Mondays and my point of reference

Greetings to all my dear friends! I have enjoyed reading about what has been going on in your life lately. Thank you for each and every update.

.

I had a wonderful time at Advanced EXCEL, and I am so glad that God allowed me to go. I learned a lot during those six weeks, and I am thankful to God for all of the things that He taught me while I was down there. Since returning home from the DMC, I have been kept quite busy with my family and AE assignments. This week, I have been working on AE practicum assignments and, because of God's faithfulness, I am making some progress.

.

I don't know about you, but Mondays are almost always a difficult day for me. I can very easily become overwhelmed with what needs to be done. Here is a portion of a paper that I wrote for one of my assignments today that I hope will be a blessing to any of you who, like me, want to enjoy each day that God has blessed you with, but have a hard time keeping your focus on Christ and His sufficiency when Monday morning shows up.

Stretching from desk to ceiling in an unending pile, papers wait, calling for my attention. The longer I stare at the mountainous stack, the more intimidating it becomes. Growing with each passing second, first paper by paper, then chunk by chunk, the work load increases in size faster than I can complete it. There is too much to do, and the harder I try to get everything done, the more I find still unfinished. In panic, I frantically try to fix all of the problems at the same time, only succeeding in setting myself up for frustration and defeat.

My mistake is that my focus is on myself, my problem, and my incapability. As long as my point of reference is myself, I am going to end up being discouraged. In despair, I will continue to try to change myself and to live the Christian life in my own strength. I need to change my focus.

With Christ as my point of reference, when I see the pile on my desk, it doesn’t look so overwhelming. I can take the projects one at a time, and He will work through me, as me, to get each job done. Since my focus is on God, I am free to trust Him. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and He will be sufficient in and through each aspect of my life.

I would appreciate your prayers as I continue to allow Christ to be my focus, my point of reference, and my sufficiency. I love you all very much and I am praying for you! May God continue to reveal Himself to you more each day and may He be your source of strength as you continue to be a blessing to others!

.

Blessings on your week!