Don't turn your wrist
I’ve never claimed to be a fashionista. I tell my kids that I actually have good taste, but that we’ve chosen to spend that money investing in them instead of my wardrobe. Twenty years later, we still haven’t tested that theory! I’m totally OK with that. If I wait long enough, the clothes in my closet will eventually come back in style, right? 🤷♀️I’m also not very adept at all things regarding beauty. It’s been fun to have a college-age daughter teach me how to step up my game a bit. Who knew you should use a serum? Ha!“What does this have to do with anything important in our lives?” you ask. Well, following this theme of beautification incompetence, I went to get my hair cut last week and the stylist made a simple comment to me about the way I flat iron my hair. She said, “You’re turning your wrist.” It was a pretty basic thing… but it makes total sense. You get that little poof at the bottom of your hair if you turn your wrist. Even Karin can focus on not turning her wrist in order to get a different desired outcome.Similarly, I’m not a golfer, but I’ve heard enough golf lessons to know that there are some very basic instructions (eg. “rotate your hips”) that can have a huge impact on where the ball lands or if you even make contact with the ball.I think you see where I’m going. This analogy can actually help each of us in our faith journey, too. I don’t have to understand everything about a flat iron, humidity, serum, or a golf swing, etc to begin to get a different result. I can simply focus on one thing and start to make some noticeable improvements.[bctt tweet="Forward progress at any rate is better than being paralyzed without trying at all." username="karinconlee"]Sometimes, walking with the Lord can feel overwhelming. We feel like we have so much progress we need to make. We start thinking of five things we’re doing wrong and five things we could do better. I’m certain our Heavenly Father would find great joy if we just focused on one simple step at a time. Forward progress at any rate is better than being paralyzed without trying at all.Bear in mind that it may be less about what you don’t do (eg. don’t stay up past midnight so you have a better chance of spending time with the Lord in the morning) and more about what you do. We tend to stick with positive actions a lot more consistently than negative ones.Here are a few ideas:
Do find a journal and write a prayer to God for 10 min each day.
Do listen to worship music on the drive into work.
Do reach out to a friend and ask if they want a phone date to pray with you once a week.
Do find one hour a week to just be still and allow God to direct you in that time.
Pick one. Or ask the Lord what one thing He’d like you to do. And then enjoy finding some peace in seeing how even one change can alter how things look.[bctt tweet="We stick with positive actions a lot more consistently than negative ones." username="karinconlee"]