Margin-Ally

    I do not remember much about homework assignment requirements from my elementary school days, but I do remember specifics in my junior high and high school years. Answers were to be in complete sentences. Papers were to be labeled in the top right hand corner of the page, numbers were to appear on the outside of the left margin, and no writing at all should bleed past the barely visible, thin red line on the right hand side of the paper. Adhere to the margins, please. All on preferably wide-ruled paper, of course. Since I am a bit OCD anyway, these requirements were not only pleasing to the eyes, but they were also simple to follow.

    Maybe the requirements are not quite the same these days, but I wish they were. Now I watch my 7th grader doing his homework. Heaven, help me! Maybe it’s just a phase or a little bit of a “boy thing.” Maybe it’s because Landon is still a work in progress or is a combination of the three. Whatever the reason is, Landon has to be frequently reminded about labeling his paper, numbering his answers, and answering in complete sentences when required. He’s not at all OCD like me either, so rather than appeal to the eye-pleasing outcome, we frequently talk about excellence. 

    Don’t even get me started about the margins, though. Landon’s view of margins is a lot like the margin itself. Barely visible and more of a suggestion. At first he settles for a letter or two tiptoeing past the thin red line. If left unchecked and unchallenged, those one or two letters morph into one or two entire words running into the margin, and before long there are no visible signs that a margin even exists.

    Isn’t that how we live sometimes? Our margin in life might be no sodas during the week, but then we just have “a couple of sips” on a stressful day. Conceivably, we decide to not eat after 9:00p, but our growling stomachs and weak flesh lead us to pantry raiding at bedtime. Maybe our visible boundary is no social media before Bible and breakfast time, but then we have all notifications turned on for immediate distractions. Perhaps we have decided to have a lighter schedule, yet we so quickly say ‘yes’ to requests before thinking through what is good or best. Before we know it, the clearly defined and decided margins in life have blurred into soda addictions, sneaky snacking, social scrolling, and saturated schedules. We’ve stepped over the margin into living marginally. 

    Your God-given margins may be different than mine, and that’s okay. Like Landon, though, don’t view the margins in your life as barely visible and mere suggestions. Lean in and let God define or erase your margins, rather than making or removing them because of your personal comfort zone.

    Jesus said He must be about His Father’s business (Luke 2:49) and went off alone to spend time in rest and fellowship with His Father (Mark 1:35; Luke 5:16). As we look at the margins Jesus had, we learn that we should seek God’s kingdom first (Matthew 6:33) and that it is okay to rest. Best of all, God promises to direct our paths, clearly defining our margins, when we choose to trust in Him, set aside our own faulty wisdom, and acknowledge Him in everything (Proverbs 3:5-6). May we be in tune with what God wants, and in the process set aside living marginally to become a margin ally.

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, 

and lean not on your own understanding;

 in all your ways acknowledge Him, 

and He shall direct your paths" (Prov. 3:5–6).