I sighed and closed the puzzle on my phone. Company was coming and I couldn’t put it off any longer. I knew procrastination wouldn’t solve the spots on my bathroom window blinds. Years of neglect and moisture accumulated into packed layers of dust and resembled mold.
I saw a post on social media that showed a toothbrush used across the slats, so I started there. Their blinds must not have been as dirty as mine, they just smeared and looked worse. I sprayed and wiped the closed partitions but that revealed gaps when opened. As it turns out, the best result came by wiping them down, one slat at a time.
Seeing a man outside my window made me think of another from the Bible. There was a man from Aaron’s priestly line who traveled four months, one step at a time, from Babylon to Jerusalem to reestablish the teaching of God’s covenant to Israel. Ezra 7:6 says he had done his homework and was well versed in the law. 7:10 says,
Ezra devoted himself to study, observe and teach the law.
What can we learn from Ezra’s discipline and my dirty window blinds?
Exercise:
- Decide. Ezra devoted himself to the work. I made up my mind to tackle the dirt. How has procrastination turned into neglect of your WIP? What will you do to commit to your plan?
- Study. Ezra grasped new concepts and reinforced them one precept at a time. Nothing can replace the practice of BIC (butt in chair) time. What do you need to do to act on your commitment to write daily? Weekly?
- Observe. Do you have blind spots when it comes to your writing? Ezra observed the nuances of the law and the interworking of its parts. When I looked out my bathroom window, I saw the world beyond. But when I looked at my bathroom window blinds, I saw what was needed. What can you do to clean up your words?
- Teach. Ezra didn’t keep his knowledge to himself. To refresh our words, we need to share our stories with others.
How can you scrub your sentences to make them shine?
Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth.
2 Timothy 2:15 (AMP)
How do you clean your manuscript? One sentence at a time.
Over 140 of Sally Ferguson’s devotionals have been published in Pathways to God (Warner Press). She’s also written for Light From The Word, Chautauqua Mirror, Just Between Us, Adult Span Curriculum, Thriving Family, Upgrade with Dawn and ezinearticles.com. Prose Contest Winner at 2017 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference.
Sally loves organizing retreats and seeing relationships blossom in time away from the daily routine. Her ebook, How to Plan a Women’s Retreat is available on Amazon.
Sally Ferguson lives in the beautiful countryside of Jamestown, NY with her husband and her dad.
Visit Sally’s blog at sallyferguson.net
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