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Expectations, Deadlines, and Showing Up Anyway

April 12, 2022 by april dillow Leave a Comment

I work best with a deadline. I always have. A standard to-do list doesn’t usually work for me unless there are due dates attached to it! I wanted to be consistent with blogging this year so I asked my friend Jennifer to hold me accountable with this “Not Just Scraps” series of blogs. Per her instructions, I am to submit my blogs for editing by the second Tuesday of the month.

 

This blogging assignment is a little different in that the blog actually accompanies the monthly process I’ve undertaken with this “Not Just Scraps” project. Ideally, each month, I will have dug through the tin scrap bucket (you can read about it here), attempted to create something rad, and have a story to tell you, along with the release of said rad items. This process has worked beautifully for the last three months! I’ve met each deadline, created products, and released them…on time even!

 

However, this month is different because I didn’t even touch the scrap bucket.

 

As most of you know, I stepped away from social media for at least thirty days. I know this is the reason for not digging into the bucket. My thoughts have been preoccupied this month thinking about all of the effects social media has on different aspects of my life. From my time to my business and everything in between.

 

So much about creating is affected by our minds and thoughts. There are times when creating comes with ease, is effortless, and other times there is a “block” that takes time to shake loose. I keep thinking about this verse, “Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things”. There is discipline required in continually setting your mind on things above, and during these thirty days, I have spent most of my time doing just that. Therefore, my ability to be creative has felt like less of a priority, which is okay, and good even!

 

I contemplated skipping this month’s “Not Just Scraps” entry because I didn’t produce anything tangible. However, documenting this process means documenting EVERY part of it. Skipping over a month simply because it wasn’t perfect, or rather, didn’t meet my expectations, or maybe even your expectations didn’t feel authentic. So, I’m writing anyway, albeit down to the wire but I am turning it in on time, not perfect, but done.

 

Maybe there is a lesson for life buried in here, somewhere. Something about how repurposing is a process.  It’s one faithful step in a long line of steps where transformation happens. It can’t be traced in a straight line and it doesn’t follow our expected schedule. Or maybe it’s simply that we can slow down, practice setting our minds on things above, even if that means we don’t meet our own expectations or deadlines.

 

Either way, we know that God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. So, while it may seem like this month didn’t offer any steps forward in the “Not Just Scraps” project, I know God will use it all anyway, always for His glory and my good.

 

Catch up on the entire “Not Just Scraps” series:

  1. Not Just Scraps
  2. Bookmarks!
  3. Rings and Things

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Filed Under: Not Just Scraps, The Stamped Lily

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HI, I’M APRIL!

HI, I’M APRIL!

I’m an encourager and I enjoy chatting with you about what God is teaching me. Every day I’m learning and every day I’m reminding myself who I am in Christ. I’m a simple girl who speaks about hope in the midst of my own struggles. Whether I’m sharing my story of God’s faithfulness through the loss of my brother to suicide, or talking about my daily sin struggles and remembering to give myself grace, God is walking me through every part of it.

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