Tuesday, February 26, 2013

A Different Kind of Margin

I have not been in a “bloggy” mood lately, which is weird for me. I love this blog. I love opening up my laptop and watching my scrambled thoughts morph into something that makes sense. At least to me.

Most of the time, I have three or four blog posts ready to go, but for the past couple of months, I’ve felt dry. Uninspired.

Empty.

Which is why I decided to take an unscheduled blog break.

For two weeks, I haven’t attempted to blog at all. I’ve journaled some during my quiet time (with a pen if you can imagine it!), and I’ve spent several hours on my fiction work-in-progress (the opening scene is my absolute favorite thing I’ve ever written, which probably means I’ll have to delete it, but for the moment, I’m quite pleased), but I’ve avoided anything that could look like a blog post.

I’ve been busy living my life instead.

  • I’ve planned and more or less succeeded in pulling off a double birthday party for my ten-year-old daughter and two-year old son.
  • I’ve taken my children for a long overdue trip to the Children’s Museum (we now have annual passes—that place is awesome)!
  • I’ve done a lot of normal things like laundry and meal planning.
  • I've played all sorts of random games with my kids. 
  • I’ve enjoyed an oh-so-peaceful afternoon sitting in our “library” with my husband while snow fell in fancy flakes and piled up on the ground until we couldn’t stand it anymore and he retrieved all three kids from grandma’s house so we could build a snowman together.
  • I’ve started training for a 5K (that’s going to be interesting).
  • I’ve gotten a new haircut. I love it and have almost figured out how to fix it on my own.
  • I’ve been reading Leviticus, which everyone agrees can be a bit of a slog-fest, and have been stunned to discover how much great stuff is in there. Sure, there’s a fair amount of repetition with regards to long lobes of the liver and fat and entrails. And there’s no question that it’s a bloody book. Despite that, over and over again I find myself in awe, because unless we get just how onerous the Law was, how can we ever hope to appreciate the beauty and generosity of Grace?

After a few weeks of giving myself the margin to do a lot of ordinary things and a few things out of the ordinary, my heart is full and my thoughts are scrambled. I’m itching to start making sense of them again. I hope you’ll join me in the weeks ahead.

Grace and peace,
Lynn

5 comments:

Cathy Baker said...

Lynn, I needed this post. Badly. I've struggled with blog content in recent weeks. I applaud your decision to give yourself a mini-break. I may need to do the same.

Thanks for being transparent. Can't wait to see the new doo!

Kay said...

Isn't it amazing how taking away the self-imposed pressure to keep doing what we've been doing opens us up to His refueling in every way?!

Great post, Lynn!

Lynn Huggins Blackburn said...

Hi Cathy! I'm such a rule follower, but is God is really working on me about listening to Him and following His leading as opposed to human rules. I'm a slow learner :-).
Hi Kay - You are right. So much of our pressure is self-imposed. And when I listen to Him, He refuels! (I love that word - refueled!)

Kay Overman said...

You look a lot like your mom in the picture. The kids are really growing up. I love reading your writing, whenever you post. Keep up the great work.

Lynn Huggins Blackburn said...

Thanks Kay!