Focus

I used to be the girl who always met deadlines. The girl who was never late. The girl whose diary was always so accurate that she never missed a thing. The girl whose work was always done with accuracy.

That was before college. Not me being at college, because when I was there I was that super organised girl. but my Husbands return to study. We've waited for this day for so long and now he's there. And I'm here. Across that wretched barrier; the sea. Him there. Me here. My heart is with him across the sea. My body is here. Doing what we have to do to get college completed.

I feel like I'm living in two places at once.

And I've totally lost focus.

My head is so full of counting the days 'til the weekend that I forgetwhat people ask me in work.

My diary is so full of days when he's home; that I've forgotten to write anything else down.

When he comes home I forget that the world continues and deadlines must be met.

But I can't lose total focus. I need to keep focused on the One who has called us to this crazy year. The One who has directed our footsteps to a life of serving Him.

When everything else seems out of focus I need to make sure that He is still perfectly clear and that I can still look to Him.

The Organized Heart

I was trying to review every book I've read this year but I'm now terribly behind, due to holidays and Trev starting College and outreach teams etc etc.....

However, recently we've started reviewing books in the shop for the website. I kind of like this because it means free reading material and  I can write a review in work time:).

Recently we got stock in from Cruciform Press and they really do excite me; they are readable but not light airy reading. I picked up The Organized Heart hoping that it would guide me as how to organise my time in this new College phase of life. It was so so helpful and convicting as outlined below...

Women are constantly facing a battle with disorganisation. Many feel they are continuously loosing their campaign to remain organised despite a plethora of books on the topic and a determination among many to make their lives easier. In The Organized Heart a relatively short but convicting book Staci Eastin takes a different approach to many other books on organisation. She outlines that at the centre of disorganisation is one key problem; that of sin. This book will not tell you how to organise your freezer or on what day you should do your laundry, however it does look at the crux of the problem and it is the hope of the author that by fighting the sin that causes disorganisation women will "serve God and your family more effectively, more fruitfully, and with greater peace and joy." 

Staci looks at four sins that can lead to becoming disorganised: namely those of perfectionism, busyness, possessions and leisure. Each of these chapters are very convicting and although we may not feel at the outset of the chapter that a particular area is an issue for us by the end you come to the realisation that there is some of each sin in all of us. 

Staci doesn't want this to be a book which adds rules and regulations to our life but rather a book which helps us find true freedom in Christ. Therefore a chapter on difficult circumstances is included which especially offers counsel for those who are single parents or struggling with illness. This is written with sympathy and we see the authors heart of compassion as she writes "in writing this book, one of my main concerns has been that it would leave women feeling more hopeless than helped..." I feel that her fears are unfounded as this is very much a book of hope. 

The book concludes with some practical suggestions to help with getting organised. Although these include suggestions such a getting a calender, reading books on the issue and planning ahead she constantly points to the Lord, who alone is the one who can help and "urg[e] you along the path to holiness."

 This is an excellent resource for women at all stages of life, it could be read alone or with an accountability partner as discussion questions are included at the close of each chapter.

Published by Cruciform Press