Cracks of Time are Perfect Places to Get Things Done by Wendy L. Macdonald

Years ago, a Bible verse helped me realize the value of showing up to work on a project regardless of how small the window of opportunity. When my life was centered around raising three children aged five and under, I felt frustrated I could rarely complete a task in one sitting. Interruptions ruled and were the rule of my parenting days.

Thankfully, I still managed to spend some time reading God’s Word. Although I wasn’t as studious about it as I am now, I regularly grabbed some Scripture, jotted in on a sticky note, and placed it in a strategic spot.

One such verse reminded me—prompted me—to take advantage of cracks of time.

I needed the motivation regarding one of my favorite hobbies. We lived on six acres in the country and our flower and vegetable garden sat in a prominent spot on our property. To neglect it meant our view from the front porch would be depressing evidence I failed to mine many minutes available to me.
   
One morning I came across the perfect verse to hang in our bathroom as a reminder I needed to pay attention to opportunities to work in my garden:

Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. Ecclesiastes 11:4 NIV

Before having children, I often puttered in my garden for hours and hours at a time. It was glorious to spend uninterrupted expanses of a day doing something I loved to do. Although I loved being a parent (most of the time), I missed the freedom to do what I wanted to do when I felt like doing it.

Parenthood taught me to grow up.

It also taught me to be creative about making more opportunities to garden. One thing my husband did to facilitate this was to place a sandbox in a shady spot inside our fenced vegetable patch to keep our children busy while I worked. Plus, he helped me create raised beds for each of our children to grow their own mini-gardens.

Real life is about showing up and getting the job done whether one feels like it or not. This is especially true in the writer’s life. Real writers sit down and write even though a million distractions and excuses beg you to do something different. Of course, there may be dry seasons during grief, illness, or trauma; but for the most part, writers write. I cope with grief and trauma better when I write my way through it in my journal. During illness, well—ugh—not so much.
 
Cracks of time added up over time provide the writer with the opportunity to complete articles, blog posts, and manuscripts. In fact, I began writing this blog post while resisting the urge to spend this crack of time researching one of my pet topics. And I ignored my tummy’s insistence I head to the kitchen for an early breakfast (I’m up early to avoid interruptions.).

Cracks of time are the perfect places to compose words because all those cracks become a Grand Canyon when combined. Ann Lamott called this the Bird by Bird approach. I called it: Car by Car in another blog post about writing.

Cracks of time are perfect places to get things done because if we wait for something bigger, our dreams will fall into the cracks of missed opportunities.

If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. Ecclesiastes 11:4 TLB

And speaking of perfect, it’s now the perfect time to go round up some breakfast.

Blessings as you write in the cracks of time God has given you ~ Wendy Mac
   

The One Thing That Changes Everything by Bob Jones

Without this ONE thing even the smallest tasks feel impossible.

Without this ONE thing couples give up on their marriage, parents give up on their teens, leaders give up on their people, people give up on their future.

You can live for 40 days without food, about 3 days without water, and about 8 minutes without air. 

You don’t want to go a single second without this ONE thing.

The ONE thing?

Hope.

Hope is the most important factor in anyone’s life.

Why?

When you lose hope, you lose your ability to breathe, let alone dream for the future.

When you have hope, anything is possible.

Telling the stories of people who found hope in dire circumstances is a way writers, poets and artists can become hope dispensers.

Think of how much widespread good can come from your book or blog post offering hope.
When I wrote Mackenzee Wittke and Wendy Edey’s stories I had no way of knowing that a man in Finland or a mom in Edmonton or people across Canada would be inspired with hope.

Holding On To Hope

Mackenzee was born with many health complications: heart, lung, brain, eating, breathing...just to name a few. So rare and unique were her symptoms that physicians called her condition “The Mackenzee Wittke Syndrome.”

Doctors told her parents, Matt and Kim that she wouldn't live through the first week. “Our first reaction was fear of losing our baby girl."

In faith they named her "Mackenzee HOPE Wittke."

"Watching Mackenzee day after day fighting through many battles is where we found the true meaning of hope.”

Kim says, “I kept repeating this to myself, ‘as long as she has breath there is hope’."

Kenzee is now nine years old.

Sometimes, the good news is the bad news is wrong.

In response to Kenzee’s story, Shirley from Edmonton shared about her experience. 

“My daughter has a genetic disorder. For ten years her genetic tests came back negative. Then the tests improved and she was given a diagnosis. The diagnosis (4P-) answered many unanswered questions! From the time she was born, she was given a short life span - first 1 year then 2 years, then no more than 6 years, then 10 years but ‘she’ll never survive into her teens’… now she is 35 years old.”

The Hope Lady

Wendy Edey is blind and she’s a blogger. She’s known on the web as “The Hope Lady.” 

I met Wendy when I officiated her daughter’s wedding. Wendy writes about things that turned out better than expected and impossible things that became possible. She shares about hoping, coping, and moping in stories about disability, aging, care-giving and child development.

Anne Lamott knows more than ONE thing about hope-filled writing. She gets the last word,

“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.” 

Bob is a recovering perfectionist, who collects Coca-Cola memorabilia and drinks Iced Tea. His office walls are adorned with his sons’ framed football jerseys, and his library shelves, with soul food. He writes to inspire people to be real, grow an authentic faith in Jesus, enjoy healthy relationships and discover their life purpose.

Follow his writing at Pointes Of View.