A Writer’s Season
With winter upon us, early mornings are my quiet time; when the house still sleeps, the neighborhood is silent, and the only sounds come from the quacking ducks that dip and bob on the chilly bay outside my window as they forage for breakfast. It’s these moments, just after dawn, that I enjoy sitting in my favorite chair, taking a few minutes to pray and count my blessings, and read a passage from the Bible to help shore me before starting a busy schedule that will likely last for the next twelve hours.
Today, I read chapter three from the Book of Ecclesiastes, the “Seasons under Heaven.” I love this passage and oftentimes find myself singing to the written words; I know I’m not alone, as many of you might recall that Pete Seeger wrote music lyrics from these very verses, and in 1965, Turn! Turn! Turn!, performed by the American rock band, The Byrds, became the #1 hit song!
I’m also reminded how important it is to find balance in our lives. Like “A time to embrace…” for me, as a new author, means having met the new and exciting challenges of the past year—a book contract, revisions, reviews, a flight to Minnesota to meet with my publisher, and of course, writing like crazy to meet the next story deadline…
Yet because I’ve embraced all of these amazing “firsts,” it’s also “A time to refrain…” —from the long hours I used to spend in the garden and bartering my culinary pursuits for whatever’s quickest to fix; from my once fastidious housekeeping to turning a blind eye to those dust bunnies (though my hubby, John, is very helpful) and the community projects I once had time for. I realize that right now, it’s not my “season” for those things, but I trust that God willreturn me to them when the time is right. “A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them…”
With the holidays coming to a close and another year newly born, winter is the “season upon us.” And I think, it’s a particularly good one for writers. “A time to plant…” those words on the page, and hopefully reap our readers’ enjoyment later on.
What is your season?
Happy New Year!
Scripture excerpts taken from the Holy Bible, NIV, Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.