Attack of the Killer To Do List

To Do Today:

- Unload the dishwasher
- Load the dishwasher
- Run the dishwasher
- Fold clothes in the dryer
- Wash clothes in the basket
- Wash sheets
- Put away clothes
- Go to staff farewell lunch
- Go to final BCS wives gathering
- Go to the office to print off interview assignments
- Go to the park with Victor
- Call the hospital where we delivered Josiah
- Call the pediatrician
- Call the OB office
- Buy Father's Day gift for Ben
- Work 4 hours
- Feed Josiah (6-8 times)
- Feed Victor
- Feed Ben
- Pick up toys
- Pick up papers
- Pick up books
- Pick up shoes
- Proctor Ben's exam
- Write thank you notes
- Pack lunch for tomorrow
- Read Bible
- Pray (these things should not be at the bottom of the list!)
- Sleep (right...)

I know this ferocious monster does not attack only me.  Proof of its violence, of course, is that I started writing this post almost a week ago.

It's not just that there's a lot to do.  Everyone everywhere has a lot to do. 

The real bite of the killer to do list comes in my assessment (conscious or not) of success in a day based on the percentage I get crossed off the list.

42%.  Failure.

Despite the fact that the average day's list requires about 72 hours of labor to complete, there is still a sometimes overwhelming sense of  pressure to get. it. all. done.  And, of course, life intervenes.

Crying baby.  Blowout diaper.  Antsy 2-year-old.  Spilled milk. 

When the to do list hovers over my head like the gray cloud over Eeyore, I am not positioned well to respond with grace and flexibility to the needs and opportunities that pop up in the middle of every day. 

I am tempted to gripe and snap at these interruptions to productivity, rather than welcome them as the real call of God for my care and attention at the moment.

And at the bottom of it lies a very simple promise from God: He intends me to do only 24-hours' worth of activity (sleep included) in any given day... and my faithfulness is not governed by any external list, no matter how pressing its contents.

Rather, faithfulness is a dependent and grace-filled response to the needs He sets in my path.

May I receive His agenda with a light heart and open hand.

This Week

Weighty
As of Thursday (3 1/2 weeks old), Josiah is 10 lb 10 oz.  Good work, little man.

Affirmation
Victor to Mom, waving his finger for emphasis: "You're a good girl."

Unproductive
Tuesday's trip to the office to print off membership certificates for the weekend:
- Finish lunch.
- Put shoes on Victor.
- Put Josiah in carseat.
- Wipe off Victor's hands, face, and tray.
- Put jacket on Victor.
- Put laptop in bag.
- Get diapers for Victor and Josiah for diaper bag.
- Go upstairs with Victor.
- Put Victor in the car.
- Put phone, purse, and diaper bag in the car.
- Put blanket over Josiah.
- Put Josiah in the car.
- Drive to the office (admiring buses, tunnels, tanker trucks, and answering, "Do you know what that is?" a thousand times for Victor :) )
- See Daddy's car and call him to see if he's at the office (he was actually Downtown for a meeting).
- Cancel the call to Daddy... because you realize that you. forgot. the. laptop. at. home.
- Turn around and drive home (admiring buses, tunnels, tanker trucks, and answering, "Do you know what that is?" a thousand times).
- Realize that it is now too late to go back to the office.
- Put kids down for naps.
- Sigh.

Mother of two.  Brain for half.

Cute Boys
Victor to Mom, pointing at Josiah: "I like Baby Josiah.  He's a cute boy."

Distraction

Distraction has become an assumed presence in life. A typical work day (at least in my particular role) involves more interruptions than actual pre-meditated tasks.

There is a grace for bearing the unplanned, but we may fall into a pattern of shallow, distracted thinking if we don't counteract the landslide of activity.

Here is a very thought-provoking blog entry on that idea.

HT: Desiring God

Time

"The fact that God created time reminds us of his lordship over it and our obligation to use it for his glory" (Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 266).

Common Duties

I read this yesterday morning, before a day of company and dishes and busyness. Bishop Brooke Foss Westcott on faithfulness:

"Great thoughts go best with common duties. Whatever therefore may be your office regard it as a fragment in an immeasurable ministry of love" (Elisabeth Elliot, Keep a Quiet Heart, p. 84).

When I have time pressure and long to-do lists, it can be hard to regard general household duties or other menial tasks as anything particularly significant--and not just a burden of mandatory labor.

But I want a heart that regards common duties as a small stewardship, an expression of love for the One who gave them to me, and an opportunity to cultivate faithfulness.

"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master'" (Matthew 25:21).

Laboring Well

I've been thinking lately about what it is to labor well and be faithful in work. It troubles me to see how pervasive a "slacker" mentality is reaching, even in Christian circles and even in my own heart.

I've been reading through Ephesians lately, and Eph 6:5-8 stands out to me:

Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ, not by way of eyeservice as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will render service, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.

Elisabeth Elliot has a meditation called "The Gift of Work" in her Keep a Quiet Heart. Here is a helpful portion:

Wouldn't it make an astounding difference, not only in the quality of the work we do (in office, schoolroom, factory, kitchen, or backyard), but also in our satisfaction, even our joy, if we recognized God's gracious gift in every single task, from making a bed or bathing a baby to drawing a blueprint or selling a computer? If our children saw us doing "heartily as unto the Lord" all the work we do, they would learn true happiness. Instead of feeling that they must be allowed to do what they like, they would learn to like what they do. (101)

Do the Unwelcome Task

A great quote from C.J. Mahaney's "Biblical Productivity":

No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by
putting them off till tomorrow. It is only when they are behind
us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to
be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of
unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and
pleasant. Accomplished, they are full of blessing, and there is a
smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, they stand
threatening and disturbing our tranquility, and hindering our
communion with God. If there be lying before you any bit of
work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at
once. The only way to get rid of it is to do it.
‐Alexander MacLaren (1826‐1910), Scottish preacher

Busy With the Right Things?

Someone on our retreat today mentioned this article by C.J. Mahaney on "Biblical Productivity." I've only read about one page, but I'm already struck by this thought:

Our Savior understood priorities. Although his public ministry was
shorter than one presidential term, within that time he completed all the works give to him by the Father.

The Father evidently called him to heal a limited number of people
from disease, raise a limited number of bodies from the dead, and
preach a limited number of sermons. As Jesus stared into the cup of
God’s wrath, he looked back on his life work as complete because he
understood the calling of the Father. He was not called to heal
everyone, raise everyone, preach copious sermons, or write volumes
of books.

While we must always be extra careful when comparing our
responsibilities with Christ’s messianic priorities, in the incarnation he entered into the limitations of human life on this earth.

So join me over the next few days as we discover the root and nature
of laziness, so that we might devote ourselves to biblical priorities and join our Savior in one day praying to the Father, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do” (John 17:4, ESV).

I have a hunch the rest of this article will be very good food for thought for me.

HT: C.J. Mahaney