Joys Which I Had Once Feared to Lose

It's been almost two months now since I announced that I've been on blog sabbatical. What started off as being too busy to blog turned into being unable to blog due to extremely limited internet access. My computer had a connectivity issue and I chose not to rush to get it fixed. And since I have a "dumb phone" I am literally disconnected. I haven't really cared about not having daily access to Facebook and email all that much. In fact, its been kind of nice. I've managed to check into those things quickly a couple of nights a week on hubby's laptop - just enough to send and reply to important message.... and maybe comment on a few FB posts. :) Really, its been awesome to be without the internet and not miss it. Even in the midst of major cleanout projects and daily summer adventures, I've managed to go to bed most nights in a neat, fairly clean house - a WONDERFUL new feeling. (I usually blogged at the expense of my kitchen counter!) And I've actually had time to make a decent dent in my quickly growing stack of books waiting to be read - yet again, a wonderful new feeling.

My biggest concern when I was first disconnected was that I would have separation anxiety from my blog. It all happened in the height of early summer yard sale season. I had a draft started about some of my favorite finds from a Friday estate sale (which I will finish and publish hopefully soon). And, I'd been working on more ideas for a blog redesign. But then, by act of God alone, I quickly just stopped caring. He literally eliminated my desire to blog. It wasn't long after that I came across this Augustine quote in the book When I Don't Desire God  by John Piper, "How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose . . . ! You drove them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy." Augustine was talking about the experience of conversion, when someone first puts their faith in and commits their life to Christ, but it rang true for me in my current experience as well.

So without the internet or my blog, my time, focus, and attention have been on better things this summer. I'll admit there have been a lot of things I would have blogged about but instead they've just been private joys. And I've still been snapping away with the camera just in case some ideas do end up getting published...some day. When I do get my computer fixed soon (because I will need daily internet once school starts), I know I will not have time to keep up a blogging pace anything close to what I ever have in the past. I knew these days would come so I'm at peace with that!

I'm certainly not closing up shop though. I will always have thoughts swirling about that I'll contemplate sharing; I'll just have to be more selective about the ones that I do. And although I'm in a season of switching gears from collecting to simplifying, I'm sure I'll still stumble upon treasures I deem worthy of show and tell. Posts will be fewer and farther between, and probably shorter and sweeter too. We'll see. All I know is that this creative girl still needs an outlet and I'm just hanging on, seeing where God leads me, my treasures, and this blog.