Can you tell I’m a little late on today’s blog post? Typically I schedule these posts the night before so they’re ready to read in the morning, but last night I just didn’t do it. In moments like these, it’s nice to have blog posts on hand that I can just upload without having to carve out the time during the day to catch up.
To be honest, I love to write ahead. I’ll take a day or an evening and build up a nice little stockpile of blog posts. When I have that collection of posts ready to go, I have something to fall back on when I’m out of fresh ideas or time to sit down and write one of my fresh ideas.
The problem with stockpiles is that we can so easily become dependent upon them.
Think about your pantry. Have you ever noticed how easy it is to run out of that one thing you never run out of? Early in our marriage, Doug and I moved to Georgia so he could serve as youth minister at a church there. A couple of weeks after our arrival, the church had a pounding for us, as tends to be the custom of Baptist churches. The back of Doug’s little Ford Ranger was filled to overflowing with groceries of all kinds! After we got home and got it all unloaded, we began taking inventory of all we had received. The one thing that stacked higher than everything else was spaghetti noodles. We had an incredible supply of spaghetti! In fact, we did not have to buy spaghetti noodles for over two years!
During those two years, we would regularly joke about needing to put spaghetti on the grocery list. But, we never bothered to check the supply because we always knew we had some. Even so, the day did finally come when we ran out of spaghetti. And that day almost took us off guard.
We weren’t used to checking our supply – it was always there.
We weren’t used to shopping for it – we didn’t have the need.
We were very used to cooking with it – we had plenty.
The seemingly infinite supply of spaghetti made us lazy. The depletion of the spaghetti noodles snapped us back to the need to check on our supply and buy it so we could continue cooking with it regularly.
Now that’s a very light and fluffy example. But, it can be applied to the deepest areas of our lives as well. Plenty is a wonderful thing. But plenty can also cause us to be lazy. With a pantry item, it can simply catch us off guard and cause us to change the way we inventory, shop, and cook. But, with other things in life, it can cause a little more damage.
When I have plenty of blog posts, it’s easy for me to get lazy. And, it’s not just about keeping up with my blogs. There’s so much more to it than that. When I have plenty of blog posts written, I don’t have to be so attentive. Writing requires me to listen and observe. I have to notice little things my kids do that tug at my heart. I have to pay attention to nature and God’s reflection in it. I have to listen to people and learn from what they say. I have to pay attention to what I read in God’s Word and other places that I may glean and grow. Writing is my challenge. God created me to be the type of person who processes through teaching what I’m learning or through talking/writing it out. What comes in has to go back out in some way before it truly cements in my mind. So, I am compelled to write and teach. When I’m not doing at least one, I don’t process very well.
When my blog post file is plentiful, I grow lazy. And when I grow lazy, I grow stagnant. Inattentive. Non-processing.
What keeps you attentive? What helps you process the truths God places before you? What is the “plenty” in your life that allows you to grow lazy?
God gives us plenty out of His wonderful abundance. But, may we always live as if there is nothing available but Him. May we live as if our pantries are bare and our file folders are empty. May we live as though every day of growth depends on a new gift straight from God’s hand.
Not Quite Ordinary 