Monthly Challenge - April 2016

Well, it's April already!  One quarter of the year is gone.  But, Spring has come or is coming is many places on the Northern Hemisphere, and in the Southern they are feeling autumn - at least where they have such a thing.

This month's challenge will be about nature and routines.

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Slow down and take the time to really look at nature.  Enjoy whatever is available where you live.

And/Or

Simplify your routine or schedule in some way.

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This challenge may be just a little harder than it sounds.

I was walking outside this last week, and by not going quite so fast I noticed that I could look around me more and enjoy the beauties of God's creation.  In most places these days there is something that can be enjoyed from nature, even if it's just the fruit and vegetable section of the local supermarket or a patch of sky. :-)  Genesis 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good...

Simplifying our routines may prove somewhat challenging, but the point here is to remove the pointless. :-)  We all fall into habits that are not terribly useful, productive or restful which we could just stop if we're honest with ourselves.  I already deleted two game apps on my cell phone.  One I played quite a bit and the other almost never.  The one was taking up too much time and I thought I could re-appropriate those bits of time to something more beneficial in the long run - such as reading or even writing.  I have a theory that mindless games don't really help the brain in a positive way, even when problem solving is involved.  For my own part I have found myself being frustrated by the game and how does that make a positive contribution to my life?  It doesn't.  So.

(I did keep two games, which I play sometimes, because they are not of the addictive or demanding type and I get bored with them fairly quickly.  I consider these types to be "safer" for long term use. :-)  )

What  could you get rid of from your schedule?  There is a lot of scope for the imagination in this.  It could be something significant that you haven't wanted to acknowledge - the time hog of sports (adult or children's), the too-involved hair and makeup routine, the daily texting or chatting with "friends" who don't really care all that much, the "looking" at the grocery store that isn't actually part of the needed shopping, the piano lessons for the child that is totally not into it, etc.  Or it could be something fairly simple that you just realize is non-essential and dispensable - meticulously folding laundry that could be stored more simply, making complicated recipes, trying to keep alive a house plant that really doesn't want to live, etc.  The idea is to try to use that time for something of more value - realizing that more value may be a nap, pleasure reading, playing with the kids, or some other simple thing you "don't have time for" now. :-)  Maybe it would be a walk outside to enjoy nature.  Of course, if it's simply absorbed into your other usual things, that's fine too.  You've still simplified your life a little.

1 Corinthians 10:31  Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Enjoy!