Many years ago my dad preached a sermon about beetles. Not the kind from Britain, but the kind you find in the garden or boring into a tree. He shared all kinds of information about beetles. Mainly that they hide under the bark or somewhere in a stalk and destroy the plant from the inside out.
He encouraged his congregation, to not let the beetles chip away at our faith. In other words, it's easy to let all the "little" stuff in our lives slowly move us in a different direction. We may not even feel it or know it until we look back and realize that our lives have taken a different path.
Yesterday, I was traveling back from another state and decided to write down everything I do in a day and how much time it takes me to do it. Everything I listed was important. Everything I listed needs to be done. The shocker was that it takes about 7 hours and 30 minutes out of my day!
We all know how much "writing" can be done in that amount of time. I thought about all the articles and books and poems and children's stories I could have written over the last year if only I'd put some of those things on hold.
Friends are important but two hour lunches aren't. Laundry is important but perhaps I could cut the time in half if I used other methods. Good meals are an important time to catch up with family but maybe I should settle for the quick salad rather than using 2 hours of prep time for a family favorite.
In his book, Quit your Day Job, Jim Denny refers to our HOLY CALLING and discusses how we need to protect that calling and work toward our goals.
I encourage you to plan your writing day. Write down everything you do and determine if it's really important or if it's a beetle stripping you of precious writing time. If you and I are going to change the world with our words (and I believe we can) we need to schedule wisely and keep a sharp lookout for all the beetles that can destroy our goals.
God loves you and has called you to write,
Debbie
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