Sticky Notes

"The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair."

I recently read this quote by American writer Mary Heaton Vorse, while checking out a friend's facebook status and it struck a chord inside me. "Huh. That's so true", I thought. But... that was the extent of my response. I couldn't click the "Like" button. I personally believed it to be true, but I wasn't sure I "liked" it. By no means do I consider myself an artist or a writer, yet this quote hounded me for several days after I read it. I went back and read it a few more times - still not wanting to commit myself to "Like" it.

Since I was a child, I've been encouraged to take the time to write. I've written little things here and there, but I've been terribly inconsistent over the years. A few months ago, I sensed the Lord say to me "You don't need a title, an outline or chapters - just sit down and write something - anything!" I'm not sure what I'm waiting for. I regularly have scattered questions and thoughts of God and His grace swirling around in my heart and mind - like a whirlwind of loose sticky notes trying to come into some order of understanding. On occasion, I find the time to sit down and apply myself to prayerfully study through those questions and wonderings, but I'm ashamed to say that I rarely take the time to put those things into writing. I journal when I can, but even those entries aren't very consistent and they're mostly filled with incomplete phrases and run-on sentences, processing through personal issues as God grows me in faith.

My daughter-in-law, Jennie, has a blog here on this "blogspot" and I so enjoy reading her "Mauer Musings", catching up on her life even though I'm usually already caught up. (We live just a block away from one another and get to see each other regularly - one of God's grace gifts to me.) She's pioneered for me, the way of "the blog". My 14 year old son, Sam, has helped me set this one up. I'm not at all convinced the "blog" is my style or will work for me, on the other hand, I'm willing to give it a shot.

I remember several years ago, that I wanted to set aside a room in my home as my special "prayer closet". Have you ever done that? I thought it might be a good idea because I was finding it difficult to set aside the time needed to give myself to prayer and I blamed it on the distractions of a very busy life. I thought having a special room in the house would help me stay committed and undistracted so I could spend hours in prayer. Of course you can guess what happened to my "prayer closet" - it quickly became a lovely storage space and the only prayer I prayed in that special holy place was, "Dear Lord, where did I put that purple sweater?" Honestly, that's kind of how I see this site. A special place reserved as a landing strip for all those swirling sticky notes. I will say right upfront however, that if I do not follow through and "just sit down and write something - anything", then I promise I will not place the blame on my very busy life. No. The sole cause will simply be because I lack the art of applying the seat of my pants, to the seat of this chair.

Lord, please grant me a sticky seat. (as well as sticky knees!)

PS - Sam just looked over my shoulder and said, "Ha. Mom, you're a blogger!" We'll see.