Last week I shared how sick and tired I was about feeling so stinkin’ behind. My parents were DoAhead people and they fared darn well. They inspired me.

Butt (that was on purpose) before I latched on to their way of life I wanted to study their way of life. I wanted to see what others had to say about this this business of catching up, keeping up and getting ahead of the behind. I looked online for information about being uber organized but often I ended up feeling worse instead of better. The “tricks” would work for awhile but than I’d fall off the wagon.

Lord, there’s got to be a better way.

I started to pray about it. As I read my bible I would ask God to help me be as “on top of it” as possible. Turns out God is a fairly organized chap. It was downright thrilling to uncover all He had to say on the matter. At the end of the day I discovered Five DoAhead Principles. I hope they bless you as much as they have me. Today I’ll share the first.

Doing Ahead Requires Vision

It’s been said that when a baby boy is in the womb their tiny brains experience a physiological phenomenon best described as a testosterone wash. The result (in layman’s terms) is that their brain’s two hemispheres don’t “talk” to each other as well as the brains of little girls.

Doc and I take comfort in the fact that there is scientific evidence for the brain damage our sons displayed during their younger years. It is the only explanation for why they occasionally behaved as if they had buckets on their heads. It makes perfect sense. A bucket on the head forces one’s eyes to be cast down thereby causing the parties in questions to lack sight beyond the tips of their toes.

If you and I aren’t careful, we too can suffer from “bucket over the head” syndrome. When we live our day’s completely focused on the present there’s a much greater risk to being blindsided by obstacles that present themselves in the future. Fortunately, it only takes a finite forward glance to experience the merits of Doing Ahead. We’re going to call that glance “vision”. The apostle Paul has great advice on the matter,

“Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ—that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective.” Colossians 3:2

You may be thinking, “Really? Jesus is standing on top of my piles of laundry, garbage and bills asking me to ‘see it from His perspective?” The honest answer is yes.

Jesus Christ is passionate about our perspective.

“I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” John 10:10 MSG

“My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” John 10:10 NLT

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10 ESV

These three renderings of the verse from John share the Greek word “perissos.” It’s the root word for abundant and it means over and above, something more, something further. The word smacks of seeing beyond what’s right in front of us.

That my friends is the definition of vision.

The extravagantly good news is that, according to Paul, access to this type of insight isn’t complicated or inaccessible. He says,

“You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything. ” Colossians 3:2-4

Does that resonate for you…’the emptiness of the universe without Him’? When I’m not in the DoAhead zone my universe feels far from full. I become overwhelmed. Virtually every molecule of happy is sucked from my being.

What’s embarrassing to admit is that I can land in this pit for some pretty lame reasons. It’s one thing to hit a low when life has dealt a blow. But what unhinges me is that I can let my behind vacuum up my joy during good seasons of life.

What’s up with that?!

I’m married to an incredible man who’s lived life as a bold adventurer. I’ve carried our figurative backpacks while he’s blazed trails in his field. On the home front, seven years of infertility came to an end when we were blessed with three children in three years. A glorious gift. But blazing trails under a deluge of diapers found me near despair on more than one occasion!

Girlfriends, I desperately need perissos, vision for something beyond. It doesn’t matter if my week is defined by duties rooted in blessings or dealings rooted in hardship.

When I lack perissos I become overwhelmed.

And. It. Isn’t. Pretty.

Doing Ahead whether it’s during prosperity or adversity is only possible when I believe the truth that Jesus Christ came to offer me more. When I grab hold of the truth in John 10:10 I’ve taken the first step to becoming a true DoAhead Woman.

As you think about the verse from John 10:10 how do you think Christ would personalize that word for you? In other words——–

What would His invitation to an abundant life look like for you?

Let’s stay connected this weekend through FaceBook and Instagram. I hope you’ll also stop over to my friend Suzanne Eller’s neck of the woods. She and the #livefree girls are sharing some beautiful thoughts on thankfulness.

Come back Monday for (yes…you guessed it) another corn recipe. And then the next time we have a longer chat I’ll share more about the second biblical principle that helps us DoAhead!

Your DoAhead Friend,