It’s January so the inevitable sorting, tidying and clearing out is going on. I completed one drawer in the kitchen, throwing out the blades for an electric knife, the main body of which was thrown several years ago. Instead of carrying on in the kitchen as would be logical, yesterday I went through my fabric and sewing clutter. Part of the reason for this switch was a general restlessness about what to do on a rainy day. I wanted to write, but didn’t know what or where to start. I needed to do something useful to distract me from sinking into a funk.

As I sorted away, I reflected on a talk I listened to earlier in the week by Jen Wilkin. It wasn’t the main body of the talk I thought about yesterday though. It was the starting point. She went back to Genesis, back to the very beginning, to what God did in creation. God made order out of chaos. Then, after He made the first human, He gave Adam the job to name the animals, to categorize, effectively to carry on the job of bringing order to creation. Maybe this is why we like to begin a year by planning and clearing out the old, being made in the image of God we have an inherent tendency to bring order. (This was not Jen Wilkin’s point in going back to creation, I’m riffing on the bringing order theme! As an aside, I do recommend her talk – it’s on women’s ministry in the church and is thought provoking.)

My mind has been in a little bit of chaos about my blog. For a long time it hasn’t been one thing or another. It’s a baking blog gone on a different tangent for most of the time. There’s a little bit of personal news, some spiritual reflections and testimony, a few book reviews and other things thrown in along the way. Sometimes I’m in so much of a quandary I end up not writing anything for fear of overdoing it on any of these strands – and I like writing so then I become a ball of frustration. I wondered whether I should just pick one and go with that, or stop completely, or have three different blog sites! I think I’ve been waiting for someone to say, ‘Emma, you should really do this…’ No one has.

Yesterday I realized I do have permission to bring order to my own little bit of chaos here!

After I sorted my fabric I sat down with a piece of paper and pen, wrote out the days of the week and made a plan. Drum roll…here it is:

Taste It Tuesday – I’ll publish posts about baking and cooking on a Tuesday. I’m starting the year by going back through my old cookbooks to find new recipes I haven’t tried. It’s more of a health kick as I’m trying to cut down on sugary baking, though I’m sure there’ll be some cakes and such in there. We’ll see how it goes!

Thursday Thoughts – here’s where you’ll find my, you guessed it, thoughts, and the way God is speaking to me through His word, and the ups and downs of family, church and life in general.

Weekend Review – Often I read, listen or watch something during the week which I find helpful, enjoyable, impacting or challenging. I’ll post these things at the weekend. I may not do this every week, but if I have something to mention this is where it will be.

I realize by making a plan I’ve set myself a challenge to write more regularly. Hopefully, it will mean I will, and it means you, my readers, will know where I’m coming from. I’m back in my kitchen where everyone likes to sit down and have a chat – so, feel free to leave your comments and thoughts below any of my posts.

Until Tuesday…