A thoughtful hour...

“It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with His spirit…”

Desire of Ages page 83

Doesn’t the above sound amazing! Imagine how much power we would have if we spent just a thoughtful hour each day contemplating Christ’s life and the great sacrifice he made for us. 

Well…

As amazing as this sounds, there is a problem…

Time!

Time is definitely something that we all can say we need more of!

…but God is gracious. He has given us 86, 400 seconds/1440 minutes/24 hours in a day and yet he doesn’t demand all of our time.

It’s almost like tithe, God could ask for 75% of our income or even 50% but he only asks us for 10%

…because he that is faithful in little is faithful in much?

Going back to the actual topic though…

God has given us all a measure of time and it’s up to us to choose and determine how much time we should spend with him and how to allocate our time and juggle things like family responsibilities, work responsibilities etc. 

Can I be completely honest with you...

I sometimes struggle to have my thoughtful hour each day. I remember praying and asking God to interrupt my day. I wanted to find extra time with God throughout the day outside of my morning and evening devotional time.

This sounds all good in theory, but I’m finding that as you get older and take on more adult responsibilities your days tend to be drowned by all the “important things” that need to be done.

Lord I need more time!!

…or maybe I need to be intentional and find time.

..but from where?

Hmmm, it’s time for me to get creative and find a new way to do things.

I need to make time.

I remember a sister in Christ sharing her testimony and she mentioned the “thoughtful hour”, and how she does it in 15-minute increments throughout the day.

I thought to myself “That’s it! That is exactly what I am going to do!”(Getting creative doesn’t always mean being completely original 😊)

So…

I have decided that I am going to be more intentional about my time and ask God to grant me little pockets of time throughout the day. I want to be able to pull away from the day’s activities and take some time out for reflection and meditation. It may mean sacrificing a trip into town during my lunch break, postponing that telephone call, reducing my time on social media etc

Have you always desired to have that “thoughtful hour” during the day but are struggling to find the time? Join me…Get creative and find a way to make time that works for you.

… But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 

Psalm 1:2

Love, your girl forever,

♥ Miss Daisy ♥  


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Scattered Feathers Action Plan #7: I want to be a grave

I tweeted this statement a few weeks ago and most people thought I was being dramatic but this is honestly my desire. Being honest and trust worthy are invaluable traits of character; therefore I think it is important to not only have a reputation of being an honest and trustworthy person but to genuinely be one. So if anybody tells me something in confidence it dies with me, I am the grave, the person can rest assurance that it will never be passed on, it stops with me.

So there it is my action plan! It’s not at all an exhausted one but it’s a start. As I was writing this and reading over it I realised how much I will need God’s strength to make these plans active and real in my life. I can’t do this on my own but I know he will help me…so I’m thankful.

Feel free to comment, I want to hear your thoughts on this. Do you have an action plan? Anything I’ve missed out?

Till next time.


Love, your girl forever,

♥ Miss Daisy  ♥

Scattered Feathers Action Plan #6: Give people the right to their own privacy and just be there

I am a strong believer of people having the right to their own privacy; just because someone is your friend doesn’t mean that they are obliged to tell you everything or know everything about you. More and more I see people evaluating friendships by the amount of secrets they share, but this shouldn’t be the case. I remember when my friend Benita said to me “Daisy, I’m not your friend because of your secrets” this statement is so true and it has really changed my perception on things. Benita and I are very close friends not because we tell each other all our secrets but because of our love for Christ and the fact that we share common interests. So if, for example, Benita* is going through a tough time or is in need, I don’t need to know the ins and outs of the situation in order to support her, I just need to be there. Whether she decides to bear all or not, it doesn’t matter, I just need to be a friend and be there.

♥ Miss Daisy ♥

* Thanks B for letting me use you as an example for this one xxx

Scattered Feathers Action Plan #5: Exercise my right to say “it's none of your business”

In situations where I can sense someone is trying to get information out of me, it might be worth telling the person that the information that they are seeking for is actually “none of their business!” Sound harsh? The intention in doing this is not to be mean or spiteful but rather highlight the reality of the situation. Sometimes we need to be reminded that somethings are simply none of our business especially when our intention in knowing is to have our ears satisfied. Likewise for myself, if I am tempted to be nosy or to please my itchy ears I need to do the same and tell myself “Daisy, it’s none your business”. Regardless of who the person is don't feel under any pressure to disclose someone else's private information to them. In the nicest way possible exercise your right to say "it's none of your business"; or if you prefer to be a bit more diplomatic you could just say "What I know is private and confidential, so I'd rather not say anything".

♥ Miss Daisy ♥

Scattered Feathers Action Plan # 4: Confidential means confidential

A few months ago I was in a situation where I told my friend something and she discussed it with another friend of ours, under the assumption that I had also told the other friend. I didn’t tell that other friend and it turned out that my situation was actually common knowledge amongst the group. I love all my friends and love to share my life with them but I was very hurt by this because though we are all friends it was still a breach of privacy. However, I know that God allowed it to happen so that I could learn. I too have been in situations where I have mentioned something about another person to someone thinking that they already know (maybe because they are super close to them) and they didn’t. Also in cases where the person does know, I may have mentioned some information that they weren’t told and possibly weren’t meant to have known. So I’ve decided that if someone is telling me something, they are telling ME (not the group, not their closest friend or family member) just me. So I need to act like I am the only person in the world they have told and not assume anyone else knows; and if people do know I shouldn’t make it a topic of discussion especially when the person is not there. Everybody has a right to their own privacy, therefore confidential means CONFIDENTIAL.

♥ Miss Daisy ♥

Scattered Feathers Action Plan #3: Be an impartial listener

In cases where I need to confide in someone regarding an issue that involves another person, I should only reveal the necessary facts in order to get counsel and try not to paint the other person in a bad light. The idea behind telling someone is to get help and advice on how to best deal with the situation, so ranting and backbiting could cause more injury and potentially offer no real solution to the problem. Likewise if someone is confiding in me regarding an issue they have with someone else, I need to keep it positive and constructive, give impartial advice and try not to take sides or get involved in the situation. Less fuel equals less fire; the key is to be as objective as possible and just listen. That's it.

♥ Miss Daisy ♥

Scattered Feathers Action Plan #2: Master the art of guarding and controlling my conversations

Sophie found this brilliant definition of gossiping in the Oxford English dictionary, it defined gossiping as “casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people”. I was very intrigued by the phrase “casual or unconstrained conversation”. I definitely believe that all our conversations should have boundaries as I find most gossiping sessions start when someone accidentally lets “one slip” during a casual conversation. So I’ve decided that while in conversation I need to THINK, really take time to think about my words and their implications before they leave my mouth . I need to keep my conversations under control, positive, factual and edifying, and when I can see the conversation is taking a more sinister turn I should make the corrective action or simply change the subject.

♥ Miss Daisy ♥

Scattered Feathers Action Plan #1: I don’t have to tell people everything.

I have a habit of thinking that I need to tell people (friends, family etc) everything that goes on in my life (events, thoughts and feelings) but isn’t it worth keeping some things private? I am not implying here that I should keep secrets but rather be selective and simply keep certain things to myself. A bit much? Think about it. It is good to be an open person, but being someone that is constantly bearing their soul to others can be potentially dangerous as you may learn to rely too heavily on people, leaving you feeling totally defenceless when those people are not there, can’t help or disappoint. I believe keeping certain things to myself will guard me against this and will also strengthen my prayer life and relationship with God as I learn to bear all to him in prayer, making God my ultimate confidant.

♥ Miss Daisy ♥

Guess what? I can’t put scattered feathers back into a pillow case….

….But I can choose to make changes and do things differently.

So this is a continuation of my thoughts from my previous post “A children’s story may have change my life*”. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and praying about this and I’ve come to the conclusion that, I can’t control anybody’s actions but I can control my own. So I’ve decided to put together an “action plan” (those of you who know me well, know I’m always doing “action plans” for various things) highlighting things I can do to break this “spell” and no longer be a victim (to some extent) or a villain of the gossiping game.

The action plan has 7 points so rather than doing one very long post, I will post one point each day. Feel free to comment, share your thoughts and add things.

Lets grow and learn together   

♥ Miss Daisy ♥

*http://missdaisyspetals.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-childrens-story-may-have-changed-my.html