do you have a vision for your life? How about frozen broccoli? Because Lord knows, someone out there

I was certain that the quarantine would be over in two weeks because my husband who has the gift of over confidence told me so.

But here is the thing. I do not regret being wrong. And not because I am happy to work on humility, the gift I was not given. But rather, because being wrong not only changes nothing, but it also bought me two weeks more peace and sanity than the rest of the world.

Yet, here we all are, right? And it is not over. We are all still encouraged to stay home. And up until right now I had no idea just how much I truly love the Mall and can't help but think I would have treated her so much better a few weeks ago when I went there to buy that amazing dress from Anthro for my talk at the Flourish conference that never happened had I only known our relationship was about to end. You really never do know what you have until it's gone. I sure hope she takes me back.

But I have discovered something else that I love very much, thanks to the covid. (I like to add the "the". Like "the google". Or "the Facebook." The "the" for some reason makes happy.) And this is what I love:

The time to think.

Or just....time to think.

I added the "the".

Seriously. I love it. Back in the day, before the covid, how many times did I say, "I don't even have the time to think!" ? Too many! I have been living life feeling like I can't catch up. For the past five years my days have felt like a fire drill, something abrupt and alarming always interrupting what my heart so badly longs to do, never allowing my mind to rest; to settle into the places I so desperately have been wanting to explore. Places of creativity, deeper spirituality, wild imagination, and big, bold dreams. But now?? Now there are no excuses! Now I can sit and think and dream and plan and create, all day long....and I love it!

And make no mistake. This is not about the end result. This is not about the successful outcome. This love is not based on what I will produce one day when I get there. This is purely about the journey towards a vision. Being present and open to the road God has me on, not where the road finally ends.

Do you have a vision for your life?

Sit with Proverbs 28:19 for a bit if you are unsure. That will motivate you for certain.

Do you have a plan as to how to get to that vision?

Or do you just want the stinking vision and are not so much into working the plan?

Do you have patience for the process or do you want to throw something at my head when I ask you about patience?

For those of us who just want to get to the finish line already, this isn't easy or fun or satisfying. If this is you, my impatient and unsatisfied friend, you know what I am talking about. These are the ones who dump the entire cereal box just to get to the prize at the bottom. But nine out of ten times the prize is disappointing and you realize you should have just waited for the stupid toy, one delicious bowl of cereal at a time, because I gotta be honest, the waiting which we hate and do so poorly is the best part of whatever it is we are waiting for.

The longer the wait the better the prize.

And maybe you are thinking about that time you waited on line for Splash Mountain for three hours and it was 100 degrees out and the ride was over in three minutes and you got off soaking wet with your pink bra showing through your white shirt and your hair drenched thinking, "That wait was so not worth it!", and so you disagree with what I just said. So maybe I need to rephrase that:

The better you wait, the longer the prize.

And you are thinking, "well that makes no sense", and I am thinking, "well yes it actually does."

Because when we learn to wait well...not to waste it but to use it...the wait itself becomes the prize.

As much as I want this all over.... the world healed. No more dying. Back to school. Back to traveling. Back to knuckles that aren't dry and bleeding. Back to not cursing out the people who bought all of the frozen broccoli at The Big Y because I mean what the heck people you think you are going to die because you didn't have enough frozen broccoli so you hoarded it all for yourself? Just stop that and give me the darn broccoli. But I digress. As much as I want "back to normal" I also happen to love the opportunities this "new normal" has gifted me with.

One of these opportunities has been the creation of my Warrior Community over at Patreon. In. Love. With. It. Finally, I have FACES that go with reader's names, and we get to pray, and learn, and deepen our faith TOGETHER, in such an intimate and personal way; a way I didn't think was possible through a screen. And because of the support and generosity I have been shown, which BLOWS ME AWAY, I get to get on all of those ideas, and dreams, and MAKE THEM HAPPEN. Not for me. Yes, for you. But really for GOD. And this has brought me unspeakable joy. If you have not stopped by, please put that on your to-do list today because honestly, what else are you doing?

Now back to the road and the waiting and the cereal box and all this time that some of you hate and only see as an obstacle to getting back to your life. The next post up for my Warrior Community will be all about what we can do when we feel like we can't do anything. I will be sharing my daily quarantine routine, and how it has made me more aware, more in love, more creative, more productive, more successful, and more spiritual than ever before. Full of practical living advice and links to my favorite motivators who are all about using this time to better the God given talents we so often fail to tap into, it will be a post you do not want to miss. (Plus, ya'll are getting the prettiest little gift ever in your inbox next week as a token of my gratitude!) If you have been feeling weary, helpless and purposeless these days, this post is for you, sweet friend.

I hope to see you over at Patreon so I can welcome you to my new writing space and get to know you better. You don't need to bring anything other than yourself and a heart that is ready for God to do amazing things. Unless of course, you have an extra bag (or 20) of frozen broccoli. Then please, for the love...bring the broccoli.