Enthusiastically, Dawn

I have been living in a new kind of freedom since deleting Facebook and Instagram from my life. It’s quieter in my neck of the woods, primarily my personal headspace. I’m more focused (though depending on who you ask, this could be argued. But the proof is in the pudding …I am just an abundance of cliches on this sunny October morning. Forgive me.

I am just so grateful for the gift of words, and the way they consistently delight me. Back to life minus social media…I pop on Twitter (X) and YouTube on occasion but for some reason, these platforms don’t cause me to mindlessly scroll, and I find it easy to remove myself readily. I don’t “lose time” on them. I am sure the potential is there; the Meta god, though tiny by comparison (to say, the One, True Living God) has a strong, seductive pull. I don’t miss it. Sorry, Mark Zuckerberg.

This redirecting of my attention and careful curation of what I am consuming and how I am connecting has caused me to reevaluate a number of things. Especially in light of My One Word which has been doing its work in me all year. My One Word for 2023 is Listening/Listen. The verse I started the year with is found in 1 Samuel:

The Lord came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

1 Samuel 3:10

This became the jumping-off place I began in 2023. The word cull has a few different meanings from a violent act to a more passive but deliberate choice. As I considered the severe possibilities of the word culling, I sensed the underpinning of my word, listening, included a culling in my life.

Cull, a noun, meaning: something rejected especially as being inferior or worthless.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary

This is what the Lord has been doing in me during 2023. Revealing the inferior and worthless things disguised as harmless, trivial, and common. He has been removing the trifling dribble that robs and distracts me from sensing His holiness, His presence, His peace, and His power. Why would any of us settle for a feed to fill our needs? It’s subtle, and so easy to believe we don’t really do that. We only do important stuff on social media, right? We choose the narrative we want to share, and we don’t recognize the subtle, unseen powers competing for our minds and hearts in real-time. But I no longer feel divided in my ability to hear clearly the voice of the One who knows me, delights in me, and calls me by a name I’ve yet to fully identify, but recognize is mine.

Are you hearing Him above the clamor banging on the door of your heart shouting:

“Let us in!”

Because there is a crowd outside longing to trample whatever stands between it and your heart, and it is quick to make waste of the precious and tender mustard seed within you cling to by faith. Despite the many trials you’ve endured, devasting world events stampeding through your newsfeeds and screens you have stood fast, but there is still a target on your back, and mine. And who is able to stand up to the invisible foe that wants nothing more than your trembling faith in God to be obliterated. There is a Savior I know. His name is Jesus, and He has stood and stands and will stand again, in real-time sure as I am typing these words that appear on your screen.

The Lord keeps bringing me back to the words, listening, listen and cull. I ask myself, am I listening? Am I hearing His voice today? What areas of my attention need to be culled…right now? Will I allow God’s gentle nudges by faith to lead me or will I settle for the continual assault of the heart, mind, spirit, and soul that plays out on multiple platforms, even my day-to-day life? This is a choice. What will I do with this precious now that lays before me, before it is gone? I pray,

Lord keep me from being preoccupied with my own desires and thoughts, and ever more present and sensitive to the very precious moment before me. Whether by humor, a kind word, a listening ear, or a gentle response, let me be available to the moment, by Your grace (and empowerment) for Your glory, Amen. 

As I left my workplace last week, I stopped to admire (and take a zillion pictures of) the Monarch Butterly as it went about its butterfly life. It patiently fluttered atop the flowers of a low bush, its proboscis working the tiny little purple buds for whatever wonderful stuff was available. Suddenly a bee working its way from the other side of the flower bumped into the orange-winged beauty and without scarcely skipping a beat, they both continued to their own rhythms… without conflict.

How I long for the focus and practicality of these creatures.

The Butterfly didn’t get sidetracked from the job it needed to do. It didn’t sulk, or complain. It did not fly off to another bush. It didn’t find another Butterfly to tell how offended it was that the Bee had the audacity to push into the space it occupied. No, the Butterfly adjusted slightly and continued to do the work it was meant to do for this day. Unperturbed. Undisturbed. Focused.

The Bee didn’t harp on the Butterfly either. It didn’t start buzzing about speaking in an outraged insect language about how the Butterfly has no right to be doing its Butterfly thing and that it needs to just pack its proboscis and find another place to stick it! It yielded and adjusted to allow room and they continued their feasting, even as I tore myself from the sighting to head home. Without a word, God’s creatures speak to me a sermon I need to hear.

I think that Butterfly and Bee had a lesson I need to hold close. To remember. What causes me to lose my focus? What is my focus? Both those beautiful creations of God were about the business of being and doing what they were meant to do on this October day. May it be the same for you and me. May we be about the focused business of carrying out the will of God in the daily small things He gives us in this here and now. Undistracted, unperturbed, and undisturbed regardless of what is happening all over the world, and in our backyards.

May we say the words of the young Samuel, “Speak Lord, your servant is listening” and may we hear from the One who says, “I will never leave nor forsake you” and “I have loved you with an everlasting love”.

Thanks for being here.

Enthusiastically, Dawn

If you want to read more about choosing a One Word to guide your year instead of a list of resolutions check this post out: Unhindered 2021 -A Few Words on Picking One Word for Your Year

You can see last year’s One Word thoughts here: What Are You Curating?

Stay tuned for Part 2: I will be sharing current planners and journals I am using from now until the end of the year, a book recommendation, and the four things I am doing daily that have upped my game for finishing well in 2023! Stay tuned! Also this week: I will be choosing the winner for the Planner Giveaway. It’s not too late (as of this writing) to enter! Head here to see: Curation 2024 Planner Review. And the next Planner Review 2024 is coming your way!