Joy and Strength

Joy and Strength

Today I am joining the gang at Five Minute Friday’s at Kate Motaung’s blog. The word for today is JOY. Five Minutes-Free Writing-No excessive Edits

Go:

“The Joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10

Joy: it is the name of friends.
It is the word on one of my favorite teacups.
We see it plenty of times at Christmas.

Joy is something we all want to feel, but like all feelings it comes and it goes.
Much sought after and hard to hold on to; joy weaves itself in and out of my life. I wish I could say that joy is a feeling that I find myself in possession of frequently.

Joy is not really just a feeling. According to Nehemiah 8:10 it is the source of our strength.

Wow, strength is a word that I think I need even more than I need joy. I am beginning physical therapy this week. I have been run down with health problems and I need to keep my muscles strong while I heal. Strength is what I really need. The Word of God tells me that joy leads to strength.

Stop:

The Word tells us that finding our joy in the presence of the Lord is the ultimate strength.

All we need is God and we will have joy and strength.

We are not dependent upon health or feelings.

All we need is to be in God’s presence.

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Time and Space

Time and Space

This post is part of the online discussion group hosted by Kate Motaung On Being a Writer. Organizing space and schedule to facilitate writing is the subject of the day.  The book On Being a Writer:12 Simple Habits for a Writing Life that Lasts, by  Ann Kroeker and Charity Singleton Craig is the starting point for the discussion. Chapter two entitled,”Arrange” is the catalyst. 

  • There are two basic parts to this topic: space and schedule. I have space addressed. I now have a private study in which to write. I write while sitting in a chaise so that I can keep my feet elevated. I have my file box handy, a printer and a writing desk that I cannot really use. If I am able to work sitting with my feet on the floor again the desk will be useful. 
  • My space is adequate. The lighting is good. My problem is that I get bad migraines whenever I use my old pc-based laptop. I do all my writing on my iPad. Alas, it is now four years old and slowing me considerably. I will have to look into an upgrade in the future. This week I need to move my modem and router. Before I had my study I worked on a different floor and they were perfectly placed. My neighbor must have placed a router in the house next-door closer than my own router since their signal is now drowning out my signal. On Monday I had to write and post my piece entirely on my phone as I could not get a signal.  This week I am moving my equipment.
  • My greatest challenges to effective writing time are my health constraints and the fact that I spend a considerable amount of the time that I am able to be active driving my family and myself to a steady stream of doctors. The blessing of mobile devices is that they are portable and I can put waiting room time to good use. Scheduling all that I need to accomplish around P.O.T.S. limitations is constraining.
  • Since the difficulty increases the longer I have been up, morning is my most effective time. I start each day by 7 am, but I am going to try to consistently move that up to 6 am. The possible complication is being able to drive to and from afternoon appointments after I have been up that long. Perhaps I will need to start earlier still to ensure a rest before attempting afternoon appointments. 
  • I am committed to a minimum of 30 minutes of uninterrupted time per day. I have long scheduled writing for after dinner. It fits the schedule, but I am often foggy and unable to see clearly in the early evening. The schedule is a work-in-progress. What time of day do you write? Are you a morning or evening person? How do you get family to give you uninterrupted writing time? As long as I multitask my writing is respected and even admired, but as soon as I ask everyone to leave me alone, I am frequently accursed of being rude.