Decide, Delegate and Delete

I attended an awesome conference today.  The opening speaker was Rev. Janae Pitts-Murdock and during her discussion “Superwoman I Quit” she gave three points: decide, delegate and delete.  The conference was focused on mothers but as a single woman with no dependents the points of decide, delegate and delete are relevant to everyone.

She talked about the fact that balance may not be equal but it is sustainable.  What can you sustain for a period of time?  What is sustainable for you may not be sustainable for someone else.  Balance is not about how to get it all done, but how to be sustainable.  What is the most important for you to do to move forward?

YOU must decide what is reasonable for you to do.  Not your spouse.  Not your upbringing.  You must decide based on Godly principles and not necessarily the social norms of today.

Once you decide what is reasonable for you to do then you must delegate what is NOT reasonable for you to do.  Not to your alter ego, not to your day off, not to your vacation…but delegate it to another person.  Give it to them and don’t take it back.  You suffer from the sin of self-sufficiency when you believe that you are the only one who can get it done…that is arrogance.

After you delegate, then what is left must be deleted.  Control, alt, DELETE.  There is something on your list that cannot be done.  You cannot add more things to your plate without taking something off.  You cannot get a bigger plate.  You cannot pile onto your plate.  For example, if you decide to go back to school, then you have to let something else go.

After we have done our part, we have to DEPEND on God for what is left.  Release what you cannot do to the One who can do it.

Rev. Janae gave us an assignment – Ask yourself/make a list (write it down) – What can I reasonably do?  What can I do without losing sleep (need 6-8 hours per night)? What can I delegate? What gets deleted; what doesn’t get done?

This was an awesome workshop for me.  As a single person, people often think that we just have all this time on hands to do everything for everybody else.  As a minister, I am supposed to be at the church all the time.  “You don’t have kids, you don’t have a husband…you can do this and that”.   If “this” and “that” is not giving me life then I don’t need to be doing it.  God has a calling on my life and I am clear about what God is calling me to do.  The things that are not life-giving I am deleting…”Ctrl, alt, delete”.  I have decided to do what is sustainable for me…I am being purposeful and intentional.

Since I am single with no family where I currently live I cannot delegate a lot to others.  Jenks (my poodle) has not conceded to do the dishes or the laundry, so some stuff will just have to wait until I get to it.  Dishes in the sink do not bother me.  I am doing the Lord’s work right now and I want Him to say, “Well done good and faithful servant, well done!”  Decide, delegate, and delete…that is how you put the pieces in place for 2014.