Tim Turner

What exactly do you do when you feel like everything is just slipping through your fingers? My life has never been that bad. I have been blessed more than a lot of people, regardless of childhood hurts. So, how do I still end up at a point of feeling like I can’t move, breathe, or think? When do we start to walk down the road that led us to this place, and could we have seen this coming? I certainly don’t know, but today something happened that lifted me up more then I ever expected it to.

You know that month when all the bills just seem to hit you square in the face at just the wrong moment? Yep, me too. So, with everything seeming to come out of no where I was a bit concerned about this month, I can’t lie about that. Today Kat called me to inform me that for the past year we have been incorrectly paying our rent. Apparently we’ve been paying too much. Since this is the last month on that particular lease, they credited us for the extra payments throughout the year. As a result we had a cheaper rent payment, which will help us in the long run. All in all we didn’t save a ton of money, and it didn’t do anything miraculous for us, just made things a bit easier. It gets hard in our busy lives to stop and realize how God works throughout our day. Today was just an example of God taking something in my life and using it for good.

Why do I worry so much? Matthew 6:25-31 Has a bit to say about worry. Have I honestly accomplished anything by fretting over the little things in life, or even the big things for that matter? No, all thats happened is it makes me miserable. How can I expect to change the world, when I can’t stop worrying about tomorrow? The thing is, its not just me. Imagine what would happen in this country if the believers would drop their daily worrying and anxiety and actually trust God to handle it for us. In Romans 8:31-32 Paul puts it simply. The creator of the universe is on our side, so what do we have to worry over? When we worry we tell God we don’t think He is going to keep His promises to us. Now ask yourself, would you say that to His face? If not, then why do we live it everyday?

We strive so hard to distract ourselves. Movies, music, and technology fill our lives. The more we fill our lives the more we can’t hold on to anything that matters. How close are we to having to set an appointment to meet with our families? Why is it so hard to set down the blackberry and not worry about that new email you just got? Isn’t it amazing how we can be connected to the entire world all the time, and yet never connect to anyone?

Psalms 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God…”

Well, after two days we finally got out internet connection back. As it turned out our modem was bad. This wouldn’t have been a big deal if I didn’t tell the girl on the phone that in the first place, after which she proceeded to follow the script and ignore everything I said. I realize now though, it was kind of nice to get some time away from the internet. It was good because it forced me to sit and think for a while. At first I was really unnerved by the whole experience, but I settled quickly and found it was really quite nice to just live for a while and not worry about being connected to the world at large.

In my short lived internet vacation I happened across an e-book on my computer that I don’t remember downloading. It was some free e-book by a blog author about using productivity standards to increase creativity. The whole thing was actually rather interesting. What stood out to me the most, though, was when the author started to talk about the creative environment of various people. He spoke of a writer who kept rotting apples in his desk, and a woman who checked into a hotel everyday, and requested that they take all the items from the walls. She apparently only felt creative sitting on one elbow with a bible and thesaurus on a hotel bed with bare walls. It was all so interesting because while reading it I realize that I’ve lost my creative environment. I can’t remember what it is. When I look back to some of my better creative moments I can’t place what the setting or circumstances were like.

Its important for everyone to have a creative focus. It helps our minds stay on the task of creativity when we have a place, or object that puts us into that “creative mode.” So, now I’m going to do some contemplating and hopefully get back into my creative groove. In the event you are curious about the e-book in question here is the link: http://www.wishfulthinking.co.uk/blog/2007/12/03/time-management-for-creative-people-free-e-book/

I finished up an audio book recently and didn’t have anything else to listen to. So, after scouring my mp3 player I found that I still had a copy of Velvet Elvis on my player. I started to listen to it, and once again realized why I like that book. Whats more important though is a statement that hit me today. “Walls are inevitably made for keeping people out.” That particular statement hit me hard. In the book Rob Bell talks about “spring” faith and “brick” faith. I’ve found all to often we encounter brick walls from people who claim to want the best for you.  These same people are the ones who require you to believe certain things a certain way, or you certainly are not a Christian. This type of thinking makes me sick. Whats worse is that there are times when I find myself putting similar walls up, and this simply isn’t acceptable. I’ve decided I’m going to work harder at getting those walls torn down–walls I’ve created around faith, and around self. I’d encourage you to do the same.