Here it is, the start of 2016, and I am setting a goal of blogging regularly. While once a year is regular to renew a vehicle license, pay taxes, or get a physical, that won't cut it for blogging. Just how much should I blog? Some people would say daily. Ridiculous, I respond. In my opinion, if you're blogging daily (a quality length, not a 100-word query) it is your only job AND you're getting paid for it, at least enough to pay the rent and buy some essentials.
Blogging once a month would fit into my schedule nicely. I could tuck that into a slot alongside raising an almost 15-year-old; buying groceries and cooking for the family; cleaning house; taking care of the pets; managing the finances; being active in a writer's critique group, where I submit a manuscript once a month and review five others; and leading women's ministry at my church, a part-time, mostly volunteer position. But, if I chose that route, I might as well stick to my annual post if that's all I'm willing to crank out. Who wants to follow a blog that's written only once a month (let alone once a year)?
That leaves an option of a few days a week or weekly. I've decided to post weekly and see where blogging takes me from there.
This blogging goal will be a great way to help me teach my son how to set his own goals. After two weeks of Christmas break and a whole bunch of "to-dos" that didn't get done, I told him that we were going to sit down this week (Tomorrow, how's that for goal setting? Okay, I see where the word "tomorrow" could lead. Thursday. Thursday is when we're goal setting.) to outline how he is going to accomplish goals that he has established for himself. School isn't even part of the plan. (Unless, when his first semester grades come in on Friday, I see he's bombed his finals. And then studying for tests will be one of his goals.) There are other important goals he has for himself that always seem out there on the horizon, fuzzy like a mirage. Objectives, such as completing his last merit badge and project to become an Eagle Scout; taking driver's education; planning activities for his Boy Scout patrol; training for lacrosse season, etc.
Tuesday at my church staff meeting, the assistant pastor asked us to give a title or phrase to what 2015 was like for us individually. I used "Plate Spinning," which he teased wasn't as holy sounding as someone else's "Transitional Transformation." Whatever. My summation was accurate, because last year, I felt like a busker trying her hardest to keep plates spinning smoothly on tall poles without any crashing to the ground. I mostly succeeded. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one plate in particular wobbling precariously, but before it fell, I used my cat-like reflexes to catch it, so that it sustained only the slightest chip when brushing the ground. It's still usable and I may pull it out again if I feel God's urging.
In a year's time, when Pastor Dave asks, I'd like to project that 2016 was the year of Organization. Wait. Check that. I'm gonna call it "Anointed Organization." How's that for holy?
Yet anointed organization is what I'm truly seeking. I don't want to visual, plan and work toward goals that God has not consecrated. I have been praying this prayer:
"Dear Lord,
SHOUT to me. REVEAL your path to me with light and clarity. Help me to see what I should pursue and what I should turn from.
Amen."
My go-to verse, one that I've actually memorized (well at least an amalgamation of a couple translations) is: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." Prov. 3:5-6
I'm confident that if I ask, God will lead me where He's set His sights for me. And I believe blogging is one of those goals He'd like me to work on in 2016. I'm eager for the journey, because it's being led by my Father. And if I let Him lead, follow outlines, identify small- and mid-term goals, and--here's the crux--truly submit to Him, then I won't experience any herky-jerky plate-spinning wobbles with crashes at the end.
