Blogger: Wendy Lawton
Location: Back in the Central California Books & Such Office
I’m back home, fondly remembering my time away and savoring my return home. That’s your final word for this week– savor.
I thought a lot about that word over Christmas. I love Christmas– the decorations, the food, the family, the music, the smells. Everything. I’ve learned to savor Christmas. Confession: Our tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving and does not come down until epiphany. This year we took down the outside lights so no one would know we were still fully decorated inside and still enjoying the sparkle and warmth. We savor the whole season.
But then I savor spring as well. And I love fall. I savor time with my grown kids and with my almost two-year-old grandson. I savor food (too much) and movies and books. (Books!) I savor time with friends and long evenings with only my husband. You are probably nodding your heads, right?
As writers, part of that savoring is seeing the world in a deeper way. Looking at things from all angles. Using our five senses and examining things in all their dimensions. Our job is to see things deeply and then to help our readers see them in a new way. G. K Chesterton wrote, “The modern world has far too little understanding of the art of keeping young. Its notion of progress has been to pile one thing on top of another, without caring if each thing was crushed in turn, People forgot that the human soul can enjoy a thing most when there is time to think about it and be thankful for it. And by crowding things together they lost the sense of surprise; and surprise is the secret of joy.”
People forgot that the human soul can enjoy a thing most when there is time to think about it and be thankful for it. Wise words.
Do you savor things? Do you ever set aside time to just do nothing but enjoy the moment? Do you feel guilty about “doing nothing” or do you realize it is the secret of joy as Chesterton said. Encourage us to savor. Tell us how you do it.
I savor every early morning when it’s just me, my cup of coffee, Jesus and the upcoming sun. I treasure the quietness, the sweetness. 🙂 Have a great weekend, Wendy!
I’m sure you’ve heard the quote, “wherever you are, be all there”?
I think that’s such a key to savoring. Putting away our multi-tasking tendencies to “be all there” with loved ones, in our devotions, with our Lord… a simple strategy, but tricky when we are (or at least I am) so entrenched in the streamlining mindset.
A “joy journal” is a neat way to savor, too (as “1,000 Gifts” by Ann Voskamp points out), and to cultivate a heart of thankfulness.
Thanks for the encouragement to savor!
I’ve had a habit for 20 or so years now to occaisionally “mark” a moment in my mind. To set aside a moment that I know I will want to look back on and remember. There’s that moment driving home in the car after work when I felt utter and complete peace wrap around me. There’s that moment when I was wrapped in my husband’s arms, utterly loved. That moment when the sun slanted through the window at church and warmed my body while the people around me warmed my heart. That moment in my grandmother’s nursing home room when we watched it snow and smiled. Marking. It’s like a box of ribbon that I can sift through any time I like.
Sometimes I’m better at it than others. 🙂 Lately, I’ve been taking 15 minutes each afternoon to chat with God. It’s my time to savor…everything. Have a lovely weekend, Wendy.
Thank you for your thoughtful insights about my word for the year. 🙂 It hadn’t occurred to me to apply savoring to my writing and readers as well. So enjoyed this week of words.
As a visual learner sometimes I take mental “photos” of things I want to keep. Now I’m going to get away from the keyboard and savor reading a good book. Thanks for the inspiration.
This has been a great week of posts, Wendy. Thank you. I’ve savored each one.
Been thinking about my one word for the year. Last year it was Patience. This year… I’m thinking Trust.
I’m so glad to read that someone else leaves up their Christmas decorations! We savor them too — just took them down yesterday and today.
Wendy,
I have savored each of your posts this week. Wound tightly around each truth is not only the deep faith that you’re showing us but also the obedience you’re offering to God as you carry out His work. It’s such a blessing to know you’re praying over all you do and that you’re seeking Him in ways that are large and small. It is an example I seek to follow.
I’ve never been one to ask the Lord for a word-of-the-year, but this year He gave me one anyway. Decisions. Making good ones. Understanding and moving forward from those that were not so good. Waiting for Him in the moments when there is no clear direction. Nothing like a challenge, is there?
So I pray that the Lord continues to do His will through you and that He also continues to bless Books & Such as he Has so mightily in the past!
This is beautiful, Wendy, and so true. You mentioned all the thing that mean the most to me, too.
I think “savor” is related to “ponder,” both of them lovely words. At today’s typically hectic pace, few people take time for either one.
For too long I missed the present moment because I kept my eye fixed on what I had to do next. Lately I’ve been learning to savor the moment and take time to ponder its richness and I’ve become more mindful of God’s hand in the “ordinary” stuff of every day. It seems such a small thing but it makes a major difference in how I look at life.