Four Fall Somethings

Happy November! I missed the Share Four Somethings deadline for October because of the Whole30. Weak excuse, perhaps, but going without sugar, grains, dairy and a few other food categories for 30 days tends to run my creative juices dry, at least near the end.

I craved cupcakes, Starbucks and pasta more than a few times, but it was a good month overall. I made chicken bone broth and chopped lots of bell peppers. I did some fall work in the flowerbeds. I’ve made some headway on a book project (more on that below) and achieved a modest running goal that seemed unreachable a few months ago.

It’s taken me a few weeks of fits and starts to put this together, but better late than never, as the saying goes.

• Something loved

Now here’s something I never would have expected to write under this heading a few short years ago: I love running outside in the cold. Between 40 and 50 degrees is best, I think. Not so cold that I have to wear a jacket, but cold enough to require long sleeves and leggings. Even better if I get out there when it’s just getting light, 20 minutes or so before the sun actually rises.

God definitely didn’t make me fast, but when I run now, I think I just might feel a tiny bit of His pleasure.

• Something Read

I was intrigued when The Good Book Co. released a book called A Brief Theology of Periods (Yes, Really): An Adventure for the Curious into Bodies, Womanhood, Time, Pain and Purpose—and How to Have a Better Time of the Month.

Even though I’m 10 years post-menopausal, the topic still interests me. I was curious about how a Christian publisher would tackle the subject. Still, I asked for a review copy with a bit of trepidation.

What with infertility, severe endometriosis requiring multiple surgeries, difficult perimenopause and early menopause, my reproductive system—including my monthly cycle—has been a thorn in my side for most of my adult life. Author Rachel Jones is a couple of decades younger and doesn’t seem to suffer from the same maladies that have affected me, so what chance would there be that I could relate to anything she might say?

I needn’t have worried. Jones, an editor at The Good Book Co., wasn’t just writing to women who get a little grumpy and bloated every 28 days or so (although she has much to say to them too). Where she lacked personal experience, she brought in other voices to help. Her tone is lighthearted when appropriate, but also practical and empathetic. True to her title, she writes of periods in light of the fall and the cross, as well as through the lens of eternity.

A good decade after my last period, I didn’t realize there were tender spots in my heart that still needed to be healed regarding this topic. As a result, I found passages like this to be cathartic and unexpectedly encouraging:

“If you’re one of God’s people, there is an end-date on your suffering,” Jones writes. “You may feel worn down as month after month you experience the same pain, like a wheel you wish you could stop turning. You may feel hopeless, having exhausted all the medical options. You may feel dread or despair or just downright fed up. But you won’t feel this way for ever. Your pain has an end date—it’s fixed on God’s calendar already.

“The snake crusher has come,” she continues. “He’s already put away your sin and made you spiritually whole. He’s already dealt the mortal blow to the devil. Now all that’s left for Jesus to do is to sweep up the mess on the day that he returns.”

And then there are these comforting words that apply to anyone who feels weak in world that seems to demand constant strength:

“Sometimes we’re so desperate to appear strong that we need to be reminded that if it was OK for Jesus to feel and look weak, it’s ok for us too,” Jones writes. “While pain is a result of living in a fallen world—it is, in itself, bad—there’s a sense in which many of our weaknesses are simply the result of being creatures—they are, in themselves, neutral. Tiredness is a function of being human, not being fallen. Sometimes it’s helpful to acknowledge the frailty of our bodies and the limits of our emotional resources. We are not God. We are created beings. We are not required to be limitless.”

My goodness. What a relief.

• Something treasured

I watched the BBC’s 6-hour version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice the first time it aired on American television in the mid 1990s. Randy bought me the series at some point, and I’ve watched it a few times over the years.

A little burned out on home shows and not wanting to torture ourselves by watching the Magnolia Table cooking show while we were on the Whole30, we watched the whole series again in the last few weeks.

I love the story. The actors portraying Mr. Collins, Mr. Wickham, Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy and others are so good and (at times) so convincingly cringeworthy. Even more, though, I cherished the opportunity to watch it all again with Randy.

• Something Ahead

In late 2020 and the first half of 2021, I wrote many, many words for the book project I mentioned above. In stark contrast to my usual way of doing things, I didn’t start with an outline. I just opened up my heart, mind and memories, and let the words pour out.

Now, after four weeks of carefully reviewing and consolidating five months of writing, I have a single Word document containing 84,000 words that need to be organized, revised, cut, edited and massaged into … something.

It’s a bit like having a thousand puzzle pieces and no picture of what the final puzzle is supposed to look like. Some—many, actually—of the pieces don’t even belong, but I don’t know which ones. I’ve grouped like pieces (or topics) together, just as you’d do with an actual puzzle. Now, somehow, I’m hoping the topics will line up in some organized fashion, creating a flow that will become an outline.

The other picture I have in my mind of how this process is working involves a large platter decorated with a beautiful design. Maybe it’s flowers, maybe Christmas decorations, maybe a folksy cityscape.

Before I have a chance to fully glimpse what the platter looks like, it slips from my grasp and crashes to the tile floor in my kitchen. It shatters into pieces, some quite small but all intact enough to salvage. My job is to gather up all the pieces and glue them back together somehow.

I don’t know what the platter looked like originally, I don’t know the best medium for gluing everything back together, and I’m also dealing with some very jagged edges that could cut me while I work with them. It feels like a daunting task.

It is a daunting task.

More than once I’ve looked at all the words and thought, I have no idea what I’m doing.

But I don’t hate what I’ve written. I haven’t lost interest. I haven’t found something else I want to write about more.

I don’t know what the end result might be, but I feel like this is what I’m supposed to be doing right now. So now I’m asking God to direct my thoughts as I go through this massive document, one page at a time.

• • •

Have you read any unusual-but-helpful books recently? If you’re a Jane Austen fan, what’s your favorite book or movie? Do you have anything fun or exciting coming up in November? Please share in the comments, along with anything else this belated Four Somethings post has brought to your mind.

♥ Lois

P.S. I’m linking up this week with #tellhisstory, InstaEncouragements, Recharge Wednesday, Let’s Have Coffee, Inspire Me Monday, #HeartEncouragement and Grace & Truth.