So What Now... Q & A Part 1

So, last week I posted a blog named So What Now?, which was a follow up to a previous post I had written about really assessing my life and, more specifically, how I spend my time.  Neither post was earth-shattering or totally original, but both carry the potential to change my life, if I allow them to really take hold and sink down deep.  A wise man once requested of God:

                     "Search me, O God, and know my heart; 

                          test me and know my anxious thoughts.
                                    Point out anything in me that offends you,
                                              and lead me along the path of everlasting life."

I can, in the very least, simply follow suit.  In light of this, here are the first three questions on my list.

1.  What will this "life" that I'm expecting look like, really?  Can I reasonably assume that it's possible?    

WARNING:  If you are confused, offended, frightened, or angered by the use of words such a "miracle," "healing," "church," "evangelize," "sacrifice," "give," "tithe," or "Jesus" please continue to read under the pretense that I am incredibly sane and of above average intellect.

Illustration by: Idea Go

So, most of the time when I consider my life, I don't really make it much past the last known agenda item on my calendar.  Sad, I know.  I've never been one for 5 year plans or 10 year plans, with incremental increases of success and responsibility.  I've never climbed a corporate step stool, let alone a corporate ladder.  I'm kind of a day to day, week to week, paycheck to paycheck kind of gal.  I don't have a 401k or a retirement plan of any kind.  I suppose my plan is to work until I drop dead, which, come to think of it, isn't much a plan at all.  That being said, something you should also know about me is that I don't care about these things.  I feel as though I have so much to spend time being concerned over for the day at hand, that I don't really have much time to commit to the future.  Yes, I know.  I am in my mid-thirties and have four children, how could I not have a plan?!  It's appalling, I get it.

But, when I consider my future, I don't see retirement and playing golf or knitting.  I'm not saying that those things won't happen, you never know, I may learn to golf yet... or knit.  However, those are not my dreams.  Aside from an occasional vacation, I don't dream of relaxing on the beach or in a condo in Tahoe.  I don't really know what the setting will be for my future, but ultimately, I dream of speaking to ladies of all ages and encouraging them.  Speaking truth and breaking the bondages of the lies of the world.  Praying for people and seeing the miraculous manifest as God pours out His grace and mercy.  To see lives changed and souls saved.   To see love spread like wildfire, never to be contained. 

I dream of watching my children walking this earth with indelible footprints left wherever their feet tread.  I see a life filled with the annointing of God and to see that annointing crash over onto my children and their children like a flood.  That's all.  Short.  Simple.  Sweet.

All that said, I don't intend on going into full time ministry.  All of this in the context of working a secular job and raising a family.

2.  What uses of my time do I employ that I find wasteful?  Take a few moments and jot them down.  Really, think about it.    

Television.  Facebook.  Twitter.  Pinterest.  Movies.  My phone.  Worrying.  Being angry. 

3.  What uses of my time do I employ that I find beneficial?

Studying the Word of God.  Praying.  Reading books that are designed with spiritual growth in mind.  Spending time with my Husband.  Spending time with my children.  Attending church services, bible studies, retreats and conferences.  Connecting with women that I can influence and with women that can influence me.  Writing.  Praise and worship.  Working at my place of employment.  Spending time outside.  Sitting quietly.  Cleaning my house.  Spending my time serving others, be it at church, on my own, or through outreach organizations. 


These are my honest answers for these questions.  I can't wait to get through the next set. 

Please, please feel free to go through and answer these questions for yourself.  How you see your future shouldn't look like mine, or at least it doesn't have to.  Even if you aren't a Christian, these questions are great for doing a little internal inventory, so to speak.  So, jump in and leave a comment below!