Hey, friend, welcome to FACETS. It’s a new year, a new decade, and we want to know how you see 2020. Do you see 2020 as an opportunity? We had a ton of fun taking pictures together to celebrate the new year. Take a look at our team picture and signatures in January. Aren’t they great? We’re writing about seeing 2020 this month, and we hope your hearts are touched or encouraged. Tracy shared her heartfelt post here. Look for Megan’s post next week, and then our guest (Sharon Porter!) will be joining us the following week.

I (Jennifer) sit at the hidey hole on writing days. I really love days in January when everything is set aside to reflect and plan. Suddenly, I’ve got perspective on 2020 like Anne of Green Gables—It’s a fresh year “with no mistakes in it yet.”¹

At the hidey hole coffee shop, I bounce between casual glances at the characters drifting in and a laser-focused stare at my screen waiting for something to happen. Background music drones (I’ve heard the track 3 times by now), and I’m wondering what this new year holds.

I send a text to a friend on January 2nd: “I’ve planned the whole year.” She replies with several emojis and exclamation marks. She asks if I’d plan her year, too. I dish: “You know I plan loosely, right?”

That’s not the whole story, not even the whole truth.

“The best-laid plans…”²

Welcome to my Enneagram-5-with-balanced-wings 2020 plan! It’s scheduled 30-minute increments, significant activities to grow me and to grow with my friends (read: a ton of cerebral focus and development), a-a-a-a-a-and overlooking some minor details in the creative process. When I say I sprawl over this part of the Enneagram diagram, I’m not kidding. It’s really entertaining when this 5 in flight wobbles left and right on the wings. Imagine an albatross taking off.

I planned in my journal and scheduled all the things in my calendar (knowing the alerts on my phone would be exactly as I like). I set my bedtime and waking alarm, and the morning ritual alerts would follow. Perfection!

“…often go awry.”²

Day One:
*Alarm* [Hit snooze. Bedtime was pushed to make iCal events.]
*Feed the dogs.* [Motivated—a Pavlovian response started 9 minutes ago. Bowls divvied. I’m under the covers again. I wonder how that happened—]
*Walk the dogs.* [More like: Get out of bed again! It’s still dark out. I’m bewildered.]
*Quiet time.* [It’s quiet when the dogs are outside…even without a walk. VISION is my word for the year. I’ll study that.]
*Head to the Food Triangle.* [Time’s up! Groceries don’t buy themselves.]
*Growth time.* [I love this! Great podcasts on the drive and as I buzz through grocery stores.]
*Chiropractor.* [Taking care of my body is important!]
*Workout.* [Now I maladjust the adjustment I just got.]

All before 10 AM. Eventually, I gained momentum and enjoyed the day, but do you see what I did there? I planned every second of my mornings pretty much like this, and there were problems.

“The devil fools with the best laid plans.” ³

I love to see my time used well. I’m also a creature of habit. I made the assumption I could plan this kind of morning for effective use of time, to build a perfect routine, and to create new habits that were lacking at the end of the last decade. (This is why my resolutions are resolved quickly most years.)

I planned, but I ignored the most important things in life.

God

I planned without considering the wisdom He offers. He knows what I need each day from one minute to the next—what my body, mind, and soul really need. I planned my own way. His way would be better.

Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts, there is no room for God. Proverbs 10:4 (NIV)

God is good. His plans and purposes are good. All. The. Time. What would have happened if I had leaned into God’s wisdom and whispers when I formed a plan? I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been completely exhausted reading it! Don’t get me wrong, we are made to work and create with excellence. But work looks different governed by wisdom and led by the Spirit. I may have missed both in my process.

Laws of Nature

Sunrise happens at a certain time of day. I didn’t consider what time that might be, so I ended up at a fork in the road: follow the plan or realize it conflicted with sensibility. Walking my dog in the wee hours isn’t wise when I know the neighborhood skunks are still ambling around the drainage ditches before the sun comes up.

“The universe obeys certain rules—laws to which all things must adhere. These laws are precise, and many of them are mathematical in nature.” ⁴

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: Ecclesiastes 3:1

Sunrise is mathematical. My phone offers that information…if I search for it. Otherwise, a life lesson is given as I stand at the back door, baffled at the early morning darkness. There is also a “right time” for everything. That means, for example, it may be time to write or reflect, and it may not be time to publish the manuscript. (I’m always thinking about writing…)

Rhythms of Life

The body and mind are created for work and rest. I need both. Poor planning—scheduling my mornings without breathing room—resulted in a sense of failure, and a train wreck that morning and every morning I tried it. (I took a run at this schedule for a whole week of “fun”!)

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, Deuteronomy 5:13

So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, Hebrews 4:9

The Bible reminds me I need a day of rest, which I’m usually very good at. My mind and body remind me I need mini-breaks along the way. When I was a full-time sign language interpreter in the schools, a funny little “brain glitch” reminded me at busy times that my threshold was 20 minutes. A little “hiccup,” and I could continue, but it happened no matter how much experience I gained. The research says it’s perfectly normal. That’s what the majority of brains will do, for good reason.

I assumed that, because I picked most of my favorite things, I would move seamlessly through the alerts. Wrong-o! My mind desperately needs quiet and rest. In fact, the overbooked schedule made me crave silence before 10 AM.

“Uncle?”

I wrestled with a question my husband and I tossed around: How do I know if it’s a bad schedule, or if I’m just not leaning in and choosing to build the habits? If I pick up a thread of perfection in my fabric, I say, “I’m not doing it right. The plan was perfect, and I’m messing it up.” If I decide to be more realistic, I say, “The plan is rotten, not me. But why make any plans if I created this monstrosity?” The worst response could be, “This sucks. I suck. Everything sucks!” There has to be another option!

Opportunity knocks…

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” —Henry Ford

How can I see 2020 differently two weeks in? What could happen if I see the 2020 plan “flop” as an opportunity to start again? What if “more intelligently” means leaning into the wisdom I can access in the Bible, through prayer, and by attending to what my mind and body have to say? What do you think?

What I really want know is—

What’s your 2020 planning process like?
What do you hope for in 2020?
How do you see 20/20 (read: clearly!) in 2020?
How’s 2020 treating you so far?

Thanks for reading along. Pop a comment below or at the FACETS Facebook Page. We’d love to hear from you! And, as always, sharing is caring…

 

 

 

 

 

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1 L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables.
2 Robert Burns, “To a Mouse.”
3 Neil Young, “Alabama.”
4 Dr. Jason Lisle, “God & Natural Law,” Answers in Genesis.