Planning Ahead.....

    Do you have your weekend planned out on Monday?  How about a party you're having a month away; have you sent out invites and ordered the decorations?  If you're like me, then most of you have.   "Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind" (Proverbs 21:5 - Message)
    How about the time you spend with God; do you plan that?  We are instructed to spend time with God on a daily basis; preferably in the morning before we start our day (however this is not easy for everyone so anytime during the day is just fine).  When you plan something, you have room for "life" to happen; but if you wait until the last minute for everything, you set yourself up for failure many times.  You might wait until the night before a project is due only to find out your printer is out of ink.  Let's say financially you don't budget your money and it's before your next paycheck and you realize that you need gas and a child ends up in the emergency room on top of that; you're out of money and now you'll owe the ER. You have to put your gas on your credit card; so now you'll owe them too.  It's a vicious cycle every month and you get further and further behind; debt! (I'm proud to say we are currently debt free and follow Dave Ramsey's Financial Plan)
    We can fall into this same trap with God.  We say we're going to meet with him in the morning; but we don't set, "plan", our alarm and we get up late and say we'll spend it with him in the evening; but then you're so tired you say again "in the morning".  After a week or so of this you feel you have let Him down and just stop trying altogether to meet with Him.  Plan, plan, plan - put God into your schedule!!  He didn't put us off - he died for us on that cross when it was time; you didn't hear him say "not now God I have some more people to save or miracles to perform."  We expect Him to be there for us when we call but are we readily available to be there for Him each and every day?  I promise if you get up just 15 minutes earlier to spend time with God, you will begin to notice a difference in your life; so will other's!! -CiCi-