Glad TithingsFamily newsletter of Christian Stewardship Ministries |
| "Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy." (1 Cor. 4:2) Sept. 1998 * Vol 17 No 3 |
Volume 17 No 3
© 1998 by Christian Stewardship Ministries
Glad Tithings is a newsletter of Christian Stewardship Ministries, a nonprofit public foundation. To receive Glad Tithings regularly, send your name and address (with a zip code) to CSM. Gifts are tax deductible, greatly needed and deeply appreciated. The ministry's annual cost per person is approximately $15. Any portion of this newsletter may be quoted or reproduced without further permission, provided excerpts are in context, by adding the following credit line: "Reprinted from Christian Stewardship Ministries' newsletter Glad Tithings, Fairfax, Virginia," and furnishing a copy to CSM.
Christian Stewardship Ministries, 10523 Main Street,
Fairfax, Virginia 22030. Telephone 703-591-5000
fax 703-273-1795
e-mail CSM
It was CSM's "Christians in the Workplace" seminar a few years ago that first drew Clint and Becky Smith into a deeper relationship with Christian Stewardship Ministries. Today they help out in many ways-Clint served on the bowl-a-thon committee and Becky helped with CSM's annual summer cookout. Both have helped lead worship at CSM activities.
When Clint took the Life Management Study course about a year ago, he learned "how much time I waste" and how to apply the discipline that comes more easily in his business as a commercial building contractor to his personal life as well. The LMS gave him "a sense of direction and the motivation to do better in following God's plan." For Clint, the LMS is all about building a relationship with God through obedience. Even though he took full charge of the contracting business several years ago when his parents retired, since taking the LMS class he's made a point of coming home at dinnertime instead of 10:00 p.m. And God has honored that effort.
As a home-schooling mother of four, Becky chose to read It's About Time. She spotted herself in the section on procrastination. When last summer rolled around and her school-teaching duties were suspended, she focused on making a list and began working her way through it. "Last summer I accomplished so much more-at least I made a dent in the list," she says.
Becky and Clint live with their four children in Woodbridge, Va., where they attend Vineyard Christian Fellowship Church. Becky is co-leader of the nursery, and Clint serves as a worship leader for a kinship group.
Joyful Dividends
From Readers of It’s About Time
Dear Ken Smith
I have been enjoying your book, It’s About Time, very much. As I read your own life story, I was touched with your honesty. My husband and I have heard of your ministry, and I hope to take a class (or classes) someday.
As I finished reading page 63, I found myself getting angry. Up until the procrastination section, I felt understood and hopeful. The example of someone being able to do something major on their list in fifteen minutes and finish their list in six months lost this reader.
Our attic and basement represent twenty years of laziness, anger, bitterness and anxiety. Your example of fifteen minutes (or worst case, thirty minutes) leaves me cold and hopeless.
God is using your book in both my husband’s and my life. I am writing to ask for more sympathy and understanding. There are many of us out here with a negative outlook on life due to temperament, family experiences and personal experiences. Giving procrastination six pages and six months almost made me put the book away as unrealistic.
At any rate, you’re onto something here. Keep it up.
Sincerely,
Virginia reader
Ken replies
Dear Reader:
Thank you for your [recent] letter, and for your honesty.
I certainly didn’t mean to imply that a big project can be done in 15 minutes. Very often, it’s the little things that can be done in 15 minutes that take such a toll on us. Rather than bite off an attic or a basement, how about just taking a half-hour or an hour to clean that closet or clean out the car or organize your dresser drawers. The point is to do something that won’t take long and work up to some of the larger/longer items....
Warmly in the Lord,
Ken Smith