invited by a very good friend to go visiting/soul winning at a local county jail. He went to spend time with his friend. An ulterior motive was to watch over his friend, as my brother wasn’t quite sure that his friend would be safe working that closely with prisoners. Then, he saw the need of the prisoners and now has his own prison ministry. His hands found something to do and he did it/does it with his might. ( http://precioussoulsministires.com to learn about Wade)
My mom wanted a way to make extra money after dad died. She heard about raising hypoallergenic Siberian Forest Cats. She took a leap of faith and got herself a male and female cat. (Actually, my son bought her the cats. He prefers to tell people that he set his gramma up in business – and he doesn’t like relatives teasing him that he set his gramma with a cat house.) She has enjoyed the company of the cats, and sold two litters of kittens. This would not be for everyone because it does take a lot of time, and the money is not that much. However, given mom’s circumstances, the money and company are sufficient for the effort. This was definitely out of mom’s comfort zone by about a million miles, but it was something her hands found to do, and she did it with her might.
There are two important things to look at when considering how to spend your time that is not already committed to fulfilling the things you are bound by duty and love to do. I don’t know which is more important, but the things are:
opportunity, and
inclination.
What are you inclined to want to do? As I mentioned, I am inclined to want to spend time with family. If they invite me to do something, then I am going to do it, and make an effort to be an enjoyable companion, and enjoy whatever it is that we are doing. It doesn’t always work out as well as I would like, but I don’t want to ever regret missing the opportunity. There are things that you are inclined toward doing as well. What are these things?
What opportunities present themselves? I will give you a big word of advice here. An opportunity is not necessarily, even not likely, to be something that will promise to make you a ton of money immediately. Just quit looking at ‘opportunity’ like that. It is more a chance to do something you could/might enjoy, and learn something at the same time.
Then there is adaptability. Little things crop up every day that require you to adapt to something that is slightly different. It can be as small as adapting to Lipton tea instead of Luzianne tea according to whatever is available or on sale. Or maybe you have to adapt to Coke instead of Pepsi, or (perish the thought) you have to take a thermos of coffee instead of stopping in at Starbucks. If you can set a pattern/paradigm of adapting to small changes as cheerfully and quickly as possible, then you are practicing for surprise changes that are coming in everyone’s future. The quicker you adapt, the quicker you have set a ‘new normal’ in small situations, the better you are prepared to adapt to bigger changes in your future.
So, we are up to three things to keep in mind in order to be prepared:
• Inclination
• Opportunity
• Adaptability
I really couldn’t say what order of importance these three things should be in.
An important point is that even though these three things should be considered, they must not over shadow the fact that preparing for the future requires actually living like the Christian you profess to be on a daily basis. That means treating others the way you want to be treated. Loving others the way Christ loves us. It means actually doing the things that Christ says to do.
‘‘Whatsoever they hand findeth to do, do it with they might;’ Ecclesiastes 9:10a
There well may be a lot of practical things that you find to do that are specifically related to preparedness for hard times or social turmoil or economic downturns. There will likely be more opportunities to just learn and do things at a particular moment in time. You will be surprised at how what seems like just a way to pass the time today will be very helpful to you tomorrow.
Enjoy today, and thanks for reading my article.
Barbara Henderson
barbara@askbh.com
http://ourhomeschoolideas.com has a new DVD useful for building vocabulary in infants and toddlers, understanding concepts such as over and under, or help for those learning English as a second language.
by Barbara Henderson
‘Whatsoever they hand findeth to do, do it with they might;’ Ecclesiastes 9:10a
There has been a great deal said recently about the uncertainty of the future. Economic collapse is predicted. Food shortages are predicted. Lawlessness is predicted to increase. Persecution of our Christian brethren is on the rise, and there is legitimate concern that it may be invading even the ‘land of the free and the home of the brave.’ It seems foolish not to prepare. And I am not talking about just storing 3 extra cans of chili and a box of powdered eggs in the pantry. Food storage, self defense, mobility, grab and go bags, at least three plans for each potential disaster should be on the top of everyone’s list of things that must be done before next Tuesday. Or, should they? Let’s look at things from a slightly different angle.
Why not enjoy life right now?
Why not eat, drink, and be merry today?
After all, we don’t even know if we have tomorrow.
So, let me propose a slightly different approach to preparedness. Be prepared to enjoy life! Take it one day at a time. Follow your interests. Follow your opportunities. You might be surprised at how much these things will help you in being prepared for whatever the world throws at you.
You could start like this.
First, consider your duties. Your first allegiance is to God, then to your family. For most people there is a job that requires a lot of your time, and your duty is to do a good job, whether you like the job or not. If you are the homemaker, then you have a lot going on that must be done repeatedly. (By the way, if you are in a situation where one person in the marriage team works outside the home, and the other stays home to care for the family and manage the house, then the duty of the one who works outside the home does not stop when he/she walks through the door after a hard days work. That person is still required to do whatever needs to be done to make the home run smoothly.)
But then what? No matter how busy your schedule, there will be a little time that you are able to be selective in what you do. The choices you make then can enrich your life and help you be prepared for the future, both mentally and materially. The point is to not be frivolous or unkind in how you spend a few extra minutes now and then, but rather to be industrious in exercising your mind and body. You never know how something learned today, no matter how unimportant it may seem, may be a ‘lifesaver’ tomorrow.
Now, consider your likes. What is something that you sincerely and consistently enjoy? I enjoy spending time with my family. I just like to be part of their lives. What this requires on my part is setting aside how I would probably manage the day if it were just me, or just me and Jerry. I do what the group wants to do, or needs to do. This has put me out of my comfort zone on many occasions. For instance, if you have been reading my articles long, you know that my family goes camping fairly often. When I was a child, my family went camping. Honestly, while I love the great outdoors, I love indoor plumbing more. If it were just me, I would definitely be a ‘picnicer’ instead of a ‘camper’. A few hours of communing with nature would be sufficient for me. I would especially enjoy it if the weather was lovely and I had my camera. I would take photos all day, and go home and view them on my computer that evening. However, in learning to camp I have gained some survival skills that would be helpful in any primitive environment. I have also learned to enjoy something that was not really my cup of tea to begin with. That in itself is a survival skill that is more valuable than most skills. Adaptability cannot be overrated as a survival skill. (An extremely important thing you can learn while camping is how to consistently build a campfire under a variety of conditions. You absolutely cannot overstate the importance of being able to efficiently build a fire. The time to learn that skill is long before you actually need it. Cooking on a campfire is another skill that needs to be learned before you actually need it. A hint on cooking is to put your coals from the main fire in a small ring of rocks that will hold your skillet just above the coals for the actual cooking.)
Many years ago, my mom asked me to go with her to take oil painting lessons from a local artist. He was a very fine Christian man, an artist with not only an ability to paint, but an ability to teach that skill to others. He gave lessons from his home. His wife worked at a day job away from home. To mom’s old fashioned way of thinking, it just wouldn’t look quite right for a married woman to be in a man’s house when his wife was at work, even if he did give art lessons. So mom asked me to go with her and take lessons. I agreed because I liked to spend time with my mom. Well, guess what? I absolutely loved the lessons. Oil painting is something that I love doing even now. So, I got a twofold blessing there. I spent time with mom and I learned something wonderful. The principles that apply to oil painting (color, composition, perspective) apply to many things that we deal with in our daily lives. They have been helpful in everything from how to put together a nice looking clothing outfit to how to design/decorate a room that is functional and looks nice as well. I didn’t need to read those books that came out a few years ago on what colors to wear together and how to dress for your size. And the books on makeup – I just always go with the theory that ‘any old barn looks better with a coat of paint’ and slap on a little foundation and a few other things in the morning.
I could give you many examples of things that I did for the purpose of just spending time with my family or one family member that were out of my comfort zone. I usually enjoyed whatever it was that we did, but often I learned to do and even like something that I would not have normally tried as well..
Here are some examples of things that people I know have done that provided them with a lot of enjoyment at the moment, taught them new skills, and helped them ‘be prepared’ for the future. (By the way, changes and disasters are coming. We just don’t know what, when, where, why, or how.)
My father in law retired from his job. He had time on his hands. He began to grow a garden. Before retirement, he thought that it was his Christian duty to mow down anything and everything that dared sprout on his property. He could mow at midnight during the dark of the moon without fear of mowing down anything that shouldn’t get whacked with the lawn mower because everything had already been whacked! All he had to do was avoid running into the bricks on the house. But, with time on his hands, and opportunity, he started to grow a garden. It turned out that:
He grew most of the produce for his household for years.
He ate foods that were fresher and healthier.
As his health began to deteriorate, he had incentive to keep on working at growing a garden. Between football and gardening, he stayed busy up until the very end of his life.
In becoming a gardener he learned a useful skill and enriched his life besides.
He was a hands on sort of person. He had the time to garden. He had the place to garden. A good neighbor offered to lend him a tractor to begin with. He stepped out of his comfort zone and into gardening. His hands found something to do and he did with his might.
Because of all the produce that was suddenly available for ‘free’, my mother in law leaned the skill of canning vegetables and making pickles. Don’t discount that as unimportant. She was frugal with her money anyway, but this allowed her to save a little money on food that she then had available to spend somewhere else. My mother in law had the time, and the opportunity. She stepped out of her comfort zone and into ‘produce management’. Her hands found something to do and she did it with her might.
My brother Wade was invited by a very good friend to go visiting/soul winning at a local county jail. He went to spend time with his friend. An ulterior motive was to watch over his friend, as my brother wasn’t quite sure that his friend would be safe working that closely with prisoners. Then, he saw the need of the prisoners and now has his own prison ministry. His hands found something to do and he did it/does it with his might. ( http://precioussoulsministires.com to learn about Wade)
My mom wanted a way to make extra money after dad died. She heard about raising hypoallergenic Siberian Forest Cats. She took a leap of faith and got herself a male and female cat. (Actually, my son bought her the cats. He prefers to tell people that he set his gramma up in business – and he doesn’t like relatives teasing him that he set his gramma with a cat house.) She has enjoyed the company of the cats, and sold two litters of kittens. This would not be for everyone because it does take a lot of time, and the money is not that much. However, given mom’s circumstances, the money and company are sufficient for the effort. This was definitely out of mom’s comfort zone by about a million miles, but it was something her hands found to do, and she did it with her might.
There are two important things to look at when considering how to spend your time that is not already committed to fulfilling the things you are bound by duty and love to do. I don’t know which is more important, but the things are:
opportunity, and
inclination.
What are you inclined to want to do? As I mentioned, I am inclined to want to spend time with family. If they invite me to do something, then I am going to do it, and make an effort to be an enjoyable companion, and enjoy whatever it is that we are doing. It doesn’t always work out as well as I would like, but I don’t want to ever regret missing the opportunity. There are things that you are inclined toward doing as well. What are these things?
What opportunities present themselves? I will give you a big word of advice here. An opportunity is not necessarily, even not likely, to be something that will promise to make you a ton of money immediately. Just quit looking at ‘opportunity’ like that. It is more a chance to do something you could/might enjoy, and learn something at the same time.
Then there is adaptability. Little things crop up every day that require you to adapt to something that is slightly different. It can be as small as adapting to Lipton tea instead of Luzianne tea according to whatever is available or on sale. Or maybe you have to adapt to Coke instead of Pepsi, or (perish the thought) you have to take a thermos of coffee instead of stopping in at Starbucks. If you can set a pattern/paradigm of adapting to small changes as cheerfully and quickly as possible, then you are practicing for surprise changes that are coming in everyone’s future. The quicker you adapt, the quicker you have set a ‘new normal’ in small situations, the better you are prepared to adapt to bigger changes in your future.
So, we are up to three things to keep in mind in order to be prepared:
• Inclination
• Opportunity
• Adaptability
I really couldn’t say what order of importance these three things should be in.
An important point is that even though these three things should be considered, they must not over shadow the fact that preparing for the future requires actually living like the Christian you profess to be on a daily basis. That means treating others the way you want to be treated. Loving others the way Christ loves us. It means actually doing the things that Christ says to do.
‘‘Whatsoever they hand findeth to do, do it with they might;’ Ecclesiastes 9:10a
There well may be a lot of practical things that you find to do that are specifically related to preparedness for hard times or social turmoil or economic downturns. There will likely be more opportunities to just learn and do things at a particular moment in time. You will be surprised at how what seems like just a way to pass the time today will be very helpful to you tomorrow.
Enjoy today, and thanks for reading my article.
Barbara Henderson
barbara@askbh.com
http://ourhomeschoolideas.com has a new DVD useful for building vocabulary in infants and toddlers, understanding concepts such as over and under, or help for those learning English as a second language.
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