MY PICK FOR THE BEST LOW-TECH PERSONAL ORGANIZATIONAL DEVICE

One of the greatest inventions of our modern age is the yellow note pad. Don't get me wrong...I have a Palm Pilot, which has delivered me from some of my random sticky notes that hang everywhere and which helps me keep track of stuff I would otherwise forget. It took a while for me to get to the Palm Pilot stage, but now I can't picture not having it.

But there's something about writing on a yellow pad that is somewhat cleansing to the mind. It's like thoughts and ideas flow from my overcrowded cranium, down my arm, and out the tip of my pen. It's not like holding a stylus and rapidly tap-tap-taping on a miniature keyboard. Nor is it like working on a PC. I can stop and deftly toss the pad on the table to collect my next wave of thoughts or grab a cup of joe or whatever--you can't do that with a laptop! I can pick the pad up and carry it around, whack a spider on the wall, jot a note while standing, and even wave it in my face to cool off. And when I'm done, the yellow pad is covered with an intricate pattern of heiroglyphics, code words, and internal communiques (aka doodles, abbreviations, and notes to self!) that make me feel like I've actually accomplished something.

I was feeling a little overwhelmed by this year's VBS. I won't lay out all the reasons, just that I didn't accomplish some things that were under my control and couldn't control some things that weren't. We are in "crunch time" with less than a month to go...and I was feeling like a dishwasher on the Titanic: plates up to here, water up to there, and wondering which "sink" should be my focus: the noun or the verb!

But by God's grace, I had the morning off from daycare. So I got up at my usual time, went to the church at my usual time, and went into the church library. I pulled out a yellow pad, prayed for wisdom, and started jotting down notes. Wow...what a morning! Sure, I could have plotted everything on my Palm Pilot (and much of what I did will be added to my P.P. calendar and task lists). But I wanted to write as quickly or as slowly as I wanted. I scribbled a reminder on the side and underlined it with heavy, bold strokes, followed by emphatic exclamation points (three, because this was really important!). I drew a line from one point to another clear across the page, because they had an element in common (which I wrote along the line). I drew diagrams and circled items. No, there was no logical consistency to any of it...a circled item probably carries the same weight as an underlined item.

When it was done, I had clarity about VBS. I spent some more time in prayer, asking the Lord to help me and my team through "crunch time."

So if you're feeling overwhelmed, or you have a big decision to make, or you're still wondering, "She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me.....", I highly recommend finding a quiet spot, pulling out a fresh yellow note pad, and starting to write. :-)