100% CAPACITY

JULY 11, 2022

ON THE PORCH

100% CAPACITY

I got a message one day while my phone was acting up that it had no room left.  I couldn’t even open the trashcan to delete old items.  A screenshot wasn’t an option either.  I had to go to Benny’s shop and ask him to take a picture of it.

 I have a love/hate relationship with electronics.  It is ironic that my biggest ministry tools are my phone and computer.  I have extra static electricity in my body, and it messes with electronics and advances their demise.  I get older model phones on Ebay, because we’ve learned in the past that whether the phone is new or used, about 6-8 months is all it can handle.  They die premature deaths while in my care.

Many times, I feel like this phone.  My brain is full and cannot handle another date to remember, item added to my to-do list, or name to recall later.  I remember one time when Benny was studying for a promotion, he said, “I think things are falling out of my brain that I should remember.  This studying is taking over.”   

It is rumored that Albert Einstein painted his front door red so he wouldn’t have to remember his address.  It was a trivial fact that did not need to take up space in his brain. 

I am in Oklahoma at the moment visiting Janet.  We got very close over the months of staying with them through David’s illness and passing.  In fact, we ended up together so much, we nicknamed each other “Same Brain.”  We remind each other of things needed, finish each other’s sentences, and in general have the same thoughts at the same time.  We laugh when I go home that I take half her brain with me to Texas and leave half of mine here.  😊

When I arrived last night, Janet and Lucky were waiting on the porch.  She hugged me and breathed a sigh of relief saying, “Oh good!!  Now that you’re here, I can think again.”   

It is fun to use this nickname with each other, and we joke about it frequently, but in reality, many times I actually do feel like I’m losing my mind.  I forget things I need to remember and remember things that are of little or no importance.  So, what can I do about it?

MY ANSWER: WRITE IT DOWN

**And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it.  Habakkuk 2:2

I have lists all over my house, all over the church, on my computers, and on my phone.  My mind works better when I have some type of order to the chaos, and I know if I write it down, I don’t have to depend on my brain to remember.  For years I kept a notepad by the bed and when I would wake in the middle of the night thinking of something I needed to remember, I would write it down.  Now I’ve progressed to using my phone at night to remind myself.    

Sometimes my brain feels like a pot of chicken and dumplings on the stove left unattended. It overflows all over the place and makes a huge mess.  In times of utter chaos and overwhelm, sometimes the only thing I can get out of my mouth is, “God help me!”   He bends His ear down to listen to my pleas. 

** Because He bends down to listen,
I will pray as long as I have breath! Psalm 116:2

If I will make myself sit long enough to listen to His voice, He will replace my anxiety with His peace and remind me that He is ultimately in control.  Whether or not I get everything checked off my list, He is still on the throne.  He also holds my hand and walks me through each day. 

While multitasking the other day, I was distracted in every single room I entered.  Each room needed attention, and I would forget the reason for coming into the room to begin with. While holding the sous vide to start preparation for supper, the alarm played on the washing machine reminding me I needed to move clothes to the dryer.  So, I set the sous vide in the middle of the kitchen floor where I would be reminded to come back to it after I changed out the laundry.  It seems like a silly action, but my mind was full, and it worked.  Eventually I made it back around to the kitchen and started the sous vide with supper inside.

I checked an email this morning I set up to future devo pictures and ideas just for grins.  I have 697 thoughts there waiting to be written, and I have over 300 lists on the notepad app on my phone.   Lists are a way my brain works.  Not everyone’s does, though.  Each of us have our own way of keeping the chaos at bay.  I’ll share a few quirky actions that serve as reminders for me.

*             Old fashioned paper lists

*             Put our keys with items we need to remember to take when leaving the church or someone else’s house

*             Scheduled texts messages to myself (and sometimes family) for future actions or events

*             Set alarms and name them

*             Sticky notes on the front glass door

*             Sticky notes on the fridge

*              Sticky notes on items needing attention later

*             A small plastic to-do board with tabs to move with each accomplishment

*             white erase board

*             Binder with different current lists

*             Put things on the calendar and set reminders

*             Reminders set on Alexas

*             Sending a “keyword” when needing to discuss something later

*              Highlight things in my kindle books to print when I finish the book

God created all of us to work in unique ways with different gifts and abilities to bring Him glory.   Actions that jog my memory might not work as well for others.  I am only responsible for using my talents.

LORD, my life gets chaotic on a regular basis. 

Sometimes I can tiptoe through it, and other times I am wading through and “the overwhelm” and it has risen to my knees.  Remind me in those times that You are bending an ear and ready and willing to help.  You are not a God of chaos, but of peace.  When my life feels list it is at 100% capacity, slow me down.   Allow me to create margin in my mind for You and for rest, not letting my lists take over entirely.   You created my life to bring You glory, and that is a tall order when I am filled with chaos and confusion.  Direct my steps, LORD.  Remind me that sometimes I need to put my list away, and quiet my mind to listen to Your still small voice.  Only then should I proceed with caution and do as You lead me to, step by step.  Bless the efforts of my hands and multiply the space in my mind.  In everything I do, I want to bring You and You alone glory.  One day I want Your words to be, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.”  In Your holy and precious name, amen

**For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.  1 Corinthians 14:33a

**But all things should be done decently and in order.  1 Corinthians 14:40

**The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way.  Psalm 37:23

**His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’  Matthew 25:23

**Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

WELL DONE