Monday, September 14, 2020

Planning For Sustainable Dreams

 

The summer break is over. I only know this because I asked the teenager next door when she started back to school. The middle school around the block is silent. There is nothing indicating school is in session. I usually hear announcements, the Pledge of Allegiance, and loud music throughout the day. I’m not sure what the music has to do with education but in our neighborhood it is a sign school has begun. It’s been a long time since I’ve had school-aged children in my home but still the rhythm of my life wraps itself around the first day of school. This is a signal I am in transition; it’s a new season.

September is for me what January is for others. The beginning of the school year I reorder my life; it is a summons to take a hard left on this journey. When school supplies are advertised in the grocery ads, I am invited to begin again. This year I am a bit behind and am thrown off kilter for a couple of months. I have been on an unplanned hiatus from writing and posting on my blog. Writing has been difficult throughout the whole COVID-19 season. So many changes and not enough time to recover equilibrium. I am a slow processor. Change requires recalculation. Lots of changes requires lots of recalculating. All of us have been doing a good bit of recalculating. For a slow processor, as you can imagine, I can get stuck like a scratched record during lots of change and need a little bump to move from skipping in my head to humming a song.

It’s been a slow start. I write and scrap it, then I write some more. I have struggled to complete more than a few coherent paragraphs. I have doubted myself, my purpose and the value of writing a blog. It comes down to this: I enjoy writing, I feel a call to write, and for the those who are uplifted or encouraged by words I have strung together, it is worth it. It helps to talk with other creatives who have limped along through such a season with little to show for it.

I haven’t given enough value to the process. Just like Sabbath rest. This will make sense in a few sentences so please hang in there with me. For years I have studied and practiced Sabbath rest. But recently I read Dan Allender’s book, Sabbath: The Ancient Practices, and was smacked with the reality that I haven’t planned for the Sabbath. Not really. I haven’t planned for a time of celebration and delight in His presence. I just stop working, so I have missed a lot of the real meaning of Sabbathing. It has become the same way with writing. I work at writing, I learn what other authors do to keep going, but I haven’t really planned for writing long term. It is planning for sustainability.

But I’m gently transitioning to another season with Autumn Spice (dōTERRA essential oil) wafting from the diffuser in the kitchen. I listen to music that reminds me Autumn trips to southern Missouri. It’s an invitation to move into the next season with a map – a well prayed over and thought out plan for

writing. It makes me nervous; with a plan comes greater commitment. I am in! How about you? What is it that you want more of but you’ve not made space for it? What dreams would you like to make come true but you haven’t planned for them. It requires discipline and the ability to know how and when to say “no” so you can say “yes” to the one

thing you long to invest in. Join me; let’s move forward with renewed commitment and a plan well prayed over about how to best to use our gifts and follow our dreams.

 

2 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing Julie. What you write is meaningful, and I, for one, enjoy hearing your heart. It causes me to reflect, and think about what I am called to do as well.

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  2. I am glad to hear that. Thanks for the nudge needed to keep writing.

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