Why I’m Giving The Hobonichi Techo A Shot

Finding The Right Tools To Make Life Easier

Recently I made a simple change to my daily routine that will have a significant impact on my day to day life. I decided to give the Hobonichi Techo a try for 2017.

Hobonichi Techo

I know what you are thinking. What is a Hobonichi Techo? It’s a planner. But it’s also so much more than just a planner.

The Hobonichi Techo (pronounced “tetch-oh”) is one of the many variations of a daily calendar created by Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shimbun, or Hobonichi, a Japanese company that has become very influential in their market around the world. I have been eyeing their calendars for the past few years, but have never made the choice to purchase one. Until now.

What makes the Hobonichi Techo stand out is its versatility. It functions as a daybook and planner, but does not have the constraints of the typical planner. For example, it has no time markings, except for noon. You can break the page down into whatever sections you need. It also functions as a journal, if you want to use it for that, a task list, a sketch book, and much more.

It’s also an attractive option because it uses a high quality paper from Tomoe River, which holds an ink better than many other papers, and is even fountain pen friendly. And, since the binding is designed to lay flat when open, it is very easy to write in, making it much more user friendly than many other planners.

And, to top it all off, it’s affordable. I purchased my Techo from Jet Pens, with a pretty decent cover, for just under fifty dollars. That’s a lot cheaper than other planners I considered, even Amazon. That said, you can definitely dress it up with many different aftermarket products.

However, none of these reasons are why I decided to try it out. My purposes are entirely different. And, I hope, more valuable as I consider my life, and my use of time.

Top Posts For November 2016

Reviewing The Month On JeffRandleman.com

As I review this month’s top posts, I’m listening to Christmas music. I have a hard and fast rule that I don’t begin Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. At that point, it is pretty much on all the time until Christmas arrives. And I love every minute of it. The Christmas season is the part of the year I love the most.

Top Posts for November 2016

With the season being so hectic, though, I find that I have less time to spend writing. That’s always the case in December, and I always feel a sense of frustration that I am unable to maintain the schedule I want. On the other hand, I know my time is needed elsewhere. And that is okay.

Here is a brief rundown of some of the things that November and December hold for us. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, our church holds a Thanksgiving service, hosts a community concert, goes Christmas caroling in our community, presents a children’s Christmas program, and a Christmas Eve candlelight service. That’s on top of our normal services and programs. And this year’s Christmas series is called Birth Of A King, where we look at each of the nativity accounts in detail.

As a family, after Thanksgiving Day activities are over, we decorate the house for Christmas, celebrate the season with an Advent Night every week, and enjoy several Christmas parties. It’s a very busy season. And when you add the kids’ school activities and sports on top of it all, it makes for a crazy month. And yet, it remains my favorite time of the year.

Top Posts For October 2016

Reviewing The Month On JeffRandleman.com

I love this time of year. The leaves are turning, the air is cooling down, and it is a beautiful time of the year. The holidays are just around the corner, and there is kind of a lull before that busy season begins. This is perhaps my most favorite part of the year.

Top Posts For October 2016

Usually, this time of year presents an opportunity to slow down a bit, before things get crazy again with the holidays. This year hasn’t really been that way. We have been kind of busy with some family stuff that has kept us pretty crazy. One of our kids had a health scare, and we thought for a while we were facing Crohn’s Disease. After more testing, we have eliminated that as a concern, but haven’t yet identified the problem. It very well may result in some dietary changes.

That is something I have been faced with as well. My diet will be changing drastically in the coming weeks. My doctor recommends that I move to a completely gluten free and dairy free diet. That eliminates almost everything that I enjoy eating, but should result in improved health, for both my daughter and myself.

Those challenges have kept us pretty busy, but I still have managed to set aside the time in order to stay as consistent as possible when it comes to writing. This is an outlet for me. Writing, whether on this site, one of my other sites, or even in my journal, permits me to voice my thoughts, and change or refine them as necessary. I love writing, in whatever form it may take. I have even found myself experimenting with poetry again, which is something I haven’t really done since high school and college. Who knows, some of that may eventually find its way here…

Top Posts For September 2016

Reviewing The Month On JeffRandleman.com

Fall is in the air. The temperatures are dropping, and so are the leaves. And I’m ready for it. I enjoy summer, but autumn is my favorite season, especially when I can see the aspen trees in Colorado turning yellow. And that is where I am right now.

Top Posts for September 2016

With fall comes a bit of a slower season for me. Summer activities are winding down, and we will have a couple of months of lighter activities for a change. Our big activities for church have all happened, and football season is almost over, and so I will have the chance to focus on a few things with a bit more focus.

One such item is my preaching schedule for the coming year. This month will hold a couple of days where I get away and pray over Scripture, seeking God’s leading on where we need to go in the coming months. I already have been laying out some plans and ideas, but will earnestly seek God’s leading and confirmation on those in the coming days.

Another area of focus will be catching up on some reading and writing during October and November. I am headed to Colorado this week for several days, and I have a half dozen books with me in the van. I plan on finding a nice spot to hang the hammock and sit and read for a while. This will also allow my time to focus more on this blog and get back up to speed. That is something I really need to take the time to do, and it will happen this fall.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the coming weeks hold. In the meantime, I’m watching to see what else God may be holding in store for my family and me this year.

Top Posts For August 2016

Reviewing The Month On JeffRandleman.com

Football games. Cooler weather. Turning leaves. School is in session. Pumpkins. And a whole lot more is just around the corner. Fall is just about here, and summer is heading out the door.

Top Posts for August 2016

September will be a busy month around here. Between our family activities and our church activities, there is a lot going on. I hope that I can keep my sanity through it all. In early October, I will be attending Wilderness, a retreat for ministers in the mountains outside of Colorado Springs. This is something I generally try to fit into my schedule each year. I missed it last year, and I regret that. I am really looking forward to the opportunity to stop and take a break for a few days.

Even though I know that should happen on a regular basis, it can be hard to do. The daily life seems to keep us busy all the time, doesn’t it? And, unless something big happens, we don’t usually make the effort to step back and take a break like we need to.

That is one reason I consistently post the top posts from JeffRandleman.com each and every month. It is an opportunity to step back, and see what has happened, and where I need to go from here. I take an even bigger view of things on an annual basis, and run a weekly view as well. Those things help me keep my perspective, at least in this one area of life.

For this month’s top posts, I want to take the same approach that I did last month. Each month, it seems like the same few posts consistently make the list. I am glad that my content is continually making an impact. But those same old lists get pretty boring. So, again for this month, I am listing out the next seven posts, in terms of traffic.

  1. A New Bible Reading Plan – 9 Months Later
  2. How To Gain Insight By Hand-Copying The Bible
  3. Tips For Becoming More Consistent In Your Bible Reading
  4. Trying A New Bible Reading System
  5. Classic Bible: My Favorite Passages From Judges
  6. ICR’s Days Of Praise Daily Devotional
  7. 2016 Bible Reading Plans

I found this to be a very different list than last month’s, and the fact that every single one of them is centered on the topic of Bible reading or devotional reading is very interesting to me.

My personal favorite post from the month of August was from a conversation that I had while in Arizona, on our mission trip in July. It’s called Slow Down And Listen: Wisdom From An Apache Elder. I learned a lesson that I hope to not soon forget.

I am praying that you have a great month! I look forward to seeing what God brings in the weeks to come!

Question: If you are a blogger, leave a comment with your top post for the month. If you don’t blog, leave a comment with a favorite post or blog that you read this month. You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Developing A Consistent Prayer Life

Praying can be hard. We often tend to neglect this important part of our spiritual lives, sometimes without even meaning to do so. But it is a critical aspect of our connection with God, and we need that line of communication like no other.

PrayerMate

I have always struggled with maintaining a consistent prayer time in my daily life. That may sound a bit weird coming from a minister, of all people. Reading the Bible has always been an easy discipline, as has journaling, and many others. But prayer has been harder.

I have tried all of the different methods: a prayer journal, writing my prayers out, making lists. I’ve tried to develop this discipline on my own, and with prayer partners. I have purchased several different “systems,” and developed my own.

Nothing really worked for me.

I’ve studied the concept of having a great prayer life, and the need to have a quiet place with sufficient time and no distractions. I have opened up time in my schedule, my home, and my life. All to little avail.

I get distracted easily. I can be praying, and the next thing I know, I’m imagining myself to be a fighter pilot, or hiking El Capitan, or playing with the bookmark in my Bible.

Frankly, it’s kind of frustrating.

Enter PrayerMate. Goofy name. Great app.

Someone out in the digital world apparently had the same problem I do. Somewhere, I ran across a blogger who had as much frustration about being as consistent in prayer as I do, and they mentioned an app for the mobile phone, and iPhone in my case, that had helped them. I don’t remember who it was, but I am eternally grateful.

I downloaded this app, and it has been the best thing I have ever done for my prayer life. This app is completely customizable, and I can set it up to fit my needs almost perfectly. It creates my prayer lists, as many as I need, and allows me to create specific prayer cards for each item in that list.

For example, I have lists for the following subjects and topics: biblical prayers, wisdom, personal godliness and growth, my wife, each of my kids, my ministry and church, my friends, other ministries and missions, evangelism, our nation, and many more. Some of these lists hold dozens of prayer cards.

I can set the parameters for each list. For example, I have seven different prayer cards in my personal godliness list. PrayerMate cycles through these cards, randomly, until all seven have been prayed for, and then starts over again. This way, I can ask God to grow me in these different areas each week, but not always in the same order.

Another example would be my church family. There are several dozen cards in that list. PrayerMate is scheduled to select three cards each day, until all of them have been covered. And then the list begins again. I am able to pray for my entire church, family by family, and no one gets left out.

The scheduling in PrayerMate is incredible. I can choose to be reminded of as many or as few prayer needs on each list as needed, and build my prayer lists accordingly. And, with the reminder feature, I never forget to pray over these lists. My phone is always with me, and as a result, I can prayer while walking, or driving, and more. It’s been an incredible blessing for me.

And the best thing about this powerful little tool? It’s free, for iPhone and Android. Perfect!

The only drawback to it is that it does take some time to get things set up like I wanted them. I had to add and delete a few things until I figured out where everything fit. And even that ability is pretty simple to accomplish.

I highly recommend that you give this app a shot, especially if you struggle with a consistent prayer life. PrayerMate is a great tool that can help your prayer life become much more disciplined than it has ever been before.

You need to try this for yourself.

Question: What do you do to help build your prayer life into a solid spiritual discipline? You can leave a comment by clicking here.

Top Posts For July 2016

Reviewing The Month On JeffRandleman.com

It seems like it was just a few days ago that my kids were out of school and looking forward to summer vacation. And now, teachers are back, my daughter is taking a test as I write this to determine her placement in public school from home school, and my boys are spending time with their cousins at Grandma’s house for one last summer fling.

Top Posts for July 2016

August has arrived. The fall is just around the corner. Summer has been full of mission trips, camps, vacations, excursions and more. We spent time at the pool, in the yard, on the porch, with family and friends, and enjoyed every minute of it.

I was challenged by an elderly Apache by the name of John Longfeather to slow down and listen, or I might miss something. I was encouraged by a bunch of knife collectors who rallied around me and raised some funds to help pay for my cancer surgery. I rediscovered hope in the midst of hopelessness at a place called Suicide Canyon. I sat in the waiting room while one of my kids underwent an MRI on her head. Our home was invaded for several weeks by family and friends. A lot has impacted me this summer, and impacted my family. I hope I paid attention close enough to learn something. I hope I slowed down enough to listen.

This week, I am preparing a message for Sunday on John 4, where Jesus interacts with the woman at the well. He tells Nicodemus, in chapter three, to be born again. He tells this woman to taste the living water. In both cases, he meets people where they are and gives them what they need.

This summer, God has met me where I am. He has met me in my busyness. He has met me in my stress and worry. He has met me in my frustrations. And he has spoken to me, giving me what I need. I pray that I can hold onto it, and let it permeate into my life.