consider the octopus

This morning as I was taking a shower, I thought how great it would be have one more arm just to reach that spot in the center of my back. I looked over my body to see if there are any more hand like limbs protruding from my torso, but to my dismay I couldn't find any. Then I thought, wouldn't it be great if I had eight flexible arms, like an octopus? Think of all the things I could do! And faster! And all at once! It would be a multitaskers dream come true!

As I reflect on all the "great" projects and ventures I've embraced over the past years, I've started to consider why God created me with only two hands. If two hands are 10x more effective than one hand, wouldn't we all be 100x more effective with four or eight hands? We could accomplish soooo much more!

But for some reason, God in His infinite wisdom has equipped us with no more than two hands. A few of us are more talented in juggling multiple tasks, but with there's always a limit were we inevitably drop something. Even with our hands full, we so often want to pick up one additional "little thing", only drop something else (usually bigger) from our hands. Then we cry out and ask God help us handle all this... "juggling".

Hmm,.. this makes me wonder,.. if God really wants us to juggle so many things at once, what exactly is He training us for?.... The circus?

Checked again, still only two hands attached to my body. So if we don't have eight hands and He's not training us for the circus, then why are we juggling all these things? Surely we haven't overloaded ourselves with so many unnescessary worries and burdens... Do we actually believe God wants us to handle all these things? Didn't Jesus teach us to "consider the octopus who multitasks so well"...? (check Matthew 6:25-26 if you're not sure)

I don't know about you, but I always seem to have my two (not eight) tentacles out grasping at new opportunities. Where do I get the idea I've been designed to handle all this? It recently became abundantly clear to me that I have not been blessed with the "gift of multitasking". In fact, I've started to believe this is not a "gift" at all, but a term which we have coined as an excuse to somehow manage our busy and overloaded lives...

Perhaps we should simplify our lives and concentrate on what we can do with two hands and not eight. Wouldn't our lives would be healthier and more balanced if we did no more than what we were designed to do? Rather than wishing we could handle more things, we should train the two hands we have, strengthen our grip on what's really important, and make our hands more flexible as life changes. Perhaps then our hands would be more fit to accomplish tasks, more free to catch the unexpected, and just maybe flexible enough to reach that evasive spot in the center of our back...

R.L. 23.01.2009

the smallest footprint...

Last weekend as I was thinking about what we value and how we live, I composed a few of these thoughts to words as follows...

we all leave a footprint
where ever we go,
how big or how small
we yet do not know

our steps are a message
for generations to come,
of how heavy or light
our load has become

we may think we don't
have much impact at all,
but our footprints remain
no matter how small

each movement we make
we either give or we take,
often buying great things
of little value that break

so ease up on your load
and tread lightly on this land,
for the earth God has given
is blessing from His Hand

take care of this blessing
for this gift just won't last,
we should care for it dearly
and not consume it so fast...

R.L. 18 Jan.2009

the first steps...

I've never taken a step into the blogging world until today. To date most of what I've journaled has been personal and private. The few items I've shared with others has always brought a response, sometimes positive, sometimes not, but it has always been a learning experience.

I guess we all leave a mark, something for others to see and learn from and possibly even follow. I'd like to call these our footprints. Lately I've been thinking alot about what kind of trail we leave behind. And just maybe there's something others can learn from the footprints we leave....

Just a note about my blogging habits: they don't exist yet. So don't expect regular updates or new posts. They will come as they come....