Red Wednesday's Wisdom - Journaling

As we get connected to one another through this blog, I am going to suggest that from here on out you consider buying yourself a journal.  It can be as simple as a paper tablet.  And if you have any kind of hesitation to doing this because you hate to write, I want to put your mind at ease.  The journaling or writing that I am talking about is simply related to one word thoughts or feelings, and sometimes it consists of just a phrase or sentence. 

Last week I introduced you to Spirit Work (SW).  The journal is a great place to begin recording your answers to that SW and to the ones that will follow.  If you begin to write your SW answers in one place you will start to see the story that the Holy Spirit wants to reveal to you about yourself.  Consider using the journal like you would use a container.  You are going to use it to gather your thoughts and feelings. 

Writing is actually one of the guidelines for lessening and healing the clutter in your life.  Think of your “to do list,” it is a great example of this.  When your “to do list” is put down on paper it gives you more clarity and direction.  It can actually save you space, time, energy, and money.  That is what journaling is all about.  It gives you a more clear direction in how to live your day to day life with the Holy Spirit guiding you. 

So I hope you get that journal book and begin to write down your answers to last week’s SW.  I then want you to look at those answers and consider if they had any bearing on what took place in your life from last week to this week.  How did that one thought, feeling, seed, or Scripture influence you or not influence you?  How did the song Draw Me Close touch you?  

Here is an example of how I would  respond to the question in regards to the song.  I “happened” to hear that song on the radio this past week.  I had not heard it for a long time.  I then came upon the Scripture in James 4:8 that reflected the title, “Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.”  This past week was filled with much sadness and disappointment concerning a loved one.  Consequently, I knew that I needed a couple of days to be by myself and in God’s presence.  This song and Scripture came after my two days of quiet time.  It affirmed for me that God was reaching down, taking my hand and saying, “I am always here with you.  You drew close to me Colleen, and I drew close to you.”  I was healed from the cluttered emotions of sadness and disappointment, and I am at peace!

I am just about ready to dig in to your specific clutter, but there are five points that I want to reinforce as the Holy Spirit prepares us to take this journey through our clutter. 

♥ Truth

Truth can only be found in God’s Word.  Truth comes from what God says, and not what man says or thinks it should be.  John 14:17 says, “He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.”

With the vast number of cluttered divorces, broken families, wounded relationships and the wide spread addiction to drugs, alcohol and sex, we have all been personally and adversely affected.  We desperately need God’s Word to guide us through these tumultuous issues that I refer to as clutter.

Jesus said in John 14:6.  “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  Jesus is the only one who can direct my path because He is truth and He is life.  Every breath that I take is because He is the life Giver!  The Truth of God’s Word continually teaches me to look at life from God’s view point and not mine.

♥ Prevention

As a Nurse I want to help you in knowing how to prevent the problems that create your clutter.  I want to equip you with the tools that will help you to take better care of your physical health so you can lessen the burden of disease, sickness, and illness that can clutter your body, mind, spirit and the environment that you live and work in.

Clutter = Stress

Clutter = Build ups and Pile ups

Clutter is anything that builds up or piles up on the outside of our bodies as well as on the inside of our bodies.  In my years as both a nurse and patient I can tell you that the word stress has been used as a nonspecific catch all for many of the symptoms that cause people to seek medical help.  I define clutter as being equal to stress, and I will get very specific in helping you to identify the cause of those build ups and pile ups so you can know how to become healthier. 

♥ Nurturance

I also want to focus on prioritizing your need for nurturance.  It can be very difficult to nurture and care for others if you are not first taking care of yourself.  We have been erroneous in thinking that loving and taking care of ourselves is selfish.  To be selfish is to have no regard or interest for anyone but me!  Nurturance has to do with self love and it means that I nourish my physical and emotional needs.  Giving yourself permission to take care of you, to nurture you, is not selfish.  You need to know how to care for your own health if you are going to effectively care about the health of others. 

♥ Conservation
As a professional organizer I want to help you better manage the clutter of everyday life and to help you conserve your STEM – your Space, Time, Energy, and Money.

For most of you, your biggest expense will be where you live, but many of you avoid going there at all costs, and it’s because you are so overwhelmed by all your “stuff!”  I want to help you to know how you can change that for yourself and create a place that says, “Welcome Home!”

♥ Guidelines
As a Biblical coach/counselor, I want to help you become more aware of how to care for your spiritual health.  Whether you believe it or not you have an enemy and it is not each other!  This enemy is a spirit that desires to steal, kill, and destroy your entire life.

Talk about clutter!   As you learn to draw into a loving relationship with God, yourself, and others, you will be armored to move against this enemy instead of God, yourself, and other people.

I will guide you in knowing how to apply the “Twelve Clutter Healing Guidelines.”  Each guideline is based on God’s Word.  These guidelines are the tools in your tool box, but they only work to your advantage if you use them every day.  They are the tools to use if you want to prevent and manage the clutter of day to day living.

In my thirty plus years of nursing, organizing, coaching, and counseling, I can say this with confidence and authority, CLUTTER will literally rob you of your health, home, family, heart and work.  I know it all too well.  It happened to me and it does not need to stay that way for me or for you!

I hope and pray that you make the decision to nurture yourself - get that journal and write in last week’s SW and then get ready for a new way of living.  God’s voice is shouting out to you “Prepare a straight pathway for My coming,” John 1:23.  Can you hear Him?