Creativity Might Be Seasonal
Someone asked me what my next project was and I panicked. “I don’t know! I don’t have anything lined up! My well has run dry! The last thing I wrote is probably my last thing ever! It’s all over.”
But then I realized that last year, at almost exactly this time, I had a similar panic. I wrote a piece about it that has been one of my most popular podcast episodes and of course the well hadn’t run…
The morning after she got back from Granite Falls, Jade gave her bees some attention and collected the honey. She was taking a moment to think about everything she would do that day when she saw a familiar but unexpected figure approaching. Sora’s love for red sweaters and shirts made him stand out just about everywhere, even in the tropical surroundings of the Sulani islands.
What was he doing here? For a second, Jade thought she was suffering from strange jetlag effects and hallucinating. She slowly moved forward to meet her hallucination, vaguely expecting Sora to suddenly disappear in thin air or morph into some trespassing tourist. But Sora didn’t disappear.
Sora: “Hey stranger! Wow, you look really nice!”
Jade (trying to remember if hallucinations could make sounds): “Hi.. Eh… I… Eh… You’re here! In Sulani! Eh… Why?”
Sora (blinking, smiling): “You invited me.”
Jade (blanking out): “I did?”
Sora (squinting his eyes): “Yeah. At Damian’s wedding…” (his smile fading) “You don’t remember?”
Jade (feeling her cheeks turn bright red): “I… I thought we were joking…” (softer) “I didn’t think you’d actually come to Sulani.”
Sora (heart sinking): “Oh, well, as you see, I wasn’t joking… I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to visit you at an inconvenient time… I can check for an earlier flight back to Mt. Komerebi. There’s internet at the research centre, right?”
Jade: “No no no no! It’s not inconvenient! I mean, I can work from home. You don’t have to go! You just got here and I… I’m happy that you’re here… Eh, for how long are you staying? No, don’t worry, we’ll just go with the flow… You know? Islander style…”
With that said, Jade helped Sora with unloading his luggage from the boat that brought him to her island. She felt her couch was too uncomfortable to sleep on, so she put up her Granite Falls tent for him, apologising for not being prepared for a visitor. But Sora said he didn’t mind at all, he’d go on another mountain climbing expedition when he got back to Mt Komorebi and camping on a tropical beach would be way more comfortable than on the snowy mountain.
When everything was set, Jade inquired: “You did bring your swimwear, right?”
i dont look out the window often
too often depression confines me to my house, my room, my head
but today i looked out
-
sometimes i feel like i miss the seasons
i lose sight of the world
stuck in my own brain
but today i looked out, and i dont know why
-
the whirlwind of my mind can overpower the outside world
and i hate that
i want to be part of more than myself
i want to participate in the world
so today i looked out, and i must say
the snow is beautiful.
Wind Whistle by Henry Hintermeister
Via Flickr:
Growing up on the Minnesota tundra that Dr. Zhivago would have liked, it still puzzles me how us farm youngsters ever made it to adulthood. Cold north winds whistled through our bare trees night and day with only a few exceptions. As kids we knew more than our parents so we went without warm caps, seldom wore gloves and our thin socks were chosen for looks rather than warmth. Many farm girls wore slacks under “shorter than their parents wanted” skirts and then ditched them in the mail box at the end of the lane before boarding the school bus. Our survival is solid proof there is a caring God.
Seasons Of Wait
“…Those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth…” Psm 37:9KJV
Waiting isn’t easy. Perhaps the culture I grew up in. Whatever the excuse, ‘now’ sounds much more positive, then ‘later.’
One blustery return trip from Quebec, I’d called the Ram dealership, asking to have a filter changed on Lou’s truck. ‘Bring it right over, no waiting.’ Excellent timing, Lou told me.
Exhausted from the thousand miles of road time, ‘now’ timing— great. ‘Bring the truck right inside,’ the service manager said. ‘We’ll be finished very soon.’
Four hours later, I was struggling with my Christianity. The last hour, I’d prayed, ‘God keep me Christlike.’ I passed simmer and started boiling. Suffering in an uncomfortable chair, forced to watch television programing I hated, peace left.
Waiting at a garage is vastly different than waiting for God to answer a prayer. There was a prayer, for one of my children, laid before His throne from 1981. This type of waiting is different. God’s name is Faithful and True, (See Rev. 19:11), He didn’t fail. His answer was worth the wait.
There are rewards for waiting:
Isaiah 30:18NIV “…For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”
Isaiah 40:31NASB “…those who wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”
Paul said God has a purpose in suffering, troubles, difficulties, even waiting creates within us patience. Romans 5:3-5KJV “we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed…”
When our hope is placed in God we find the purpose of waiting. “…the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness. To deliver their soul from death, And to keep them alive in famine.” Psalm 33:18-19NASB
Abraham waited for twenty-five years: made multiple errors: still God blessed him with the son of promise. (Read Genesis 14-21). David was anointed king over Israel— 1Samuel 16:13. Then waited for over twenty years to become king of Israel; suffering many things at the hand of King Saul. Even after Saul’s death, he still waited before becoming king. God has ‘seasons of wait.’
Paul rode to Damascus to kill Christians. Jesus knocked him off of his high horse; temporarily blinded him; waiting three days, he was ready to listen to God. Having surrendered to Jesus; totally turned his life around; no one accepted or trusted him. Fellow Christians sent him home to wait— Acts 9:30NLT “…they took him down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown.” His ‘season of wait’ was being taught by Holy Spirit, lasting fourteen years, (See Galatians 2:1).
I was positive, praying, repenting day and night, believing God would rescue our nation from this satanic stranglehold of communism. Nothing happened per my plan. Yet, I believe He will somehow. But meantime, we’re in a ‘season of wait.’
As much as we don’t like them, God places ‘seasons of wait’ in our lives. These are the pathways where we learn the way to hope in Him alone. We may wiggle making errors. Fish also wiggle, until they die. And die is what we must do. Die to everything we’ve made more important than God. In the ‘season of wait’ we learn to let go, to endure and hope in the One Who is more interested in our holiness than our comfort. Why? Because on the faithful will inherit the earth.
Will we wait in calm surrender? Unhappily like I did at the garage? Or wiggling? It’s your choice. You choose.
PRAYER: Almighty God, There is such a blessing in calmly trusting and depending upon You. Bring our hearts around to calmly wait upon You and Your timing, in Jesus’ name I pray.
by Debbie Veilleux
Copyright 2021 You have my permission to reblog this devotional for others. Please keep my name with this devotional as author. Thank you.
your gaze was like a warm embrace
a perfect Sumer night
but as the Sumer fades away
my eyes resemble a rainy day
cause your heat turned into a storm
- agalleryofdreams
Took down my Christmas tree exactly one week ago. It’s always kind of sad because the space looks so glum when I’m getting used to its absence. I think I need more winter decorations. A lot of things that are marketed as “Christmas-y” don’t really have anything to do with the holiday. Where I live, it doesn’t really even get that cold until after Christmas. But I still have had to do some work to convince myself that I’m “allowed” to keep out my snowflake pan holders and snowman and cardinal coffee mugs out in January.
It’s like Christmas is a separate season from both Fall and Winter that overlaps with both and demands so much that I feel pressed for time to celebrate them all. I feel like the solution is to live in a place where winter is the season that overstays its welcome by about two months.
“Ghost in the Trees” by Adam Swaine
Via Flickr:
A very foggy Darent Valley at Shoreham Kent as i walked along the river Darent AONB
how you ripped off the warmth of my heart to leave me cold as cadaver, only if you knew how you stole my time to leave me lost in seasons, i blame you for the little scars, i blame me you for the whole in my heart, but i blame myself for the hurt I’ve been, for the life I’ve got.
Did ‘The Bachelor’ Matt James just spoil his season’s winner?
Warning: This article may contain spoilers for Season 25 of “The Bachelor.”
“The Bachelor” Matt James may have just confirmed who wins his season — on Spotify.
The leading man was caught listening to and “liked” a playlist on Spotify made by contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, Vulture reports.
The 29-year-old must have forgotten that his activity on the site is public.
Filming for this season of the…
Did ‘The Bachelor’ Matt James just spoil his season’s winner?
Warning: This article may contain spoilers for Season 25 of “The Bachelor.”
“The Bachelor” Matt James may have just confirmed who wins his season — on Spotify.
The leading man was caught listening to and “liked” a playlist on Spotify made by contestant Rachael Kirkconnell, Vulture reports.
The 29-year-old must have forgotten that his activity on the site is public.
Filming for this season of the…
