Today I edited some video clips into a two-minute movie to show our church members how to install our online church directory on their phones. Our administrative assistant, Melissa, and I had recorded about six parts that had to be pieced together to produce a coherent message.
She did a great job explaining, but at one point we had to switch from my son’s phone to another friend’s phone because he didn’t have space available for the app. The first part of one clip was good, but there was a little goof toward the end. We stopped and started that part over. I clipped and moved and added titles to clarify a couple of steps.
I watched and tweaked it about ten times before I was satisfied that it would sound and look good on Sunday morning. Done!
Do you ever wish you could edit your life?
I sure do.
It would be nice to always have people see me at my best.
When I stumble over my words or say something hurtful, it would be awesome if I could move the marker back in time, cut out my blunder, and start over.
I could scrub broken ankles, bouts with depression, and car accidents from my timeline.
Hours and hours of time frittered away scrolling social media could be deleted and only the productive moments would remain.
We all know that’s not how life works. We’re stuck living out every second of the life we’ve been given—the good, the bad, the exciting, and the boring.
Living life unedited can inspire others. Not trying to hide our failures and setbacks can encourage people to keep going when they have similar experiences.
Let’s do our best and enjoy the life we’re living—in all its unedited glory.
“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way.” (Colossians 1:9–10 NIV)
Do you ever wish you could edit your life? How can focusing on God help you to do your best and live life unedited?
This week I’m attending PENCON—a virtual conference (at least this year) for Christian editors. I’m enjoying it so much. I’m learning new things about editing and being challenged to improve my skills. It has also been encouraging to hear from other editors who lament the fact that they’ll never catch every error in a client’s project, but they are determined to do the very best they can to make an author’s words shine for their readers.
Authors are constantly being mentioned in the sessions and the conversations we are having. After all, editors wouldn’t have jobs if there weren’t writers who need editing.
A writer has to be trusting and accept the changes the editor makes. If the author rejects every change and ignores every suggestion for improvement, their piece of writing will remain rough and possibly unclear.
Inexplicably, there are authors like that. They pay an editor large sums of money for their services, and then fight the changes the editor wants to make. The writer wants to hold on to the precious words they’ve crafted, unwilling to move things around, delete, or rewrite.
It’s much better when an author will agree to the changes made or suggested by a good editor. They might grieve the loss of a scene or character they’ve grown to love, but the writer will let it go because they trust that the editor has the good of their writing in mind.
The author and editor develop a mutually beneficial relationship that results in a polished project that will have the greatest impact on a reader—whether that impact is for learning, inspiration, or entertainment.
All of us have an editor in life.
It’s God, of course, working in us through the Holy Spirit. He firmly points out changes that need to be made in our lives. Some things need a little tweaking, others need to be rewritten, and many may need to be deleted.
It hurts. We love our lives. Even if we don’t love every part, we’ve at least gotten comfortable with our habits and relationships.
When the Holy Spirit points out something that needs to change, we may want to reject his suggestion, like a stubborn writer refuses to accept editing.
When we do that, we’re destined to remain rough and confused in our lives. We’ll never become the person God wants us to be. We’ll never make the greatest impact we can on the world around us.
We have to trust the editor. God has our best in mind, and he wants to make us into the image of Jesus, his son. He won’t change our personality or voice, but he’ll change us and make us the very best we can be if we work with him.
Let’s not be clueless and stubborn. Let’s be teachable and accept the changes.
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:12–13 NIV)
Do you work with the Holy Spirit when he wants to make changes in your life? How can focusing on God help you to accept those changes and become more like Christ?
We were planning to have an Open House on Saturday for any church members who wanted to come. I had baking to do and things to clean before we welcomed guests.
But first I wanted to finish up an editing project I had been given about a week and a half before that. I finished up the main editing for the book and then I started checking scripture references. I spent a couple of hours on it, and as the clock ticked closer to noon I could feel the panic starting to well up in me. I wasn’t even halfway through the book, so I knew it was going to take me quite a while to finish.
The baking. The cleaning. The other things on my list of things to do before the Open House. Gary had offered to help with some of it if he could do it in the early afternoon.
I didn’t see how it was all going to work.
And then, all of the thoughts began:
Why didn’t I work on this editing project last week and get it done and off my plate?I’m probably missing things because I’m hurrying, and then the author won’t want to hire me for future projects. I’m a bad editor.
Why hadn’t I done a little more baking earlier in the week instead of leaving it until Friday? Also, I could have cleaned more in the last couple of weeks instead of letting it go until the last minute. You know, if I had a better schedule I could keep the whole house clean so that it was ready for someone to visit at any time. I’m a bad housewife.
I haven’t even started making Christmas cards. I didn’t get that done last year, either. I’m going to lose touch with people because I’ve been lazy. I’m a bad friend.
More thoughts like these were crowding into my head and I got less and less done on my editing job because I wasn’t focusing. I had flashbacks of September of 2014 when I got so depressed during the teaching job.
This time I asked for help instead of trying (and failing) to handle it myself. I told Gary how stressed I was feeling and how I didn’t know how I was going to get the editing done and have time to get ready for the Open House.
He suggested I tell the author I just couldn’t get it done today. I didn’t want to do that because I imagined my client sitting by his computer, waiting for his book to come back so he could move on and get to the publishing phase. But Gary was right, so I sent my author friend a progress report, explaining the situation and asking for a few more days.
I shut my computer and went to the kitchen. As I filled the freezer with Almond Banket and as we dipped Peanut Butter Balls in white chocolate, my stress level lowered. After we cleaned and prepared, I felt more ready for welcoming our friends into our home.
When I got back to my computer after supper, I was surprised and grateful to find an email from my editing client. He told me that he was running behind on the rough draft of the next book he was working on. It would be “a gift” to him if I would wait until later next week to get it back to him. Then he wished me well with the open house.
What a nice surprise.
And what a lesson in handling stress. (The following list is not exhaustive, but it’s a start.)
Ask for help. You can’t always get out of doing something stressful, but asking someone for help could open your eyes to a different way of doing something. Just talking to someone about your feelings can relieve some of that anxiety. (If stress is often getting in the way of “normal” life, you may want to consider going to a professional counselor for help.)
Do something. Sitting still and thinking, thinking, thinking will just add to the stress you’re feeling. Getting something–anything!–done can get you moving in the right direction and lower the stress you’re feeling.
Change your thinking. It doesn’t do you any good to ruminate on all of the things you aren’t doing right today or the things you’ve done wrong in the past. You need to catch those thoughts and focus on what you can do right now. Choose to think positively about the future, changing one thought at a time.
None of us can escape stress. It’s an inevitable part of life.
What we can do is learn coping skills and practice so we get better at handling stress.
Just think of the peace we can have if we get better at noticing stress and taking steps to relieve it right away instead of letting it turn into a crisis.
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” (Isaiah 26:3 NIV)
Do you let stress build until it paralyzes you? How can focusing on God help you to handle stress in healthy ways?
* This feels like a good time to add a link to my “Christmas Stress Song” video on YouTube. I hope it helps you deal with some of the stress of the Christmas season.
