Ironically I am not. Finished with something that is. My goal was to complete a project that has been on pause or forgotten about and I ended up doing what I normally do: Started a New Project. 
I got inspired to do something with the pretty red fabric I’ve been stashing and naturally with Valentines Day around the corner, it was perfect timing. Never mind the *other* projects I’ve begun (at those “perfect times”) and sit limply awaiting for my hands to take them up again. This one needed to be done and pronto!
So I measured and cut up my fabric and put together two beautiful place mats. Yes, two. For a family of nine. Good grief. I think I mentally shut down my brain from too much Pinterest drooling.
The next night I recut them up and sewed them together to form a tablerunner instead. And now it is sitting on my sewing desk waiting for me to, well, finish it. I have one more border to sew on and then will figure out how to tie it together. I’m thinking of using red and white buttons. Or not. But now Valentines is passed and the urgency is gone.
The problem (amongst many) with having too many unfinished projects lying around is that it cheats me (and you!) of time, money and energy. It is almost like having too much debt in too many places; it is not only hard to get ahead but begins to feel like a great burden (or two or four or twelve…). Furthermore, these undertakings only look cute and cozy tucked here and there and everywhere when they’re picked up and dealt with on a regular basis, otherwise they look (and are!) dusty and old news. In fact, I still have the quilt I decided to handquilt almost 15 years ago, and it has been “almost finished” for most of that time. Of course now I hate the thing!
Deeper still, it is an issue of faithfulness and of counting the cost before beginning. Before starting anything new, whether it be a book or a craft or a homesteading skill, there are good questions to ponder:
- If it’s something new I’m learning, do I have the time to give this my full and fair attention?
- Will taking on this new thing be a blessing to me and/or to my family? Does it in some way serve others?
- Do I have a reasonable amount of time to finish this? Or is it something that will be ongoing that I will need to create time and space for? (If so, what other thing needs to go?)
- Will it in any way glorify God and advance His Kingdom?
Now, those would have been good and dandy questions to figure out before embarking on the multitude of projects I currently have! So, much like crawling out of debt, I am going to spend my Lent finishing what I can. I believe that when one task or project or book is done, it will give me the pluck and spizzerictum to tackle the next one, and the next one…
Here’s a little brain dump of projects for me to complete:
- embroidering my apron
- our 2012 family photo album
- my blog and book and magazine projects
- binding my baby’s quilt
- at least half of the books stacked by my bedside
- of course that red table runner!
There are plenty of other ongoing projects that I can’t finish during that time, but I think I can make at least some good progress on them.
Are you in the same boat? Let me encourage you:
Finish Something!
Faithfulness in the half-begun or almost-done projects at hand will bring not only completion, and not only peace and a sense of satisfaction, it will free up your head space and days and energy for the next thing you endeavor to do.
Feel free to check out what my friend at Ponder the Path has to say on the subject. Maybe she finished something for this topic!
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