2018 left me feeling a little battered. I know we’re almost into the second quarter of 2019, but it’s taken some time to get my head around last year. I started 2018 with such high ambitions. I had aspirations for my body, for my writing, for my home life. But then adrenal fatigue happened and basically ate March through December. To be fair, a lot of great things happened in each of those areas, but none of them according to plan. So when I sat down in December of 2018 to fill out my 2019 Powersheets and create a bunch of shiny, happy goals, I felt grumpy and resentful. I know 2018 was full of good and glory, but I can’t see it when I look through the “planning” lens. So, rather than an adorably ambitious and earnest “word of the year,” I chose “small” out of necessity and rebellion.
I resolved to grow in small ways, committing to small acts of obedience, and, most of all, remembering how small I am beside the bigness of the One who made everything.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I dedicated the whole of 2019 to doing my next right thing. I’m living my regular life in the regular way, but with an eye toward what small act of obedience is the next right thing for me to do.
I’m trying to be mindful of the mundane stuff that my life is made of right now, learning to enjoy the liturgy of laundry and dishes, homeschool and play, editorial calendars and writing dates. There’s no glamor here, just a boring and imperfect Jesus-follower, wife, mom, writer doing her regular thing.
One thing consistently helping me as I decide my non-glamorous, regular steps is a podcast, conveniently named “The Next Right Thing,” which has been giving me fifteen minutes of calm and a practical step every Tuesday for the last year and a half. Even more helpful is that the host and a favorite writer of mine (Emily Freeman) created an online course which I got for free because I preordered her book. It’s helpful without being overwhelming. And, yeah. You read right—The Next Right Thing is now a book and it’s coming NEXT TUESDAY. I’ve read it and can tell you the material continues to help, even if you’ve already heard the audio. Also important: it’s not exactly the same. There’s overlap, but the book really is worth reading, even if you’re a weirdo fangirl who has listened to the whole podcast *cough* twice.
Actually, there are a whole lot of preorder bonuses if you buy it before release day…
So if that sounds good to you, you can order it on Amazon (or really wherever), then put your info (including order number) in here. (Just scroll down a little.) As of right now, it’s $13.51 on Amazon (or $9.99 on kindle) which is a heckuva deal for all of that, I think.
Anyway. I feel my post getting infomercial-ish and I’m not a fan of that, but I am a fan of this book and the accompanying goodies. It’s helped as I falter through this year of embracing my smallness and it might help you, too.
And if you’ve gotten this far, thank you. Also, let me leave you with a quote that I’ve filtered decisions by since I first heard it.
grace enough 