One not-so-fine day I woke up to catch my computer deleting all my photos. One by one, gone. Y’all. That’s a stinkin’ sinking feeling. My son’s birthday party? POOF! My daughter’s graduation? GOODBYE! Our family’s Christmas brunch from last year? DELETED!
I knew I should have heeded the warnings, but alas, I’m not good at slowing down for preventative maintenance like that. If I can stuff more in and keep going, I will.
My computer had been telling me my startup disk was full for ages, but I was “too busy” to figure out what I needed to do about it. Hitting OK to get that pesky error message to go away allowed me to get back to all the more pressing things on my to-do list.
Procrastination is my middle name.
While I thought that postponing clearing out that overloaded startup disk until a more convenient season would buy me more time, it didn’t. It just complicated my life and stressed me out later on. You always pay extra for procrastination. I hoped that simply shutting my computer down for the night would solve all its problems. It didn’t. The next morning all I saw when I opened my computer was a white screen where my photos should have been.
In my panic to restore everything, I pushed all the buttons, and googled “SOS! WHITE SCREEN OF DEATH!” like a crazy woman. I was hoping beyond all hope that some really smart guy at Google would offer me the right answers.
When the solutions felt too complicated for my non-techie brain, I sat down in defeat to eat some chocolate.
Nothing helped (well, the chocolate helped me a little, but it didn’t bring my photos back).
As a blogger, the worst possible business move is to lose all your photos. As a mom, you are supposed to protect every single memory stored in that computer. Potentially losing your son’s first day of school photos because you were too busy to delete old files or empty your computer’s trash bin is almost an unthinkable parental mistake. I was feeling all the guilt and all the stress.
Fortunately, this disaster ended well, offering me more than just a restored computer. After finally taking the time to free up space on the startup disk, my photos miraculously returned safe and sound. BLESS! But even more than the relief of seeing my life and loves once again flash before me on the screen, the calamity hit me in the head with a not-so-subtle reminder I needed to hear.
God is good at keeping me in check.
Just like I needed to heed the early warnings to free up start-up disk space on my computer to avoid calamity, I must get better at building intentionally clear space into my day. I’m a doer. I thrive when I’m busy checking things off my list and doing as much as possible, until it all crashes in around me.
My soul craves slowing down and paring down to simply be, no amount of “doing” will ever satisfy. I need that quiet time, that freed up space to re-focus, re-boot, recharge, and rejuvenate my life and my soul.
Freeing up more space to BE is my challenge to myself this summer. Might it be yours, too? Let’s make it happen.
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, my God.
Psalm 42:1 (NIV)
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Melissa,
I am so sorry about your short season of panic, but had to laugh that your default mode was chocolate. I’ve never met a problem that chocolate can’t at least soothe, if it can’t solve. I’m like you – hitting the “OK” button, as in I’ll get to it later. Sometimes later doesn’t come until it’s too late. I do the same with God. I tell Him I’ll be right with Him and then time slips away and I find myself in a place I don’t want to be (despair, disappointment, frustration, angst). I’ve learned that taking time to be with Him often heads off emotional and mental disaster. Yes, He’ll rescue me when I’m in a dire position, but He’d rather give me the tools I need along the way so as not to get to that point. When not in His Word, I do find my soul panting and I am learning to heed the signs before it’s too late. Choosing to be in His Word daily has been my best defense for life going haywire. Thanks for the encouragement to not procrastinate and do it now. Praise your pictures were restored!
Blessings,
Bev xx
What a much needed reminder! The Lord has been encouraging me to slow down, spend more time with Him, and seek His wisdom. But then different things turn up on my plate. They all look like great things and some are just too good of an opportunity to pass up. And I listen to the world who says that I don’t need to slow down, but to do more…. Thank you so much for sharing! I needed this today! ❤️
Hello Melissa!
Great post! I am not going to procrastinate and comment later! I have a grateful heart and a hot cup.of coffee, so here we go!
You have given me a great reminder to bathe myself in God’s Word each day to prepare for tough times and celebrate all the good. I tend to procrastinate, so your example of your disappearing photos is a great teachable moment for me to heed God’s voice when I need to change course.
Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!
Joy in Jesus,
Lara <
Thanks, Melissa.
This post comes at the perfect time to reassure me that a season of stepping back to “free up disk space” in my brain is truly the right move!
It is so interesting that this message came today…. Just last week, my oldest daughter helped me with my computer…cleaning it up, putting my pictures in a google file to open up space (I literally have no idea what she did, I’m just thankful that my child knew how to help me!) This summer I have been clearing out the old to make room for the season that we are in. It is a busier season, and the clutter had to go so that our home was more streamlined and worked FOR us instead of against us. I’ve been praying specifically over our family as a whole that all of us would find relief and refreshment in this purging. It is happening!! This message is a confirmation for me to keep going in the direction that I started in for my family.
Thank you for this much neeeded reminder…my wedding photos are on our old laptop that I no longer use and qe’ve Been married nine years this coming February- I think your post amongst other things is a reminder to stop putting those jobs off and make time to do the jobs!! It sounds awful as I type it!! Plus baby photos etc it’s important for the kids and for us to have those keepsake reminders of memories made. Thank you from a fellow procrastinator xx
Thank you Melissa for the wonderful reminder to slow down and just be.
Melissa,
Procrastination is another tool of the enemy. He says you’re to busy, do it later. Talk to God whenever go to work now. That is a lie that gets us in hot water. We get so caught up in everything we think we need to do right now that we neglect God. Our bodies & souls yearn for downtime to rejuvenate. Our spiritual bodies are on empty & we need to stop & refuel by getting into the word & talking to God. Priscilla Shirer had a Bible Study “Breathe”. She states that God made & mandates a Sabbath rest each week. He knew that we would need to rest & refill our tanks up for another busy week. There are many examples in the Bible where Jesus went away by Himself to rest & be with God. If He needed it then how much more do we? Let’s take a summer challenge-nay a year long challenge to make Sabbath Rest a weekly ritual. We will all feel much better & be more productive.
Blessings 🙂
Beth,
I never thought that procrastination was used as a tool by the enemy. It makes sense though. I’ve recently only learnt that the negative talk we experience is in fact the enemy trying to infiltrate our lives, trying to break us and challenge any relationship or actions we are doing for God. I’m of the mindset of I’m God’s child and I’m not going to get caught up in any negative thoughts and now procrastination either!! Thanks for the inspiration here.
Jas
Hi, Melissa! I can only imagine the panic rushing through when you saw those pictures vanish! I’m glad you were able to recover them.
Thank you for this much-needed reminder to slow down and just “be”, recharge, and let God speak into my soul.
Melissa, I can relate! A couple weeks ago I accidentally looked at my computer wrong and POOF! I deleted all the vacation photos I took for our friends!! (Every year they let us join them, and every year I make them a cd of pics). Of all years this was the WORST year ever to lose them; the dad is experiencing an illness that will eventually claim his life and this might have been our last joint vacation… I pleaded for Jesus to intervene. He answered in the form of my husband purchasing a program that restored the deleted pics. PRAISE JESUS! The great Restorer of our souls knows what we need. He’s paid the cost and has the ability to bring back what we thought was forever lost, benefiting others.
Space to breathe. To feel. To allow time to sort through all of the emotions that I stuff deeply so that I can be strong. Time to crawl up into my Abba Father’s lap and pour out my soul to Him. To release the tension that always exists in my neck and shoulders from carrying the weights I was never meant to carry alone. To enjoy the sound of bird song or rain falling or the sight of the sun shining (haven’t seen that for awhile here on the east coast!) or clouds moving. To breathe deeply and just be. Every day? I want to try that. Time every day to be refreshed and singularly loved by my Savior. To bask in it. This will be my new habit to reach for. For sanity’s sake.