Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Making Time for the Not-So-Urgent Stuff

Ok, it's been awhile since I've written again. I don't know how the people who post all the time do it. Between work, kids, volunteer stuff...I know I'm preaching to the choir of busy people here, but to make myself sit down and write for the sake of sitting down and writing seems pretentious...like there are people checking their in-boxes looking for my deep thought.

Know what I mean?

I've written the last few times about moving out of the emptiness and that's what I've been up to. Listening everyday for God. Experiencing Him where He is at work. Holding my schedule loosely to make room for things that come up at the last minute, or even during an already scheduled minute.

Sometimes in the quest to become more intimate with the Lord, we mistakenly shut out the world. I don't think it's supposed to be like that. So, instead of writing, I've been having coffee with friends and getting to know new ones. I had lunch with a friend with no meeting agenda sitting between us. Weird, huh?

I realized I haven't seen my sister since Thanksgiving, and she lives 30 minutes away. Today we made time for breakfast together, with my mom and one of my daughters. We need to be intentional about making time for the people we care about, because the time will slip away while we are busy being, well, busy.

 I got tired of trying to have deep meaningful conversations between church services or on the playground at pick up time and decided that if God has a plan for me, He will move it forward even if I stop for coffee with a friend in the middle of a planned writing day.

Not that I'm not writing. I am shining up the manuscript for an editor and taking steps into self-publishing in an e-book format. Baby steps.

We will have a big ole' cyber party when I release it and I will probably be begging anyone and everyone to read it and write glowing reviews. I see this book being part one of a three part series, so I'm sure the neurotic outbursts and fears of failure will continue for years to come.

So, how about you? Are you taking your life and your various quests in the Name of Jesus too seriously? Not that what you are up to isn't important, but I know I don't want to get to the finish line with just a completed to-do list to keep me company. I want, no...need community, but I think I was the last one to realize it.

If you are like me and more task-focused than people-focused, it is easy to not interact. Easy, but not particularly healthy. Next thing you know, you have a free morning and no one to grab coffee with because you've made yourself too busy to ask. I'm trying to be intentional about interacting. Less email. Less facebook. More face. More phone. Slow down a bit.

God will keep the world spinning while you chat with your friends for a bit over coffee.

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