10 Tips to Transform Your Travel

Aka How to Pack a Suitcase

Humiliation. Not good. My innermost beings were strewn across the tile floor of the airport lobby. The check-in agent had declared my bag overweight. With her czarina-type declaration, the purging commenced. I was hot and unhappy.

Slinging, flinging, shoving, and stuffing commenced. Other passengers tried to step around me offering their unwanted bits of advice. Some were sarcastic, some were sympathetic; none were helpful. I was in a race against the clock. I muttered under my breath, “If I ever get out of this alive, it will NEVER happen again.”

The disastrous day is a distant memory, but I still find myself thinking a suitcase is a tool of the devil. The iconic symbol of travel threatens like nothing else to bring out the grrrr in me.

So, can anything be done to rise above this onslaught of decision-making that precedes getting out the door on a trip? Yes, peaceful packing can become a practice. After more than 45 years of travel, I have gleaned a few tips to help eliminate the paralyzing what if, and send you sailing with a jolly “Bon Voyage.”

Here they are:

1. Pray. Take charge. Don’t overthink; be decisive.

2. Start two days ahead. Place your suitcase in a separate room other than your bedroom. Do your laundry first.

3. Place hanging clothes on a door rack to view your choices.

4. Pack in daylight, not at night. Begin by counting out underwear.

5. Use Eagle Creek packing cubes for categories.

6. Think simple, think solids.

7. Minimize shoes. Always take a dress.

8. Remove at least 2 items. Be realistic, but not ruthless. You do need clothes and supplies where you are going.

9. Place a versatile windbreaker and a small empty duffle in the outside pocket of your suitcase.

10. Know your enemy. Weigh bags at home.

Once the suitcase is zipped, and you are ready to go, you can pull up to the airport curb without a knot in your stomach. As the ticket agent smiles at you and says, “Place your bag here on the scale,” you can confidently look her in the eye, knowing that you made the cut. Victory! Bye-bye bag.

Question: What is your best packing tip?

“The Five Things to Know for Your New Day”

“The Five Things to Know for Your New Day”

“Up to speed. Out the door.

If your day doesn't start until you've gotten up to speed on the latest headlines, then let us introduce you to your new favorite morning fix.

You give us five minutes; we'll give you five things you must know for the day.”

Whoa!

This guarantee from the CNN news service seems too good to be true. But their promise to get us going prompts thousands (millions?) to buy in. They prepare the 5 things, we read the 5 things, and we are armed with readiness to take on the world. Impressive.

But what if, just what if, we tuned in to a different set of Headlines for our favorite morning fix? What if another NEWS SOURCE provided us with Five Things to know for our new day? I believe this must know list would read like this:

1. God has been awake all night.

He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber (Psalm 121:3).

2. His divine resources are available for your day.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (2 Peter 1:3).

3. There is a divine agenda in place for your day, which He created before time, began.

For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

4. His plans are good.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

5. Focus on this day. Don’t worry about tomorrow.

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34).

That’s all for now. Tune in tomorrow morning for…

Living With Eternal Intentionality

How would your day start differently if you focused on God’s Five Things instead of the world’s five things?

What would you change (add to, take from, exchange) to make this list more personal to you?

Ten of My Favorite Devotional Classics

My appetite for devotional books loomed large. In this particular season of  life, I scoured bookstores and researched friends’ suggestions. Stacks of these works—various sizes and themes—surrounded my private place of worship. This volume here, that volume there…. Names like Surgeon, Chambers, Carmichael, and Taylor stood ready. In time alone with the Lord, I daily made my way through one after the other, and, eventually, I made my way to the Bible.

But then…

My habits changed when I realized my treasured collection of devotional books had subtly become a distraction to the Scriptures themselves. God used the words of Elisabeth Elliot to alter my course;

“If you only have five minutes, read what God wrote, not my writings.” Her admonition stayed with me, and I evaluated my ways.

Years later, I offer these observations:

Benefits of using devotional books

• Valuable spiritual lessons can be gleaned from those who have walked before us, particularly those who witnessed the faithfulness of God in other periods of history.

• Seasons of late nights with newborns or extended hospitals stays with family, seasons of unprecedented pain when our hurting soul simply cannot take in much, are periods of time when life can be softened with the encouraging touch of words from a devotional book.

• Establishing a daily routine to spend time alone with God is bolstered when one follows the dates frequently laid out in devotional books.

• The richness of the spiritual writings of others ministers to us, while we wisely guard ourselves against allowing a devotional to replace the Bible — listening more to the voice of others than to The Voice of God.

• View the devotional as an appetizer before a feast, something that pulls me toward the greater supernatural content of the Bible itself.

• Resist the temptation to view the devotional book as a sufficient, stand-alone resource in walking with God. The Bible must always be one’s priority.

  Ten of My Favorite Devotional Classics

A Lamp for My Feet, Elisabeth Elliot

Daily in Christ, Neil Anderson

Daily Light, Samuel Bagster

God’s Best Secrets, Andrew Murray

Jesus Calling, Sarah Young

Joy and Strength, Mary Wilder Tileston

Keep a Quiet Heart, Elisabeth Elliot

Morning and Evening, Charles Spurgeon

My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers

Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions, Arthur Bennett

Our goal is not to eliminate the use of devotional books. Rather, we should prayerfully seek the Lord in the selection process; He knows what content will enrich our time alone with Him.

Currently, I limit myself to only one or two carefully selected resources, which can set the stage, and create a tone and atmosphere of worship for me to meet with God. Tactically, I've learned to thoughtfully place devotional volumes in the car, the kitchen, the guest room, or on my nightstand. Always, though, I keep before me the admonition of Charles Spurgeon who said, "Visit many good books, but live in the Bible."

Living With Eternal Intentionality™

How do you incorporate devotional writings into your walk with God? 

What favorite title would you add to this list?