Apprehension and a little anxiety accosted me as I prepared for the (somewhat delayed) book launch party for our third book in the Be Still Series, Explore, Enjoying the Creation of God.

The idea popped into my head as I went through the editing process with some amazing moms (my husband and I designed Explore to be used as a family devotion and engage kids with the amazing world outside) but busyness, holidays, and travel distracted me.

I didn’t think about it again until after the new year when I received an email from a friend, encourager, and owner of a cute little art studio called Created. She wanted to meet and discuss ideas, goals, visions for the year ahead. As we talked, I confessed my book launch party, birthed the plan and set a date.

As the day rapidly approached, I swatted apprehension and anxiety away, trying not to give life to the question, “what were you thinking?” While mulling, praying, and reading one of the many books on my 2020 reading list, I came across the phrase, “accept whatever shows up.”

Exactly what I needed to hear.

The phrase came from the book, The INFJ Writer by Lauren Sapala (I’ll talk about the book in my upcoming Saturday book review) in her chapter Artistic Vision is Not the Same as Artistic Reality. She goes on to say, “Once we learn how to go with the flow and accept how life is unfolding in this moment, right now, we open ourselves up to experiencing a lot more joy just in being, without the need to prove anything through the act of doing.

That’s tough for the temperament of an INFJ. That’s tough for me. I’ve expended a lot of energy in my life lamenting unfulfilled expectations, disappointments, and frustrated plans. I desperately needed a new mindset. I grabbed it. I clung to it. I walked it out.

And that has made all the difference.