Ten Things in Four (Actually Three) Months by Colleen van Nieuwkerk

 

Photo by Colleen van Nieuwkerk

Fall is my favorite season. I always loved the beginning of a new year of school, whether that was for me, or for my children as they were growing up. My years in church ministry also felt the same as the summer break ended and a new focus for the next year was usually presented.

And now, in retirement, especially this particular fall, I seem to have several projects that need completion.

This theme has proven to be appropriate.

1. I try to read my Bible every day, and I love to read in Chronological Order—God’s Big Story which shows me my story within it. This year I am reading in The Bible Recap which is in Chronological Order with a short write-up to explain the Scripture passage for that day. My desire is to complete this by December 31. It has been good, and I have been encouraged and convicted as I have read new insights.

2. My first step in fall is usually to set up my Planner and Journal for the next year. As it happens, I have not done this yet for August 2026 to July 2027. Life has hurried by and so this is a priority as there are family and personal events and projects to track.

3. Since 2015, I have been creating, writing and teaching a course for women, Heart2Heart: Strength and Dignity. I have written a Full Course with five units, and then a singular, year-long course for each of those units. This year I am completing the final singular course as I write and teach it. There are many details involved in this ministry but the next step I hope to complete before the New Year is to begin to create a coiled workbook for each of those units. This will simplify the process of teaching in future years.

4. I have the opportunity to teach a weekend overview as an introduction/ refresher to Heart2Heart in November. This will require the opposite of writing and expanding units, instead taking the basics and reducing the information while keeping it relevant. The Full Course is intense with Bible and Book reading besides projects. The Unit Courses are less intense but include Bible and Book studies. This new cohort will be retreat-style.

5. My manuscript for my Memoir: An Unfolding Life, Giving My “Yes” to Jesus is presently in  formatting and will be published before Christmas. I have published articles previously, but never a book. The privilege of launching the book and inviting people to purchase it is my fifth project.

6. Since entering widowhood in 2019 my blog has basically been dormant. The Memoir and Heart2Heart are interconnected, and so the business side of writing for both includes creating a landing page for the book, setting up Substack or the blog space to reach more women, and social media to go alongside. This will take time.

7. I also have a family and we enjoy “hanging out.” Family dinners. Birthdays. Christmas. Grandchildren dates are all important.

8. Extended family time is also good. A wedding in southern Alberta will involve a thirteen-hour trip one way on Thanksgiving weekend.

9. My office space is a nightmare right now, and I never seem to have enough time to finish off organizing it like my plan says. Anyone else have that issue? I am the Family Historian/Scrapbooker and a Writer so the paperwork never ends. If you have any tips about how you do this, I would love to hear them.

10. Life is full. I also suffer with fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue which means some days no project work is done. My life is quiet these days, and I am so thankful for the privilege of having these assignments God has given me. In reality, as long as I can dream, think, write, and type, I have something to do. I also love to crochet, and even color sometimes, to justify my television watching in the evenings. I am blessed.

Thanks for the invitation to give you a glimpse into my quiet and not-so-quiet life. My motto is “stay in the day” and “just do the next right thing”. I loved reading your posts about this as well—blessings as you walk through fall and into the winter season.

Colleen van Nieuwkerk is GG to three sons plus 3; twelve grandchildren; and two great-grandsons. She loves to read and enjoys reading to the littles in the family as well as gifting books to them. Colleen writes curriculum for women as well as teaches and is currently writing the story in book form of how this all came about. She lives in northern Alberta and can be found online @colleenvannieuwkerk.com

Finishing Off 2026 by Sandra Rafuse

                                 Before                                                      After

"What ten things will you be doing in the last four months of 2026?" the September prompt asked. "Don't be limited by the number - choose any number you like," the last sentence stated. Oh good, I thought. It doesn't have to be ten. I'll try for five. I decided to look back over the previous blogs that had been posted so far this month and jot down any topics I thought I would want to be doing also. Here are the five I chose:

• a thorough house cleaning
• writing in my journal regularly
• renew a couple of friendships that I have let go
• reduce my time on my cell phone
• work on finishing up a story I started a few weeks ago.

 1. A thorough house cleaning. Actually it's not that I need to do a house cleaning so much as I need to do a "declutter and organize" campaign. I tend to put things down and leave them right there. I don't give them much thought after that because I figure I'll remember where they are when I'm ready to deal with them . . . or so I tell myself.  Really, my thought most often is, I'll deal with it later. But it's highly likely I won't.

Reading the following quote from Elisabeth Elliot convicted me strongly of the fact that I had no excuse to have a cluttered, unorganized house. I found it hard to read because I knew it was true and it showed me very clearly that the way I was living was not honoring God. "The way you keep your house, the way you organize your time, the care you take in your personal appearance, the things you spend your money on, all speak loudly about what you believe. The beauty of thy peace shines forth in an ordered life. A disordered life speaks loudly of disorder in the soul." Elisabeth Elliot,  Let Me Be a Woman     

2. Writing in my journal regularly. I know this is so important. When it's happening, I'm feeling good.  When it's not happening, I'm feeling bad. I know I need a regular time and a specific place to do it everyday.  I'm determined to get there.

3. Renew a couple of friendships that I have let go. There are two people in my life who I was once close to and with whom I no longer have any contact with. They have been on my mind lately and I believe it's time for me to look them up. This isn't going to be easy for me; there a lot of mixed feelings I need to deal with here and they are not all pleasant. I am reminded of one of the best pieces of advice I ever heard from a pastor, "You can't control how people will respond to you when you interact with them, but you can control how you respond. You can be the best person you need to be at that time."  I've never forgotten those words and they have helped me be a better person to many people in different situations. "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." (Proverbs 15:1 NIV) 

 4. Reduce my time on my cell phone. I want to break the hold I have allowed my cell phone to have on me. It is always with me and and it is rarely out of my sight. I put it down and then I reach for it again almost immediately. Worst of all, it takes me away from spending much needed time with my husband. Recently, I found an article on the internet called "7 Proven Ways to Break Your Cell Phone Addiction." And, yes, I'm on it!  After reading a few scary addiction facts and finding out the damage this usage can cause, I've started using two of the seven recommendations:

• Don't charge your phone near your bed:
• Change your phone settings.

5. Work on finishing up a short story I started a few weeks ago. The pictures at the top of this post come from the middle of the story, and if you've looked at them, I'm guessing you can figure out what the story is about. There's a very interesting beginning and a very nice ending. I figure it's about one third completed, and I want to finish it while the memory of what took place is still fresh in my mind.

WAIT! There's one more thing to add. No one else has mentioned this.  A couple of weeks ago, one of my sons told me he thinks I am a classic case of someone who has ADHD. When he said that, I felt my entire body relax. It was a very noticeable feeling. Then my brain said, Well that explains why . . . and my whole life flashed before my eyes! I'm going to research this in the coming weeks because I think he's right!

P.S. Elisabeth Elliot was the wife of Jim Elliot, one of the five men who were killed by the Auca tribe in Ecuador when the men went to spread Christianity to them in January of 1956.

 

Sandra Rafuse lives in the small town of Rockglen, Saskatchewan with her husband, Bob, a Gordon Setter named Sadie, and a Peregrine falcon named Peet. She is a retired elementary school teacher who still loves to go into used bookstores to comb through the shelves of books in the children's section to see what treasures she can find. Spring and summer are her favorite seasons and walking is her choice of movement.

The Original Ten by Brenda J Wood

 

Image by wal_172619 from Pixabay

Again, this year, instead of fifty things to do before I die, I determine to concentrate on the original ten. I intentionally examine my life for areas where I put anything before God and his will for me. I confess to making a few graven images over the years; whether by chance or happenstance. I ask God to help me recognize them and then help me clear them out of my life.

My tongue often slips a gear or two and drops words that disrespect God’s holiness. And I have to guard my eyes too. What am I reading or watching?

I will make the Sabbath Day a holy experience by setting aside my to-do list and connecting with God and others.

I honoured my parents the best I could while they were alive and now, I honour their memory, by remembering the good things about them, not dwelling on their human failures.

I haven’t physically killed anyone (that I know of), but I have slaughtered a few with unkind words and untruths about them. It is rumoured that canola oil is a bug killer and therefore will kill us. The truth is, it smothers bugs. but I doubt that humans will be dunked in it.

Physical adultery never crossed my mind, but my actions sometimes separated me from God, my spiritual spouse. I confess I sometimes withhold my thoughts, actions or finances from God when it suits my purposes. I’ve taken credit when the credit belonged to God, I’ve mistreated my own body, in contradiction to God’s commands for its treatment. And then I treat these failures as small and unimportant in God’s eyes.

I confess to bearing false witness. I’ve shared gossip and passed other untruths because I didn’t check facts. Currently, some stopped eating ketchup because it is now made with a slurry not tomato paste. A slurry to the mix of tomatoes not yet boiled down to the consistency of paste. Little knowledge and a big mouth bearing false witness against others.

And finally, I willfully crave what others have, like another anniversary with my dear husband, or abundant income or stable weight that includes daily quarts of ice-cream and brownies.

These ten set high standards, but they aren’t mine. They are God’s. (Exodus 20:1-17) Again this year, I aim to fulfill them in my life. Will I? Probably not. But my goal is to stop treading in the old footpaths of my errors and start a newly forgiven path with goals that count.

The Lord said to his people, “Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths and where the best road is. Walk in it, and you will live in peace.” (Jeremiah 6:16, GN)

Brenda J Wood has authored more than fifty books. She is a seasoned motivational speaker, who declares the Word of God with wisdom, humour, and common sense.

A Loose Plan by Brenda Leyland

 

Image by Gizelle Kei from Pixabay

With summer gone by in a blur and September nearing the end of its allotted 30 days, this last quarter certainly has arrived in a hurry. And, in keeping with the pace, I am writing this post on the fly, as I don't have much spare time these days to ponder or plan more thoughtfully. Still, there is just enough room to squeeze in a '90-day project space' before Christmas (Sep 23 to Dec 21). It's long enough to achieve something, yet short enough to see the end in sight with a good chance of not losing all momentum.

So, what do I still hope to accomplish before the year's end? My list is a loose, slightly incoherent, collection of hopes for tiny steps forward.

1. Help Mom settle into her new home where she won't have to cook for herself ever again—which makes my almost-91-year-old mom (and all our family) relieved... and happy. Continue to tie up loose ends from the move and sort out unexpected glitches (of which there has been a pile to deal with). Continue to support and lend a hand and ear when and where needed.

2. Walk every day with my hubby. Being sure to enjoy the beauty of Nature around me as the season changes: watching the leaves flutter down like butterflies; crunching through the murmuration of leaves skittering across the road in shifting gusts of wind, spying glimmering vees of geese or a harvest moon on a clear night.

3. Try to slow the alarming loss of muscle mass happening in my aging body. I do cardio every day but now I'm definitely adding resistance, core, and strengthening to my routine.

4. Clear the clobber. From my desk; from my online files and social media; from the corners, cupboards, and rooms of my house (not to forget the basement and garage). I first stumbled across the word "clobber" in British novelist Rosamunde Pilcher's book, Winter Solstice. The person using the word had been referring to the collection of someone's life stuff left after they'd passed on. That word "clobber" tickled my funny bone. Although it wasn't quite so funny after having helped dear friends and my 90-year-old mom dismantle their homes this year as they prepared to move into small suites in assisted living facilities. The pressure and the stress of decision making for them, as well as those who came alongside to help, make me eager to get on with my own clobber clearing.

5. Read. For relaxation, comfort, and calming of my mind from all frets, worries, and to-do lists. I enjoy seasonal and historical novels. Nature anthologies. Poetry. Mysteries. Memoirs. Plus, I wouldn't mind focusing more on my ever-widening collection of books 'Yet Unread'.

6. Begin the dismantling of 40 years of journaling stored in over 200 notebooks. I saw someone recommending that people should, instead of endless scrolling on social media, dip into their own journals and notebooks for encouragement and ideas on what to write about. I like the idea of researching my own journals for writing fodder.  

7. Continue to write for my It's A Beautiful Life blog with the idea of perhaps transferring to writing on Substack at some point (still need to research that out). Continue to guest post here on the InScribe blog.

8. Think about how I could repurpose many of my blog posts (the number hovers now around 1500) to curate into a 'body of work'. Blogging has been my favourite place to share my writing—my blog has been home for my writer's soul for close to 20 years now.

9. Rest. I can't help anyone else if I don't take care of myself first. And listen for the word I need for each day: "Step here... and here... and here." Take things one day at a time when things get overwhelming. Not everything needs looking at, thinking about, or dealing with today. 

10. Remember to laugh. For the joy of the Lord is my strength. And humour goes a long way in restoring one's mindset. I remember years ago at work, when my office was piled high with photocopy boxes filled with incoming correspondence to deal with, I felt the Lord willing me, cajoling me to laugh at the piles. I also remember it was an effort, but I felt Him smiling at me... willing me to try. And I felt a lifting of my overwhelmed heart. I knew He was going to be there to help me through it all. And He was.

Note: The memoir I was determined to finish this year is on hold. There are no plans to pick it up in the near future. Other needful things presently take up my time and energy.

Brenda writes from her desk by the window that overlooks her garden, the sky, and the birds. You can find her 'slice of life' writing on her It's A Beautiful Life blog. She is also on Facebook and Instagram (under Bren Leyland).