Five years ago I was introduced to soap making. I fell in love with the scents and the science. Watching ingredients come together from solids to liquid and back to solid in just a matter of time and condition.
I didn’t master it. I piddled. The desire lingers. Time doesn’t allow. Priorities take precedence.
My mom crocheted. I taught myself by watching others. Small projects completed and an attempted big one unfinished. The creating with my hands only bringing minimal satisfaction because the perfectionist in me sees all the faults left from imperfect stitching.
I didn’t master it. I piddled. The desire lingers. Time doesn’t allow. Priorities take precedence.
Sourdough became a thing to do during days of isolation. I joined the band-wagon. Once again the science combined with creativity intrigued me. Never much of a cook, I wanted to figure it out. Holiday baking was always a favorite thing to attempt. It just never worked well for me.
I didn’t master it. I piddled. The desire lingers. Time doesn’t allow. Priorities take precedence.
Gardening brings me back to my roots. (Pun intended!) Cacti and succulents thrive in my haphazard gardening intentionality. They don’t mind long periods of being ignored. Each trip to a nursery causes my husband to remind me that he doesn’t want to take care of anymore of my plants.
I didn’t master it. I piddled. The desire lingers. Time doesn’t allow. Priorities take precedence.
In all these special projects that I begin there is one that comes with more satisfaction. One that leaves behind more meaning than a trashed loaf of bread that just didn’t turn out. Because the leaven and salt that seasons this project doesn’t get poured from a glass vessel. This one is gifted to me and not created with imperfect stitches. The stitching of this one was crafted by perfect hands, not my own.
Unraveled yarn doesn’t hold anything together. Handmade soap can’t clean the mind and heart. Unwatered plants whither and die but there is a living water that quenches eternal thirst.
All these projects become time wasters if not done for the right purpose. Most are just for me to redirect my brain for just a little while. Decompressing my work brain. An outlet for me to find a little down time. But what is the result? Tasteless bread. Empty pots of dirt. Shreds of yarn that get tossed in a bag for another day. Stinky bars of soap no one in my house wants to use.
But the one that leaves peace, it comes from spending focused time with the One that does the gifting. I don’t always readily accept His gift. Sometimes I push it away. Sometimes priorities take precedence. But what takes priority over the very gift given by Him for me to possess?
What gift have you been given? Have you accepted it? Are there distractions that keep you from possessing it? What can you do today to claim the gift given to you by God? If you don’t know your gift, ask God to show you. Ask Him to reveal the work He has for you. Then,
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB1995
Leave a Reply