#93 - How To Get Answers from the Lord

Good morning! It is so still out this morning. It's like the air is just still. Almost a strange quiet. No wind. No rain. Just very still and quiet. A bit like my feelings of things I need to do I suppose. If you've joined us the last 2 days....hum.... well, let's just say that it's been Holy Spirit convicting time. Have you had times in your life where the Holy Spirit is just getting on you about change? I guess maybe it's a good thing. I have a close enough relationship with the Holy Spirit, with my Lord that He is able to talk to me about areas in my life that need change. I'll tell ya, it's really not always easy to hear. Sometimes it seems like such a big job! I'm still majorly in the process of "De-Cluttering".... that is definitely not an overnight process. But... I know what to do, so that is probably the biggest part of it. (GTD - Getting Things Done by David Allen - Get the book on CD if you don't have time to read it.) Tyler has implemented GTD really well and for probably over a year has wanted me to just DIVE in. I've pretty much blown that idea off in the past. I wasn't really ready for it. But... evidently the Holy Spirit says I need to be ready now! I agree! De-cluttering will be good. Things need to have their place and that will most definitely free up my mind! What did Tyler do that was SOOOO good in it all?? He frequently does this..... he casts me on the Lord. He realizes that HE can't fix me or change me, but the Lord can. So... he continues to cast me on the Lord.  That's a good place for me to be. The "Old Amy" would want to rear up and totally buck the system if someone tried to make me change. Especially if I wasn't ready. I'm not saying that's right, it's just true. As a child, my parents always prayed that the "stubborn Amy Jo" would one day steer the stubbornness to serve the Lord with a fervor. Well... let's just say, I'm glad Tyler has learned to cast me on the Lord. That's the best place for me to be. The Holy Spirit has a way of speaking the truth to me in a way no one else can, and at a time when I am ready and willing to listen. Well... with quite a long intro... let's get started. 

Proverbs 28:19 - He who cultivates his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless people and pursuits will have poverty enough.

Psalm 118:6a, 7a - The Lord is on my side.... The Lord is on my side.....

Psalm 118:8 - It is better to trust and take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man. 

This morning I was talking to Tyler.... he is really a wealth of knowledge. I'm glad I married him. He is always learning. He reads all the time! He listens to awesome men of God and business leaders, and really is quite an inspiration to me. He makes me think all the time! It is so true what it talks about in Proverbs 27:17 - Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. - That is my husband. A definite iron sharpener! 


So, in our conversation he reminded me something I had heard a long time ago. The best way to get an answer to a problem. George Washington Carver, inventor of over 300 uses for the peanut, including yummy peanut butter! And how did he come of with these inventions? He said, "God gave them to me." It has been noted, when Carver wanted to solve a problem or was seeking an answer to a question, he didn't seek out men, he didn't seek out education and books, but he sought God. He took his Bible and a notebook went to a quiet room, closed the door and sought the Lord. It was not "try, fail & adjust", but it was, "Lord, you give me the answer. I'm going to seek you until I have it."


Wow! What an awesome example to learn from! Is there really anything else to say? The Lord will answer, and as it says in Psalm 118, The LORD is ON YOUR SIDE! He's on your side! He wants you to be a success! He wants you to win! He wants the RIGHTEOUS to flourish! 


What are you following? Who are you following? What are your pursuits? Are they worthless? Are they of value? If they are, and things are not going how you would like them to go, do like Carver did, seek the Lord. Get a notebook, get your Bible, leave your laptop and cell phone in a different room (and turn your phone off or on silent) and SEEK the Lord. With Him, it is not "try, fail & adjust," He just gives you the actual exact thing to do IF you tune in to Him and listen. 


Short and sweet. But a definite Word!  

#92 - De-Clutter

GOOD MORNING! GOOD MORNING!! Wow! It's quite an interesting day here in Cola. Everyone here calls "Columbia", COLA for short. Like how Atlanta is know as Hot-lanta. Anyways... just thought I'd share a little "local trivia" with you! :) I'm sure you are very happy to know that info!


Well... this morning is a blessed morning! A blessed day all together! The boy and I are going to MYGYM today! Excited about that! We are going to be ON TIME too! Another one of my STRENGTHS! (I'm speaking that into existence!) Then.... we may go to the ZOO this afternoon. Hip Hip Horray! That will be fun! I think it comes along with the whole "mom" thing to use words like "Hip Hip Horray!" Fun-ny!


Alright... enough shooting the breeze! Let me just share this one last thing with you before we start! The boy was with dad "out and about" the other night... check out the picture I got! SOOOO FUNNY!!! I LOL'd! Totally laughed out loud when I saw it! The boy LOVES people.... so he was in the cart with dad and just wanted to turn around to SEE all the people. So funny! He really his a funny kid! Makes me laugh all the time! Love it! And notice the BELT that is still around his waist! He turned himself around!!! :) LOL! 

Psalm 87:6a - The Lord shall count, when He registers the peoples

Psalm 147:4 - He determines and counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by their names. 

Proverbs 31:27 - She looks well to how things go in her household... 

Yet another day with some pretty straight words to ME. The verses above... to me, for some reason just show God as a God of order and organization. To some this is a strength, to others it is not. To me... well.... I would say that in the past it's been more of an area I need to work on than that of a strength. 


God of order. We are made in his image. And what doest that bring me to? Clutter. De-cluttering. Currently, if you could see my kitchen and several different areas of my downstairs... I have some projects going on. Good projects, but nonetheless, projects. Things that have been going on for awhile, started, not finished, leaving behind a pile of clutter. A pile of things that, "Oh, I'm going to finish that project, let me just leave it out." And a week, two weeks later, there it still lies. Causing clutter. Dishes in the sink. Clutter. 


As I re-read Proverbs 31:10-31, I look at this amazing woman of God. The woman who "excels them all." This woman is VERY accomplished in her life. If I, Amy Jo McCart want to accomplish a greater amount of things in my life, do more for the Lord, accomplish more for my family, help set my family up financially. Bottom line, the Proverbs 31 woman didn't just stay at home doing 'fru-fru' things as a mom & wife, she contributed using her gifts, talents & discernment. She was an asset to her family and her community. My desire to do the same. To affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and to do that, I need to de-clutter. 


Knowing that God is a God of order... and clutter causes feelings of chaos, frustration, un-productivity. In and amongst clutter, it is hard to work productively, and harder to establish an environment of peace. A working, living, thinking environment of peace. So... not only does if affect ME if I have clutter all over my house, it affects my HUSBAND! AND..... my goal is for my husband to be able to think, reflect, meditate on the Word.... my goal is to create an environment of growth & peace, an environment that can harbor ideas, concepts, thoughts that can change our family and ultimately CHANGE THE WORLD for the Kingdom of God!


And all this has to do with clutter? I think clutter is a root killer to ideas, concepts and inventions that will never be created because the environment is not one of order. God operates in order. I personally need to do a better job at keeping order. I know it won't happen over night.... and I even know already some of the things I need to apply..... one... mainly, applying GTD. The book "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. Amazing book and I know it will help me. It's a matter of digging down, finding out from the Holy Spirit, what is step one. And really.... bottom line, it is establishing a working schedule that will incorporate REGULAR "order keeping." A regular, time on a consistent basis that involves de-cluttering. 


So... today.... take it for what it is. I just was convicted in looking at the Proverbs 31 woman. Seeing ALL that she is accomplishing, I KNOW she wasn't like the phrase says, "a chicken with it's head cut off." She wasn't just running around wild, stressed and not knowing what to do next. I believe if I could go to her house today, I would see her house one of order, and just being around her, I would feel the spirit of peace. I would anticipate that she had ORDER even in her spirit. That even just being around her would make me feel at peace because when she would be with me, she would fully be with me.... not thinking about the 1,001 things that she needed to do. I would anticipate when she is doing things or with people she is fully WITH them. She is 100% there. Not so divided thinking about so many things which causes the haze over her eyes. You know the haze you see when you talk to some people and you know they aren't really there... they aren't there listening to you, they are thinking on their own thoughts. That haze. I don't want to be like that. 


Well, Praise God that I'm a work in progress. I'm working TOWARDS being the best Proverbs 31 woman I can be. I'm obviously not there yet, as you can see! Wow... talk about transparency! Ya'll know a LOT of my downfalls. Hope ya love me anyways! :) 


OK.... time to go de-clutter a little before getting the boy up to head to MYGYM to be ON-TIME! 


xoxo,
Amy J