Thanks to each for the sweet emails about missing me and my writing.  It has been a long, exhausting sprint with the Surtex Show preparations and The Licensing Show that occurred last weekend.

I have to say I have been, VERY, VERY blessed with the results of these shows thus far.  My “to do list” just keeps growing instead of shrinking but in this economic period of time I’m thrilled to be working hard and enjoying my work.

I’m going to try to pull together a new art kit “We Celebrate You!”  Which is based around whimsical cupcakes and a birthday theme.  Perhaps I’ll even throw together a little “freebie” as a thank you for all of your patience.

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY:

Ps 18:32-36
32 It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.
34 He trains my hands for battle;
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 You give me your shield of victory,
and your right hand sustains me;
you stoop down to make me great.
36 You broaden the path beneath me,
so that my ankles do not turn.
NIV
Strength… it has been a cry of my heart in prayer these last few months.  “God, give me the strength to get through this day, week, month….”  There are times when small bursts of energy are required to make it through and then there are times where the demands of the day totally outpace your natural ability to cope.  I’ve been living through the later.

Even with the most disciplined of behaviors and not a moment of wasted time my tasks have been virtually un-doable.  And lets be honest here, I’m pretty darn diligent,  I gave up the luxury of procrastination years ago, but still I am not even close to being perfect in this area.  So how do you make it through a list that is impossible?  By starting and ending your day sitting at God’s feet.  By taking some of that precious time to study His word and gain the knowledge you need to carry you through the day.  Sometimes you may need to give a tithe of your time to someone else in need and ask God to multiply your effectiveness for the remaining time.

I had an experience this week.  A dear woman who is not a believer, asked me some very poignant and searching questions about Christianity.  I had a deadline to get two brand new art collections (art that had to be created and then formatted for product) done for a presentation that had to go out to Target.   It was a hard choice, but one that seemed very clear to me.  The eternal is much more important to my heart than the temporal so I chose to spend whatever time I needed to, to answer the questions and then asked the Lord to multiply my time by giving me the vision for the product and enabling me to capture the essence of what the Target buyer was looking for.  I won’t know for a while if I will have my designs selected — but I will say that the art came amazingly easily and it had a fresh and exciting feel to it.  If it isn’t placed at Target I know it will be placed somewhere else down the line.

Perhaps you routinely tithe of your money, but have you ever thought of tithing of your time?  I challenge you this week.   Perhaps your finances are in such a difficult place that you aren’t even able to tithe financially.  I have been there.  I remember vividly one Sunday writing on a scrap piece of paper a note to the Pastor that said something like “I don’t have a dollar to spare right now, but I will give a tithe of what I have and that is time.  I will commit to pray for you, your family and the fruitfulness of this church this week.” Somehow, like the widow’s two pennies, I think God enjoys this gift from the heart more than the wealth of the nations placed at His feet.

If you have been struggling with your work load or all that is required of you, ask God to show you a way you could tithe of your time to bless others and then ask Him boldly to enable you to accomplish all that He’s set before you as well.  I promise you, it’s an adventure in the making!

PRAYER:  Lord, the hurrieder I go the behinder I get!!! My list keeps growing and my sense of failure grows with it.  Please help me this week to accomplish the tasks that you have set before me, weed out the tasks you HAVEN’T set before me and find a way to tithe of my time to help meet the needs of others.  I ask you boldly to teach me something very new about how to live my life in this time and to make the time I sow into other’s lives bring increased eternal fruitfulness and productivity into my own.  AMEN