Eyes 2 Jesus

Planner University - Getting Started

This is a free series of articles, with the aim of teaching/helping ladies put together life management planners. Putting together one of these planners is low cost. In fact, you may have quite a few things you need for this planner, already. This planner will include a full Home Management Binder, as well as planning calendars for your appointments and day to day stuff, and whatever else you need. This is therefore a Life Management Planner, since it will be personally designed by you, for you, to help you manage your life.

This series of articles will provide ideas, suggestions, and guidance for creating the perfect planner. Let's get started.

Like I said above, it's possible that you may already have a lot of the things you'll need, to get started. However, there is one thing that many reading this don't have, and it doesn't cost much money, and it is literally the physical backbone to this Life Management Planner, and that is planner discs.

You see, this planner will be a discbound planner. This means it can be used just like a spiral bound planner, in which you can completely fold it over. A discbound planner can also be used like a binder planner, because you can remove and add all pages, including the covers. There are several companies that sell discs for discbound planners and notebooks. You can do a quick search online, and find places to order online, or you can go to a Staples for the discs. Some Wal-Marts carry discs, as well. Below is a picture of some plastic, black, 2 inch diameter discs from Levenger, and some gold, aluminum, 1.5 inch discs from Staples Arc:

My planner currently has the gold 1.5 inch discs. I personally prefer aluminum discs over plastic. Pages turn smoother on the aluminum ones, but they are more expensive. Through this series, you'll see pictures of a few different planners I put together, one with the black discs, for the sake of pictures and further instruction in this series. This is why in some of the future pictures, you'll sometimes see the gold discs, and sometimes the black ones, etc.

It Doesn't Have to be Discbound

In order to make a Life Management Planner, you can still follow along in this series, and not make your planner discbound. I suggest discbound, because you get the positives of both a spiral bound notebook, and also of a binder. However, I understand that some people just don't like discbound. Or, you may be like me: Sometimes I'm in my discbound, but at other times, I prefer to be in a nice, leather binder. That's okay! :-) You can get a good binder from eBay, the thrift store, Amazon, or where ever you want, if you prefer to make your Life Management Planner in a binder, instead of with discs. Here is a great starter binder, with inserts:

Faux Leather Daytimer Malibu Planner

If you are new to planning, and/or you don't have much of a budget for planning, you may want to start with discs, as this can be the cheaper option. Sometimes a set of discs can be gotten for just a few bucks, and often easily under five dollars. From there, you can do the rest, with stuff you have laying around the house, if you'd like.

Regardless if you will join me in this series with a discbound system, or a binder, I hope you find this Planner University series helpful, inspirational, and fun.

Your Planner's Front and Back Covers

Leather, faux leather, and poly covers can be purchased for these discs at Staples, and some Wal-Marts, or at various places online. However, I suggest you make your own covers. If you have a laminator, it will come in handy for this. If not, you can make your covers, then take them to a Staples, and pay them a small fee to laminate the front and back covers for you.

Making covers is very simple. First determine the size of planner you want. The main planners displayed in this series, are the ones that take half sheets of U.S. paper. These take 8 discs. However, you can also do full size, which takes regular sized paper, or go even smaller than half sheet. Many people like their planners bigger than a half sheet, but smaller than a full sheet. In this case, the Classic sized Happy Planner (takes 9 discs) may be a good idea. You can make your own Happy Planner covers, or purchase some. Below is a picture of a Classic sized Happy Planner, with snap on Happy Planner covers, and 1.5 inch Staples aluminum, gold discs:

If you would like to get a Happy Planner, you can often get them from Staples, and many craft stores, such as Hobby Lobby, Michael's, and Joann's. You can also order them online. You can get really good deals on them at Amazon.

Meanwhile, we'll move on to making homemade covers. The following instructions are for junior sized discbound planners, which is a half sized sheet of paper, but you can do this for any size discbound planner

Supplies You'll Need:

- Some official filler paper or dividers for a junior size discbound planner to use as a template, to make sure you make the right size, and get the punched holes in the right places. You can get filler paper (which you will be using later in your planner anyways) at Staples, and some Wal-Marts, or online at various places that you can find with a Google search.

- Some pretty paper or picture you make/print, or some scrapbook paper to make your covers out of. I like to use MAMBI (Me and My Big Ideas) card stock scrap book paper. I've seen some ladies skip laminating all together, and just make their covers out of some thick and pretty file folders they got from dollar stores, or from Target for a few bucks.

- Scissors

- A laminator, or get the covers laminated at Staples, (or use a thick file folder, or similar, if you don't want to laminate).

- Optional corner rounder (suggested)

- A discbound punch, or a sturdy regular hole punch - either one will work. I have a small Arc punch, and a Happy Planner punch that I use, but I also have a Crop-a-Dile regular one-hole punch that I like to use, as well. You don't have to go out and buy a discbound punch if you don't want to. A regular hole punch for binders will work, as well.

Don't get overwhelmed, because making the covers is actually easy:

1) Use the paper that you have chosen, and design how you want your covers to look. I just cut out my covers from some scrapbook paper, and kept it nice and simple.

2) Cut your papers for the front and back covers to fit your half-page sized planner. Use some discbound filler paper, or divider, or similar, to make sure you make your covers the right size. They should be about a quarter inch taller on the top, and on the bottom than the filler paper, and about a half inch to an inch wider than the filler paper, to allow for divider tabs and one or two pens to be added later, etc.

3) Use an optional (but recommended) corner rounder, and round all four corners, or carefully use scissors to round the corners.

4) Laminate your covers, and then trim off the excess laminate, and round the corners again.

5) Use a discbound punch to punch the covers, or a sturdy one hole binder punch. If using a binder punch, use some discbound filler paper or such as a guide, to mark your covers, where the holes should go. Then, punch the holes. After that, use scissors to snip little channels from the edge to the hole, so that the covers can slip onto the discs, and you are done:

Put the discs onto the covers:

Congratulations. The hardest part of making the planner is over, and making the covers wasn't even that hard, was it? I have dozens of covers for my planner, because I enjoy having the option of changing the covers whenever I want, and the covers do tend to get changed often.

NOTE: To simplify things, you could spend a little more money, and just purchase an Arc notebook from a Staples store. This Arc notebook will come with covers, discs, and some filler paper. The discs will probably be really small, so if you go this route, buy some bigger discs, as well. If you are willing to spend the money, I seriously recommend the gold or silver Arc aluminum discs, 1.5 inch diameter.

In the next article in this Planner University series, we will begin to fill the planner, between the covers. This Planner University series is meant to be quite in depth, and is intended to not only teach you how to put together what I hope to be the most amazing planner of your life, but also to help and motivate you in being a good keeper of your home, and a good manager of your life. Therefore, homemaking skills will be often touched upon, especially in putting together the home management sections of your Life Management Binder.

I intend for an article in this series to go up each day, five (week)days a week, until the whole Planner University series is up. This is an ambitious goal, but one I am trying for. I hope this will really bless and help many of my sisters in Christ, as this is my intent.

Build Your Foundation on the Rock of Salvation

The terms "Christian" and "personal relationship with Jesus Christ" have been thrown around so much, that for many people, they have lost their original savor. What is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Is it going to church? Is it being a "good person?" Is it via doing certain rituals, or following certain traditions? No, it is so much simpler than that.

"Look! I’m standing at the door and knocking. If any hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to be with them, and will have dinner with them, and they will have dinner with me." -Revelation 3:20 CEB

Let Jesus into your heart and life. Put your faith and trust in Him, and in Him alone.

Why did Jesus Christ come to this earth? He came to pay for our sins. Have you ever broken any of the Ten Commandments? Did you know that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount that just looking at someone with lust in your heart is the same thing as committing adultery in your heart?

Many people will say I'm a good person. Sure, I've stolen a few paper clips in my time, and I've told some lies, but I've never killed anyone, so I'm good enough for heaven. Don't be so sure. Have you ever felt hatred toward someone? If so, then you are guilty of committing murder in your heart:

"Everyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that murderers don’t have eternal life residing in them." -1 John 3:15 CEB

If you have stolen, lied, lusted after someone, hated someone, loved someone or something more than God, etc., then you have broken at least 5 of the Ten Commandments. Do you really think you'd make it to heaven? Not according to God's Word:

"Don’t you know that people who are unjust won’t inherit God’s kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Those who are sexually immoral, those who worship false gods, adulterers, both participants in same-sex intercourse, thieves, the greedy, drunks, abusive people, and swindlers won’t inherit God’s kingdom." -1 Corinthians 6:9-10 CEB

"That is what some of you used to be! But you were washed clean, you were made holy to God, and you were made right with God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." -1 Corinthians 6:11 CEB

Even Mary, the woman chosen by God to be a vessel that would carry Jesus in her womb, was a sinner, and in need of a Savior:

"In the depths of who I am I rejoice in God my savior." - Mary said this in Luke 1:47 (CEB). Only sinners need a Savior, and Mary also accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior.

"This is the message that we have heard from him and announce to you: “God is light and there is no darkness in him at all.” If we claim, “We have fellowship with him,” and live in the darkness, we are lying and do not act truthfully. But if we live in the light in the same way as he is in the light, we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we claim, “We don’t have any sin,” we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." -1 John 1:5-8 CEB

The blood of Jesus Christ is what cleanses us from all sins. Jesus came to this earth to die to pay for our sins. You see, Leviticus tells us that 'the life is in the blood,' and that it takes spilt blood to atone for sin.

When we choose to truly believe in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, and to live our lives for Christ, then Christ's spilt blood cleanses us from our sins:

"Come now, and let’s settle this, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be white as snow. If they are red as crimson, they will become like wool." -Isaiah 1:18 CEB

"God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life. God didn’t send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him isn’t judged; whoever doesn’t believe in him is already judged, because they don’t believe in the name of God’s only Son." - Jesus said this, in John 3:16-18 (CEB)

"Because if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord” and in your heart you have faith that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Trusting with the heart leads to righteousness, and confessing with the mouth leads to salvation. The scripture says, All who have faith in him won’t be put to shame." -Romans 10:9-11 CEB

"There is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, the human Christ Jesus" -1 Timothy 2:5 CEB

"Also, let’s hold on to the confession since we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, who is Jesus, God’s Son; because we don’t have a high priest who can’t sympathize with our weaknesses but instead one who was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin." -Hebrews 4:14-15 CEB

"Jesus replied, “Why do you break the command of God by keeping the rules handed down to you?" -Matthew 15:3 CEB

"Without question, the mystery of godliness is great: he was revealed as a human, declared righteous by the Spirit, seen by angels, preached throughout the nations, believed in around the world, and taken up in glory." -1 Timothy 3:16 CEB

If Jesus isn't the Lord of your life, then I hope that you will let Him into your heart and life this very moment.

"But God shows his love for us, because while we were still sinners Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8 CEB

Jesus is the way. If you would like to receive Jesus into your heart and life, then let Him know. Pray to the Lord, telling Him that you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and that you believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay the death penalty for your sins. Tell this to God in your own words, from your heart.

"The wages that sin pays are death, but God’s gift is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 6:23 CEB

"You too heard the word of truth in Christ, which is the good news of your salvation. You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit because you believed in Christ." -Ephesians 1:13 CEB

When you believe on Jesus Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit. You are sealed as a child of God.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart and life as your Lord and Savior, and you believe that Jesus died on the cross in your place, to pay the death penalty for your sins, and that Christ rose from the dead three days later, and you are ready to let Him lead your life, and you will live for Him, then you are saved, and born again.

You are now a saved Child of God, with the Holy Spirit living within you. Dedicate your life to the Lord, and live for Him. Please get a Bible (I suggest the Common English Bible - CEB) and turn to the Gospel of John. That is the fourth book in the New Testament. If you don't have a Bible, then you can read it for free, online - here.

After you've read the Gospel of John, go on to read Acts, and then Romans. These three books will bring you through the Gospel, the early church, and basic Christian doctrine. After you've read these three, then turn to the beginning of the New Testament, and read it all the way through. After that, read both the Old and New Testaments.

You should also follow the Lord and get baptized in water. A Believer's Baptism doesn't save you. Only faith in Christ saves you. A Believer's Baptism is an outward showing of your salvation. It symbolizes you being born again. When you are lowered under the water, it shows you dying to your old self, and when you are raised up out of the water, it symbolizes you being born again, as a new creature in Christ. This is called a Believer's Baptism, because, according to the Bible, a person is supposed to get baptized after they have believed on Christ. Anyone who was "baptized" before having faith in Christ just got wet - nothing more. You don't need to find a church to get baptized in. Any born again Christian can baptize you in any acceptable body of water - even a public swimming pool.

Find a good, local church congregation to attend. Search in your area for a Nazarene church, Foursquare church, or non-denominational Full-Gospel church.

Immerse yourself in the Bible. The Bible is God's love letter to you. It is also your Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.