dream, pray, do

Week 7 of dream, pray, do - Questions to ponder from "An Enemy Called Average" by John L. Mason

My apologies.....I have missed a couple weeks since week 6. Writing for my website and this blog is proving to be very challenging.

What can I do to make better use of my time?

 
The following list is from lifehack.org (mostly). I did, however, integrate some of my own thoughts & tips into the list as well. If you follow these tips, you will be amazed at how much you can accomplish in your daily life.

1. Create a daily plan. Plan your day before it unfolds. Do it in the morning while drinking your coffee or even better, at the end of the work day before going home. The plan gives you a good overview of how the day will pan out. The key is to stick to the plan!
2. Use a Planner or Organizer. An organizer helps you to be on top of everything in your life. It’s your central tool to organize information, to-do lists, projects, and other miscellaneous items. I have used a Franklin planner for years and it is a life saver.
3. Know your deadlines. When do you need to finish your tasks? Mark the deadlines out clearly in your organizer so you know when you need to finish them.
4. Learn to say “No”. Don’t take on more than you can handle. This can be a hard word to say sometimes but it's better than saying yes and not getting the task done in time.
5. Target to be early. When you target to be on time, you’ll either be on time or late. Most of the times you’ll be late. However, if you target to be early, you’ll most likely be on time. For appointments, strive to be early. For your deadlines, submit them earlier than required.
6. Time box your activities. Time boxing refers to boxing your tasks within fixed time slots. For example, boxing task A from 9-10:30am, then task B from 10:30-1pm, then task C from 2-4pm. Time boxing is good because it prevents your task from dragging on and on. There’s a saying that your work will take however long that you want it to, and I find it’s very true. Ever have a project deadline where you need to burn the midnight oil to get the work done? Most of us usually feel that we wouldn’t need to rush like that if the deadline was later on. Fact is, it doesn’t matter when the deadline is. Even if it’s 1 week later, 2 weeks later or 1 month later, the same last minute rush will still take place. We take that long to do the work because that’s the timeline we gave ourselves.
   Hence, time box your tasks. If you set a specific time period and strictly adhere to it, you will find a way to get the work done. Of course, set a time that is challenging yet achievable. If a task requires 3 hours, don’t set 4 hours because you will use up all the 4 hours. Set 3 hours – preferably lesser so you can learn to optimize your output during the period (again, provided you enforce the time box strongly).
7. Set reminders 15 minutes before. Most calendars have a reminder function. If you’ve an important meeting to attend, set that alarm 15 minutes before. I actually have an alarm set Mon-Fri at 2:00 to alert me that I need to leave soon to pick my son up from school. That may sound ridiculous, but when I am in the middle of a painting, I am very focused and time flies. I don't want to be watching the clock all day.
8. Focus. Are you multi-tasking so much that you’re just not getting anything done? If so, focus on just one key task at one time. Close off all the applications you aren’t using. Close off the tabs in your browser that are taking away your attention. Focus solely on what you’re doing. You’ll be more efficient that way.
9. Block out distractions. What’s distracting you in your work? Instant messages? Phone ringing? Text messages popping in? When doing important work, switch off the phone. Calls during this time can be recorded and you can contact them afterward if it’s something important. This will help you concentrate better.
10. Track your time spent. Egg Timer is a simple online countdown timer. You key in the amount of time you want it to track (example: “30 minutes”, “1 hour”) and it’ll count down in the background. When the time is up, the timer will beep. Great way to be aware of your time spent. Or use the timer on your smartphone.
11. Prioritize. Most days you won't accomplish everything, learn to prioritize the most important tasks first. What doesn't get done, goes to the top of the next days list.
12. Delegate. If there are things that can be better done by others or things that are not so important, consider delegating. This takes a load off and you can focus on the important tasks.
13. Eliminate your time wasters. What takes your time away your work? Facebook? Twitter? Email checking? Stop checking them so often. Set the timer for 30 minutes to update posts and answer emails..... and be disciplined enough to stop when the timer goes off.
14. Leave buffer time in-between. Don’t pack everything closely together. Leave a 5-10 minute buffer time in between each tasks. This helps you wrap up the previous task and start off on the next one.

 

New punchneedle patterns

 

 "A is for Angel" punchneedle

©Teresa Kogut

Happy Monday y'all! I uploaded my new punchneedle patterns to my pattern site today. Also added ALL my rug patterns. Whew, I've been wanting to do this for a while. Here is the link to check it out!

Kid President - Pep Talk

This lil' guy is more inspirational than any politician as of late. I love how he speaks about not quitting and striving to be awesome. Also about helping each other and being on the same team. Amen lil' guy.

"It's everybody's duty, to give the world a reason to dance. So get to it!"

funny

Why Shouldn't Men Go to the Grocery Store? This Hilarious Comedian Will Tell You! from yabbadabbadoo on GodTube.



Funny video to start off your week. I have family in Missouri and I just adore a southern accent. This woman has won my heart.

amazing

11 Year-Old Proclaims Jesus Through the Bible - POWERFUL! from sharethemessage on GodTube.

Amazing.....Did you not want to jump out of your seat and shout "Praise Jesus!!!" Wow, this young man knows how to inspire and move people. Let's make it our goal to live every day with all of what he said in mind.....the world would be a different place.

dream, pray, do

Week 6 of dream, pray, do - Questions to ponder from "An Enemy Called Average" by John L. Mason

Am I running from something, or to something?

This question seems to be a little redundant from previous weeks. Running from fear and towards our goals and dreams.....running from mediocrity towards something marvelous....running from what is holding us back and striving toward a better life.
 

I look at this question as inspiration for setting goals. First and foremost, make sure your goals are in alignment with God's plans for you. How do you discern if your dreams and goals are of your own thoughts or from God's guiding hand?

The answer......through prayer....lots of prayer. You will soon find out if what you are working towards is God's plan for you or your own plans. If it is God's plan you cannot fail....you may stumble,  you will make mistakes along the way and at times you may be terrified, but with God, you cannot fail.

Setting goals will get you from point A to point B, then onto C, D and so on. By doing this you are surely running towards something or at least moving towards something. Gods dreams for you can be intimidating if you are only looking at the end result.

I am sure you've heard the saying "How do you eat an elephant? ....one bite at a time." It is the same with goals....have God's "ultimate" goal in mind but set small goals along the way...break it down....create a road map. Work one day at a time towards that "ultimate" goal (ask for God's guidance and believe it can happen) and surely you will get there.

Following is an excerpt from Earl Nightingale's "The Strangest Secret". It is a beautifully written explanation of how important goal setting is to your life.

"People with goals succeed because they know where they’re going. It’s that simple. Failures, on the other hand, believe that their lives are shaped by circumstances … by things that happen to them … by exterior forces.

Think of a ship with the complete voyage mapped out and planned. The captain and crew know exactly where the ship is going and how long it will take — it has a definite goal. And 9,999 times out of 10,000, it will get there.

Now let’s take another ship — just like the first — only let’s not put a crew on it, or a captain at the helm. Let’s give it no aiming point, no goal, and no destination. We just start the engines and let it go. I think you’ll agree that if it gets out of the harbor at all, it will either sink or wind up on some deserted beach — a derelict. It can’t go anyplace because it has no destination and no guidance."

God has a plan for each one of us.....the least we can do is work that plan....with our best efforts.

a song about Jesus

American Idol Contestant Sings a Powerful Song About Jesus on National Television from theremix on GodTube.

This girl can sing!!! and more importantly....listen to the words of this song.......praising Jesus on National television....now THAT is what I'm talking about ;)

and did you know....Angela Miller sang for her church prior to being on this season of American Idol. Watch her lift up beautiful praises to Jesus with this incredible song she wrote. She COMPLETELY blew the judges away!

in case you're wondering

Little boy receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday

from newsfeed.time.com

In case you're wondering why people are walking around today with "dirty foreheads".......

OR

if you are walking around with a "dirty forehead" and some one asks you why.......

The Biblical Response

Over forty passages in the Bible associate ashes with mourning and grief. In Old Testament times people used ashes as a sign of repentance. They would sit in ashes, roll around in them, sprinkle them upon their heads, or even mingle them with their food and drink. They did this as an outward sign of their inward posture of repentance. Check out Daniel 9:3-6, for an example.

Ash Wednesday begins Lent, a time when we stop and assess how we’re doing in our walk with God. Lent helps us identify spiritual areas in which we can grow and sinful areas that we need to avoid. To repent, put simply, means to turn away from sin and turn toward God. We use ashes as an outward expression of our need to begin again.

A Traditional Response

Ashes are a sign of physical death, as in “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.” We began as dust (a joyless and lifeless existence), and our bodies will return to dust until we are raised up by Christ. By receiving ashes and keeping them on, we publicly proclaim our intent to die to our worldly desires and live even more in Christ’s image, which we focus on during the season of “rebirth” that is Lent (a Latin term for “Spring”).

The Historical Response

For over twelve hundred years on the dies cinerum (day of ashes) faithful followers have approached the altar and received ashes upon their foreheads. These ashes are made from the burnt palm fronds that were blessed on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. The ashes are sprinkled with holy water, usually fragranced with incense and blessed using four prayers that are thousands of years old.

The use of ashes for repentance and penance can be traced even further back and is practiced throughout the world. On Ash Wednesday ashes are applied to believers’ foreheads in the shape of the cross.

The Symbolic Response

God formed Adam out of the “dust” of the earth, which we read about in Genesis 2:7. In addition, Jesus healed the blind man with clay (earth and spit) in John 9:6. We mark ourselves with ashes as a “new beginning” at the onset of Lent, allowing the life of Jesus Christ to make us whole and new again.

The Most Basic Response

I’m a sinner. I don’t always love God as strongly as I could or as directly as I should. Ash Wednesday reminds me that it is only through God that I have life; He gave it to me.

Ash Wednesday also begins my preparation for Holy Week and the Passion and Resurrection of my Lord, Jesus, without Whom I have no life here and no chance at eternal life in Heaven. This is just a great opportunity for me to get better. Thanks for asking.

Excerpt from Lifeteen.com

Wishing you all a beautiful Ash Wednesday

and an enlightening Lenten season

facebook give away

A few months ago, I posted on my business facebook page that once I reached 1,000 likes, I would give away an original painting.....well that time has come! Over the weekend I topped 1,000 likes! I am so excited about giving the winner an original painting! You also have the chance to enter. If you have a facebook page, simply go to my page and click "like", then post a comment on the post that has the above picture. If you don't have a facebook page, get one now.....you will love it!

The winner will get to choose from two original paintings.....it may be something I haven't even painted yet! The drawing isn't until April 2nd so there is ample time to get your name in the drawing! 

Feel free to use the above image to tell your friends, but remember, this is a facebook give away, so that is where you must enter to win. Thanks for participating :)

Good luck to all.

February give away

I couldn't wait for the Coynes & Co. angel purses...not exactly sure when they will arrive, soooooo I decided to do something even better! The February give away will be a $30 gift certificate to my website! 

The person that wins the gift certificate will receive it via email. There will be a code on it that you will type in at the paypal checkout....it's that easy!

I am sure by the time I do the drawing in March, the Coyne's products will be here, but you can choose from anything on my site, not just the Coyne's products. Just post a comment to be entered! And I will enter my blogger friends three times this month since you were left out of the last give away.

Good Luck!

dream, pray, do

 Michelangelo God created Adam

Week 5 of dream, pray, do - Questions to ponder from "An Enemy Called Average" by John L. Mason

Does the devil know who I am?

Yes, of course the devil knows who we are.....the more important question is, how well does the devil know us? Better yet, how well does God know us?

We constantly live in a world of good vs. evil. Good coming from God and evil coming from the devil. We must strive every day to resist temptations that we know are bad for us......even Jesus was tempted by the devil....

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." -Matthew 4:1

Remember, Jesus is victorious over the devil. The devil can only take over if we let him. Jesus delegated authority to use His Name to those who believe in Him. We must exercise that authority, or the devil can take hold and wreak havoc in our lives.

 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. -Luke 10:19

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  -James 4:7

The choice is ours......

sorry.....

Sorry blogger friends....I posted the January give away on my facebook page but forgot to post it here on my blog. In order to make it up to you all, I will enter your names 3x for the February give away! Sound fair?

I will announce the Feb give away soon. I am waiting to receive the Coynes & Co. products so I can offer an angel coin purse. They are suppose to ship in February so any day now...........

sweetness

"Sweetness"

acrylic over collage papers

20"x 20" (only partial showing)

©Teresa Kogut, all rights reserved

Sweetness is at the photographers getting her picture taken. Next week I will post on my FB page the full image. I had a blast creating the background for this painting. I simply used color pencil and randomly drew flowers and leaves. I will definitely be doing that again :) Hope you like her.

dream, pray, do

Week 4 - Questions to ponder from "An Enemy Called Average" by John L. Mason

If everyone in the United States of America were on my level of spirituality, would there be a revival in the land?

That is an intense question and one that we should all take some time and think about. I am not sure what to write about for this question because it is really about looking inward and analyzing yourself and your faith.

I guess what comes to mind for me is this......when we go to church on Sunday.....do we go out into the world and DO what our faith calls us to do? or do we leave church and go out into the world and act selfish, negative, cursing at others, etc.

We are called to share our faith.....evangelize if you will. I don't mean to go out on the street corner and start preaching....although if that is your calling, then do it. What I mean is, in our every day life, smile at strangers, lend a helping hand to a stranger, let someone go in line ahead of you, volunteer at the soup kitchen, write a letter of gratitude to someone....basically small acts of kindness. You never know how those acts of kindness could move someone to do a small act of kindness for someone else and so on, and so on......next thing you know, we could have a revival on our hands!! And wouldn't THAT be amazing!

Something else that comes to mind here. I am enjoying a bible study that our church, Holy Rosary, is offering. It has opened my eyes and strengthened my faith more than I ever thought it would. This session we are studying the Acts of the Apostles, the beginning of the church after Pentecost. Wednesday we talked about the scripture, Acts 5:29...."But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men......" Basically, the apostles were arrested and instructed by the Sanhedrin (the high court of Judaism, composed of the high priest and 70 leaders of Israel) not to speak in the name of Jesus and their response was that they are to obey God, not man. 

"This is the fundamental premise of civil disobedience. It insists that believers cannot submit to human authorities,  institutions and laws that contradict the laws of God." (Wis 6:1-3; Mk 7:8-13) -from the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible

If we all were to stand for what is right, true and of God, there would be a revival......just sayin'

new site is up

 

My new site is up and new products are added! Come on over and check it out :)

Click here

here we go again

Happy Saturday everyone. My website is down until Monday....at least I hope Monday it is up and running again. 

Last year I spent many many hours building my own website. I wanted a website that I could make changes to at any moment, add new products and have the home page be more like a blog and easily updated. I loved it when I was finished and I was pretty proud of myself for figuring it all out on my own.

Well.....only to find out recently that if you build a website on wordpress.com, it can only be a blog and you are not allowed to do any ecommerce. oops! Guess I didn't read the fine print. You have to go through wordpress.org if you want to sell products on your website. Soooo, last week, I transferred my domain name...and bought a few new domain names through godaddy, then I chose hostgator to host my site. Now I am in the process of exporting my website from wordpress.com to hostgator. I really hope and pray when I import my website to hostgator that all my content is there and I won't have to start from ground zero. 

I do plan, however, to make many changes to my website in the near future. I want to simplify the shop and add new pages. I also plan to treat the homepage more like a blog and update it two to three times a week. Anyway....if you happen to go to my website and it wasn't there......this would be why. So here we go again.....working towards bigger and better things!!!

Wishing you a great weekend!

dream, pray, do

Question 3:

Am I on the path of something absolutely marvelous or something absolutely mediocre?

What is your path? Do you wake up in the morning and do the same thing every single day. Do you wake up on Saturday morning and wander aimlessly through the day only to go to bed and wake up Sunday morning and wander aimlessly through that day as well? Or do you wake up Saturday morning with a list of chores to be done that couldn't possibly be done in two days, but you try......finding yourself looking forward to Monday so you can go to work and rest?

It is easy to get caught up in a "routine". If you have seen the movie "Hope Springs", you know what a routine can do to person and/or relationship. For those of you who have not seen the movie, it is very enlightening for a married couple to watch. It opened Kevin and my eyes to what we DON'T want to happen to our marriage. Here is a brief overview of the movie without giving too much of the story away for those of you who have not seen it yet.

Kay (Meryl Streep) and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) are a devoted couple, but decades of marriage have left Kay wanting to spice things up and reconnect with her husband. When she hears of a renowned couple's specialist (Steve Carell) in the small town of Great Hope Springs, she attempts to persuade her skeptical husband, a steadfast man of routine, to get on a plane for a week of marriage therapy. Just convincing the stubborn Arnold to go on the retreat is hard enough - the real challenge for both of them comes as they shed their bedroom hang-ups and try to re-ignite the spark that caused them to fall for each other in the first place.

Please don't get me wrong....I don't want this post to come off as "never satisfied", "never happy with what I have and always wanting more" or "always looking to the future instead of living in the now". We don't want to slip into those three above-mentioned statements. However, we can live in the now, be grateful for what we have and still work towards something marvelous!

God calls us to become the best version of ourselves (I know I have posted that before, but it bears repeating). We are called to be great wives, husbands, Mothers, Fathers, daughters, sons, sisters, and brothers. We are called to serve. We are called to share our gifts. We are called to be marvelous.....not mediocre. Whatever our calling is....remember, God is with us.....and with God, we cannot fail!

So whatever hopes you have for your life, break out of that routine.....dream big, pray hard, then do with great enthusiasm.

 

birthday boy

Ryan is 15 today!

We couldn't be more proud of this young man. He is kind, funny, helpful, respectful, polite, smart, hard-working, sympathetic....must I go on. He really is all those things and more. Poor guy has to study for exams today.....not the best way to spend a birthday....but we celebrated yesterday ;)

Happy Birthday, Son!

40 years.......

wonderfully & fearfully made

Man with No Arms and Legs Goes on Oprah to Share the Gospel! from keephopealive on GodTube.


This video will move you. It is the PERFECT example of what we can do when we make the conscious CHOICE to do something. With God, we are UNSTOPPABLE!