I’ve packed and repacked my same black suitcase about five times. Usually, packing is a snap for me (I go on about fifty trips a year, so if I don’t want to dedicate a large portion of my free time to packing. a girl learns to keep it simple.)
I would like to take an outfit for each day, and a backup after I see what everyone else is wearing, just to make sure I fit in.
I have (so far) resisted an “emergency” trip to Macy’s hoping to find the right outfit to make sure I fit in.
But as you may suspect, this goes a little deeper than wardrobe issues.
Tomorrow I board a plane to go to “The Hip Conference”. Really cool, deep, spiritual girls are getting together to teach each other – and learn from each other – how to talk about Jesus better. And normally, I would be really excited. Except I’m “The New Girl”.
I’ve never been to this conference, and I’ve let my brain run amok.
In my mind:
These women all know each other and are best friends waiting for their once a year reunion
It will be like a scene from “Mean Girls” and no one will sit with me at lunch
They will mock me behind my back for my pathetic attempts to fit in
Obviously, I’ve watched too many commercials for Gossip Girl.
And this doesn’t just happen for conferences. No – I feel it all the time.
At a new Bible Study
Visiting a new church
Going to a new hair dresser
When my kids went to a new school
Hanging out with my husband’s co-workers
People assume since I’m an extrovert that I LOVE diving into situations like this. No. Not at all. All the weirdness and fear pop up and I feel like the kid sister my older sister was forced to take to the movies with all of her cool friends.
I don’t write this to have you encourage me (I know, I know, they will love me once they get to know me. but thanks!) but to say if a super-extrovert like me feels this, I’m guessing that about 90% of you have some of the same feelings. So I wanted to share my plan of attack. I mean my godly plan for managing my anxiety.
Step 1 –Pray for the Event: When I take my eyes off myself and think about what the event is trying to accomplish – and then praying to that end – it gives me the perspective I need. I’m just one person, hoping to be useful, and to follow what God is telling me to do. I’m now praying for the event organizers (cause you know they might just be losing their minds right about now…) praying for the safety of those who are traveling, and praying I can get what God wants me to get out of the experience.
Step 2 –Realize I’m Not the Only New Girl: There are going to be loads of people there who are newbies. We will be the ones who look like racoons staring at an oncoming Mack Truck. I will find these people and make them my friends.
Step 3 – “My Name Is… Here to Serve” No, I’m not officially on the committee, but every single one of these conferences, God has put someone in my path that needed to be loved, encouraged, or just needed some well-timed milk chocolate. If I focus on the needs of others, God always gets around to what I need out of the conference. I’ve never left feeling “I wish I hadn’t helped that person so much. I missed ______” Nope, God’s told me to “feed His sheep”. That’s my job. He takes care of the schedule nitty-gritty.
Step 4 – Bring Things to Give Away No, not advertising for my new book. Things people want. Like that well-timed chocolate.
So tell me your coping mechanism for being the new girl. Spiritual. Practical. I want to hear it – and I want you to share it with all the other new girls.
(BTW – the word on the street is all these ladies are lovely and I’m going to have a great time. I’ll report back…)
Thanks for visiting me here. If you are an imperfect mom like me, you have found a home. (Or at least a place to have a lukewarm cup of coffee.)
For those of us who know it’s better to do things as a tribe than alone (cause what’s the fun in that?) Check out my Facebook Page and download the free ebook: Six Chicks Freeze and Fix – How to Start a Freezer Meal Co-op (look at the “Tabs” at the top of the page.)
And wait – there’s more!
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Thanks for being a part of my ministry – here on the blog, on Facebook, and through MOPS. You are each so precious to me. I just want to squeeze your cheeks.
I have a wonderful friend who is great at taking care of everyone else. She is the hardest worker I’ve ever met. She has a full time job, a busy family and a growing ministry. She is a very busy girl.
She and I have been working hard to not only take care of those around us, but ourselves as well. She made a huge breakthrough when she sent me an email letting me know she had scheduled her “annual” appointment with her doctor – for the first time in five years.
Our stuff is so often on the bottom of our list.
So by Tuesday, I want you to put something at the top of your list. Here are some ideas of things you could do to take care of you:
Make your annual appointment
Make a hair appointment
Exercise
Call a friend (not out of obligation, but because it does your heart good)
Get a prescription refilled
Take a 20 minute nap
Put a flower on your desk
Prepack some healthy snacks
Download some music you love to your iPod
Schedule a dentist appointment
Schedule an appointment with your trainer
Go take a walk
Tell me what you are going to do but Tuesday at midnight, and I will enter you to win The Get Yourself Organized Project.
Your real reward will be taking care of yourself. Go on. It’s only 15 minutes (or so…)
I know that “things” are not supposed to make me happy. But I kinda love a certain mug – and may be a little too attached it.
This is the mug that my publisher, Harvest House, sent me (and, I’m sure, about 400 other authors,) for Christmas 2009:
So great – right. Great green color. The great big “Think…” on the front. And on the back, has:
Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Best mug IN THE WORLD. Right? And I may be a tad possessive…
When our daughter’s boyfriend, Shawn, unknowingly used the mug one night, I couldn’t take my eye off if it. I was distracted from our card game all night.
And then, it happened.
Someone, (not naming names,) broke my mug. I was not a happy camper. And for three days I moped around, whining to anyone who would listen.
One of those who would listen, (or was forced into listening, is Shane White, the National CBA Sales Manager at Harvest House. Poor guy. He was calling to talk about something vital like sales numbers (or my latest posting on Facebook…) and instead he got an earful on the demise of my mug.
Well, what do you know – five days later I got not one, but TWO of those exact mugs in the mail. (One is still in it’s bubble wrap, to be opened only in case of emergency.)
I know the mug is silly, but it is everything I love in a mug: the perfect size and weight not to be tipped over by a wayward cat. I love it. And I love that I have a friend who indulges my non-nonsensical attachment to a mug.
Do you have a “Think Mug”? Something that you have an attachment to that only you can understand. Tell me about it. No judgement. This is a safe space.
I started by flying to New York on Thursday and speaking on Fort Hood Army Base on Friday and Saturday, followed by church on Saturday night, and then a flight from New York to Arizona to speak to a group this morning, and will be speaking at one of my favorite groups, La Casa de Cristo on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Whew.
In between, I am meeting with fellow writers, event planners, answering emails.
There have been time changes, eating at weird times, traveling in tiny airplanes (when I have to bend down to get into an airplane, you know it’s small,) sleeping in three different hotels, and washing my clothes in sinks.
It’s been a little crazy.
We all have our own version of crazy. Maybe it’s a new routine for your kids, a move, or a change to a summer schedule. Maybe you have out of town guests, an illness in the family, or something else that’s throwing you off kilter.
As I get a few more punches on my life card, I’m realizing that no day is going to be a “normal” day. I need to make myself a heaping bowl of normal especially on the days what are SO not normal.
1 Corinthians 14:40
But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.
Um. Yeah. Order. Routine. These are words that scared me in my 20s. Now, they are what I need to live.
Here are some of my “routine” things that help me keep my life in order when my schedule is anything but:
Devotions I need something, everyday. Right now, I’m reading Jesus calling on my phone ever day. It may not be perfect, but it’s something.
Stretching OK – I am not actually exercising when I’m at my craziest, but I do stretch with large, rubber bands with a video on my iPad. Even ten minutes makes me wake up in the morning.
Schedule the Love Roger sends me a picture of my puggle, Jake, everyday, while I’m traveling. I also make sure there is a chance to talk with Roger even on my busiest days.
Quiet Time Whether I’m crazed at home or on the road, I need to have a little quite time.Research shows that if you can take a nap, even for 20 minutes, it’s the best thing you can do for your health, productivity, and energy. Even if you don’t sleep, just resting will help your day.
Is there anything you do, even when life is at it’s craziest, that brings you peace and joy? How do you keep your routine when life is anything but?
I’ve packed and repacked my same black suitcase about five times. Usually, packing is a snap for me (I go on about fifty trips a year, so if I don’t want to dedicate a large portion of my free time to packing. a girl learns to keep it simple.)
