The Gift of Office Hours

"A man’s mind plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps and makes them sure."   ... Proverbs 16:9


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So there I was early last week, in our home office, doing these tasks:


Printing coupons
Working on my book
Changing to a better font on tons of old blog posts
Reading the Bible online
Writing new blog posts
Watching my favorite Bible teacher online
Encouraging people at Facebook and in emails
Reading lesson-teaching books on my Kindle
Finding new Kindle books
Paying bills
Adding life-affirming sayings to my Twitter list (to use in blog posts)
Finding helpful websites (for health, writing techniques, budgeting, etc.)

 ... all while feeling guilty about other things I should be doing and --. Why else? Because "they" say by spending scads of time online, we are ruining Life As We've Known It.

And who wants to do that?

But then I thought, "Hey, wait! I believe God asked me to do these things, so where's the guilt coming from?"

Answer: From letting other peoples' words guide my decisions.

Hmmm.

Then in the silence, I believe God gave me some direction. "How about creating designated office hours? Hours when you're free to do whatever you need to in here, say 7:30 to 11:30. Then afterward you can take a lunch break, a walk, and you'll still have hours for housework or yard work or whatever. All guilt-free."

Oh my goodness. And that has made all the difference.

Now it all feels like playing and like freedom with a bit of organization thrown in (God knows I love organization and fun). It doesn't feel like work, even, not yet, but feels like giving myself permission to be happy. Though this time, it's permission to work at the computer, guilt-free.

It's odd the way I can forget important things, like not letting myself or satan make me feel guilty when I'm not or not guilty when I am. And it's wonderful when I obey God and reap joy from that, staying all wide-eyed as a child because of the hourly strength which comes with it.

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"If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the 
land..."   Isaiah 1:19

"You’ll be free when you know that you don’t have to impress people. You don’t have to prove who you are. Just run your race." ... Joel Osteen

"Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. –W. Clement Stone"


"Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength..." ... Nehemiah 8:10


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The Roman Meal bread coupon is available again! Find it here.

You may be able to score some free Monterey breakfast burritos here.

And coupons.com brought out new coupons yesterday, though not as many good ones as usual. Find them here.

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