organization

Old Keys

Posted by

1

After my hubby recently got a new front door installed, he then installed a new lock and gave me the new key.  I put it on my already full key ring, right next to the old (and now obsolete) house key.  Why was I keeping the old key?  I reasoned, “I’ll put the new key next to the old one so the old shape can trigger a reminder that I need to select and use the new one.”  Sound convoluted?  I agree.  But worse, I realized this morning that I have a bunch of old keys that I’m carrying around every day in my purse – to what avail?

Let’s see…I have the copies of my mom’s old 4-door Pontiac 6000 that I drove during sophomore year of college when I had a spring internship (yes, that was in the late 1990s), AND consequently, that car was sold a long time ago.  Yeah, I suppose I could get rid of those two useless keys.  Then there’s the key to my grandmother’s house (rest her soul; she passed away two years ago on Thanksgiving Day); I suppose I’m keeping that for sentimental reasons.  Since I haven’t lived at that address for 10 years, and they’ve since added a deadbolt (for which I don’t have the key), that’s not doing me any good! 

So really, I guess the only key I need to carry on a daily basis is my current house key (for the new door) and my current vehicle keys.  Organization really is God’s plan to simplify our lives.  But I could’ve attested to that yesterday while cleaning out my purse when I (finally) discarded receipts and grocery lists over 6 months old…geez, old clutter can accumulate unawares until it becomes a mountain…attack first! And wouldn’t you know that today’s Weight Watchers meeting talked about “having a ceremony to retire our old materials – get rid of ‘em; they won’t work anymore!” since we’ll be learning about a completely new program rolling out after Thanksgiving?  I’ve got more “throwing out” to do; God really knows how to underscore a message…

The moral of this diatribe:  Get rid of old baggage that serves no purpose in your present.  A key is only as valuable as what it’s able to unlock.  What “old keys” (or memories, thoughts, habits, photos, or other items) do you need to discard today?

“And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles.”

(Mark 2:22)

© Copyright 2010 by Kayren J. Cathcart

Appreciating the Beauty of Routine

Posted by

0

So this is maturity, eh?  Let me back up.  To understand the significance of this epiphany, you’d have to know that I grew up as one of those über-creative types who thrived on new, unique, and exciting experiences – always something different.  I thought a person who adhered to a schedule was a boring stick-in-the-mud. Quite frankly, predictability was not appealing to me.  But that was then… 

My dad is retired from a 20-year Air Force career.  I believe he’d have blown a bugle to get us up every morning…if he’d had a bugle (I shudder to think!).  I could set my clock by him – and probably still can – because he’s regimented.  But that routine helps him.  And after I left off living under his roof and went to college, I became aware of how much his routine helped me.  So when I got married, did I walk into a leisurely free-for-all?  To the contrary – my wonderful husband was also an Air Force man with a strong foundation of consistent daily habits.  Sigh…obviously, God’s trying to tell me something, right?  Yeah, it boils down to that inescapable “ingrained discipline is a forced habit that’s good for ya” thing…

Allow me to share my “I could’ve had a V-8!” moment from last week.  I was talking to a co-worker who’d spent a lot of money on a personal fitness trainer a year or two ago, but had recently gained more weight than he wants to carry.  I encouraged him to start walking (a mere 15 minutes) during his break just to get moving.  He nodded and asked genuinely, “What’s your workout routine?”  When I didn’t immediately scoff at him, but instead chirped enthusiastically, “I take classes at the gym during lunchtime because I need to be around other people while I’m exercising!” I knew I’d turned a major corner.  I admit that I actually like knowing what I was gonna do on my gym days!  Conversely, when I get out of routine, I tend to lapse back into old, not-so-healthy habits – and it’s not worth breaking my momentum.  Now, I look forward to my fun fitness classes (and hanging out with the people in them) with joyful anticipation instead of loathsome dread.  “Yeah, I need to start again,” my co-worker agreed.  You go, buddy!  Start again indeed…

Routine helps in our spiritual lives, too.  What spiritual discipline do you commit to work on this week?  Start again indeed!

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

(Philippians 1:6)

 “Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”

(I Timothy 6:19)

© Copyright 2010 by Kayren J. Cathcart

Purging In Progress!

Posted by

0

Propelled by the momentum of discarding old, unnecessary materials at work and organizing what remains, I made a major leap forward this weekend – I attacked (and conquered) the angst-evoking clutter corner in my kitchen!  Celebrate with me!  I was so ashamed of the piles of 3-ring binders, year-old children’s artistic masterpieces, choir rehearsal lyric sheets, Christmas photo cards, expired coupons that I’d had every good intention of using, et cetera…but I had also become complacent about it – can you relate?  I’d cook, load the dishwasher, disinfect my countertops, and sweep the floor, but that menacing corner always lurked just beyond the grasp of my ever-elusive ideal of being “finally organized.” 

Well, this weekend, I made a decision to just do it – no matter how tired or disheartened I felt (and believe me, I felt both!).  I even rediscovered (and subsequently tossed out – devoid of my usual emotional attachment) a boarding pass from a summer 2008 plane trip…don’t ask – of course I had no clue it was there, so I won’t miss it.  I wasn’t even saving it for sentimental reasons; it had just accumulated, like most of the other bits and pieces straining my poor, overburdened little side table.  And you know what?  I felt better when I was done – because the seemingly overwhelming task that had loomed overhead for far too long had been completed…at last.  After that, I pressed on toward the office – another potential abyss of clutter pandemonium (to which I was a chief contributor).  With a furrowed and resolute brow, I declared war on the army of boxes that had assembled in the middle of my floor; I think I won the battle.  Some contents were discarded; the contents of other boxes were consolidated.  And the Earth did not stop rotating or revolving because I threw some stuff away – what a relief!

Before I could ever change my external environment, I had to change my mind – and that was preceded by allowing God to change my heart.  It was (and continues to be!) a process…one that took (and is still taking!) time and patience.  And growth and maturity.  And a commitment to change.  We don’t like to admit that “our stuff ain’t working,” but God is gentle, patient, kind, and loving as He guides us into what we deem to be new territory.  So I guess my Pastor’s sermon series on “Allowing God to Do a New Thing” is really taking root…and bearing fruit.  I am grateful. 🙂

 “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.”

(II Peter 1:8-9)

© Copyright 2010 by Kayren J. Cathcart

Starting Small: Every Victory Counts

Posted by

0

Everything has changed.  My company’s merger has come and gone, leaving behind altered team structures, roles, and job responsibilities.  So why have I been holding onto the past?  I too must change.

Today, I discarded contents of files I’d had from 2 managers ago – now neither of them is with the company.  I seriously doubt that they reminisce about our extended series of meetings to map out the departmental communication strategy, nor do I think they’d be saddened to know that I tossed out memorabilia to commemorate said gathering.  Because they’ve moved on.  And so must I.

If my desk clutter was any indication of what I’ve been retaining and storing in the cavities and recesses of my brain, draining energy and life from my own present, then I’ve got a lot more mental purging to do!  Glad I don’t have to tackle this alone…

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

(Philippians 1:6)

© Copyright 2010 by Kayren J. Cathcart

My Clean Start: Seizing the Moment of Inspiration

Posted by

1

Today, I started the great purge.  No, not the purge of paper clutter in my home – that will come later this week.  (No, really – I’m serious.  It has to…my hubby said so!).  I had to build up my endurance.  So I hit the web and found some good resources from a “paper organization” search and used that to motivation to propel me to start from where I was – at my desk at work.

Yes, sad to admit, I have retained files from my previous position (completely and utterly unrelated to what I do now) that are over three years old and were untouched since I moved into this cube.  Out they went as I felt the wind of exhilaration rush through my hair.  Or not.  I didn’t think I’d have the courage to slip them through the slit of the locked recycling bin, into the one-way slot abyss, never to return to my fingertips…but away they went.  I was surprised that it got easier as I went along, guided by the question grounded in reality, “What’s the worst possible thing that could happen if I threw this away?”  Since I couldn’t manufacture a reasonable-sounding cataclysmic or apocalyptic consequence, I parted with much of my desk paper today.  That was a baby step in the big scheme of my paper cosmos – yet, a significant step in the right direction.

Now to overcome my anxiety and attack one room at home – the office – this weekend.  God even sent a co-worker to encourage me to dig and discover the root of why I’m apprehensive to get rid of stuff I don’t need or that’s not adding joy to my life. (Duh – it’s because I figure I just might need it!  But I’ve gotta let go of that ridiculous thinking).  Halfway joking, she said, “I might have to pop in over at your house to help you keep the momentum!”  You know, I believe she just might do it.  Preparation is priceless…

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

(Matthew 24:44)

© Copyright 2010 by Kayren J. Cathcart

Clear the Clutter to Get Victory in Your Secret Place

Posted by

0

“Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.”

(Proverbs 4:23, Amplified)

How many of us have emotional baggage and mental clutter that gets in the way when we realize our need to press into the presence of God?  Let me be the first one to raise my hand!  Too often, we allow issues, concerns, and circumstances to accumulate and gather steam.  Instead of releasing them to God and allowing the breath of the Holy Spirit to blow them away, we give life to the very things that come to choke the life out of us.  What started as a question has grown into full-blown worry; what began as a gnawing feeling of insecurity has mushroomed into a cloud of doubt; and what was initially apprehension has spun out of control into a tornado of fear.  Before we know it, confusion looms overhead as a daunting force to be reckoned with – and we wonder, “Where did that come from?!”  A foreign substance has infiltrated your secret place, but I have good news: it doesn’t have to stay that way!

Secret means confidential, private, restricted, covert, clandestine, and concealed.  Everyone doesn’t (and shouldn’t) have access to things classified as secret!  The heart is the secret place where God desires to dwell and have habitual fellowship with us.  When we lead a double life or “straddle the fence” (because we’re not honest with God, ourselves, or others), the secret place becomes defiled. 

Inconsistencies between our talk and our walk reveal a need for God’s intervention and a commitment on our part to be transformed by the power of His Word.  The scripture says we must “keep and guard” our hearts – these are action words, not passive terms!   People who exhibit behavior contrary to the Word of God (which they may even profess!) indicate that they have a problem with boundaries, obedience, and God-given authority.  Behind their destructive or addictive habits, they’re screaming out, “I’m hurt!”  They accepted a “substitute fix” – but alas, it doesn’t satisfy the hunger growing in the pit of their souls.  They say they have faith, but they’re terrified deep down on the inside.  They say they love their brothers and sisters, but something bubbles in the pit of their stomach when they see them.  They say they have peace, but they find no rest.  These are the things God wants to address in the secret place – because when you get quiet, you have to face the real you and deal with your issues of trust and intimacy with God. 

You might be thinking, “That’s not me!  But I know somebody else who fits those characteristics!”  However, I encourage you to examine your own secret place closely.

When the spirit of compromise enters your heart, you’ll rationalize, justify, and make excuses – but all that matters is the truth of God’s Word.  To probe a little deeper in this area, ask God to help you identify:

  • What issue do you avoid facing and dealing with?
  • What obstacle appears impossible to overcome?
  • What challenge do you feel inadequate to conquer?
  • What terrifying fear has gripped and paralyzed you?

To walk upright in integrity is priceless – but it is attainable.  Give God unrestricted access to your secret place today – He will bring to light those things that have been hidden in plain sight from you.  He’ll uncover the treasures He placed in you that were tangled with the clutter of negative thoughts and images.  And He’ll cleanse you of those things you tried to hide, but no longer have need of.   May the clear springs of life flow from your heart forevermore…

To get victory in your secret place:

  1. Stop where you are – don’t get in deeper!
  2. Cry out to God earnestly and repent – humble yourself.
  3. Ask for God’s help and direction – listen!
  4. Obey! Begin to walk in the direction He shows you, without hesitation.

© 2009 by Kayren J. Cathcart