Time. It's like gold. It's one of those things I hold onto dearly...I need it...and it's precious. This would explain why quality time is my love language. It's the most valuable thing I can give someone (from my perspective), and it's what I long to get as well~
Many of you know Josh took off an ENTIRE ten days at the beginning of June to let me finish my book,
Bubbling Within. I had been counting on this "time" set aside for simply months now. I had so much to do before my latest deadline, which is actually a lifeline: my precious daughter making her debut in a few weeks! I wanted to finish this project, but of equal importance was to have the time to finish it
completely and
well. The Lord kept speaking Luke 1:45 over me: "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" And I was faced day after day with a faith challenge. Did I really believe God could do this? Complete this project with His excellence before the baby came? He brought before me the picture of Gideon, the mighty warrior whose army was stripped down to a mere 300 men when faced to fight the Midianite army of thousands. This was to show it was God's victory and not Israel's. But God knew I wouldn't have missed army men. He had to take away something else. He told me my stripping would be the taking away of what I put my faith in--- what I held onto with gripped hands-- my "set aside time."
He warned my heart of this before my time was lessened in three different shifts:
1). Diagnosis- I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I told myself I did not have time to monitor my blood sugars, exercise more, and measure my food! My first and second-hand "army" diminished before my eyes, but God's sustaining power remained unshakable.
2). Josh's Work Load- Just days before Josh took off work for the big "writing week," unforeseen projects piled up in his inbox. He knew how important this week was to me, so he gave me full notice, "I may not be able to take off the entire week." I understood. And this did not come so much as a surprise to me. This was exactly the pruning to parallel with what God was trying to teach me. Of course, I prayed for God to give me the time, but I was not distraught by this news.
3). Last but definitely not least: The Pregnancy Exhaustion- Where was the exhilarated, coffee-house collegiate studier who could knock out projects in the middle of the night? The one curled up in flannel pajamas, deaf coffee and fake rimmed glasses just to pretend the part of "Oh, I just took a shower, took out my contacts and now I'm snuggling down to work?" I'll tell you where she went. She's curled up in her Snoogle every chance she gets! But she wouldn't trade this season for anything. Keeping up with a tot and growing one are life's finest delicacies right now. I consider these two my "luxury items." They say sleep is overrated anyways, right? And yet, this was another stripping of the norm. Even though I had nap times during the day to give me work time, it was not enough. I was simply too tired to work during H's entire nap. I had to balance-- half work and half rest.
Once again, God defeated the Midianites--this time using my feeble minute-hand. Josh's work slowed down enough, and he was able to take off the whole week. I had more energy during those writing days than normal. Truly, this was God-given. I worked and worked with all of His energy within me. He also guided me on when to stop. I took a break after the work week and picked it back up at a later date. This was to help the full vision of the project. It wasn't supposed to be done. It was supposed to be done well, and that took a little more time. During this writing boot camp, Josh said to me several times, "Use your words." He noted I was "talking" to him by verbalizing a half sentence followed by pointing at something. Most of the time, he couldn't tell what I meant by my point. I didn't even realize I was doing this. I had simply used all of my words. I know most guys (most of the time Josh included) would be happy for a female to use up a few words before coming home, but this went a little too far. The diabetes still took time but became a little more manageable and not as time consuming as originally thought. In fact, the extra exercise and healthy eating was part of God's fuel within me for this task.
As unexpected as these three "time strippers" were, I was also met with unexpected blessings. My mom came into town a few times recently to help play with Hunter. Josh's mom visited for an entire week in June and let me take off to my writing cave as often as I needed. These two women kept my energy up as well as let me space out my work time. If you are reading this, I probably have you to thank as well. Many of you were praying for me during this time--what a tremendous, indescribably help your words were!
I'm happy to say, I met my deadline with 5 weeks to spare.
I must remember those words of Luke 1:45 and believe God's vision ahead of time. If I do this, my focus on any given project is on
God, secondary to the thought of
time.
God's vision ahead of time.
Tell me...what "Gideon Gig" has God sent you on lately? Please leave a comment to discuss!
