More than 2 months since I've put thoughts to paper. Virtual paper, I guess. Have I been way too busy, or am I a little less compulsive? Maybe both.
An unexpected by-product of my attempts to simplify has surprised me. I think I may be learning how to be a friend. I wouldn't admit it, but I am guilty of being a "surface" friend. I justify this by saying my personalty type doesn't really need many friends, so I don't bother much with it.
This revelation has evolved because I am trying to really BE in the moment I find myself. I have quit reading most fiction because I found for me it was a way to put off doing more important things. Now, since I'm not always finishing up a book, I'm learning to engage in different ways. One way is that I don't take along a book to read when Stan & I are going somewhere. I am actually trying a little harder at conversation. More than just, "I'm hungry, how about you" or "Want me to drive for a while?" I'm not saying we have deep thought-provoking conversations every time we hop in the pick-up, but at least I don't immediately stick my nose in a book.
Where before I used up bits of time in a novel, now I look for other options. This has taken the form of notes in the mail, phone conversations, and the like.
Last week, I went to camp with our WATW students, and I decided to try something different. Actually, the Lord prompted me to do it differently, because my first thought was to use pool time and free time for a good book--I did deserve a break, after all! But He took me to a verse in Galatians (5:9) "A little yeast spreads through the whole batch of dough,"---and offered me a challenge. I know it's out of context, but this verse prompted me to be a little "yeast" of encouragement and investing in others, rather than doing my own thing.
I used this challenge to speak more encouragement into staff and students, to play some card games, to help in the kitchen, even introduce the sport of kayaking to a few people! The result? I know 13 people a little more than I did before. Does that please the Lord? I think maybe more than if I had just read a book--even a good book!
Change is hard for me, especially in the area of "my" time, but I think I'm growing. Even though it's sometimes uncomfortable, I like the feeling. A pastor I admire once said that if we want to be actively engaged in Kingdom work, we need to get comfortable being uncomfortable. I'm workin' on it!
Lest you think I've given up books all together, today I found a used bookstore in Cleveland I'd not known about. Spent a great hour or so there, with plans to go back. And yes, I did enlarge my library by a few volumes.
