Check out my sweet new tackle box! 

It actually is not for fishing, though, even though fishing is on my summer list.  Instead, I got this three shelved, adjustable-compartment, rust-proof tackle box to contain and organize all of the nails, screws, washers, brackets, etc. that I've managed to acquire recently.  It's not that my throw-everything-in-a-pile-near-my-dresser-in-Home-Depot-bags system wasn't working out.  I just thought I'd shake things up a bit.  

Besides purchasing this new hardware container, I was crazy productive today.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to cross a single thing off of my list.  I did go to get a library card, but I was denied one because I didn't have any documentation of my new address.  Technically, I sent some snail mail, but I was mailing something for a friend, so I won't count that one.  

The other day I was reading through past entries to find a recipe link, and I had a blast browsing through my year so far.  My roommate thought I was crazy for sure with all of my laughing out loud by myself.  I was also reminded of a few particularly challenging days.  One in particular led me to 2 Corinthians 4:16-18.  "Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."  Thinking about that tonight, my first thought is that I no longer feel like I'm wasting away or have lost heart.  I think that has a lot to do with the fact that it's summer and I am finally getting some rest.  The second thought, though, is that God's word is unchanging.  I have a tendency to take Scripture and make it fit my own agenda or needs.  Even though I don't feel like I am wasting away right now, I am still being renewed day by day.  Even though I am not fixated on momentary troubles right now (other than the fact that I'm still not done unpacking from the move), I need to be fixing my eyes on the eternal rather than on right now.  As I've said before, I struggle big time with balance and consistency.  Other than this blog, the only daily habits I have maintained in my life for this long are procrastination and staying up way too late.  

I have a friend who reminds me a lot of myself.  Let's call this friend Daryl.  Daryl often shares frustrations with me, and I find myself giving him advice that I realize I should be following as well.  Today Daryl unknowingly helped me see that I depend on my own strength far too often, when I should be depending on the Lord.  Nehemiah 8:10 says that "The joy of the Lord is your strength."  I definitely do not find my strength in the Lord's joy.  Isaiah 40:29 says that "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak."  I don't feel weary now that I'm in summer mode and essentially have nothing to be responsible for, but I for sure am weak.  Tonight a friend shared with me Matthew 6:33, which says to "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness" and Psalm 37:4 which says to "delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart."  I've heard over and over again that people take this last verse out of context and believe that God will give us anything we want, when it is really focusing on us delighting in the Lord.  As we delight in Him, our desires will change to align with what he has already promised to fulfill in us.  Okay.  That makes perfect sense in my head.  It doesn't make it easier though.  I do not spend nearly as much time with God as I should.  I hate the word "should" here because I don't want to be part of a relationship out of obligation.  I can truthfully say that I delight in my friends and family.  I willingly and joyfully adjust my schedule and my priorities in order to spend time with them and help them toward their goals.  Why won't I do the same for God?  Oh gracious, this has gotten much more personal than I intended.  I'm going to stop my stream of consciousness here, except to ask that you all, the friends and family in whom I delight, will hold me accountable for seeking first God's kingdom and His righteousness.  Seriously.  Ask me about it when you talk to me.  Force me to explain what He's teaching me or how a focus on the eternal is changing my personal agenda.  Yikes, I'm already nervous about this.