Minimize the Madness
Is it just me, or does life seem a little crazier every day? One of the definitions of madness is a state of frenzied or chaotic activity. That seems to describe parts of my life and the lives I see around me pretty accurately these days.
Schedules seem busier than ever, homes are crammed with the latest “stuff,” and all the things that are supposed to make life easier only seem to complicate it. I know it seems like a long time ago, but there was a time when the only phone to answer or think about was hanging on the wall of your kitchen. Now we can’t seem to go a single minute without having our device in our hands and fall into a frenzied state of panic if we can’t find it.
Relationships haven’t escaped the madness factor either as we lose time to connect one-on-one. Trying to schedule a simple coffee or lunch with a friend seems more complicated than ever. We get in arguments on social media with people we don’t really even know, and we can spend more time watching other people’s lives on Facebook and Instagram than we do living our own.
So how can we minimize the madness? How can we take back control of our lives?
I believe the best way to do that is by learning to fine-tune our focus, making subtle shifts to get us back on course. We can start by taking time to ask ourselves some important questions: Am I focusing on things that are drawing me closer to my Heavenly Father, or are the activities I’m involved in pulling me away? Do I really need to check my phone before I check in with God in the morning, or can the things on my phone more than likely wait? Is it healthy to maintain the current pace I’m on, or should I be honoring the Sabbath a bit more? Do the people that I’m doing life with speak life into me, or should I be praying for some Godly friends to come alongside me on this journey?
The odd thing about having so many choices is sometimes we forget to be intentional about the choices we are making every single day.
By fine-tuning our focus and asking God for guidance, we can stop letting the expectations of others and feelings of obligation drive our schedules. We can learn to let go and say no to activities that are only dragging us down.
By fine-tuning our focus and asking God for guidance, we can limit our time on our devices and learn to make God our first priority.
By fine-tuning our focus and asking God for guidance, we can set healthy boundaries in our relationships.
I know we will never be able to get rid of all of the madness in our lives because life is just life, but I believe we absolutely can minimize the frenzy and the chaotic activity as we focus more and more on pleasing God rather than others.
In March, I will be the featured Women of Faith Ambassador teacher and as Women of Faith Ambassadors, we will learn some practical, how-to steps to minimize the madness in our lives. We will focus on some of the areas I’ve touched on in this blog, as well as others as we explore ways to fine-tune our focus.
My prayer is that by the end of the month we all have a few ideas in mind to help us break free from the frenzied and chaotic activity we feel trapped in.
Let’s minimize the madness together!
Hugs and love,
Jill Miller
Voice with Women of Faith
Click here to become a Women of Faith Ambassador.
A living “Energizer Bunny,” Jill has a zest for life that is contagious! With humor and honesty, she shares her personal struggles and how God showed up in the midst of them. Through her songwriting, speaking and writing, she is simply a friend telling her story, hoping it will touch your heart, encourage you in your struggles, and inspire you to keep reaching for your full potential. Her spiritual insights are relatable, insightful, and can be practically applied to your life.
Jill realized a dream when she was named one of the new Voices with Women of Faith and serves the ministry by leading worship, teaching, speaking, and writing.
Jill is a Nashville recording artist and recently released her 6th CD entitled “Twelve, the Freedom Soundtrack.” She has opened for the legendary Loretta Lynn and Brian Littrell (of the Backstreet Boys), performed a duet with NewSong, and sang the national anthem for President Bush and 11,000 people when he was in Sioux City. Jill has also performed at the legendary Bluebird Café in Nashville.
Jill is also a certified speaker, coach and teacher with the John Maxwell Team and has written the first ever theme song for the John Maxwell Team.
Jill also writes a weekly blog and has written her first book, “Grace Finds Wings – A Journey in Song.” In her book, Jill shares the stories behind the songs on her CD, “Grace Finds Wings,” and finds ways to touch your heart and help you discover grace in things like infertility, adoption, divorce, financial struggles, marital infidelity and loss.
Jill and her husband, John, have four grown sons and live in the cornfields of Iowa with their two male rescue dogs. Jill is anxiously waiting for some daughters-in-law and grandbabies so she can get a little estrogen in her family!
