“I say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?” – Psalm 42:9

This edition of our newsletter is being sent out on Epiphany – the final day of the Christmas season. Last year, I still had some Christmas lights up in July but I imagine that most of you have packed away your holiday decorations and are moving with gusto into the new year.
I also imagine that some of you are working on New Year’s resolutions to end a bad habit, start a good habit, or do more of something you don’t do enough of (like spend time with friends and family). Many of you gave up making resolutions long ago as it just feels too bad to fail at them year after year.
Thus, I thought it time to give you an update on what I’m learning in the Friday lunch time “Following Through” group led by Brenda Morris. (If you missed my previous column on the topic, see the October 7, 2009 edition of the Cornerstone.). Our group gets its name from a book we are reading together by Steve Levinson and Pete Greider called Following Through – A Revolutionary New Model for Finishing Whatever You Start.
The first part of the book explains the human dilemma of why following through is so difficult for most of us and why logical approaches simply do not work. We are now 80% through the book and have learned several very practical approaches to help us follow through on our intentions. I want to share with you one of the things I’m trying.
I have always been a “work-to-deadline” person. My husband Steve, just now reading over my shoulder, asked “Why don’t you just admit that you are a procrastinator?” Call it what you will, I find it impossible to get things done when it would be most convenient for me if my self-imposed deadline is prior to the real, absolute deadline. I even miss the deadline if there is any wiggle room no matter how early I start on the task.
I know how to plan, organize and manage both time and tasks and have actually demonstrated my competence at such skills. I really do desire to get things done early. I hate the stress of waiting until the very last minute. I earnestly pray for God to help me. Still, I find myself scrambling, cutting into my leisure activities, family time and sleep to finish an assignment. Looming deadlines have often felt like enemies and I have had more than one crisis of faith wondering why God doesn’t just zap me will more will power!
My problem isn’t a matter of needing more knowledge, skill, desire, priorities or faith. I have a problem with “wiggle room.” When it really matters, I get down to business. Until then, my brain is always flitting – creating new possibilities, being distracted by other things that need to be done and resisting my very good intentions. One strategy recommended by the authors of the book is to “create a compelling reason” to get your intention complete which allows no wiggle room, that also fits your needs and personality, and will make the intention matter now!
Modifying an idea I read in the book, I decided to try this approach with getting my Cornerstone columns turned in to our Editor on time. The deadline is always on a Wednesday usually one week before the newsletter is mailed. However, I know that the Editor always leaves a certain amount of space for me and even when I turn my column in the day before it is mailed, she always accommodates me. I feel bad for making the Editor wait and that it often causes her to reshuffle things and have no time for proof-reading. But my regrets have never been a compelling enough reason. Thus, I adopted a plan that will be a compelling reason.
I needed a no-nonsense partner in my plan and so I asked our Administrative Assistant (who also is the Cornerstone Editor), Deb Howey, to participate in my scheme. As I predicted, she was quick to whole-heartedly agree. She has something to gain, too! I wrote Deb a personal check for $400.00 and asked her to cash it and place 20 twenty dollar bills in an envelope marked “Cornerstone Deadline” and hide it. There is one bill for each edition of the Cornerstone during the year.

If I do not have my Cornerstone column done by the time our staff meeting begins at 1:45 p.m. on deadline days, then our staff meeting will begin with Deb removing one twenty dollar bill and shredding it in the paper shredder in front of the whole staff. Are you aghast? So was the rest of the staff when I told them! “Why don’t you just have Deb give it away to a homeless person?” they asked. “Because,” I replied, “that would make me happy. I’m a generous person. But I am also a good steward and I know that all of you could use extra help with your own grocery budget. I would be appalled and ashamed to have to watch you witness my lack of follow through result in destroying cold hard cash.” The authors encouraged us to choose something that pushes us to an extreme and this is what I think will do if for me.
If I do have the column complete, then Deb will take the $20 bill and place it in another envelope marked “Staff Retreat” to save as grocery money for our annual staff get-away. That feels very rewarding to me! Will this work? I think so but feel free to check in with Deb Howey. This issue is the first test and I have five minutes to go before my deadline.
I realize some of you are shaking your heads and wondering if I lost my marbles over the holidays. I can assure you that I’m very excited to discover some new approaches that are actually working in my life after many years of flailing. I’m sharing this rather vulnerable example from my own life as a way to encourage you to refrain from beating yourself up about the intentions on which you might not be following through. Where is God in all this? Right beside me. Smiling, maybe even a little impishly at having created such complicated beings as we are!

Walking with you as we follow Jesus,
Debra