Tuesday morning

Every week I get an email from Scott called serving strong. It is aimed at those who work with others. I have not commented on his newsletter for awhile but this week's struck me especially as I am busy packing and trying to work on the bulletin and sermon and visits and and and. So read it and see if it might help in your life to develop these four habits.

Four Habits

Many of you are new to the Serving Strong PowerMail service. And those of you who have been subscribers for a while may also benefit from this week's issue.

If you hang around Serving Strong very long, you will hear about the "Four Habits". These are habits adopted by people who desire to be effective and to finish strong in their chosen "people-focused" field.

I will briefly describe the four habits in this issue and go into more depth throughout future issues. Here we go.

SPIN. You spin plates in your life. Plates include marriage, finances, spiritual life, parenting, relationships, personal order, etc. It's easy to get so focused on one plate, the others suffer. It's also easy to commit to too many plates at once. Good spin = maintaining appropriate plates with appropriate attention.

SWING. You were born into a world full of rhythm. The sun rises. The sun sets. You wake up. You go to sleep. Everywhere you look, rhythm is a part of your world. Similarly, you are more effective when you go in rhythm from rest to work, like on a pendulum swing, back and forth. Good swing = going full out in your work AND taking time to go full in for rest..

ALIGN. God created you like no other person. When you honor your uniqueness in your life and work you spend the right amount of energy. This leaves you exhausted in a good way. However, when you are working outside your uniqueness you spend more energy than necessary, leaving you fatigued in a bad way. Good alignment = spending 80 percent of your waking hours engaged in what honors your passion, personality, and proficiency (skills).

CENTER. This is the most pivotal habit of the four. It is the habit that puts the other three in perspective. It gives wisdom in selecting which plates to spin, when to swing, and when to stay with (or step outside) our alignment. Centering is the act of submission to God and His mysterious will. We do not have all the answers. So, good centering = a perpetual posture of brokenness and dependency on God.

How is your Spin? Your Swing? Your Align? And your Center? This week, evaluate your life based on the bold statements above.