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Don't waste your time chasing butterflies. Mend your garden, and the butterflies will come.

– Mario Quintana

Over the past 25 years, I've interviewed hundreds of people all around the world and written stories about them for various magazines and newspapers. (Most recently, it was a British couple working in Kenya, and that profile will appear in the Summer 2021 issue of Inspire magazine. Hurray!) While I've had the opportunity to speak with a few well-known figures, most of the people I've interviewed have been ordinary people doing ordinary things that God has used in extraordinary ways. 

Being so comfortable in the interviewer's chair, it always surprises me when someone asks to interview me (I've had several invitations over the years). So I have an idea how the people I've interviewed must have felt! Last week, my friend April Hardwick, who works with Faith Mission Canada in northern Ontario, interviewed me for an episode of their Friday Fellowship Live program. I got to talk about my journey as a writer / illustrator, why faith and joy are key themes in my life, and what I have missed most during the pandemic. If you're interested, you can watch the interview here

Or keep reading below for some of my thoughts on getting older and the passage of time. (It's a message for younger people, too). Have a fabulous week!

P.S. Don't forget to enter the June giveaway! Click here to tell me, by midnight on July 3, what YOU missed most during the COVID-19 restrictions. The randomly chosen winner will get a surprise gift from me. :)

P.P.S. You may have noticed this week's issue has my name instead of the newsletter's name in the "From" field. I'm doing a test to see whether it affects how many people see it in their inbox. 

I'm getting old! (I know, I know... aren't we all?) Three weeks into being 49, I already feel run down. Well, it's not because of my age, exactly; I did spend the last week moving into my new office / art studio space. I'm not nearly done (and I didn't even bother to repair and paint the walls after the former tenant left) but I've been exhausted every evening this week. It doesn't help that I haven't been sleeping well, for various reasons. 

I'm not complaining. I am grateful for being healthy and able to pursue new ventures in my life. I'm just growing increasingly aware of how much more stamina and resilience I had ten or fifteen years ago. I took it for granted that I would always be able to stay up past midnight working on things. If you'd told me I'd conk out after supper and then have to drag myself to bed later, I would have thought you were grossly exaggerating. But time marches on—carrying off some of our youthful energy with it—whether we're paying attention or not.

My word for 2021 is TIME. Now more than ever, I recognize that I should never take anything for granted, especially the notion that time will somehow stand still and I'll always be able to do whatever I'm doing today. If you're younger than I am, appreciate what you're able to do right now, but don't forget that time will age you. (Hopefully, that is. The only alternative to ageing is dying young.)

Having said that, getting older doesn't mean you have to stop being productive or adventurous or curious. Sometimes I think I've lived more in the last four years than in the previous 40 . . . but it has taken more effort, more courage, more determination, more faith. It has come with the understanding that nothing is more valuable than time. You can always earn more money, but you cannot get more time. 

J.R.R. Tolkien said: "All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

How are you investing or using the time you've been given? I'm not suggesting you obsess about the details of your schedule or fuss with time management, but rather to step back and look at the bigger picture of where your life will inevitably lead you if you continue to do the things you're doing. Is that where you want to go? Should your time be spent on other things? Should you be resting more? Spending more time with family? Taking more time for your hobbies? Cutting back on screen time? Pursuing a different career path? 

Don't be scared to make changes you know in your heart are ultimately better for you. You don't need to rush into them, but do yourself a favour and don't stay stuck where you don't really want to be.

I leave you with these words from Ephesians 5:15-17 — "Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is."

whimsy & wisdom from the world wide web

Every so often I have to rewatch John Branyan's brilliant and hilarious retelling of the story of The Three Little Pigs. You've never heard it like this. A must-see for Shakespeare fans. :)

I confess that I like my popcorn buttered. Like... a LOT of butter. But perhaps you're bored of your usual popcorn flavouring. Feeling adventurous? Try some of these options... and please let me know if you like any of them!  

Author Jon Bloom looks at the surprising link between humility and happiness.  

INCHOATE

(adj) Being in a beginning or early stage.

Pride makes us yawn at the Grand Canyon and fawn at the mirror.

– Jon Bloom

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