Thoughts on a Wednesday

Up early this morning, relatively speaking; the smell of freshly mown grass drifting through the open windows. The sounds of mowing, trimming, making right again. We’ve had quite a bit of rain these days and the yards were looking a little wild. I’m thankful for “people” who keep my little community neat and pretty. I love having “people” to do these kinds of things and they are totally worth the monthly home owner’s dues. I mean, they even put my paper on my porch if I haven’t already retrieved it from the middle of the yard where the paper deliverer tosses it in the wee hours of the morning. You gotta love people!


Plan for today is to write early in the day while my mind is still fresh. Then off to Dad’s to clean his house, measure his window for curtains that I have been remiss in getting made, and borrow some sand paper. I have been in a creative mood and plan to refurbish an old bulletin board for use in my office. I want to sand down the frame and paint it. Then cover the cork with fabric. It will be my idea board for my writing and projects.

I am also trying to come up with a good, creative idea for birthday gifts for my three friends. They share birthdays and I have once again been invited to join them on their annual birthday celebration. Granted, it’s not as grand as the year they went to New York City (but it will be fun to spend time with them and reconnect. It has been too long. And, adventures with friends can be grand regardless of the scope!) Thankfully, this year their celebration is within my unemployed budget.

Unemployed is such an ugly word, though. I much prefer something like hiatus or sabbatical. Sabbatical just kind of rolls off the tongue in a beautiful sort of way. Sabbatical more accurately describes my life right now anyway. The Oxford American Dictionary describes sabbatical as related to the Sabbath which is, of course, a day of rest. It also refers to the time off granted to professors to study and travel. I think both of those definitions fit this time in my life even though I am not a professor. I consciously chose to leave employment and pursue my writing. I am taking a rest from years of employment, working to pay the rent but forgetting that life is more than just bills. I am taking time to study, travel, renew. Sabbatical is a good word to describe this time in my life.

This morning as I was lying in bed listening to the quiet sounds of the neighborhood waking up I chatted with God. During my conversation He pointed out that I have spent much of my life living in the past or the future. Even during this time I have been focusing on what my life was like the last few years and where I am going now that that part of my life is over. He encouraged me to stop and focus on right now, today, this moment.

There is value in reviewing the past and learning from mistakes. I know there are things in the last two years that I didn’t do well and there are lessons to be taken in. And, I am sure God doesn’t want me to totally ignore the future. I will need to return to money making employment at some point and I should plan for that before I am facing a crisis. Learning and planning are important parts of life.

Lingering in the past or future, though, is not the way we were meant to live this life. In James we are encouraged to focus on today:

13Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; 14whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."

It’s easy to get caught up in what has or will happen and forget to enjoy life right now. Instead, now is the time to live in the moment.

PS - Coming soon - - pictures, stories, and thoughts from my trip to the heartland!! Moonshiners and ghosts involved!