Pressure

It’s the harvest season. It is my most favorite time of the year despite the challenge of never having enough time nor the energy to finish everything that awaits me. Regardless, I press on.

The fruits and vegetables of the season are piled on my kitchen countertops and demanding my attention; waiting their turn to be worked. Tomatoes. Peppers. Okra. Peaches. Cabbage. Every free hour is dedicated to washing, peeling, chopping, mixing, sterilizing, water bathing and pressing cooking. Salsa. Pickled veggies. Soup. Jam. My feet are tired and sore, and my body is weary. Regardless, I press on.

In case you were wondering why I haven’t blogged in a few weeks, now you know. The pressure is on to harvest the bounty while maintaining my normal routine. But nothing is normal around here these days; its wonderfully abnormal and abnormally busy. Assuredly when winter arrives and we are eating from our pantry, I will give no second thought to these laborious days. I will be grateful that I had the dilemma of choosing whether to write or whether to preserve. And I will be glad that I chose the latter.

Stick with me, though. I will be back to writing and weekly posting soon enough. And even though you don’t see it, I do write every day in my journal. My journal is where I jot down thoughts, ideas, struggles, encouraging words and my conversations with God. But I can’t post my raw journal entries on my blog spot…NO!, I cannot. I will not. That would be like walking naked through a crowded office of colleagues. Totally vulnerable. Speaking of which, those are the most despicable dreams of all. Have you ever dreamed of showing up to a common place and everything is normal except for one thing…you have no clothes on? Not one stitch in one piece of fabric to cover your precious privates. Yikes!

As I thumb through my journal, I have a lot of thoughts written down. Thoughts that are not developed yet for blogging, but they are the beginnings of a post.

Take this one for instance:

It’s easy to accept my current state as opposed to my future state. It’s safe in my current state. I feel comfortable in this safe place of schedule. You can set a clock by me. I do the same things at the same times each day. I like routine. But my future self, the self the God has called me to, requires that I throw out the all-knowing and the comfort of routine. Choice: I can PURSUE my future or I can sit in fear as I PONDER my future. How will I choose? What will each cost me; do nothing or do something?

Here’s another journal entry:

Human need transcends human traditions. Jesus came to save people, not to keep a code of conduct. Remember the Sabbath and the cross? This is my last waking thought for the day as I wrestle with the church doctrines, which in my humble opinion get in our way of loving people and leading them to Jesus.

One final journal thought:

In order to be restored, one must recognize. What needs to change? What is it like to sit on the other side of me? Where am I broken?

The opportunity to live a full life is sometimes like a pressure cooker. It could blow up if the pressure gets too high. I need to keep a close watch on the gauge and adjust the heat up and adjust it down; a dance of sorts to maintain the right conditions. So, I sit in the middle of my kitchen with my computer in my lap as I glance to my rattling and steaming pressure cooker and I know that goodness awaits after all the labor is done. A relatively insignificant task in the grand scheme of this world around me, I write. And regardless, I press on.

Keep calm and labor on, good people.