Which means I am now self-employed through Mary Kay! And I will be doing whatever I can to fill in the the income gaps until I reach the position of Sales Director!
There are so many changes I need to make to my life:
- become debt-free
- lose 60+ lbs.
- pursue healing and discipline in my spiritual life
This blog will now serve to track my efforts!
During my freshmany year of college, each girl in our dorm was given a complimentary copy of Matthew Kelly's book The Rhythm of Life. I LOVED it. I started rereading it and realized how much I need the wisdom of that book in my life right now, especially as I exit the chaotic merry-go-round that fulltime ministry became for me.
Matthew presents three instruments for helping with this are.
a) Going to bed/rising at the same time every day. This is an EXCELLENT resolution for me. I've also read an article that says exposure to sunlight between 6-8:30 am helps to regulate sleeping patterns and to wake you up more for the day. So, for now, I am resolving to rise at 8:00 am. There, I am publishing it!
b) The second instrument is to have a consistent "Seventh Day" - a sabbath, or day of rest every week. That has DEFINITELY not happened in my life, but I am now resolving to take back Sunday!
c) The third is to have a regular time for prayer and reflection in one's life. I am SO inconsistent with this, but now that I'm in totaly control of my schedule, I am resolving to start going to daily Mass. There's an 8:30 am Mass at the Catholic Church near my residence, so I am going to start walking/riding a bike over there!
I was afraid to try to do this without knowing what my work routine is going to look like, but until something changes, I'm going to go for it anyway! In addition to implementing the three instruments, my goals to be completed by the end of August are as follows:
a) to find enough steady income to cover my necessities (nannying is what I'm shooting for).
b) To go on-target to drive free with Mary Kay! That means I really need to step it up, both with sales and with team-building. This is the car I am going to earn:
They say it takes 28 days to solidify habits - let's see how it goes for me!
You have my prayers in support of attending Mass daily. It seems we both approched that similarly.
ReplyDeleteI was struggling with daily prayer, and my frustration was with my inability to simply remember to pray. Each Sunday, in prayer, I would realize again that I had not remembered to pray once during the week.
During a sermon at Mass one Sunday I got a flash of brilliance (the brilliance was the Holy Spirit's - NOT mine!): As a Catholic I have the opportunity to attend daily Mass, which is the pinnacle of prayer. I may forget to pray but I never lost my ability to make an appointment. Henceforth, I resolved to keep a daily appointment to attend 8:30 Mass - and I did.
I should mention that I had always considered people who attend daily Mass to be either religious whack jobs or at least, the evidence clearly suggested to me, elderly folks who sinned like crazy when young but had come to desire redemption in their old age. Now I wondered instead how many of them had "backed into it" as I had just done.
Girl, you are in for some serious growth - over time - beyond what you anticipate, no matter what your expectations. My whole life began to change within months af making daily Mass my routine. I don't want to freak you out (and I could, except I don't have time) but I could tell you many stories about how my life has changed as a result of attending daily Mass and the impact it had on expanding my entire prayer life.
I haven't had any problems in remembering to pray for over 4 years now. In fact, my prayer regimen now includes the Rosary, the Divine Mercy chaplet (at 3:00 p.m.), and a bunch of other favorite prayers I've found along the way.
But it's not even about the praying, per se, which rises above an end unto itself. By praying daily you will find God becomes so openly active in your life you will remain incredulous even as you tell yourself you should be used to it by now. You will marvel at how He leads you to and through where He wants you to be.
So, do it. You have stumbled onto a wonderful gift - the Gift of He who loves you.
Phil
P.S. If I may be of help in regard to prayer and Mass, please feel free to contact me. My e-mail is bleusmon@comcast.net. You'll need to identify yourself so I relate it to my visit here today.