So what happens when one finally gets settled into a routine at the cottage where one has spent three years preparing to live?
Life.
Yes. Life.
Yes. Life. Happens.
There’s a new job.
There’s a volunteer commitment one made before the new job happened.
There’s cooking to do, gardens to plant, flowers to grow, pillow covers to make, Bible to study, VBS to get ready for, neighbors to visit, friends to talk to, firewood to haul, and, yes, there are still boxes to unpack, files to organize and a room to paint. As well as the bathroom to gut and redo, and the back porch to finish.
And suddenly, there’s no time to write.
Ha, silly me. I thought perhaps after we moved here, I’d have spare time to finish that novel… Now I can’t even find time to write 500 words for a blog post.
It’s the rhythm of life. Suddenly there is much going on, but it is the routine of day-to-day, interspersed here and there with a gorgeous full moon, the bloom of a new starburst flower, the scent of peonies, a gentle sunrise.
But that is life, isn’t it? Making the most of those boring bits of life in-between the great, amazing stuff that, if we are honest, doesn’t really happen all that often.
It’s what we do with the routine and the interruptions to our routine that are important. Read this C.S. Lewis quote and put it on your fridge.
Yes, the unremarkable, the humdrum, the commonplace — that’s the life God is sending us. And do we sing on the way to work, or grump about the trucks that are making us late?
Do we gripe about having to fix dinner on a day when we don’t get home until 6:00, or do we look into the fridge and make it a game with ourselves to come up with the best we can with what’s there?
Do we go to visit the neighbor when we really should be… (insert really important thing to do here.)
I have to admit that I’m only good at loving the uneventful life sometimes. I try to remember that God has given us this ordinary life to live for him. He sees when we grumble at our husbands for no good reason except a mood; he knows when we choose to be in a funk, rather than pray; and best of all, He understands when we chafe against the boring bits of ho-hum pfhh that so much of life seems to be…
and he graciously gives us new eyes to see beauty in the familiar.
the circle of life 
This is just beautiful! Something I needed to hear! Thank you.
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Thank You! And I need to be reminded daily… I’m going to see if I can print and frame that quote.
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I need to be reminded, too. Maybe I’ll do the same! Thank you for your visit and comments. I really enjoy your blog.
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Oh and please feel free to print my photo for the frame too! I’d be quite honored!
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Thank you. Your photography is spectacular!
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Awww thank you!
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Brilliant. All of it. And, true. Our real life is what’s happening as we ponder what our “real life” could be like. I’m so glad you found time to pop this post off. It resonated in a big way.
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I’m so glad. And thank you for telling me that. We all need to encourage each other, yes?
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Love it! It’s important to see God’s work in every part of our lives! Very well written! Thank you for sharing!
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Oh, thank you. I read another great quote today — after I’d published this — that said something like: We need to be thankful for the little things, because some day we will look back and realize that they were the big things.
Don’t you love it? We just have to remember that when we’re swamped with little things…
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What you need to do is schedule a vacation somewhere in a cabin in the middle of nowhere (by a stream or on a lake) so you can write your book! Haha! :)
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That would work for the novel, but not the blog posts. It does sound like a wonderful idea though…. I think I’ll mention it :-)
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Oh, yes. The interruptions. Yes, you are right, they ARE life. I think most days we love (or at least like) our lives. The trick is to stay focused on the important things. Thank you for the reminder. So – new job? Details!
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Secretary at our church, two days a week. Where everyone is very gracious about “the learning curve”… But it’s very humbling reading the bulletin on Sunday morning and finding one’s own mistakes.
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Thought provoking reflection. I made it half way through your post yesterday, then life interrupted my reading. I definitely like the quote.
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Haha. Interruptions! I have never had a job that wasn’t full of interruptions, so I sort of got used to it. But the most annoying thing about interruptions is being able to get back on track where you left off. The older I get, the harder it is…
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I love that you are living exactly what you had dreamed when you dug into the renovation project! Good for you! As always, I loved your post.
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Well, like you I tend to romanticize farm/country life. Though I’ve lived in the country for a major portion of my life, I’m still finding it very hard work. But rewarding. My favorite part is sitting on the porch listening to birds and looking at the quiet beauty. Not the hard work… :-)
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A great piece, Carol. Spoke to me. I don’t think I knew that you were writing a novel…And here I had you take time to check one of mine out. Alas. Thanks for all you do. john
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Well, I’m not sure that I really am. Is 6 chapters and stuck in the middle a novel? 😀
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