For young people who are growing up with too much digital entertainment, losing sight of actual entertainment.
Death to Bored
Showing posts with label Procrastination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Procrastination. Show all posts
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Are you prepared?
Daniel’s prayer still echoes in our faithful hearts today. Daniel 9:4-19 Pleading for God to have mercy upon his faithful people. Admitting and feeling sorrow for his sins and those of the people. Asking for forgiveness from God the Father. It reminds me about going to Confession, Pennance, and Divine Mercy.
In Daniel ch 10-12, his vision is of “A man dressed in linen, with a belt of pure gold round his waist: his body was like beryl, his face looked like lightning, his eyes were like fiery torches, his arms and his face had the gleam of burnished bronze, the sound of his voice was like the roar of a multitude.” An incredible sight, which would leave me as David – face down in fear. But this spirit touched him and gave him Strength and Courage to listen to his news. News from the Book of the Future. News which echoes again when Jesus speaks, many years later.
Take a moment to read these words, which looking upon them I am intrigued to wonder if we are IN THE END TIMES, and ARE WE PREPARED?
3 And while he was sitting on the Mount of Olives the disciples came and asked him when they were by themselves, 'Tell us, when is this going to happen, and what sign will there be of your coming and of the end of the world?'
4 And Jesus answered them, 'Take care that no one deceives you, 5 because many will come using my name and saying, "I am the Christ," and they will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed, for this is something that must happen, but the end will not be yet. 7 For nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All this is only the beginning of the birthpangs.
9 'Then you will be handed over to be tortured and put to death; and you will be hated by all nations on account of my name. 10 And then many will fall away; people will betray one another and hate one another. 11 Many false prophets will arise; they will deceive many, 12 and with the increase of lawlessness, love in most people will grow cold; 13 but anyone who stands firm to the end will be saved.
14 'This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed to the whole world as evidence to the nations. And then the end will come.
15 'So when you see the appalling abomination, of which the prophet Daniel spoke, set up in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those in Judaea must escape to the mountains; 17 if anyone is on the housetop, he must not come down to collect his belongings from the house; 18 if anyone is in the fields, he must not turn back to fetch his cloak. 19 Alas for those with child, or with babies at the breast, when those days come! 20 Pray that you will not have to make your escape in winter or on a Sabbath.
21 For then there will be great distress, unparalleled since the world began, and such as will never be again. 22 And if that time had not been shortened, no human being would have survived; but shortened that time shall be, for the sake of those who are chosen.
23 'If anyone says to you then, "Look, here is the Christ," or "Over here," do not believe it; 24 for false Christs and false prophets will arise and provide great signs and portents, enough to deceive even the elect, if that were possible. 25 Look! I have given you warning. 26 'If, then, they say to you, "Look, he is in the desert," do not go there; "Look, he is in some hiding place," do not believe it; 27 because the coming of the Son of man will be like lightning striking in the east and flashing far into the west. 28 Wherever the corpse is, that is where the vultures will gather.
29 'Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 And then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven; then, too, all the peoples of the earth will beat their breasts; and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet to gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 'Take the fig tree as a parable: as soon as its twigs grow supple and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 So with you when you see all these things: know that he is near, right at the gates. 34 In truth I tell you, before this generation has passed away, all these things will have taken place. 35 Sky and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 36 But as for that day and hour, nobody knows it, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, no one but the Father alone.
37 'As it was in Noah's day, so will it be when the Son of man comes. 38 For in those days before the Flood people were eating, drinking, taking wives, taking husbands, right up to the day Noah went into the ark, 39 and they suspected nothing till the Flood came and swept them all away. This is what it will be like when the Son of man comes.
40 Then of two men in the fields, one is taken, one left;41 of two women grinding at the mill, one is taken, one left.
42 'So stay awake, because you do not know the day when your master is coming.43 You may be quite sure of this, that if the householder had known at what time of the night the burglar would come, he would have stayed awake and would not have allowed anyone to break through the wall of his house.44 Therefore, you too must stand ready because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
45 'Who, then, is the wise and trustworthy servant whom the master placed over his household to give them their food at the proper time?46 Blessed that servant if his master's arrival finds him doing exactly that.47 In truth I tell you, he will put him in charge of everything he owns.48 But if the servant is dishonest and says to himself, "My master is taking his time,"49 and sets about beating his fellow-servants and eating and drinking with drunkards,50 his master will come on a day he does not expect and at an hour he does not know.51 The master will cut him off and send him to the same fate as the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.'
Jesus goes on to explain the kingdom of Heaven in this parable of the 10 wedding attendants and the bridegroom.
He continues in Matthew Ch 25:31-46, giving us a clear description of WHOM MAY ENTER the Kingdom of Heaven.
31 'When the Son of man comes in his glory, escorted by all the angels, then he will take his seat on his throne of glory. 32 All nations will be assembled before him and he will separate people one from another as the shepherd separates sheep from goats. 33 He will place the sheep on his right hand and the goats on his left.
34 Then the King will say to those on his right hand, "Come, you whom my Father has blessed, take as your heritage the kingdom prepared for you since the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome, 36 lacking clothes and you clothed me, sick and you visited me, in prison and you came to see me."
-Feed the hungry;
-Give drink to the thirsty;
-Clothe the naked;
-Shelter the homeless;
-Visit the sick;
-Visit the imprisoned;
-Bury the dead.
-Instruct the ignorant;
-Counsel the doubtful;
-Admonish sinners;
-Bear wrongs patiently;
-Forgive offences willingly;
-Comfort the afflicted;
-Pray for the living and the dead.
37 Then the upright will say to him in reply, "Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and make you welcome, lacking clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we find you sick or in prison and go to see you?"
40 And the King will answer, "In truth I tell you, in so far as you did this to one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it to me."
41 Then he will say to those on his left hand, "Go away from me, with your curse upon you, to the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you never gave me food, I was thirsty and you never gave me anything to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you never made me welcome, lacking clothes and you never clothed me, sick and in prison and you never visited me." 44 Then it will be their turn to ask, "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, a stranger or lacking clothes, sick or in prison, and did not come to your help?" 45 Then he will answer, "In truth I tell you, in so far as you neglected to do this to one of the least of these, you neglected to do it to me." 46 And they will go away to eternal punishment, and the upright to eternal life.'
36 'Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?'
37 Jesus said to him, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and the first commandment. 39 The second resembles it: You must love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets too.'
It would seem so simple to follow God’s Law. Love God. Love Neighbor. The rest of the commandments are obeyed by following these two. Follow that Golden Rule! I believe the tricky part is HOW we do it. HOW do we show our love of God? HOW do we show love to our neighbor? To have VIRTUE. That’s the part I’m working on, as I am certain we all are. And if we’re faithful, we just might get a chance to be a part of the End Times.
May you seek God’s forgiveness, mercy and grace this Lenten season.
Strive to know Him, love Him and serve Him in all you do.
Virtues Lessons for your family:
A poster: http://virtuesproject.com/Pdf/Poster.pdf
Books: Stories for Little Folks series by Nancy Nicholson
The Book of Virtues by William J Bennett
Movies: Adventures from the Book of Virtues
Someone I know talks a lot about this:
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Seeking Serenity, again
UPDATE: This has been edited because those involved want to be censored/anonymous.
I am a fully functional person, full of emotions, who's a procrastinator but performs wonderfully under pressure. Today and yesterday was simply that - a "functional" day. I got up, I talked/wrote a bit, I ate, I made sure the kids stayed alive and fed. Other than that, I was a zombie.
Some of it stems from the fact that just a few weeks ago on facebook, my husband and I posted a simple comment. A "friend" had posted that she had joined the Barack Obama fan club, this was about a day before the inauguration. My hubby's words didn't come out right, but still clearly emphasizing that we could not support a president who's high ranked priority is to make murder via abortion easier. I was so proud of him, and this was very unlike him. Before she even read our brief comments, her 2 brothers chimed in with some vicious and hurtful comments. While responding after much prayer, she began to delete all comments and remove us from her friends/viewing list. I don't even know how much of my response she read. I do know her brothers didn't see my replies at all.
This is a "friend" I grew up with, played with, considered to be like a sister. The older of the brothers, I had looked up to him as if he was my own. I looked past their occasional teasing over the years. She meant so much to me, that when she began talking lightly about drug and alcohol use as a teen, I was concerned and had my mom and her mother intervene. I wasn't sure how serious she was about what she said. So as taught at school I informed my parents OUT OF LOVE I TELL YOU! Of course she lied her way out of it, or she had lied to me and others present. But did she see that, heck no. Years passed, we seemed to let it go, and soon we were involved in each others weddings. I planned her Bridal Shower, and helped with her Baby Shower. Because she meant that much to me. While visiting me recently, she told me she had decided to switch from Catholicism to Lutheran, as her husband is. I stayed polite, since she was my guest, and made strong efforts to pray for her instead of confronting her as I wanted to. But a part of me regreted not discussing it with her in depth. In recent adoration, I had felt called to watch out for her, pray for her, and discuss her new lifestyle with her.
After the "facebook incident" I knew that it would be months or years before she'd move on, as before. And despite my sorrow and fear, last Sunday I attended a gathering at her mom's house. I knew Tom and I were in for either a debate or the silent treatment. I'll be honest, I was hoping for a debate, I was prepared for a debate - but we got the silent treatment instead. I tried light conversation, with little success. Contrary to my usual self, I barely said a word the whole day. I tried not to let it crush my spirits. Yet, it did.
Without going into much detail... At the same time someone very close to me has had a hard time hearing my honest opinions. Last night's chat made it clear that it is best that I just stay out of it all together, even though it affects me deeply.
I am also having friend issues. The same idea that my opinions and self-giving love aren't worthy of respect. That if I don't follow along, than I'm out of the game all together. I hate that - I should be able to enjoy my life, and if I don't want to join in on someone else's idea of fun - I should not have to make excuses, and I should not feel bad about it. I love to be social, but I have social anxieties that many just do not respect. You just might have to drag me kicking and screaming, otherwise say "That's okay, maybe next time you'll feel up to it."
I have had the "just get over it" look or talk given to me one too many times. For those who don't realize - I CAN'T! If I do, it will eat away at me, until I leak everything else out at once. Believe me, my husband doesn't enjoy that at all - because he gets the brunt of it.
So last night, when the heartache got too much to bear, I crawled in bed around 5pm and didn't get out until 11am this morning. I asked Tom if I should go back to my old self, when people liked me a lot. You know, the person who is a good listener, a great friend, but doesn't express her own opinion and focuses on everyone but herself. I remember how many friends I had, but I also remember how used I felt. My weight gain is the best visual of how it hurt.
I decided it would be easier to just go numb to myself, be a functioning person, live my life for God and my family in a more quiet way. It's hard, because I always thought of myself as an evangelist who would someday help others through the armageddon turmoil. But evangelization IS knowledge displayed through positive emotion. It's being a loud example. I just can't get to that positive state of mind with all this heartache and many dead ends.
I am a fully functional person, full of emotions, who's a procrastinator but performs wonderfully under pressure. Today and yesterday was simply that - a "functional" day. I got up, I talked/wrote a bit, I ate, I made sure the kids stayed alive and fed. Other than that, I was a zombie.
Some of it stems from the fact that just a few weeks ago on facebook, my husband and I posted a simple comment. A "friend" had posted that she had joined the Barack Obama fan club, this was about a day before the inauguration. My hubby's words didn't come out right, but still clearly emphasizing that we could not support a president who's high ranked priority is to make murder via abortion easier. I was so proud of him, and this was very unlike him. Before she even read our brief comments, her 2 brothers chimed in with some vicious and hurtful comments. While responding after much prayer, she began to delete all comments and remove us from her friends/viewing list. I don't even know how much of my response she read. I do know her brothers didn't see my replies at all.
This is a "friend" I grew up with, played with, considered to be like a sister. The older of the brothers, I had looked up to him as if he was my own. I looked past their occasional teasing over the years. She meant so much to me, that when she began talking lightly about drug and alcohol use as a teen, I was concerned and had my mom and her mother intervene. I wasn't sure how serious she was about what she said. So as taught at school I informed my parents OUT OF LOVE I TELL YOU! Of course she lied her way out of it, or she had lied to me and others present. But did she see that, heck no. Years passed, we seemed to let it go, and soon we were involved in each others weddings. I planned her Bridal Shower, and helped with her Baby Shower. Because she meant that much to me. While visiting me recently, she told me she had decided to switch from Catholicism to Lutheran, as her husband is. I stayed polite, since she was my guest, and made strong efforts to pray for her instead of confronting her as I wanted to. But a part of me regreted not discussing it with her in depth. In recent adoration, I had felt called to watch out for her, pray for her, and discuss her new lifestyle with her.
After the "facebook incident" I knew that it would be months or years before she'd move on, as before. And despite my sorrow and fear, last Sunday I attended a gathering at her mom's house. I knew Tom and I were in for either a debate or the silent treatment. I'll be honest, I was hoping for a debate, I was prepared for a debate - but we got the silent treatment instead. I tried light conversation, with little success. Contrary to my usual self, I barely said a word the whole day. I tried not to let it crush my spirits. Yet, it did.
Without going into much detail... At the same time someone very close to me has had a hard time hearing my honest opinions. Last night's chat made it clear that it is best that I just stay out of it all together, even though it affects me deeply.
I am also having friend issues. The same idea that my opinions and self-giving love aren't worthy of respect. That if I don't follow along, than I'm out of the game all together. I hate that - I should be able to enjoy my life, and if I don't want to join in on someone else's idea of fun - I should not have to make excuses, and I should not feel bad about it. I love to be social, but I have social anxieties that many just do not respect. You just might have to drag me kicking and screaming, otherwise say "That's okay, maybe next time you'll feel up to it."
I have had the "just get over it" look or talk given to me one too many times. For those who don't realize - I CAN'T! If I do, it will eat away at me, until I leak everything else out at once. Believe me, my husband doesn't enjoy that at all - because he gets the brunt of it.
So last night, when the heartache got too much to bear, I crawled in bed around 5pm and didn't get out until 11am this morning. I asked Tom if I should go back to my old self, when people liked me a lot. You know, the person who is a good listener, a great friend, but doesn't express her own opinion and focuses on everyone but herself. I remember how many friends I had, but I also remember how used I felt. My weight gain is the best visual of how it hurt.
I decided it would be easier to just go numb to myself, be a functioning person, live my life for God and my family in a more quiet way. It's hard, because I always thought of myself as an evangelist who would someday help others through the armageddon turmoil. But evangelization IS knowledge displayed through positive emotion. It's being a loud example. I just can't get to that positive state of mind with all this heartache and many dead ends.
- What do you do when you want to help others, but they won't let you help them?
- How do you soften that rocky soil, or can't you?
- How can you be an example to others, when no one wants to look at you?
- What parts of myself am I willing to sacrifice to be seen by others?
- When will my wisdom show merit?
I try not to have any regrets, and pull the positive out of any situation. I am hoping that God can fill the voids in my heart, and pull me out of this misery. I know people out there generally care about me as a person, just not in the depth that I need. However, I am lucky that my husband genuinely cares enough to help me through it the best he can.
God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
and the Wisdom to know the difference.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Learning to Sacrifice Week 4: Procrastinator
My sacrificing just hasn't worked out. I write one thing and do another. I believe I've spent about 80% of my day on this dang computer. I love it and hate it at the same time.This week, I am learning to sacrifice my procrastination. I have kicked a lot of bad habits, but this one just won't budge. I swear my boots are getting bruises trying.
Why do I do this to myself, day after day, and stress myself out even more? Who knows. But one thing I know - I hate it, internally and self-consciously, I hate it. There are somethings I know will never get done, but there are tasks that must be completed asap, and right now I could care less and would rather type. I'd rather escape to this digital world I've created for myself. My family barely notices anymore. What have I done?
I guess I just got my answer.
Good night.
God Bless!
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