January 10, 2022

Lord, this will be yours to finish.

I am writing very briefly today because I’ve been working diligently to finish my manuscript for In Good Time: 8 Habits for Reimagining Productivity, Resisting Hurry, and Practicing Peace. Last week, we finalized a gorgeously illustrated cover that I can’t wait to show you.

This fall has been one of the most interruptive seasons of my life. I have a lot to say about that in this book, and I am sure I will be sharing more in future installments of Post Script. Suffice it to say that the irony is not lost on me that, in writing a book on time, I am turning in my manuscript six weeks late.

I have lived the thesis of this book, that time is not ours to manage but receive as a gift.

Over the last week, whenever I’ve had a free moment, I’ve been listening to the audio version of Ellen Vaughn’s biography of the late Elisabeth Elliot. The narrator dreadfully mispronounces some words, so that’s a caveat to my praise. But the book seems well-researched, making a lot of wonderful use of Elisabeth’s journals. I didn’t know, for example, that she was holed up in a New York hotel room for a period of six weeks, finishing Through Gates of Splendor. I didn’t know that she suffered her own despair when editors insisted on rewrites.

Lord, this will be yours to finish.

But here’s the thing: despite the obstacles, the frustrations, the fear of failure, you and I have the time we need for the things God calls us to. Not time for everything we aspire to but everything necessary. He supplies seed to the sower—and our lives are sown in time.

Speaking of time, this is all the time I have now to write. Thanks for your understanding. Lord willing, more from me next week!

Jen