When Milestones are Measured in Millimeters

My parents have been visiting, so we’ve been enjoying dinners out, walks with the dog, trips to Barnes and Noble to ogle my book on display, viola concerts by Rowan, and reading on the back patio during a week of unexpectedly warm temperatures. My routine is topsy-turvy, I can’t remember what day it is and it’s all good.

Last Wednesday, for instance, for the first time in more than five years of blogging, I didn’t publish a blog post. I didn’t even publish a piece from the archives. I didn’t write a word, not because I didn’t have anything to say, but because I chose to spend that time with my family.

I’m learning some hard lessons during this wilderness time, friends, but I’m learning some good, important lessons, too. Lessons I’m not sure I’d learn at all, were it not for the wilderness.

As much as I’d hoped and prayed that Spiritual Misfit would be an instant break-out success, and as much as I was crushed to learn it fell far short of that goal, it turns out that disappointment is offering some much-needed perspective for me.

The truth is, my job isn’t the be all and end all. For more than five years I put every ounce of my being into the writing and publishing process. A year ago, even six months ago, I would never have considered not publishing a blog post on a scheduled day. That wasn’t option, because I was a slave to my job and a slave to my idol of success.

I know when some of you, or even most of you, read that I didn’t publish a blog post on a Wednesday in October, you think, “So what? Who cares? What’s the big deal?” And you’re right, it’s not a big deal. Or it shouldn’t be. But it was for me. It was a milestone of sorts.

Because sometimes, dare I say even most of the time, milestones are measured in millimeters, rather than in miles.

[Micha Boyett offered a similar revelation in this post, which I read a couple of weeks ago and which made a lasting impression on me. “Having a strong work ethic doesn’t mean living up to impossible standards,” Micha says. Mmmhmmm. Pretty much everything Micha Boyett writes leaves a lasting impression on me. You should read her.]

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I’m really excited to be over my friend Dolly Lee’s place today, chatting about 50 Women as part of her Trust Series. Dolly is also giving away a copy of 50 Women Every Christian Should Know, so if you think these ladies who walked before us can teach you something (and believe me, they can!), hop over there for a chance to win the book!