A Melodious Sonnet

Life

Playing Hookey (and This Week’s Plans)

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(Before I start, I thought you might like to know that Mom is currently running a giveaway for two books from one of our favorite authors! Details here.)

I realized yesterday afternoon as we were winding our way up the curves this side of a nearby river that I had completely spaced doing my normal “Sunday” post on my goals for the week. I had fun Sunday afternoon, during the time that I normally do my planning…I played two different board games with my siblings and we watched part of a movie together! In the end it really isn’t a problem, except that after a day in the city I wasn’t feeling particularly up to trying to figure out what I want (or need) to do this week. So it falls to Tuesday evening to tell you of this week’s goals.

As far as last week, I think I got almost everything done. Thankfully, I hadn’t planned much, and even though we were gone only 3 1/2 days in the end, it was still good to be able to relax and prepare to face the world again.

Planning: Second Week of July

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Well, it’s already quite late, and I need to head off to bed but before I do so I wanted to do a quick recap of last week’s plans. This next week is going to be pretty busy, so I’m not planning to do much at all. And besides a few basics (like sending the newsletter), I’m probably not going to be online much either.

But as for last week’s plans…I went off the rails a bit last week! Instead of working like I probably should have done, I decided to watch a couple borrowed movies instead (ones that need to be returned, but I want to review first). Besides that, we had visitors one day, which cut into my time a little. It was wonderful to have them here, though—well worth the “lost” time! Also, I realized Friday that I hadn’t even looked at my plans all week. Hmm…wonder if the old adage “out of sight out of mind” had anything to do with not much being done? Must remember to look each day next time!

My Plans for the First Week of July

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Reading Sacred Allegories

As I sat at my blue collapsible table this evening, one wing propped open to give me a nice area to spread everything out on, I sipped my coffee and reviewed last month. There were a good number of things I got done in June, several that I didn’t even start, and a couple that were absolutely fun to do. The things that I didn’t touch were ones I really want to get done—need to do—but also ones that have grown to gigantic proportion in my mind so I haven’t even started tackling them. I want to work at them this month. At least get started on those hard things.

Most of the time, though, I get so focused on the urgent that I forget what’s really important—what I really ought to be doing. Finding the balance, between what needs to happen and what should happen is hard. I’m tired of just barely scraping by on my jobs. Tired of doing the absolute minimum for my commitments, making it look like I’m doing okay when underneath I really suspect I’m blowing most of my time. This month, I want to be different. So I’m dedicating it—rededicating it—to the Lord. Asking Him to use me and use my time to His glory. I want to be a tool. And this is the only way I know how to be a tool.

Week 26 Plans

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Well, this week is bringing June to a close already! With the end of June comes the end of a couple challenges I’ve been running for myself (well, not really challenges as such; more like trying to do things a different way to see if I get different results).

The first “challenge” would be the weekly newsletter I’ve been sending instead of the usual monthly one. I really enjoyed doing that! For some reason, it feels a whole lot easier and more personal than the monthly one—even though it takes longer to put together. I’m planning to continue that on this next month at least, and perhaps will make that a semi-permanent feature.

Goodbye for Now

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Goodbye for Now 01

I’ve been debating whether or not to share this, but I’ve decided I will. Death eventually happens to all of us—as Ray Comfort likes to say, ten out of ten people die. Over the last few months, two good friends of ours, both older Christians, have gone on to glory. Here are my goodbyes to them.

The following was written the evening we heard of Barry’s passing on.

Walnut Day

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Walnut Day 01

Last Saturday, I had just gotten back from my walk and picked up a pen to do some more review editing when my phone rang. It was Dad, asking if I could come with him and the boys to show them where the walnut trees were that my boss had offered to us. Sure! So I grabbed my camera, and soon we were on the way. My only job was to show them the trees, which meant I had enough time to take a few pictures of the workers. (Don’t worry; I did pick up my share of nuts when we went to another friend’s place to get some more!)