Dear Friend,
This week you told me you’ve been given a gift. You’ve always had a dream to write a travel book. You’ve worked on it piecemeal, year after year, trip after trip. You want to inspire people to take sabbatical—a tradition rooted in the human need for rest and refreshment.
It’s a beautiful vision. Your words and images can lead people into the God-given sabbath season that our hustle culture desperately needs.*
In all these years of adulthood you’ve taken your career as an entrepreneur seriously. You’ve built successful businesses around the world. You truly know how to hustle and how to bring in a buck.
But in this season of your life, your husband’s business is doing well, and you don’t have to bring in a paycheck. Wow. What a change in your identify—from the powerhouse businesswoman to a woman with a dream and time to work on it.
So now you have time to work on your book. What a gift!
And yet, it's hard to receive, isn't it? Do I deserve such a gift? Who am I to have time off to pursue a creative endeavor? Surrounded by money-making culture, how can I explain what I’m doing with my time? Is this a waste of time? What if this book goes nowhere? What if I fail? What if I succeed?!
I don’t know all the questions you have, but those and more would be rattling around in my head. From self-doubt to guilt. From second-guessing to an urge to earn it. It’s enough to paralyze anyone.
You, my friend, have not been paralyzed. You continue to move forward on your project in impressive ways. But embracing this time hasn't been easy. I get it.
Your husband’s advice is not to worry, just to receive the gift.
He has a point. It would be strange for a child who receives a present on Christmas morning to feel so guilty about receiving the gift that she never plays with it. To have so many questions about the gift. To feel a strong urge to break open her piggy bank and pay her parents for the gift.
When we think about a gift, it really says more about the Gift-Giver than about the gift recipient, doesn’t it? It says a lot about the relationship between the Gift-Giver and the receiver. The gift indicates how the Gift-Giver feels about the recipient.
It shows the love of the Gift-Giver.
Let’s take this a bit further.
What does the Gift-Giver want? He wants the gift to be enjoyed.
It was given in delight—as a symbol of joy. So the gift can be received with delight.
We don’t have to feel guilty about delighting in a gift. The world already has plenty of anguish and suffering. We don’t have to allow darkness to cast its shadow over these moments that God intends for our pure delight.
So, let’s rejoice in the gift.
Yes, you will labor over this book. Yes, you will pour effort and time into making this the best work of your hands. But ultimately, you are taking the gift of time and spinning it into something beautiful: a gift you will give others.
Your friend,
Melana
*See references to rest and restoration years called the Year of Jubilee in Leviticus 25, Leviticus 27, and Ezekiel 46.
Ponder. Pray. Practice.
Have you ever received a gift that was hard for you to receive? What feelings came up for you?
Chew on this: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights” (James 1:17 NIV). As adults, it’s easy to imagine that the things we get in life are results of our own hard work. But God gave us breath in our lungs and the ability to use our skills to earn a living. Consider some large and small gifts in your life. Where did they come from? What kinds of responses rise up for you as you note these gifts?
Paul seems to describe a cycle of giving here: “And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others… Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God” (1 Corinthians 9:8,11-12 NLT). Reflect on how others may have received a gift that they passed on to you. Now you get to pass on the gift to others. Who receives the gratitude in such a cycle? God! What gifts do you currently have (time, resources, talent) that could be passed on to others?