31 Days of 5-Minute Free-Writes

Day 18: Search

Yes, I am well aware that today is not the 18th day of October. But this post will still exist in its full relevance beyond today, so I will post it anyway. Last week was a whirlwind week, as I logged nearly 80 hours of work and volunteer outside of my duties as a wife and mother. Needless to say, there was no time to write daily posts. But the hustle and bustle did not stop me from thinking about writing. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that if I’m going to make it happen, I have to search for time to make it happen.

Welcome to Day 18 of my baby-book shower for Reflections of a Mother’s Heart. Are you ready to play another game? Let’s go on a hunt.

In Search of {Thyme}

It’s a bad pun, I know it, but I couldn’t help myself. 🙂 Throughout the room I have hidden several bottles of spices and seasonings from my spice rack. When the whistle blows, that will be your cue to get up and search for the bottle of thyme. There is only one. When you find it, I want you to shout, “I have the thyme!”

Are you ready? On your mark…

Get set…

[shrill whistle blows]

[Ladies giggle as they hunt all around the room, looking under chairs and tables, behind doors and inside other ladies’ purses—until they get slapped. And then…] “I have the thyme!” [There is an applause, and the ladies return to their seats.]

How many of you have an herb garden at home? Of those of you who do, how many of you grow thyme in your garden?

While it is certainly possible to grow thyme, t-h-y-m-e, we cannot make time, t-i-m-e. Only God can do that. He gave us 7 days in each week, 24 hours in each day, 60 minutes in each hour. Our responsibility is to make the best use of the time He has given us.

How do we do that? By setting priorities. Have a plan. Someone has said, “Plan your work, then work your plan.” Yes, planning takes time, and sometimes you just want to jump in with both feet and get going. But without a plan, you may end up wasting more time in the end than if you had taken the time at the beginning to make a plan. Trust me. I speak from experience.

And speaking of priorities, this past week I have re-evaluated my own priorities, and have concluded that blogging is not one of them. I love both my blogs. I love you, my reader. I love interacting with the other bloggers. But it takes so much of my time, and it produces very little in return. Okay, let’s be honest. It produces nothing monetarily. I have come to realize that now is not the time for such intense blogging. I am not going to walk away from it completely, but I am going to step back again and put it in its rightful place. I came home from an office job to be a full-time artist and writer. But as the days and weeks fly past, I realize that my focus needs to narrow even further. And as much as I love to write, my passion is in art. That means the majority of my time needs to be spent in the studio producing art. (That also means there will be a new blog that focuses on my art.) The Abundant Heart will still abound, just not with daily posts. 🙂 I will finish this series… hopefully by the end of the year… certainly not by the end of October. Of course, I’m still going to publish my book, Reflections of a Mother’s Heart. And my poetry blog will come alive from time to time as well. Cutting back on blogging will hopefully open the door for some freelance writing. Cutting back on writing in general will also give me more time to read what others have written. I’ve really missed that.

Today’s reflection has turned personal, but I’d like to leave you with a universal thought:

How do we find time to say ‘yes’ to what matters most?

By saying ‘no’ to what matters less.

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Kate Motaung, host of Five-Minute Friday, has challenged us to 31 Days of Five-Minute Free Writes, in which we will explore the telling of our story. This isn’t the first such challenge of hers, but it is the first for me. Thank you for sharing it with me.

For a list of links to all my posts for this challenge, click here.