"Tu-it. Do it." | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: "Tu-it. Do it." | Previous Challenge Entry
By Donna Haug
11/28/06
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Snip. Snip. Snip.

Circle after circle slowly falls onto my lap. Straining against the cramp squeezing my hand, I press on. Little brown circles mingle with the scraps as slowly and painstakingly the pile grows.

Sometimes you volunteer for jobs because you figure it is something you would enjoy doing. Sometimes you see a great need and feel that you should do something about it. However, there are other times when you are volunteered for a job, like it or not.

“Tu-it. Do it.” “Tu-it. Do it.” As I separate the beautifully sculpted circles from the scraps, the strange phrases printed on their glossy faces catch my attention. “Tu-it. Do it.”

After 17 years of being a pastor, teacher and missionary, my husband decides that he wants to be a student once more. With him back in seminary, I narrowly escape being his secretary for the year. Thankfully, his typing skills have developed at the speed of computer technology. Nevertheless, today he volunteers me to assist him in preparing an object lesson for his presentation to a Spiritual Formations class.

I open package after package of little round felt pads. Each pad has a nice round covering over the adhesive on the back. Pick. Pick. Pick. I finally loosen an edge and lift off the covering.

My husband’s class has been discussing the importance of spiritual discipline down through the ages. Each era has had its strong points when it came to communing with God. Sometimes the emphasis was on outward form, habits, and rituals. Other times the push was for mental understanding and deepening of spiritual comprehension of theology. Yet other phases focused on the emotions, relationship with God, worship, and praise. Each generation held a nugget of truth. The challenge for the class has been to evaluate the good in each, and open up their hearts to a move of God in that area.

One by one, I carefully hold up the newly exposed sticky pads and attach the brown circles to the felt. I press down gently on each one in turn and pile them on the coffee table.

The point my husband is trying to illustrate is that in our day, our greatest struggle is discipline. We want to walk with God. Our hearts often yearn for intimacy with our Lord. Yet, we get so busy with our schedules, our work, and our play that we just never get around to it. Our priorities are messed up.

I may not have volunteered for this job, but as I clean up the mess I have made, I realize that the challenge has penetrated my heart once more. There is no valid excuse. I cannot wait until I get around to it. I must form the habit of consistency in my time with God. I must stretch my mind through study of the Word. I must walk intimately in relationship with a loving and personal God.

Tomorrow my husband will hand to each of the members of his class something for which many of them have been searching. Do you need one too?

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