"Good morning!"

"Hello! you're back! I'm so glad to see you again," she said loudly, her happy voice echoing around the open room, circling back, and embracing her. She smiled hugely, sighed with contentment, and headed for the swim spa rather than hopping in the car to spend her day at a desk.

I was talking to myself the first day after leaving behind a good job. No, I wasn't going crazy. I was simply thrilled with the privilege of speaking my mind, writing without censorship, and befriending and connecting with anyone I pleased.

By 9.30am today, I'd scrubbed two outdoor decks with a 3" brush (it had hailed, leaving a wonderful natural pumice behind... and I admit to not knowing where the power washer is.) Skittering around in rubber boots, with water from the hose splashing around me and the sun on my face, made me feel like a kid again. When I came inside, I set the oven to preheat and slapped a chunk of bread dough on a floured board to rise. From my desk, I can smell the baking stone warming. There will be warm, fresh bread for lunch to accompany the homemade soup from yesterday.

My to-do list for the day is short: get Vit D (check!), vigorous exercise (check!), read books and articles toward the dissertation's literature review, and offer God thanks and gratitude for the privilege of flowing through his day in the way he made me.

My business mentor came for our final consultation Tuesday. Over four sessions, she helped set up my study by identifying my natural working rhythm. How do I work best, happily pacing tasks and creativity? It came to this: I gather (ideas float unformed); percolate (sort and categorize possibilities into to-dos and how-tos); engage (work); flit (distractions drain off excess energy); and climb (build a stepping stone to the next thing.)

Everyone has a natural "best" flow, and if anyone can help you identify it, it's Lynn. I highly recommend her services--especially for students, employees, or others in leadership or transition, ready to step up into the next phase of life or work. I'll pass your contact info to her if you want to know more. Meanwhile, "Good morning!" to you, from my functional, beautiful office.

Read more:
*Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever: his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100 NIV

*Plant your seed in the morning and keep busy all afternoon, for you don't know if profit will come from one activity or another—or maybe both."Ecclesiastes 11:6 NLT

*Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14 NLT