God’s Nudges

God nudges me. Actually, I believe that God nudges everyone even though most people probably aren’t aware of it.  I am aware that He definitely nudges me. I am trying to not only pay attention to God’s nudges but to be cognizant of them when they happen.

For instance, I am the editor of my church’s newsletter, The Crier. Because I was receiving things late and it was causing me stress, we (actually Pastor Rich) established a firm deadline each month which is the second Tuesday of the month at midnight. If something comes in after that, I am not supposed to accept it. We stuck by this deadline for the past nine months or so (I can’t remember exactly when we started it). The idea being I will then work on The Crier the following weekend, get it to our church secretary, Beverly, by the next Tuesday and it will be mailed out the next day.

In the past couple of months, there have been a couple of occasions when I have been asked if someone could PLEASE turn something in late. It was an important item and since I hadn’t started working on it yet, could they please miss the deadline. Being the softy that I am, I have always said yes. Although sometimes with the reminder of the “firm” deadline.

Last weekend I was supposed to work on The Crier. After all, it was the weekend after the second Tuesday of the month. But I began thinking about it and, remembered that, usually, during the summer, we combine two Criers into one. Call it the Summer Crier. Either June and July or July and August. This year we are doing June and July. That way, since I am on vacation in June, I won’t have to worry about getting it done before or after my vacation. But last weekend it occurred to me that, since we were putting off mailing it since it is a double issue, I didn’t necessarily need to work on it yet. So I took a nap instead.

Now this is unusual for me. I am really good at doing things when they need to get done and not pushing deadlines. If I put things off until the last minute then the quality of the product I produce, be it The Crier, the church website or the church’s power points, won’t be as good as it could be. So what was my problem last weekend? Why did I chose to nap instead of doing my work?

Well, I received an e-mail from Pastor Rich today asking if they (he and Vicar Karen) could add in a last minute article. He knew I hadn’t worked on it yet and was hoping, even though it was WAY past the deadline, they could still include something because it was very important. I wrote back that it wouldn’t be a problem. I received what Vicar Karen had written and it was beautiful. About having Visitor Weekends at our church so as to be deliberate in inviting people to come worship with us.

All of this led me to think about God’s nudges. Why did I put off working on The Crier last weekend when I should be doing it? Why did I feel compelled to nap instead of sitting at my computer? The answer….God was nudging me. He knew that Pastor Rich and Vicar Karen would be meeting this week and that Visitor Weekends would come up. He knew that the article should be included in the Summer Crier so that His Word would be spread and His work would be done. He knew this would happen so He nudged me.

As I said at the beginning, I am trying to not only pay attention when God nudges me, because sometimes it is blatantly obvious, but also to pay attention when it has happened. Give credit where credit is due, so to speak. To God goes all the credit and all the glory. I am just His servant trying my best to do His will.