There are Hares in My Ink Plots
Bunny Trails…
There was a time when I really hated myself for all the directions my brain would go. Loving family and friends call it bunny trails.
Yet I always had the desire to create. I want to use my creativity to bless people. I started to see that this was where I could serve God, but all the advice I could find said one thing. And if you haven’t heard it yet, you probably will: Find a niche.
Business? Niche.
Writing? Niche. Art? Niche.
And many people function very well within those parameters. Find the one thing that you can focus on and center your energy in that area.
I am fifty something, though, and I have been learning that I don’t niche very well. And it’s my design. In fact, God takes a great deal of joy watching His children discover new things, develop our gifts, and find wonder in the world He’s given us responsibility for. He adores working with me - me! No matter how messed up my life is, my head is, my decisions may be, He sticks around. He is delighted with me and loves it when I choose time with Him!
So here it is: my niche. And I highly recommend it. Learning to follow Jesus. So what does that mean here?
Blessings All Around Me…
Here on this website I anticipate writing to share projects and progress. What is God showing me? What blessings am I seeing?
One thing that is emphasized in the Living Journal: Life in Progress is seeking and finding the good things happening all around us. I am convinced through deep scientific study (not really — just 50 years of lived experience) that we see what we look for. I’m fairly sure there have been real, true scientific studies (Harvard for example, thought I know there are more) showing that we have expectation bias.
“I am convinced […] that we see what we look for. ”
And then there is the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenom, though I like its layman’s name: Red Car Syndrome.. You know — like when you buy a new car that you rarely see on the road, and then you see it seemingly everywhere! So you consciously redirect your expectations and begin to experience red car syndrome with blessings and good people and good things! Hey — bad stuff still happens. Let’s be real. But good stuff does, too.
“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable — if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise — dwell on these things.”
All of that to say, we need to train our brains to see the good around us! If we fill our feed with negative junk, talk about and think about and dwell on sordid or gross or disgusting or icky things — yeah, it’s going to be bad. So taking the time to notice GOOD helps rewire our brains to see it even more. Way before modern scientists were able to label what was going on in our heads, God told us to “Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23 (CSB). What is meant by Paul when tells us in Romans 12:2 to not to do everything that we see going on around us, but to “be transformed” by “renewing your mind.
Yeah. So I want to share GOOD. I hope you will join me!
A beautiful fall day at Claytor Lake, Virginia, USA
*Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible (R), Copyright (C) 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible(R) and CSB(R) are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
