GI2GB

I've often been asked how it is I do what I do...juggle like a mad woman.  I tend to be a multi-faceted, multitasking kind of gal and have been my whole life.  Of course, this has not been done easily.

In the past I have juggled two full-time jobs, a spouse, a very large extended family, full time classes, and my five children with all their extra baggage, ie ballet, band, this or that function etc. (now I include their spouses and children into the mix so it's a trade off.) 

Today, (I cut back when I turned fifty...sort of)I juggle two part-time careers in ministry work and  college professor, but I'm also  a part time college student, author, mother, grandmother, and caregiver for not one, but three people dear to me- my spouse who is terminally ill, my 24-year old daughter with an inoperable brain tumor, and my 91-year old father-in-law with Alzheimers.

I seem to have the ability to shuck off concerns to the point where I seem stressless.  In truth, I feel stress just like everyone else does. I have days where the world crashes in on me, just like people around the world. I just act on it differently.  That's where today's blog comes from.  It is my GI2GB.

I can't admit to creating this, but I can say it has been successful in my life for seven years.  I can't even tell you where I got this idea from because it was one of fw:fw:fw infinity type emails someone sent me years ago.  Have I peaked your interest yet?

It is my Give It 2 God Box.  The principle behind it is so simple, but when used correctly, the results are surprising.  Mine is really nothing more than a plastic box I keep at my bedside with a slit in the top.  It can be anything, a salt box, a shoe box, or whatever.  I will warn you.  This can be addicting in a most heavenly way.

The premise is simple also.  Whenever you reach the end of your rope and feel like there is nothing that will fix XYZ problem, you write it down on a piece of paper and you put it in the box.  Yes, most of us will pray, but there is nothing tangible in prayer.  Believe me, I am not knocking prayer, because I spend hours in prayer every day.  This is a prayer with a tangible action, since most people respond better when they feel they are actually doing something about a problem which overwhelms them.

Now, let's be honest, quite a few of us give our problems to God and then continue worrying about it and trying to figure out solutions, etc.  Quit that!  If a problem is bad enough to be put in the GI2GB, then why in the world would you want to play indian-giver and take it back??? If it is so mind boggling a problem and you have looked to every other resource to solve it and found none, give it to God and forget about it.  Let God be God.

Have you ever watched a toddler who wants a cookie on the table and was told he couldn't have it?  The toddler inches his way over to it, and then his little fingers stretch out to grab it...all the time looking over his shoulder to see if his parents are looking.  Now, think of your prayers, are you this toddler?  You gave the problem to God, and then wiggle your way back to the problem?  Raise your hand, you indian-giver, you!

Okay, now you've decided to give this box a try.  You cut the slit into the top of the box.  You go out and buy some special little notepad to write your problems on. This is not necessary, I've written some of mine on napkins.  You've got a problem you want to give to God.  For me, it's my husband, daughter, and father-in-law.  I have no control over the outcome and it really irks me, at least for today.  Tomorrow will be another set of insurmountable problems.

Sorry, I got sidetracked.  I write the problem on the piece of paper and put it in the box and forget about it.  It's amazing. I've done an action to solve a problem when I didn't think there was anything to fix it.  By doing an action against your problem you reduce your stress, but more importantly it is a step in faith.  Now this is the hard part...forget about it, because you have given it to God and let God work.  DO NOT OPEN THE BOX.

Now pick a time frame, for me it is a year,  a New Year's Day event.  Remember, God's time is not your time.  Open the box. Yes, I said open it. Now take out all those pieces of paper.  Read each one.  Make two piles- one for those that have been answered or do not apply anymore, and the other for those not answered.  The pile of unanswered messages go back in the box for the next year...they need to cook a while longer.  Remember it's God's time, not yours.  For those that no longer apply or have been answered, write on the back how it was answered or why it no longer applied.  I actually keep a journal of these.

Would it surprise you that over 98% of my pieces of paper went into the answered or no longer applied pile?  All the added stress that I lost by just giving it to God.  Oh, and don't forget to thank Him for the answered ones.  Be faithful unto the Lord.