by Jocelyn Green

Have you met the 2009 Military Spouse of the Year yet? Her name is Tanya Quiero, and I was recently blown away while reading about her on the blog of military wife Tonya Nash (aka Christian Mommy Writer):

“Tanya has three kids, works a full time job, and volunteers for several different organizations.  Her husband is a Marine and she also served in the Marines for 13 years.  She is working on her doctoral degree in organization and management. Somehow, she has managed to do all of this while juggling household duties through her husband’s multiple tours to Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Talk about a Superwoman!  She has done some amazing things and seems to have it all together.  Just thinking about her schedule makes me tired.

But you know what?  I don’t have to compare myself to her, and you don’t either.” (Read Tonya’s original post.)
A hearty amen to that, Tonya! Tanya Quiero is certainly inspiring and deserves the recognition. But let me assure you, God does not desire for each one of us to order our days exactly as she has done. We are all created differently and need to prayerfully consider what our own agendas should be. And here’s a hint: overcommitment to the point of insanity is not on the list!

Last week on this blog I reviewed the book An Untroubled Heart: Finding a Faith that is Stronger than all my Fears by Micca Campbell. In the same book that talks about fear and worry, Micca offers a great way to do a quick review of our lives using the following acrostic on priorities. (By the way, have you noticed that worry, fear, anxiety and busyness and stress are related? I have yet to find a book that talks about one of those topics without addressing the others!)

P – Pray. Ask God for wisdom. Ask Him to show you his priorities for this season of your life.

R – Review God’s priorities for your life. Study God’s Word to determine His priorities for you as His child and as a woman.

I – Take Inventory. Examine the activities that consume your time. Keep a time log for a week. Then ask hard questions. What are my true priorities? Are they the right ones?

O – Order your schedule. Ask, “What is important?” Make the hard choices based on God’s priorities for your life.

R – Resist the “tyranny of the urgent.” Don’t let the urgent keep you from focusing on the truly important.

I – Input from others. Seek input, counsel, and accountabilitiy from authorities, your husband, godly friends, and mentors.

T – Take advantage of the time God gives you. Don’t waste time. Do all to the glory of God.

I – Identify time robbers. What saps your energy and robs your time? Activities, attitudes, distractions, interruptions?

E – Experience this season fully. Be all there in this season of life. Weep, rejoice, work hard, and celebrate with all yoru heart. Don’t waste time living in the past or future.

S – Sabbaths. Take regular time-outs to refresh, regain perspective, reflect and evaluate, and reprioritize. Make adjustments accordingly. (An Untroubled Heart, p. 69)

About the Author:
Jocelyn Green is the author of Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives (Moody Publishers 2008) and Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq and Afghanistan (forthcoming, AMG Publishers fall 2009). She maintains a Web site and blog offering support and resources for military wives at www.faithdeployed.com and is an award-winning freelance writer who pens articles for dozens of magazines, including Christianity Today, Today’s Pentecostal Evangel, InSite, EFCA Today, Baptist Bulletin, Campus Life, Today’s Christian, BestSemester and more. She also writes for nonprofits, universities and corporations such as Juicy Juice, Nestle, Publix and General Mills. Her devotions also appear at christianmilitarywives.com, InternetCafeDevotions.com and ChristianDevotions.us. Jocelyn is an active member of the Evangelical Press Association and the Christian Authors Network. She and her husband have two children, a dog and a cat, and make their home in Cedar Falls, Iowa. For more about Jocelyn, visit www.jocelyngreen.com.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 4:31 am and is filed under Jill's Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.