September Reflections

I’m getting in early with my reflections this month because of a special project I’m going to be involved in throughout October, which I’ll explain at the end of this post. Like most of this year, September has flown in.  It has been a month with challenges but also with moments of beauty.

New discoveries/ highlights:

One thing I have enjoyed the most this month is the chance to be creative in different ways.  It began when I was away for a couple of days with work and as the place we were staying was beside the beach I had some time for an early morning walk.

I’m no photographer, but I was pretty pleased with this:

Then as I was walking and praying, I felt that I should make the word “hope” from shells and leave it there in the sand.

I wasn’t sure why at the time- I just hoped it might encourage someone who found it, but later I had the idea to turn it into the header photo for my blog Facebook page. I feel this expresses quite well what I want to do here:

My other attempt at a new form of creativity came in the form of a flash fiction challenge from the organisation hosting the writing conference I will be attending in October.  The challenge was to write a story in 100 words or less, beginning with the sentence, “There was complete silence as she entered the room.”

I thought it would be fun to have a go even though I haven’t written any fiction in several years.  The aim of the challenge was to make every word count, and I know I can be far too wordy at times so I thought it would be a useful exercise.

Here’s what I came up with:

There was complete silence as she entered the room. People gazed transfixed as she walked towards the bar, their eyes widening with horror.
For a moment the only sound was the clacking of her heels across the marble floor; then came the crash of crumbling crockery as an elderly aunt’s cup of tea slipped from her shaking hands.
Approaching Martin, Laura smiled:
“I never like to miss a good party.”
Martin’s eyes flicked from his wife’s face to the funeral programme in his hand. Was this a ghost and, if not, who was it they had just buried?

As someone who regularly publishes blog posts it was ridiculous how nervous I was about sharing this on the group’s Facebook page, but it was well-received.  I’m not even sure if it is meant to be creepy or funny but it was fun to write, and I’m inspired to keep experimenting with new ways to be creative.

My word for the year (Voice):

No major new developments here, but lots of reinforcements of lessons I have been learning this year:

• An excellent talk at church on listening to God and the challenge that if we want to hear from God, we have to put ourselves in the right position for that by making time to be quiet and listen.
• The challenge to speak up when you feel it is the right thing to do, even when other people don’t like what you have to say and would rather you stayed quiet.

I also reviewed two excellent books around the theme of “voice”:

“Sensing The Rhythm,” the inspiring autobiography of America’s Got Talent finalist Mandy Harvey, who has known great success as a singer despite being profoundly deaf, and “Sing!” by Keith and Kristyn Getty, which explores the use of singing in worship in personal and family settings as well as in church.  It highlights the importance of singing and includes lots of helpful practical tips.

September Playlist:

No Other Name- Hillsong Worship

“Lift up our eyes, see the King has come,
Light of the world reaching out for us.
There is no other name,
There is no other name,
Jesus Christ our God.
Seated on high, the undefeated One,
Mountains bow down as we lift Him up.
There is no other name,
There is no other name,
Jesus Christ our God.”

And so to my plans for October…

I am planning to take part in Write 31 Days again this year.  If you haven’t encountered this, it is a challenge to write a post every day for the month of October, based around a single topic.  You can find out more here or find an index for my 2016 series “31 Days of Songs and Stories” here.

If you could see my diary for October you would probably think I was absolutely crazy to be doing this challenge.  In fact I was planning not to take part this year, until God put a topic on my mind that refused to go away.

I’d love if you’d join me throughout the month of October for 31 Days of Kintsugi.

You can get a taste of what is in store by reading this post, but we’ll be spending the month exploring how God can restore brokenness and transform it into beauty.  Look out for Bible reflections, songs, guest bloggers sharing their stories and lots more!

First post this Sunday!