Every year I choose one word for the year. It is sort of a guiding light, a theme, or a focal point for the year. This year my word was FOCUS, and Focus on Finishing is my theme for December.
The first project I finished was frogs in the picture above. I made them years ago, and they had gotten quite dirty and needed a makeover. Every morning, as I went out for my coffee and time with Jesus, I would say to myself: I need to clean those up, but I never actually did it. This year as we were decorating the porch for Christmas, Steve commented they needed Christmas outfits; their summer ones were out of place with the other decorating he was doing.
I wholeheartedly agreed and promptly went to my stash to see what I could find. Fortunately, I found the original pattern, so I didn't have to design all the clothes from scratch. I was pleased to find big enough pieces of red and white stripe fabric with gold accents and some solid red fabric in my stash to dress them in. I used scraps of fur for the hats and a muff. There was even enough to make a small banner to hang with them.
Steve was thrilled with how they turned out and deemed them worthy of a place on our Christmas porch. I think these outfits will be good for Valentine's Day also. I'll only need a different banner and a heart or two. And now their summer clothes are washed and ready to go.
So far, my Focus on Finishing is going well. Besides cleaning and redressing the frogs, I've finished several other projects. I've glued one chair back together and upholstered another one that had sat unfinished for 12 years. I've started cleaning out some storage areas and getting them organized. In the studio, sewing projects that began at the beginning of the year, are being finished. I'm also making plans for finishing other UFOs.
Finishing up projects, or at least having a solid plan to finish them, is a great way to end the year. Facing all those unfinished projects sitting in my studio was a creativity killer. Seeing those small unfinished projects around the house zapped my energy. Focusing on finishing those projects makes time and room for new ideas and inspiration. Completing those projects didn't take much time, but the relief of not having them "hanging over my head" was very freeing.
You may think this is not the best time to tackle those projects. But you can begin, even if it's just a plan. Remember, with the miracle birth of Jesus at Christmas, a plan was put into action. It was thirty-three years later when He said it was finished.
And then a greater miracle happened! The resurrection. Do you see that? The biggest miracle happened after the project was finished! You can now be resurrected with Jesus, have fellowship with the Father, and partake in all the benefits there are for being a child of God.
Luke 12:40 says, "Keep alert and be ready at all times. For I promise you that the Son of Man will surprise you and appear when you don't expect Him." As I read this verse in my devotions this week, I heard Holy Spirit say, "Be ready. I am about to surprise you and show up in ways you aren't expecting. Angels are stepping in to do my bidding, so My will is done.
Focus on finishing strong, and I will do what you can't." How exciting is that! I can't wait to see what His surprise is!
Just as Jesus' birth was a miracle that led to an even greater one, be expecting miracles in your life that will lead to greater ones in the upcoming year. God has so much planned for you, marvelous things you haven't even considered.
Do you have unfinished projects that are zapping your creative energy? Make December this year your time to Focus on Finishing. Let's all start the new year out with room for our imagination to grow and our creativity to flow as Jesus shows up when we least expect it.
To help you get started, I'm sharing my project list and planner with you. For .25 you can download and print it as many times as you need. Click on image below to take you to the product page.
Related Posts
September One Word Journey
August One Word Journey
5 comments
I don’t know how I missed this the first time around.
Bravo 👏
What a great reflection on the word ‘focus’. I sometimes am too eager to see results of my work and to think that Jesus waited (and still does, in a sense) makes me mindful to be patient and do what I plan to with joy and openness.
What a great Focus for the end of the year! There are so many things that each of us starts but never finishes. Sometimes that’s okay, but sometimes we need to FOCUS and push through. Thanks for being an example for this, Jodee. Love the frogs! You’re such a creative.
Jodee, great way to illustrate your word, “Focus”! Fun article, great advice and I learned an important lesson on “focus”, just take the first step! Thank you!
Jodee, this is a great principle of focus – to just begin, “You may think this is not the best time to tackle those projects. But you can begin, even if it’s just a plan.”
Cute planner pages!