Uncategorized

The challenge: to listen to uplifting Christian music for a week

Music is a  powerful source.  It  has a definite impact on us in most if not all aspects of our lives. Music can change the mood of a person, act as a carrier for suggestions, and even influence the mind. You can appreciate the power of music by imagining watching your favorite movie without any music whatsoever. Imagine all commercials being void of music. I’m sure you can now appreciate the power and influence that music has.

I’m sure you have experienced a situation where you happen to hear a certain melody or a particular song on the radio and all types of emotions arise based on past events.  That is the influence that music has on us.

Why make the change:

Music is important to the Christian lifestyle because music influences us so much.  Therefore, we should be diligent about what type of music we listen to.

Before I was a saved Christian, I listened to worldly music.  Music that put me in the mood for sadness, music that put me in a “quirky” kind of mood.  It amazes me how much my mood was affected by listening to certain types of music.  My depression was deepened as I allowed sad songs to flow.  My anger would rage as I listened to  “anger-provoking” songs.  As much as we don’t want to believe it,  we ARE influenced by music.

Music influences us and it can set the stage for many things mentally and spiritually.  Music can assist us in entering the presence of God.  It could be used to change our state of mind and it could be used for mere entertainment.  We Christians should be aware of the impact that music has on us and act accordingly.  We should monitor what we allow ourselves and our children to listen to.

If you are constantly putting in negative songs into your ear, that is what is going to flow through your heart and out of your mouth.  You want to keep music flowing that is giving you a positive impact throughout the day.  Not something that is going to bring you down..

How to make the change:

So how do we make this change?  It is simple….turn off your local worldly station and turn up your  local Christian radio station and let it play all day long.  If you don’t have a local radio station tune into the internet and stream it live.  There are many choices out there that will give you positive, uplifting songs throughout the day.

You want your focus to be on God.

It is good to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praised to Your name, O Most High.” – Psalms 92:1

Try this for 1 week.  Only let your ears hear Christian music for this time.  Notice any changes?  Did it encourage you more?  Make you a happier person?  I don’t know how I would get through my day without having some sort of constant presence of God in the background of my busy life. Try it!

 

The challenge: to clear your inbox

When we think of decluttering or simplifying we are to think about  subtracting things out of our lives.  To some this is hard, they want to hold onto every moment and every memory. It is something that needs to be changed.  We need to do our best to declutter our lives.  A life full of “stuff” is a life of constant managing, organizing, moving around and work.  A life of “simplicity” is a life full of peace, contentment, and just time to say ahhhhhhh.

One of these changes includes the area you probably frequent at least once per day—-your email inbox.

Why make the change:

Our world has turned to online media  and most all of us has an email.  Our email box can get just as overloaded with saved emails, or emails waiting to be responded to as our closets can with too many clothes.

This challenge is about simplifying every area of our life and this is one of the area’s that can become overwhelming.

How to make the change:

Here are some simple steps to achieving a simplified inbox:

1. Don’t check your email first thing in the morning.  When you sit down first thing in the morning and go through emails you get stuck going through tons of emails.  Do other tasks first and leave your email to be done later on.  Designate a set time and  stick with it.
2. When you check your email do something with it right away.  Decide what needs to be done and do it.
3. If it is junk or forwarded mail, trash it immediately.
4. If it is a long email, print it off to be read at a later date, or file it to be read at a later time while having lunch or waiting in a doctors office.
5. If the email requires a task, make a note on a list of what needs to be done and file your email in your archive. That way you can access it at a later date.
6. If you can do a quick response, do so immediately and then get rid of it.
7. If you need to save the email while you are waiting for a response, create a folder for that purpose.

In any case, emptying your email’s inbox will leave you with a satisfaction of completing something simple and easy.