As I sit in my office at my computer this morning, this is what I see.
I have been quite reflective recently and am especially enjoying the learning I have been doing on the phrase The Next Right Thing.
Various people have said it, but in particular I’ve been listening to Emily P Freeman.
That’s her you see on my laptop screen. I just pre-ordered her book The Next Right Thing and this video of her talking about the process that led to her starting the podcast (by the same name) and then writing the book, was a freebie of my purchase.
At Heart of the Matter we have had a lot of new and exciting ideas being downloaded to our brains the last few months. It is easy to get overwhelmed and wonder how to possibly implement them and more importantly wondering to ourselves…..what if we do the wrong thing at the wrong time?!? Yikes!! Then we’d really be in trouble – or so we think!
God is our CEO over here at Heart of the Matter, so we take our direction from the very best 🙂 I really believe this Next Right Thing message is His way of telling Rhonda and I, to just walk our everyday ordinary life with Him.
Back to the view from my desk chair……The bits that I have around my space are all an accumulation (because sometimes I just need visual reminders) of what God has been showing me (and teaching me) the last few months.
It started with my word for 2019. Deliberate.
When I started seeing talk of the concept of “a word” on FB at New Years I didn’t think it was for me. But I did pray “God if you think I’d benefit from this, change my mind”. He did. DELIBERATE came into my mind and has been percolating there ever since.
Then came Done is Better than Perfect.
I deemed it worthy of stick tac and a spot in my line of sight. I am a bit of a perfectionist and this is a lesson I so need to learn. Git ‘er done Donna! It might not be perfect, but done is sooooo much better than still on my to do list!!
In early January, when God first started with the new idea download, I was super excited. That lasted a day or so and then fear set in. How the heck was I going to accomplish all that He appeared to be calling me to do?? On that particular Sunday in mid-January the message at church reminded me that I don’t have to do it alone. My CEO is here and present with me in the person of The Holy Spirit. I am not alone. Ever. In fact that Sunday as I was listening to the words of encouragement being spoken I had a picture form in my mind of the Holy Spirit rolling up his sleeves and saying let’s get to work! I like that picture. It was after that Sunday that this made it to my space – again a visual reminder of God’s promises to me.
As I write this blog today it was these words from Emily Freeman that resonated with me and became “wall worthy”.
I love # 1 – Thank you God for the reminder that my pace is my pace. There’s no such thing as behind. Oh, and just in case #3 is confusing. I am small next to His bigness!
And I especially love # 5 – I don’t have to figure out what the right thing is I just have to do the NEXT right thing, in love.
Ahh……..deep breath. I can do that. Just. the. next. right. thing. My breath slows down as I say it. How about you?
And just in case any of you were wondering about other stuff you might have seen in that shot of my space.
Pomodoro is a concept of time blocking that I just heard about this week for the first time. If you don’t know what it is read more here. I decided to download the app (by the same name) for my phone. Basically it is a technique to keep you on track (and builds in breaks) to accomplish a task. I know that I can get easily distracted by my in-box, and I want to be deliberate about doing better with that. Pomodoro is a strategy I want to implement, but I don’t want to forget to do it (as I so easily could – thank you 55 year old brain!) so I have a little note stuck on my monitor to remind me.
This mug (pre-broken chunk) is one I purchased on a trip to Nova Scotia with my friend Lori a couple of years ago.
I used it as my water drinking mug until it got a bump and had a chunk broken out of it. It was too well loved to go in the garbage, so it is now my pen mug on my desk.
We have a “pause” policy here at HOM.
Or in this case a paws policy 😉
We printed these for all of us to put somewhere near our computer. The purpose? To remind us to Pause before we rush into a communication or response. Allow a moment for our CEO to whisper His direction.
I pray that some of my reflections here today may have resonated with you as you discern your Next Right Thing. Whether that is in your work or your play. Your family or your friendships. Your to do list or your decluttering. Just take a deep breath, be gentle with yourself……. and do the Next Right Thing.
I’ll close with this quote from Emily P Freeman
I am one in whom Christ dwells and delights. I live in the strong and unshakeable kingdom of God. The kingdom is not in trouble and neither am I.
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