Daughters of Promise January/February 2015 | Page 10

7 strategies
FOR GIVING EVERYTHING TO GOD.

by Katrina Hoover
Photography by Kristi Smucker

THE ORANGE AND BLUE bath towels made it

through the laundry yesterday, put they’re still in a
pile waiting to be folded and put away.
The few dishes I’ve used in the last days are balancing
in the sink, waiting to be washed.
Then, I overslept this morning, perhaps from the relief
of not needing to get up at 4am today.

Having finally rolled off the mattress and wrapped
myself in my terry bath robe and found my slippers
and seated myself at my kitchen table across from
the piled laundry and teetering stack of dishes, I
realize that I have way too many things to do today,
in the amount of time left.
Now here’s the thing: most of us have the ability to
salvage our day with a hastily written To Do List, and a
little acceleration. We have moms who can harvest
and preserve 100 quarts of corn in a day and still
end up with a spotless kitchen by evening, or at least
midnight.
But what we really want is not a way to get through
this day, but a way to live this life. We want to live
in such a way that we’re not frequently caught off
guard. We want a plan that will overshadow our
lives and direct us to purposeful movements every
day rather than reactive movements to clean up the
mess in which we’ve found ourselves.
How can we live in such a way that we give God
every part of us?
10

1. Set your heart on knowing Christ and the
Word of God. This sounds obvious, but many people

live from day to day, taking their cues from their
culture, their friends, and their screens. They forget
that their actions will flow out of their deepest desire.
If knowing and serving Christ is not the central goal of
your life, no practical plan will help you glorify God.

2. Start a notebook, file, or binder of your
life goals. Do this on a physical paper journal or a

safe electronic file that you won’t be likely to lose.
Plan to keep it for the rest of your life and update it
each year. (see sample template on page 13)
In my career as a nurse, I worked briefly with Dr. Abel, a
stoop-shouldered, 90-year-old man who still practices
medicine. At a fundraiser, I asked him about his work
at the nursing home.
“We have a lot of old people there,” he smiled. “I
won’t be 100 yet for another ten years.”
Stupidly, I asked him if he really planned to practice
until he was 100.
“Oh, yes,” he said. “After that I plan to travel half the
time, and be at home half the time.”
I think he correctly interpreted my incredulous silence.
Gently, he said, “You have to have goals. You have
to have goals to get anywhere. You might not meet
all of them, but you have to have them.”