Margin

I've had a to-do on my phone for about 3 months to write about the importance of creating space. #irony

A dear friend wrote to me the other day - with pen, paper, and stamp - and asked me about my focus for 2019. It got me thinking. My first thought was that we all sure need friends like that. My next thought was that I'm not sure I'm ready to let go of 2018's focus on creating margin. I think it's a meditation that needs refinement, but not one that I'm done with yet that's done with me yet.

As y'all already know, I'm a doer. Lordy, I'm good at doing. Yet in the wisdom of my 39 years (ha ha) I've come to realize that the magic really comes in the margins. The space around the doing. The extra. The part set aside for the sheer joy of life. That's where relationship happens. That's where Jesus really resides. In the margins. And I am terrible at leaving margin in my life. Because if your life is judged by what is accomplished, then the only thing that makes sense is striving to pack every moment full. But if your life is judged by God's economy, well, that striving really needs to get replaced with abiding. Breathing. Being.

I've looked for alternatives to the word "margin" for this. There are some good ones:

• surplus (abundant lives certainly have plenty!)
• play (I like this one - there has to be play in the system to have room to play. heh.)
• space
• latitude
• leeway

I like these, but so far the best word I've found for this space is "margin" so I guess I'll stick with that as my focus for 2019.

And there are some great verses to guide my focus in 2019:

Light, space, zest—
    that’s God!

Psalm 27:1

Hurry and help me;
    I want some wide-open space in my life!

Psalm 38:21

God, the one and only—
    I’ll wait as long as he says.
Everything I need comes from him,
    so why not?
He’s solid rock under my feet,
    breathing room for my soul,
An impregnable castle:
    I’m set for life.

Psalm 62:1-2

Give me space for healing, and mountain air.

Psalm 69:29

He stood me up on a wide-open field;
    I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

2 Samuel 22:17

The reality is that I believe that there's magic in the margins. That in God's economy, being and doing freedom and beauty is as fruitful more fruitful than my striving for accomplishment.

So I think another year of letting God teach these truths to my heart is in order.

"Margin." I'll let that word be my meditation for 2019.