After relocating a household, once the major move in accomplished and the new place is livable, there are myriad small tasks that need to be done to make the new house into a home.

We’ve been in our townhouse for a couple of weeks now and feel more at home every day, but wherever I look I see jobs still to be done, belongings to organize, pictures to hang, etc.

I find myself starting to do one task, only to be distracted in the process by stumbling upon something else I need to do.

As a fairly organized person, I find this lack of order stressful. Today I realized that I need a plan of action, an agenda, if I am to tackle the work still to be done without too much anxiety.

Personal agendas have gotten a bad rap these days and you often hear folks complaining about other people’s “hidden agenda,” inferring that they fear they are being manipulated, but an agenda is an important tool, both personally and within an organization.

• In order to be most useful an agenda should have a specific goal. In my situation the goal is to get completely unpacked and have all my things in the most convenient and pleasing arrangement possible.
• It should have a time limit. I want to be really settled by the end of next month. That allows me to work at a reasonable pace, but not to procrastinate. In a meeting of a group the agenda needs both a limit for the meeting and for accomplishing the ultimate goal.
• It should be reasonable. If my agenda were to add an indoor swimming pool, that would only cause me stress and discouragement because it is unattainable. Committees or ministry groups should not put such grand goals as “World Peace” on the agenda. That may be in their vision statement, but it doesn’t belong on an agenda.
• It should be concise. If I put every step of each task on my agenda (open all containers in garage; empty containers; sort contents, etc.) I would be overwhelmed and confused, just as without an agenda, but if I list the main task, such as “hang wall art” I can focus on that job until it is finished.  Bloated agendas usually include too many items that should be referred to subcommittees.
• It should be flexible. Sometimes circumstances change, in life as well as in meetings. I need to give myself permission to “table” a planned task when something more important (or even more fun) comes up. A ministry is not a bureaucracy. Allow wiggle room for common sense and spontaneity.

These same guidelines work in your faith walk.

The following is my personal Faith Walk Agenda:

1. My specific goal is to please God.
2. Every day
3. When I fail, I pray for forgiveness and accept God’s mercy and grace.
4. Micah 6:8
5. Sometimes God has plans that differ from mine. Trust him.