Guest Post! Michelle's P365 {Part Two}

 {Read Part One of Michelle's P365 here}

To be quite honest and upfront from the get go, we've had thirty three days of the year so far and I think I've only done ALL four maybe ten times.  On average, I do at LEAST one a day but all four is a really, really good day.  I find that the hardest commitments is starting my day with God.  I love starting my day early but the problem is that I have the hardest time waking up early.  That being said, I usually start my day rushed because I need to cook my new husband, Kelly, and I breakfast and whip up his lunch (check and check).  I work for myself so I set my own schedule but I am the kind of person who once I get started, I can't stop.  This momentum begins when I start cooking so by the time Kelly leaves, I am ready to work...not meet with God, which in my already rushed & tired mind frame, can wait.  But then my entire day has shifted and stress begins to seep.  No bueno.  

On my best days, I am able to wak up earlier than Kelly, meet with God by starting with my "Words" devotional from Mariners Church, journal and then easily transition into a quick encouraging note to whoever God puts on my heart that morning.  

Then, with a new song in my heart and a refreshed spirit, I can whip up two meals.  Once Kelly leaves, I can sit down in my little corner office and start working without the pressure of producing.  I will work straight from 10-6, turn off my computer, put a sirloin in the oven and prepare dinner so that Kelly can come home to richly aromatic home with a huge appetite.  We eat together, go out to a movie and come back to do the "Five A's" before bed.  Yeah, too bad these days exist in my dreams. Honestly, the easiest items are making meals and doing the Five A's.  I think maybe because it's easier for me to serve others with an immediate payoff than to fuel myself and take the time to encourage when it's not a pressing necessity.  

Although I haven't had the best track record thus far of completing all four commitments a day, I know that I am definitely more intentional than I would be without "Project ThreeSixtyFive."  It's nice to have personal goals and I am glad that these four items are not make it or break it things; that I can always pick it back up from where I left off without guilt or shame.  And if I can participate in a mission without being compelled by guilt or discouraged by shame, than I've grown.  And like I'm told, "we strive for progress, not perfection," right? Right.