Are you a hard worker?

 I hope that you all had a good weekend! Mine involved and unplanned trip to the doctor but I did try some new recipes that I hope to share with you. I had planned on posting a Pinterest find Friday entry last week (I'm working on putting one together for this week) but ended up having to go to the doctor on Friday morning with pink eye and an ear infection. My ears had been bothering me for a while but I had been putting off getting it looked at. So when I woke up with pink eye symptoms I figured that was a sign I better go to the doctor. I've been putting drops in both eyes and ears which has thankfully helped clear up most of the symptoms. I am also very grateful for my husband who has a good job that offers us insurance benefits and that he was able to take time off work to take me to the doctor. He has also been helping me with my ear drops three times a day. I love him!

Now on to today's topic; to go along with my GMG study, I want to focus on work...


 Since I have been studying Proverbs 31 I have been convicted that I do not work as hard as I should and often lack the motivation to stick with it. A while back, I followed Courtney from Women Living Well on her series about discipline. I did okay in the challenges but had a hard time keeping up with it and staying motivated. So much that I got busy with other things and never even did the last weeks challenge on on the discipline of work, which was probably the one I needed the most!

Looking back on this I think that part of my problem was that though I had good intentions, I didn't keep a proper focus on the Lord. Since starting the Proverbs 31 study I have realized that even though it is great to work diligently, it means nothing and we will not be able to keep up if we do not have our priorities right. Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not men."

For my quiet time today I read Proverbs 31:17 which says, "She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks." This got me thinking about what does hard work look like. I know I often struggle with the motivation to get things done in a timely manner and often put it off until the last minute. I don't imagine the woman in Proverbs 31 was like this. She is described as vigorous and eager in her work, something I could use some help with. One of the things that hinder this is my lack of motivation and laziness. So I have decided to commit to working on the discipline of work. 

Last week in the study we talked about how the Proverbs 31 woman got up early in the morning. Now, I am not a morning person so getting up early is not something I particularly enjoy but I know that if I am lazy nothing will get done. So I started trying to get up about the same time as my husband so I could do my quiet time and get his lunch ready while he gets ready for work. I was able to do this most days and am still working on it for this week. I've also decided that I need to have my breakfast and shower in the morning before I get on the computer which I hope will help me to be more productive and waste less time sitting in front of the computer screen. Lastly, in an effort to keep my focus on the Lord I want to keep working on memorizing Colossians 3:23 and Proverbs 25:4-5. I have a stack of note cards that I keep together with a binder ring to write verses on as a way to memorize them and these are the first two verses I wrote in it.

What ways are you trying to be more diligent in your work? May you be blessed in all you do!

Joyfully, Ashley :-)

To see where I will be linking up my post this week, check out the weekly link-ups tab at the top of the page.