Welcome to the Determined to Dance podcast with your host, Jennifer Hallmark. Today’s episode, Ordinary Life: Dancing Past Obstacles, focuses on the unexpected and how to move forward.

Are you ready? The world would have us march to its chaotic beat but God invites us to dance in His will and His way. Let’s take a moment to be energized, refreshed, and motivated to face the day, one spin and twirl at a time.

Show notes: Ordinary Life: Dancing Past Obstacles

I’m at the mall, getting a pedicure, and writing this article. I really needed this because I’ve got to have a moment to think.

If you caught last week’s episode, you’ll remember I mentioned that I was in reevaluation mode. Taking time to see where I’ve been, where I am, and where I am going. Sounded great at the time.

But…

I’ve just found out that time is not on my side. Let me explain. For years, I’ve had an on-again, off-again problem with my right shoulder. I blame it on softball, discus and shot put in high school track, and farming. It’s gotten much worse and I’ve had several doctor visits lately. Then an MRI.

I thought maybe I had a bone spur. Or pulled muscle. Instead, I have a full-thickness tear of my supra-something tendon in my shoulder. Ouch. I’m waiting for my specialist appointment but from what I’ve read, surgery is probably the best option.

The unexpected. An obstacle to say the least. What do you do when you’re in the middle of a boot-scooting line dance and your feet are kicked out from under you?

Wow. Insert a heavy sigh here and a wide-eyed emoji. Some whining and a tantrum. Mourning and fussing. Sure, I probably need some rest but this isn’t what I had in mind.

Surgery on my writing arm is a major obstacle to my writing, blogging, and podcasting.

So, it’s time to move to a different level of reevaluation. A different plan that I had in mind. As I wait for the doctor's visit and probable surgery date, I’m setting a deadline to get my regular and writing life in order.

Maybe my search for order can help you to if an obstacle has suddenly landed in front of you. It could be sickness, changes in your family, a loss, or moving away from where you live. In other words, a barrier to ordinary life. Here’s my list:

I’m giving myself a little time to deal with the shock. Not rushing through it. Not stuffing it. Mourning before I move on. I’m telling God how I feel. He knows anyway and saying it to Him and to trusted friends' help.
I’m making a list of anything I might need to do now. Mine consists of: (a) house obligations (b) Yard obligations (c) Church obligations (d) Word Weavers obligations (e) blog & podcast obligations. Examples are: Finish painting my study, finish pruning the bushes for winter (or see that someone does it since I can’t), finish the update on the church website, and load and schedule as many posts and podcasts as I can before surgery.
I’m crossing out everything that can wait. I’m taking my time as I evaluate each item. I’ve decided to postpone my fall cleaning until spring. A little dust never hurt anyone, right?
I’m ordering the tasks. I like to start with the easy ones so I’ve already written and loaded my Friday Fiction blog posts through January. I’ll keep whittling away at the list.
I’m setting a deadline. Delegate everything, I can. (Like the bush trimming and painting) Again, putting off what I can. Like participating in NaNoWriMo, which is writing a new novel in the month of November. My ultimate deadline to work through these steps will probably be a week before surgery.
Start.

Even though I won’t be on the dance floor, in a way, I can rest, read, pray, and encourage other dancers while I recuperate. How about you? I’ve found that God can use any time and any season we’re in for our good if we’ll relax and let go.

Let’s pray: Father God, I don’t like for my plans to change. Really, I don’t care for change at all. But you know the beginning from the end and I choo...