God's in the Details

Right now I am working on several big things. The most notable of these are the musical and NaNoWriMo, but there's also the day-to-day classes, intramural soccer, classes, and Bible study which make up the dividable portions of my day. But among all these big things, and in part because of them, are scattered many little things. According to Wikipedia, the phrase "the devil's in the details" came originally from "God is in the detail." There is a slight difference in the meaning, but for me, I know God is in the details in my life.

Let me explain. Right now, I have so many things to do and monitor and work on, and I know I can't have gotten through so well as I have been by myself. Little things keep falling together. Small circumstances happen in such a way to remind me of this, help me with that, inform me of other circumstances. Sometimes I'm just barely hanging on and getting through, and if I could I would just lie in bed and not get up. But something's keeping me going, and it's not me. It's all the things that happen, like a friend asking after me at just the right time, or being able to help me at the right moment. It's when things go well in rehearsal just when I'm about to cry in frustration. It's when the thousand "Help me God, I'm drowning" prayers are answered more abundantly than I could have imagined. I am so glad that someone other than me is directing that I can hardly express it.

I can't imagine what my life would be like without God right now. How else could I come up with 1,667 words a day, get all my homework done, play soccer about three times a week, not oversleep, rehearse for five or six or seven hours a night, read, and maintain some form of contact with my friends and boyfriend?

And I know I'm not the only person who feels overwhelmed. The whole cast of the musical is probably there right now, as well as countless people you may know who will never read this, people here at Taylor and people on opposite sides of the country. Some people may need more help than I do, in the big things and in countless small things.

In God all things hold together (Colossians 1:17). I hope you can see it in all your small circumstances and all your big projects. I hope He remains your vision in your difficult times. Because really, who do you want to be in the details?

NaNo Update

November is going to be a crazy month.

This is typical of NaNoWriMo, but I've already complained about how busy I am. It's tech weekend for the musical, which means we're getting lights and makeup and set and costume changes aligned with music, with seven-hour rehearsals and lots of problems along the way. I've gotten most of my writing done in the long intervals between my scenes as the people on stage go over and over scene transitions. I help with that occasionally, but I can still get a lot of work done.

I've been a bit behind on my word count, but I make it up the next day. Today I broke 10,000, which is always a nice feeling. That extra digit really emphasizes just how far you've gone -- and hey, I'm a fifth of the way there.

It's wonderful being able to talk to the people at Taylor about NaNo. I've never had a friend closer than 300 miles away doing it, and now I know several people here who are. It's really fun. Perhaps I should ask about a write-in or some other event and see how it goes.

Still, there is the ever-present homework and a looming research paper, along with all the normal busynesses of life. One of the really cool things about NaNoWriMo, though, is how it makes you maximize your time -- otherwise you can get nothing done.

One weekend down, three to go. Onward, fellow writers!