Talk to God…Get Answers…Then Get Busy!

So, here we are. My brain map has been all over the universe. Some days I wake up envisioning myself as a famous novelist taking calls from Reese Witherspoon because she not only wants my book to be a monthly read in her Sunshine Book Club, BUT, she wants exclusive rights to make it into a film. I also owe a call back to one of my personal heroines, Octavia Spencer, because her production company is also interested. Oh, the first world problems of an in demand late in life author.

But really, most mornings I stumble out of bed, feed the dogs, make a cup of coffee and sit at my desk in the dark, trying to wake up. It is too soon for Wordle – need at least one full cup of coffee before tackling that five letter monster of a game. I write my stream of consciousness morning pages to clear the cobwebs and then do one of two things. I spend time with God or I attempt to write a blog post. I am here to tell you, if I skip the morning pages or my time with God, my blog posts are painful to write and not particularly meaningful or memorable. They are also laborious to produce.

Is the short and easy path ever the best way? Good things are worth learning and doing right or not doing at all. That is precisely where I am now. I sometimes will say I write because I must and I don’t care if anyone reads what I write. That is pure garbage and an excuse for mediocrity. I do care. I care a lot. I don’t care because I think I’m going to end up living out the scenario I opened with; no, I care because I write to make a difference.

I am a helper, a nurturer, a teacher by nature. My greatest joys in life have always come as a result of doing something for someone else. It could be as simple as helping them pick the perfect yarn for a project, learn a new skill, or as life changing as providing nursing care that helps a body heal.

Without a doubt my instinct as a child to become a teacher was an inner guidance to become who I was created to be. Of all the jobs I have had in my life, the ones that meant the most to me were the ones that involved teaching. I believe that teaching is my highest calling.

Teaching, I have learned, doesn’t merely happen in a classroom. In fact, I would say that some of life’s most important teaching moments never happen in a traditional classroom. In my life experience the car and the kitchen table are the best places for conversations.

Several years ago I was having one of my “why am I here” conversations with God as I drove to work. It was 2017, near the end of my years of owning a yarn shop. There was no next step for me; just packing up and locking the door as I left for the last time. I just asked God – “Why? How? What am I supposed to be doing? I want to write, but what?” Before I could take another breath I heard, “Write about me.” I can see the exact location on the road in my mind and to this day I think about this moment as I cross over the bridge.

So…what have I done with this instruction from God? Not much. I’ll see you tomorrow for more.

Until then, spread kindness,

Sheryl