Edits

I have been working on a manuscript for several months that I had planned to be an anniversary gift for my husband on our 50th Anniversary. Since it was to be a surprise, I had to use pockets of time to work on it and since we are together much of the time, the pockets were short and finding a good chunk of uninterrupted time was a little bit of a challenge.

I worked at it day by day and, as you have seen in my writings, editing is not one of my strongest suits. I had prayed that God would let me complete it and have it in hand on the morning of our anniversary, which was this past weekend, but I knew it was going to be tight. It was rushed, as I had a time frame, and as an answered prayer, and as God would have it, a ‘proof ‘ was completed and was delivered a couple of days before our anniversary. With help, the goal was met, and I set his present on the kitchen table for him to open the next morning

He waited for me to grab a cup of coffee and read the card and I said open it! All this time I had wondered if he suspected anything or seen leftovers at my computer but apparently he had not. It was a surprise for sure, he knew nothing. He was genuinely appreciative, proud, and showered me with the sweetest response ever. This book was a compilation of devotionals of the past year and a dedication to him and the cancer journey that he had just completed. I was so grateful that my secret was finally out. Granted, it was a heart filled gift, but it also came with blemishes… there were lots of edits that needed attention and now I can take care of them in a timely manner.

But this got me thinking about edits… I have a daughter -in law who has an organizing business called: “Graceful Spaces”. Her job is to simplify and organize zones that make for easy living. And to do that she refers to some of her efforts as ‘editing’. Editing is: Knowing when it’s time to fix, throw Away … and keep. Just as a book sometimes requires edits, and our homes need edits and we keep thingsaround that just are clutter, I think we do the same thing with our thoughts We stuff thoughts in our hearts and minds, consciously and unconsciously and if we don’t take time to edit them, they too, become clutter, not giving God a clear path to guide us with his thoughts.

As I make headway into editing this book, I am going to try to be more mindful of the thoughts that I allow to run through my mind. I know that I have tucked away useless worry, anticipation, and unworthy things like news that I cannot change, and I need to make an effort to edit that kind of clutter and leave more room for God to use that space for his glory and his guidance.

Editing is making a change… either rearrange, fix, simplify or throw away. Editing is a way of simplifying, and making whatever it is that you are working on more manageable and organized.
God is the greatest editor of all… he knows what is worthy and what is best to keep and what is best to throw away.
Ecclesiastes 3:6a time to search and a time to count as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away
Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!