“There is a time and place for everything“ an old saying goes probably based on the holy scripture in Ecclesiastes. I know it is not what you or I want to hear after a turned-up hand shows up in the face. I have had plenty of turned-up hands, rejections, and boundaries set lately. But a boundary set gives me permission to thrive and live within the boundaries God has given me.
“There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens …” Ecclesiastes 3:1
For the time being I have laid aside teaching culinary classes. The continuing education courses at the local community college have made too many changes I am comfortable with. Hence, the boundary set, and I take heed to. I will and have taken opportunities to teach culinary and writing-related workshops to young adults and adults. I am open to more venues to share my love of cooking and writing. In the meantime, God has prepared a time space whereas I can be more available at the senior center. Besides being a culinary professional, I have taken on more training and duties with regards to inventory and ordering at this season.
“I write because I don’t know what I think until I read what I say.” ~ Flannery O’Connor
I have completed the first draft of my memoir. I have two readers combing through proofreading and making edit suggestions. The next steps are a professional editor, then the publisher. I have folks in mind for each of those roles for my first full-length book. There may be a hand turned-up in the process, but those brakes are a barrier that leads me to something better. In the meantime, I completed a 49 haiku challenge, seven haikus written for seven days. It was very therapeutic, and I was able to see my thought and feeling process after a difficult week. Writing does that for me. A green light means “go for it”! I have taken the opportunity to have my haikus printed into a mini book entitled Balancing The Seesaw.
Prayer was a very significant part of my difficult week, too. Relationships hurt sometimes. I was able to give my feelings of rejection to our God, who “knows when I sit and stand … understands my thoughts from afar” as Psalms 139:2 tells me. Are you listening to your own comfort zone? What stop sign have you encountered? What has God laid on your heart? What new path is the Spirit directing you to? There is a season for everything.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time for hate,
a time for war, and a time for peace.
~Ecclesiastes 3: 1 – 8
Woman Warrior 