Life gets complicated at times. Distractions are many and some things just don't get done! Issues and events, expected and unexpected, demand our attention and things we have been doing can be pushed aside or forgotten. Such is the story of this blog. I started writing this blog several months ago and have kept it current...until the last month. I could list the many things that have commanded my attention over the last several weeks, but then you would have to get out your list of complications to compare and we would both wind up whining on each other's shoulders.
Perhaps someone might bring up better time management, or a re-prioritization of schedule and focus. Someone might say, "You're doing too much...you need to let go of something." There is truth in all of these concerns, but I also know that at times, life simply presents you more than you can effectively handle and something slips. Most of us could manage our time better, but then again, many of us do a pretty good job given the number of dates, events, and life situations we have to handle. Yes, it is good to occasionally evaluate an re-evaluate our schedules and the way we manage them, but so many of the things that demand our time and effort are important to us and to others. It is easy to tell another that they should let go of something, but are we willing to let go of those things that are important to us? Sometimes we just get overwhelmed in the busyness of this 21st century world, and some things just don't get done. I am not offering an excuse or rationalization here for poor performance. I am, however, reminding myself, and hopefully you as well, that grace must often be applied in the context of our and other's shortcomings. To recognize our failures and commit ourselves once more to the tasks before us is to admit our humanness, and to strive toward a better understanding of who we and others are. And at the heart of this discussion is the One whose grace, mercy, and forgiveness restores and empowers us for the tasks that need to be done.
I will keep a closer eye on this blog, and I hope you will too. I will also seek to live more fully in the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of the Christ, whose birth we celebrate...and I hope you will too!
May you know the wonder of God, present within you through the gift of Bethlehem's baby, during this busy and blessed season.
Jim Abernathy
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OK. Let me see if I've got this straight. I'm sitting here looking at 150+ unopened e-mails in my in-box. They have been automatically sorted into various folders but I'm thinking that the blessed delete button is my way to grace, mercy and forgiveness! Or maybe not. Many of them are from my boss and big shots in New York. Several are from Mary and family and may have pictures. Others are from friends. But most are from clients with updated information, problems and questions. Sorry delete button. I can't use you no matter how tempting! Got to do my thing. Got to prioritize. Got to respond to the opprotunities God puts in front of me.
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