Mary Pierce

TODAY’S LAUGH: I read yet another magazine article telling me to “multitask” - that is, do two or more things at the same time. “For example, while waiting for your printer to print a 20 page report, write up your To Do List for tomorrow.” Good practical idea, I thought. Some of the other ideas weren’t so practical.

• Walk your dog with your spouse and talk about your day. (Tried it. DaHusband is not good on a leash.)

• Do mending while talking on the phone. (Wait. Do the math. Phone + needle + thread + scissors + garment + only two hands = recipe for disaster.)

• While waiting for water to boil, throw in a load of clothes. (Into the washer, not the macaroni pot. Hey! it’s another recipe for disaster!)

• When you have a doctor’s appointment, bring some reading material along to read while you wait. (HA! How much can you bring? I once waited so long at the family practice clinic, I started reading an issue of Babytalk when I got there and by the time the nurse called me in, I was into Senior Living.)

TODAY’S ENCOURAGEMENT: For me multitasking is the act of doing two or more things at the same time, while doing nothing well. Who says we have to do two or more things at once? Who says we have to be so productive, so driven every waking moment? Not me, baby! Multitasking is revolting and so am I! (Sorry.)

Join me in the anti-multitasking revolution. Give up the craziness. It’s okay to do one thing at a time. Try it:

Stop and smell the roses and RESIST the urge to pull the weeds, add fertilizer and take a soil sample while you’re there.

Hug a kid* and RESIST the urge to clean behind his ears while you’re there.

Take a break, put your feet up and RESIST the urge to give yourself a pedicure while you’re there.

What craziness will you give up today? One thing done well is better than a dozen done in haste.

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The BIRTHDAY BOOK GIVEAWAY is in its final week. This week’s free book is “WINNER’S CHOICE” of one of my three books. (Enter every day if you wish via the “CONTACT MARY” link with “FREE BOOK” in the subject line. One entry per day per verified email address until Monday, June 30, 8:00 p.m. CDT. US shipping addresses only. Thanks.)

LAST WEEK’S WINNER of The Relief of Imperfection by Joan Webb is PEGGY STACHURSKI! Congratulations!

Be blessed today, my friends.

*That’s clean-eared grandson Jonathon.

P.S. For those who are interested, I talk about the Blog every Wednesday morning on Christian radio. Check out the “Mary on the Air” link.

TODAY’S LAUGH: I just read this quote from Anne Arthur: “I always have two lists: things I’m happy about and things I’m not. It’s my choice which list I focus on.”

I thought, That’s all she’s got? TWO lists? I can top that! Here are some of my lists:

Things I swore I would NEVER wear (because old people wore them, like sensible shoes) that I’m wearing now.

Things I swore I would NEVER say (because my mother said them to me) and now I say them all the time.

Things I told my kids they’d “thank me for someday” (which my mother often said to me. See above.).

Things I swore my kids would NEVER do (a list made before I had any kids) that they then did in public, usually in front of my mother-in-law.

Things that drive me crazy that I can do nothing about. Things that other people need to change.

And this huge list: Things that are wrong with the universe that would be fixed if THEY would just listen to ME! HA!

TODAY’S ENCOURAGEMENT: The lists go on: Nice people. Not-so-nice people. Grudges I’m holding. Old hurts I refuse to let go. People I’ll NEVER forgive no matter how sorry they are. Things I’ll never forgive myself for doing, no matter how much God says I’m forgiven.

UGH! Those lists get heavy after awhile. Those lists can wear us out and rob us of the joy of living. How many lists do you have? How about whittling it all down?

Today I choose to focus on ONE list: Things I can say or do - an act of kindness, a word of encouragement, an offered prayer, a simple “thank you” or a warm embrace - to make this world a little better place.

What’s on your list today?

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BIRTHDAY BOOK GIVEAWAY continues: This week’s free book is The Relief of Imperfection by my friend Joan Webb. And what a relief it is!

Enter via the “CONTACT MARY” link with “RELIEF” in the subject line. (No perfect people need enter, thankyouveddymuch. )

Enter every day if you wish until 8:00 PM CDT on Monday, June 23, 2008. One entry per day per verified email address & U.S. shipping addresses only please. Thank you!

LAST WEEK’S WINNER of Six Prayers God Always Answers is Phyllis Von Ebers!
CONGRATULATIONS!

Now go be blessed and be a blessing to somebody else today!

TODAY’S LAUGH: I confessed to someone recently that sometimes (okay, often) my prayers are short and to the point, like “HELP!” This person (who is evidently a Perfect Person, which I never suspected until that very moment) said, “Humpf! That’s doesn’t seem like proper prayer to me!”

And then I heard Steve Martin in my head saying, “Well, EXCUUUUUSE me!” And then - OOPS! - I heard myself say it to her. (”Lord, deliver me from sarcasm” is also my frequent prayer, right after I hear the thunder.)

But honestly, if God hearing or answering my prayers depends on me being a perfect pray-er, then I’m in a HEAP o’ trouble! How about you?

TODAY’S ENCOURAGEMENT: If your child hollers “HELP!” what do you do? If your child says, “I’m hungry,” don’t you provide food? If your child is hurt, don’t you offer comfort?

If your child is lost and afraid, don’t you help the prodigal find the way back home?

Do our children express their needs “properly”? Rarely.

I figure if we measly, imperfect humans understand and meet the needs of our children (however awkwardly those needs are expressed), it’s logical to expect a perfect, almighty Heavenly Parent to do that - and more!

More than once, my prayers have been short. “I need you, Lord!” or even “Yikes!” God seems to know what I need because more than once - every time in fact - God has answered beyond my wildest expectations. (Has that happened to you?)

Prayer isn’t so much about the awkward and imperfect one doing the praying; it’s about the One who is listening.

May you be heard today.

THE BIRTHDAY BOOK GIVEAWAY CONTINUES: In honor of my birthday (and YOU for continuing to make my life a party) AND because God DOES hear and answer prayer, I’m offering a free copy of Six Prayers God Always Answers (Results May Vary) by Mark Herringshaw and my friend Jennifer Schuchmann. (Check out Jennifer’s website and her blog. )

Enter every day if you’d like via the CONTACT MARY link with “SIX PRAYERS” in the subject line.

Deadline for entering is Monday June 16, 2008 at 8 pm CDT. Winner will be posted on next Tuesday’s Blah Blah Blog. (One entry per day per verified email address, please, and US mailing addresses only. Thanks.)

LAST WEEK’S WINNER of Jane Rubietta’s Come Closer: NANCY MULVEY! CONGRATULATIONS!

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY on Sunday to all you faithful fathers out there! (And to DaHusband: Thank you for showing up every day for the last 24 years to be “DaPapa”! We love and appreciate you!)

TODAY’S LAUGH: Ah, summer vacation. Remember the feeling? After interminable days at school, freedom’s bell rang at last and long days of swimming (that’s Megan), cloud-gazing, reading and bike riding beckoned.

And while we played, the grownups slaved away. (I didn’t appreciate that fact until I was a grownup, and the bell rang and the whining began - a dozen calls a day at the office from kids home for the summer. “I’m BOR-R-R-R-R-R-RED! There’s nothing to DOO-O-O-O…” Cloud-gazing? Reading? “Too bor-r-r-ring,” until I suggested garage cleaning.)

TODAY’S ENCOURAGEMENT: Grown-ups are always slaving away, aren’t we? Just because we grew up doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy a little summer time off! Here’s how to take an “UN-VACATION” that requires NO packing and (good news with the price of gas) NO traveling.

Look at your calendar for June, July & August. Find a little block of time each week - an hour or two on the weekend, or an evening - and mark it “VAC.” (What’s that you say? “Oh Miss Mary, I CAN’T do that! You just don’t understand how BUSY I am…” Hush! Repeat after me: “It is OKAY for me to take some time for myself. Really it is!” Now block the time.)

Give yourself this gift - a little time just for you. Make it your time. Spend it library cruising, hammock snoozing, beach walking or bird stalking. Recharge, rejuvenate and you’ll feel wonderful when you “come back.”

I’ve staked my claim on a couple hours of “VAC” a week, every week, all summer, to do what I want to do or to do nothing - I’ll decide which when I get there. Let me know what you decide to do.

Call me inspired or call me crazy - just don’t call me during VAC time. I won’t be picking up.

BIRTHDAY BOOK GIVEAWAY continues: In honor of my birthday and YOU (for making my life a party), this week’s FREE BOOK is a perfect companion for that “un-vacation” time if you are looking to enrich your spiritual life. Come Closer: A Call to Life, Love, and Breakfast on the Beach is by my good friend Jane Rubietta.

Enter via the “CONTACT MARY” link with “COME CLOSER” in the subject line. Enter every day if you wish until 8 pm CDT, on Monday June 9, 2008. (One entry per verified email per day please & US shipping addresses only. Thanks.)

LAST WEEK’S FREE BOOK WINNER: JUDY STRIGEL. CONGRATULATIONS!

P.S.: LIBRARY NEWS: When Did My Life Become a Game of Twister? is the featured selection for the library Online Good News Book Club for the week of June 16th. (I’m honored!) Check with your local library to see if they are participating.