Art Lessons 2

Today's Art Lesson is entitled "The Art of Planning." When you get a great idea, the first thing that you should do is pray about it earnestly and be sure that it is God's idea and not some cockamamie idea that sounds good and maybe even is a very good idea, but not for you and not for now.

Think about it, pray about it, get others praying with you about it and make certain that God is in it. When you are certain that God is in it, get a piece of paper and start writing things down. The Bible calls this "counting the cost." This is not just money. This is time, resources, health issues, etc. How much will it cost in money? How and where will you get this money? How much time will it take to implement this plan? How many people will need to be involved with you in this plan? Are these folks willing to be involved in your plan? How much physical strength will be needed to execute this plan.

There are many things to consider here. If the people helping you with this plan are older, they are probably smarter. If they are younger, they are probably physically stronger. Which do you need? These are things to consider. Do you need brains or brawn? Very few people can pull off a great plan all by themselves. We need each other. A prayer network is vitally important. If you are working with a team, it is important to begin each day with group prayer. It doesn't have to be long, last for hours, or take up half of your day, but it needs to happen before the work day begins.

Planning is a skill that every servant of God needs to acquire. There are those who are great planners, but who unfortunately never move beyond the planning stage of any great idea. Unless you are getting paid just to think things up for others to do, then the next thing you need to do is find out how to "execute your plan." And I don't mean kill it. You will need the help of God to do this also. Pray, pray, pray. The God who planned and built the universe and keeps it all going will be able to help you.

Art Lessons

Today's art lesson is entitled, "The Art of Minding Your Own Business." A lot of missionaries seem to have way too much time on their hands, yet they want as much of your time as they can get away with. I do not have to cook food from "scratch," we have a mostly dependable vehicle to get around in, there are plenty of places to shop for things, like the best pirated software and movies that money can buy, nice clothing if you are size 10 or under and are very short with small feet. However, seriously, all the real essentials are readily available, except for Dr. Pepper. It can't be found unless you end up in Phnom Penn, Cambodia, for the weekend.

But I digress. My team has hardly any time on our hands. We are very busy 6 days a week. Many weeks it's 7. On Saturday, we try to vegetate for the first part of the day. We veg because we are too tired to do much, most Saturday mornings. By 10:00 AM we are mostly up and ready to do something "else." Something besides working at a computer screen work. A great missionary once told me that everybody must have a hobby, a diversion from the everyday work, or they will burn out. I have learned the hard way how true this is. Which brings me back once again to the reason for this post. Don't call me early on Saturday morning with a great plan for my day on how I can spend it. I can figure out what to do by myself. And don't disguise this plan of yours by trying to make me think it was my idea in the first place. I'm not dumb. If you want me to do something for you that you can do for yourself, don't ask me to do it. I'm very busy. I have a team. Get your own team. I have a staff. I pay my staff. If you are too cheap to pay a staff, please stop trying to borrow mine to do your stuff. I am paying them to work for ME. This great missionary, as well as MANY others have told me that most of your problems on the field will not be lack of money, or health issues or danger, but most of your trouble will be with other missionaries. I found out that 150 years ago Adoniram Judson had this problem, so evidently it is nothing new. Now that I have learned from experience how true this is, I am making it a goal to do my very best to mind my own business, do my own work, and make everybody else do theirs, by not allowing them to have me do it for them.

I have several other 'Art" lessons that I am going to write about. Maybe this one will help some of you who are using others and some of you who are allowing yourself to be used. Boundaries are essential. Draw your line in the sand and stick to it. Fellowship with other missionaries, share burdens and prayer requests and help when help is really needed. But be careful and pay attention. Don't be an enabler for one who is lazy.

Facing the Facts

OK, I have been thinking about it and I have to finally admit that if I could live anywhere in the world, it would not be my beloved Texas. If I could live anywhere in the world, I would live in Darwin, Australia. I have traveled to many places and have lived in several countries, but Australia, and Darwin in particular, is the place I would like to "live happily ever after." BUT that's not going to happen. A couple of years ago, I skidded over the line in the sand where we could get Australian citizenship. We're too old, and because Australia has socialized medicine, we are not welcomed to join the ranks of the old people who will need medical care more often than average. Oh, well, we can still visit and that will have to be enough.

Heaven will be a wonderful place. There won't be any need for borders, or socialized medicine, or any medicine at all, for that matter because we won't get old and sick. Having said that, I admit that I still have trouble imagining a place more wonderful that the Northern Territory of Australia. The bluest skies the most beautiful palm trees, the high adventure of living on the edge of the Outback. Where we lived, we were an hour from the Outback to the south and about an hour from the sea on the north. The lightening storms were breathtaking and the rainy season was awesome. We went swimming almost every day in an olympic sized pool a couple of miles from our house. Some folks are dumb enough to swim at the beach. Sharks and salt-water crocs are one of the awesome critters living there, and our team opted for the pool. We did however, go to the beach every weekend because they set up a wonderful market out there on the sand and you could grab some food and sit and watch the sunset. Incredible sunsets. I like Melbourne, and Sydney and "Brizzie," but there is simply just no place like Darwin. Living there was a gift. God gives really good gifts.

THINGS YOU HAVE DONE AND WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE

I just saw the movie entitled, "The Bucket List." It was about these 2 old guys who were both dying and met in the hospital. They became friends and made a list of the things they wanted to do before they died. They managed to do most of them. So, I made my own list. Missionaries have wish lists too, ya know. Our lives do not consist of handing out tracts all day long, 6 days a week, then preaching on Sunday. No, we are just regular folks like you. We have to shop for groceries, get our vehicles repaired, deal with people we don't like and who don't like us. God uses us here and He will use you there, wherever you are. I used to think missionaries were perfect people, until I became one. Then, after I stopped laughing long enough to take a breath, I realized that God indeed chooses the weak, the poor, the old, etc., who are willing. I am all of the aforementioned people. Enjoy the life that you have been so generously given.

( X ) Skipped school
( X ) Watched someone die - better said as "seen them off to Glory"
( X ) Been to Canada
( X ) Been to Mexico
( X ) Been to Florida
( X ) Been to Hawaii
( X ) Been on a plane
( ) Flown in a helicopter
( X ) Gone to Washington, DC
( X ) Swam in the ocean
( ) Swam with Stingrays
( X ) Played cops and robbers
( X ) Recently colored with crayons - I HAVE GRANDKIDS
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
( X ) Made prank phone calls - WHEN I WAS A KID
( X ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans - AND had BEIGNETS in JACKSON SQUARE
( X ) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose - YEP! Carbonated beverages burn!
( X ) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( X ) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( X ) Watched the sunrise with someone - ONLY WHEN COMPLETELY NECESSARY!
( X ) Blown bubbles - WITH SOAP AND ALSO THRU MY NOSE When I had a cold
( X ) Gone ice-skating
( X ) Gone to the movies
( X ) Been deep sea fishing - LOVED THIS ONE
( ) Seen all 50 states
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving - TOO OLD FOR THIS NOW--BAD KNEES
( ) Gone snowmobiling
( X ) Lived in more than one country - 6 OR 7 AT LAST COUNT
( X ) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
( X ) Seen a falling star and made a wish
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
( X ) Seen the Grand Canyon
( X ) Seen the Statue of Liberty
( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
( ) Been on a cruise
( X ) Traveled by train
( X ) Traveled by motorcycle
( X ) Been horse back riding
( X ) Ridden on a San Francisco cable car
( X ) Been to Disneyland OR Disney World
( X ) Been in a rain forest
( X ) Seen whales in the ocean
( ) Been to Niagara Falls
( X ) Ridden on an elephant
( ) Swam with dolphins
( X ) Been to the Olympics - 2 TIMES
( ) Walked on the Great Wall of China - CAN YOU DO THAT?
( ) Been water-skiing/tubing
( ) Been to Westminster Abbey
( ) Been to the Louvre
( ) Swam in the Mediterranean
( X ) Been to Vienna
( X ) Seen the Parthenon
( X ) Been to Prague
( ) Been white-water rafting
( X ) Milked a cow - I TRIED BUT NOTHING CAME OUT.
( ) Been to Ireland
( ) Been to the UK
( X ) Lived in Australia - the adventure of my life
( ) Toured Europe

Please feel free to copy and post this on your own blog. The instructions are really easy: place an X by all the things you've done and leave the space blank if you haven't done it yet, but want to. See? Very simple:). Alter the list anyway you like.