Well, it is Monday, December 2nd, 2024. It feels like being on the start line of a marathon. December is the busiest month of the year for me. Lots of family stuff, with Christmas shopping, dinners, grandkids’ school programs, and Christmas Day festivities. Also, there are many church activities, such as the “Five Days of Prayer,” Christmas programs, outreach concerts, Christmas Eve service, staff parties, and regular meetings and services. This year, I am pastoring the Jefferson Evangelical Church, and I also have responsibilities at JBC, so church time has increased significantly. The key to managing it well is to put everything on paper, or instead, on my iPad and my calendar in great detail, including my study time, personal prayer time, exercise, Bible reading, and sleep goals. A problem many people have as their schedule fills up is a sense of being overwhelmed with all the responsibilities and activities. With that sense of being overwhelmed comes a psychological sense of weariness. A sense of weariness steals the joy out of our lives.

I read over the list of things to do for the next week each day and pray three things regarding that list.

1. Thank You, Lord, for giving me so much to do for You; I love being in the game, not on the bench.
2. Please give me the energy and strength to accomplish each thing well so that people are blessed and You are glorified. Apart from You, I can do nothing, but I can do all things that are Your will for me by Your strength; I believe that.
3. Please give me Your wisdom to navigate life well, make the right choices, and always speak words that edify those who hear me.

It feels good to be busy and to be doing something with my life that matters.