Every year September is an adjustment month for me. The kids go back to school and I transition from having them home with me all day while working to pick up, drop off, and working in silence in between.
This particular fall, I needed to give myself grace with more than my schedule. I’m in the middle of writing Book 5 in The Redemption of Green Pines series. It’s been a struggle to get the time to get the words on paper. The book’s title? Path of Grace!
I realized it was okay to give myself grace while writing a book about grace. (Doesn’t God have such a sense of humor?) I had to push back a few dates for the book and it’s publish date is now open-ended, although I still hope to have it published early 2022.
Isn’t that what life is about sometimes? Working hard, not giving up, but sometimes making necessary adjustments so that it can still be embraced and not rushed through.
When God was teaching me this lesson regarding writing my book, He was also showing me how it correlates in other areas of my life too. When I started my quiet time in 2021, it was more of a smorgasbord than following a specific plan. Normally I start a specific plan (read through the Old Testament, read through the whole Bible) but when I thought about using a plan, I kept feeling like I was hearing “no.” So instead I read about David (the King of Israel in the Old Testament), then I read about Esther, then I read Acts and Romans in the New Testament, and I think I read more about Moses.
God showed me in July why He wasn’t inviting me to read a specific plan this year. I was invited to a Bible study with a friend in July. We chose to read through Proverbs together (God prompted). Then in August, it was her turn to ask God what book we should read and we started Luke, and invited another friend to join us. That third friend was in charge of asking God which book to read next, and we read two shorter ones … Hebrews and James. Then it was my turn to ask God again, and He directed us to Matthew, which helped answer some questions we had about the old covenant and the new covenant.
God showed all three of us how He is directing which books of the Bible He wants us to read in which order. And I love it! It doesn’t feel like a smorgasbord anymore. It feels like a plan and I’m learning so much more than if I was checking off the box of reading a chapter a day by myself to get through the New Testament in a year.
Grace … it’s needed in our schedules. It’s appreciated in my quiet time. It’s necessary for life. Where do you need to add more grace to your life?
© Cheri Swalwell 2021