Margin Archives | Lynn H. Blackburn

A Different Kind of Margin

Lynn Blackburn — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:57:00 +0000

I have not been in a “bloggy” mood lately, which is weird for me. I love this blog. I love opening up my laptop and watching my scrambled thoughts morph into something that makes sense. At least to me.

Most of the time, I have three or four blog posts ready to go, but for the past couple of months, I’ve felt dry. Uninspired.

Empty.

Which is why I decided to take an unscheduled blog break.

For two weeks, I haven’t attempted to blog at all. I’ve journaled some during my quiet time (with a pen if you can imagine it!), and I’ve spent several hours on my fiction work-in-progress (the opening scene is my absolute favorite thing I’ve ever written, which probably means I’ll have to delete it, but for the moment, I’m quite pleased), but I’ve avoided anything that could look like a blog post.

I’ve been busy living my life instead.

I’ve planned and more or less succeeded in pulling off a double birthday party for my ten-year-old daughter and two-year old son.
I’ve taken my children for a long overdue trip to the Children’s Museum (we now have annual passes—that place is awesome)!
I’ve done a lot of normal things like laundry and meal planning.
I’ve played all sorts of random games with my kids.
I’ve enjoyed an oh-so-peaceful afternoon sitting in our “library” with my husband while snow fell in fancy flakes and piled up on the ground until we couldn’t stand it anymore and he retrieved all three kids from grandma’s house so we could build a snowman together.
I’ve started training for a 5K (that’s going to be interesting).
I’ve gotten a new haircut. I love it and have almost figured out how to fix it on my own.
I’ve been reading Leviticus, which everyone agrees can be a bit of a slog-fest, and have been stunned to discover how much great stuff is in there. Sure, there’s a fair amount of repetition with regards to long lobes of the liver and fat and entrails. And there’s no question that it’s a bloody book. Despite that, over and over again I find myself in awe, because unless we get just how onerous the Law was, how can we ever hope to appreciate the beauty and generosity of Grace?

After a few weeks of giving myself the margin to do a lot of ordinary things and a few things out of the ordinary, my heart is full and my thoughts are scrambled. I’m itching to start making sense of them again. I hope you’ll join me in the weeks ahead.

Grace and peace,

Lynn

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The Romans Project

Lynn Blackburn — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:47:00 +0000

Last week, I shared the Eat this Book program with you. After a full week, I have to say this is the easiest “read the Bible in a year” program I’ve ever tried. (And yes, I’ve tried to do this before. Pretty sure I’ve never made it past February).

Our pastor recommended that we make an effort to read at the same time and in the same place each day, as part of the way we establish the routine. I agree with him. I’ve had a spot and a time (chair in my bedroom, first thing in the morning) for the past couple of years. I move out to the deck when the weather cooperates and I start as many days this way as I possibly can.

But I have kids.

Three kids.

Kids who, on occasion, wake up way too early, or wake up sick, or wake up cranky. I also have been known to hit cancel instead of snooze on the alarm and for some reason, the kids never wake up early on those days and then I go into full blown tornado mode.

Tornado mode does not include me curling up in my chair with a cup of coffee and the Word. Tornado mode looks more like me praying “Jesus, help me not strangle anyone” as I race around the house, tossing lunches into boxes, pulling shirts over little torsos, and cramming shoes onto tiny feet.

Needless to say, tornado mornings often roll into frantic days where the chair and the Word, while longed for, just aren’t going to happen.

Which is where the YouVersion Eat this Book app has saved the day!

We are on Day 9 and I’ve already done some of my reading everywhere from the car to the bathroom. (TMI? Sorry. I have three kids, remember. Sometimes the bathroom is the only place I can get any peace. At least until they find me and stand outside the door, banging on it, begging for water, or sliding fingers under the door and asking if I’m in there…)

I’m convinced that technology, while full of pitfalls and time-suckers (Pinterest, anyone?), can also be one of our greatest assets as we seek to put on the full armor of God.

Which is why I’m ridiculously excited to be joining The Romans Project, hosted by Ann Voskamp and available for free through Scripture Typer and on her website, A Holy Experience.

Ann Voskamp challenged her readers to memorize the Sermon on the Mount last year and, frankly, I thought she was nuts. I’ve memorized a lot of Scripture, but the vast majority of it was as a child in Christian school and AWANA. My recent attempts have been feeble and unsuccessful. The odds of me memorizing three whole chapters were negative to nonexistent.

Of course, she makes very compelling arguments about why we need to be hiding the Word in our hearts. Arguments I could not refute. Arguments that had been tumbling around in my heart for a while, but I’d refused to give the time of day.

So this year, when she mentioned memorizing three chapters of Romans, I thought it might be worth considering.

To my intense surprise, I am having a blast!

You’ve got to check out Scripture Typer for yourself. You can join a group, such as The Romans Project, or set it up to help you memorize any verses you choose. Then, you type them over and over, to help you get them in your brain. You can set it up so you type the entire word, or just the first letter of the word if spelling’s not your thing. ~wink~

There’s also a Scripture Typer app which is not free, but is worth every one of the 599 pennies it will cost you, especially if you’re like me and are finding you spend way more time with your iPad than your laptop.

(By the way – if paper is still your thing, and goodness knows I do love a new journal – Ann Voskamp has some lovely free printables so you can make a little notebook of the memory verses and dive right in. Imagine, learning off-line. It can be done!).

With The Romans Project, we are learning two verses a week, which is quite manageable (and you could catch up in no time if you’d like to join in!).

I know you’re busy.

You are NOT too busy for this.

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Eat this Book

Lynn Blackburn — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 20:47:00 +0000

Now that I’m well on the road to recovery from my ridiculous thumb injury, it’s time to start talking about my One Word for 2013 – Margin.

One of the things I love about this word is that it has several different meanings. Which one do you think of first?

I tend to think of margin as the blank space around the page. The space where there’s room to write a note or add a thought. When this meaning is applied to my life, it’s the room I make on the edges of my responsibilities to allow me to say “Yes” to things when I feel God leading me in a new direction. It’s also the space that gives me the freedom to be spontaneous, should the mood strike.

(I’ll be talking about spontaneity in a few weeks and it’s sure to be entertaining given that “spontaneous” is the last word anyone would ever use to describe me, so stay tuned).

But there is another meaning. “Margin” is also used to describe the boundary or the place where we set up some priorities.

So while you might expect me to talk about all the things I’m removing from my life in an effort to establish some healthy margins, instead, I’m going to spend the next two weeks talking about some things I’m adding. I’m not adding them because I’m a glutton for punishment or because I’ve been pressured into it. I’m adding them because I believe both of these things are critical to the establishment of margins in my life.

Matthew 6:33 says to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Ultimately, I don’t want to be the one setting my margins. I want God to do it. But I won’t have a clue as to how He wants those margins set if I’m not saturating my mind with His Word.

Which is why I’m so excited about the Eat this Book program our church just started. For the next year, Southsiders (and anyone else who wants to join us) will be reading through the Bible. We just started on Monday, so it is not to late to jump in!

You can find all the details on our church website. I’ve chosen to download the YouVersion app to my iPhone and iPad to help me keep up with it, but there are free printable schedules on the website that you can print off if you prefer paper to digital :-).

One of the things that is fun about this program is the Bible in Five videos (also on the website). If the Bible seems like an overwhelming and complicated book to you, these five minute videos will help you get the big picture of what’s going on in each book. They are very interesting and even if you don’t want to dive into the Eat this Book program, you still should check out these videos.

Our pastor, Charlie Boyd, pointed out a few weeks ago that “Every Christian should be a Bible geek.” So join me? We’ll have fun. We’ll learn a lot. We’ll be able to say we read the whole Bible in a year.
Most importantly, we’ll be filling our heads and hearts with the greatest Story every told.

Who knows what God might do if His people became people of His Word?

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Living on the Edge of a Knife

Lynn Blackburn — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 17:45:00 +0000

Today’s post was going to be all about margin.

It still is…sort of.

When I chose my One Word for 2013, Margin seemed like the obvious choice. (You can read about how Margin applies to my writing life over at The Write Conversation). I knew my life needed more margin. More space to be creative, more space to be spontaneous, more space to serve, more space to just be.

I also knew I needed to do a better job of setting my margins. Of giving myself some boundaries, of turning off the lights, of walking away from projects and being okay with the knowledge that they’ll be waiting on me tomorrow or next week.

What I didn’t realize was that living without margin is the equivalent to living my life on the very edge of a knife. Sooner or later, something is going to slip, and when it does, it’s not going to be pretty.

Last Thursday, I got a very painful lesson on the importance of margin.

I won’t go into detail, but my thumb is now sporting a very bulky bandage. I spent the weekend in a haze of pain medicine and the latest news is, “It will heal, but it’s going to take a while.”

Not what I wanted to hear.

All because I failed to maintain the margin between my thumb and the knife I was holding.

It’s a lesson I’ll be processing every time I try to pick up my son or open a zip lock bag.

Margin is the difference between living life fully and hobbling your way through each day.

Believe me…I know.

We’ll talk about margin more in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, if you have a One Word for the year, or if you have suggestions for maintaining margins, I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Grace and peace,

Lynn

photo credit: My one word button was a gift from the oh-so-generous Melanie over at Only A Breath. You should check her out!

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My One Word

Lynn Blackburn — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 17:44:00 +0000

Happy 2013 everybody!

I hope your Christmas was extra merry and your New Year is off to a great start!

I’ll be talking about my One Word for 2013 over the next few weeks, but since today is the first Thursday of the month, I’m over at The Write Conversation and I’m focused on how my One Word applies to my writing.

I’d love for you to stop by and join the conversation!

Photo credit: The very gracious Melanie over at Only A Breath designed my One Word button. She did it for me and a whole bunch of people she doesn’t know – for FREE! If you think that’s as cool as I do, maybe you could pop by her blog and check it out!

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