Beware of the Dream

Beware of the dream, Writer.

At the beginning of this writing journey, I remember sitting around with my aspiring author friends and sharing our "dream publisher", our "dream contest win", our "dream career". Like when we were in high school crushing on the cutest guy, we'd crush on the possibilities for our stories. Kinda thrilling, actually. Declaring our very specific "dream" stepping stones would stir up anticipation for a dream-come-true, yet solidify a very stubborn expectation that the dream could only look a certain way.

 The thing is, this narrow focus on a specific something (or someone) distracted me from my unique path. I ignored places that offered potential growth, and I grew weary of the dead ends that cropped up because they looked different than what I expected. But, God's timing has been ever present, and I could only appreciate it once I finally surrendered the idolized "onlys" in my head.

 Remember, Writer, that the dream you create in your mind is not necessarily the dream God has already laid out for you. Take each step as it comes and don't ignore opportunity because it's not what you declared for yourself.

 The dream is much more thrilling when I am expectant for the next step and not stepping into self-prescribed expectations and crushing on a pipe dream that's just as likely to burst as it is to come true.

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Angie Dicken- Angie Dicken credits her love of story to reading British literature during life as a military kid in England. Now living in the U.S. heartland, she's a member of ACFW, sharing about author life with her fellow Alley Cats on The Writer's Alley blog and Facebook page. Besides writing, she is a busy mom of four and works in Adult Ministry. Angie enjoys eclectic new restaurants, authentic conversation with friends, and date nights with her Texas Aggie husband. 

Visit Angie online at angiedicken.com

Facebook: Facebook.com/dicken.angie
Twitter: @AngieDicken

Insidious Doubts of the Writer

Writers are a weird breed. Stuffed with loads of creativity, a writer's brain can veer off in tangents that can make even the sanest of humans look psycho.

We are powerful wordsmiths. We are the worst writers to ever put pen to page.

We are the queen of the kissing scene. We are the dumbest person to ever have written a love scene. 

We can write 10,000 words in one day because we are inspired. We bang our head on the computer screen, begging for at least one word to put on the page. 

Bah....and then there is the doubt that creeps into our hearts. Even after being offered a contract for your story, you begin to wonder if you are ready. Can you really do the required edits? If there are so many changes necessary, why did they even want to publish the story? Were you wrong to put the story out there before it was ready to see the light of day? Will you ever to learn to write well?

Doubt...it is an insidious evil that all writers must learn to face and banish from their minds and hearts. As Christian writers, this rings especially true. When you doubt yourself, you doubt God. You doubt His ability to use the creativity He has gifted you with in order to speak to someone.

Here is some advice I've been given this past week from sweet Alley Cats when I was overcome with doubt:

• We are equipped not because of our credentials, but because of our calling from God.
• Deep breaths and baby steps! 
• Remember that God has given you everything you need to do the work - it's inside you, waiting to be released. 
• You are doing something scary, but it is right where God has you. Trust in Him to carry your dreams through to completion.

Great advice from fantastic, experienced writers who have been there and overcome. We all need truth-sayers in our lives who will help us grow and overcome the paralyzing doubt that can creep in to destroy our dreams. Listen to them, but foremost, listen to God, the giver of dreams and the creator of all.

What doubts are you wrestling with, whether in writing or any other pursuit? Who are the truth-sayers in your life?

Photo credit: geralt @ pixabay.com

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Sherrinda Ketchersid is a born and bred Texan, preacher’s wife, mother of 4 children, and works part-time as a bookseller at Amazon. With the children grown and out of the house, she weaves tales of fierce knights and their ladies in a time where men were warriors and women had to be strong enough to keep them in check.

After taking time off from writing, she has returned with a new motto in place to spur her on. “Writers write. Everyone else makes excuses.” ~Jack Bickham.  No excuses this time. She is weaving her love of romance with history to bring joy and the hope of love to those who may one day read her stories. Her first book, tentatively The Lady's Masquerade, will release April 2019.

You can connect with her through:

Personal blog: sherrinda.com

Twitter: @sherrinda

Instagram: @sherrinda

Praying over Your Dream

   

In the summer of 2012 God answered a deep dream of my heart: as a family we spent two months in Germany.

My husband had spent seven years as a youngster growing up in the Far East, and I wanted to give our kids a taste of that.

Then God did the amazing, and we got to do exactly that.

I left part of my heart in Germany.

And I began to pray almost immediately about whether we could do something like that again. It was a dream, but a back-burner dream. After all, God had already done the impossible once.

 So I started praying. Eric and I had traveled to England and Scotland a couple times, but we hadn't been able to travel as a family. I did something that might make you laugh. I put a Euro in the coin compartment of my purse.  And then every time I got change, I asked God if He would do it again.

The coin became a visual reminder to pray. After we spent our summer in Siena, I added my Italian SIM card to my billfold, and each time I spotted it, it was another reminder to ask if God would do it again.

Last summer, after spending two weeks in Florence, I put this Euro in my nightstand drawer...another reminder to pray.

Last month I spent a week in Jordan, and left another piece of my heart behind. Now a Jordanian quarter has joined the 50 cent Euro piece in my change compartment. Now I'm asking God if and when I'll go back there. Who knows? He's done crazier things in my life.

What are you asking God for? What crazy dream has He planted in your heart?

Is is writing?

What do you have to remind you to pray about it?

Cara Putman

An award-winning author of twenty books, Cara is a lecturer on business and employment law to graduate students at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management. Putman also practices law and is a second-generation homeschooling mom. She lives with her husband and four children in Indiana.

What if... I fail?

I struggled with what to write that would reach people in this time of such division. Some are hopeful, others cynical, and yet others still are angry. When I looked back over this post from one year ago, I knew if we could just put our swords down and be vulnerable about our fears instead of casting stones, we might just find we had common ground all along. This here was me being transparent about the fear of the unknown. Rest in knowing we are never without hope. In fact, we are in very good hands. <3

Whenever something is closely tied to your heart it has power over you. No matter how tight the threads of those big, beautiful dreams are woven in, they are still suspended over this vulnerable space where they cling with more fortitude than the delicate wisp should realistically have.

Despite the strength and determination behind them, dreams are fragile things. In most cases working towards the fulfillment, daunting and disheartening as it may be, is considerably less scary than reaching the summit. Once you're there it may look different than you imagined, or perhaps the view simply exposes how very far down you have to fall.

There's no going back. You're there. You've poured your heart and all those expectations out. You've bled and cried and stumbled and picked yourself back up for the uphill battle and then... you've made it. The point of no return where you will either lift off and soar to fulfilling those dreams or you'll struggle against the wind until you realize your wings don't quite cut it at that altitude. And then what?

It was so much safer on the ground, wasn't it? And even on the climb you still had your feet firmly on the ground, working your muscles at your own pace, taking a breather when you felt the strain.

Personally, I've always placed high expectations on myself. And each dream got my all, even when it eventually withered away and opened my heart to a new adventure. But right here, standing on the precipice of my very first book release, the excitement and anticipation are warring for the top seat, but there's also that worry that nips at their heels. And we all know that worry is just a prettied up name for the real culprit.

Fear.

Fear of failure. Fear of having to start again. Fear of seeing your dream plummet, taking all the hope and heart you invested back to the bottom to begin the arduous journey all over again.

Because let's face it, not all writers are going to become published authors. Not all published authors succeed. And even once successful authors can lose their clout. We can't all be the #1 Bestseller. And even the top dog will be knocked off his pedestal eventually, right?

Man, this is sounding pretty depressing, isn't it? Why dream at all? Why put yourself out there and risk the fall?

Ah, but you see, in the oddest way that is the beauty of it. The mystery. Nothing worth having comes easy. And very often the struggle makes the reward that much sweeter. Your "what if"... would be one of regret. Of never knowing because you never tried.

So to keep things in perspective I want to ask you this... What does failure look like to you? Or better yet... What is your measure of success? Because until you decide what it is you are aiming for you might decide that your summit isn't quite as scary as it seems. Maybe dreaming big doesn't have to come with all that fear. Because what I know for certain is that perfect love casts out fear. And that dream you have been nurturing... it has a purpose. That purpose may not be to make you a million dollars. That purpose might be to touch one person's life. It might be to touch yours. Without even knowing it, sometimes my own words come back and minister to my own hurts and insecurities. Sometimes I teach my self a lesson I was too stubborn to hear until I spelled it out on paper in plain English. Other times I simply love getting lost in where the story takes me, regardless of how marketable or profitable that story might be. My measure of success has more to do with doing something I love than proving to the world that I can make a living doing it. Sure, it'd be nice to have it all. But sink or swim, I'm where I want to be.

So you see... here I am at the summit. I'm braced for flight. Passion blazing in my heart so fierce it could launch me to space. And yet I'm still praying through the doubts that swamp me with every peek over that steep edge. Still making sure I've got my emergency landing gear on standby. The first aid kit at the ready to patch up for the next stretch if need be. But no matter where I land, I know that the journey has been more than worth it. Because I LOVE this. Not the doubts. But the story. Even mine, walking up that mountain. I'd walk it all over again, and maybe I will. But I'm not gonna let the "what if" ruin the exhilaration of catching air for the first time. Because what if I keep on flying. Stretch your wings. Enjoy the rush. And let tomorrow worry about itself.

Happy flying!


<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Amy Leigh Simpson is the completely exhausted stay-at-home mama to the two wild-child, tow-headed toddler boys, one pretty little princess baby, and the incredibly blessed wife of her hunky hubby.

She writes Romantic Suspense chalked full of grace that is equally inspiring, nail-biting, and hilarious. And a little saucy! Okay fine, a lot saucy. :) She is a member of ACFW, and now uses her Sports Medicine degree to patch up daily boo-boos. Her greatest ambitions are to create stories that inspire hope, raise up her children to be mighty warriors for Christ, invent an all-dessert diet that works, and make up for years of sleep deprivation. 

Look for her debut novel WHEN FALL FADES out NEXT FRIDAY October 30th with WildBlue Press!

 

Trusting God with your Dreams

I don't know if you've all watched Fixer Upper. Personally, we don't have cable so I depend on the shows being put on Netflix and watching back episodes.

But I LOVE LOVE the couple in them. I'm sure they aren't as "put together" as TV shows them---they probably fight and have parenting flaws and lots of other normal things like the rest of us.

The one thing I love about them is that, even before I read more of their story or watched episodes where they talk about their faith or their church, I saw Jesus in them. Sometimes you can just tell, ya know? And Jesus shines brightly through this couple.

I saw this interview linked to on Facebook the other day, and wow. I know there is a decent chance you have already seen it, but a repeat couldn't hurt, right?

As I watched this the other day, it  spoke to my writer heart at the moment I needed it

I was SO that insecure kiddo feeling like I just wasn't good enough.

And I'm definitely had (and still have) times when I look at these dreams that God has given me and feel like such a failure.

The sales aren't what they should be. I've seen other authors who were walking the unpubbed journey with me at the beginning move ahead and be published over and over, with great success, and I'm still struggling for my sales to gain momentum. I wonder if my dream is in vain. If I should just give up. If it was my dream but not God's plan.

I'm trying to be faithful to His calling, but some days it just feels like I'm a big fat failure.

But I love what what God told her. "If you trust me with you dream....I will take them farther than you could have ever dreamt. You need to trust me."

YES!!!!

Trust is this great thing. It sounds really nice and easy but when it comes down to it, trust is the opposite of fear.

I have no clue what God's plans are for my dreams. There is a good chance they will look MUCH different than what I envision.

Let God speak into your life, let his FATHER HEART come and say, "This is what I have for you."

Don't believe the lies. FIX your eyes on Jesus.

Such good words from such an amazing woman who has been given an amazing platform to show the love of Jesus in such an organic way.

I pray that we can all fix our eyes on Jesus, TRUST him with our writer dreams, and walk forth in faith that God is who he says he is.

Let's chat!

Do you ever struggle with trusting God with you dreams? With believing the lies?

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Krista is a follower of Jesus, a wife, a mother, and writes romantic comedy. Her latest book A Side of Love, released February 29, 2016.  She blogs about finding JOY in the journey of LIFE at http://www.kristaphillips.com. She is represented by Sarah Freese of Wordserve Literary.

What If I Am The Faint of Heart?

Since I started writing toward publication almost ten years ago, I have heard time and again that this dream is not for the faint of heart.

And, throughout the process, I have definitely felt the struggle of wanting to quit and wondering if I am one of the "faint of heart". But, I am also very competitive, and I force myself to believe, "my heart is stronger and my passion will drive me".

But, sometimes, I just want to hold up the big white flag and surrender.

Have you ever felt this way?

It's like I signed up for a marathon and realized I am not really a runner.

I sacrificed much...mainly nights=SLEEP, weekends=PLAY, lunch dates=FRIENDS, family time=LOVE...for...stories nobody want, or at least, want to give a chance.

Ever felt that way?

Yeah, I'd like to write, "I am the faint of heart...I QUIT!...This is for the birds! Give me a realistic dream, please."

I think something I've convinced myself of, is that the dream is only reality when I have success. The dream doesn't count until then. So when I want to throw in the towel, I feel like I am turning my back on a dream that hasn't even started.

But what if I've lived the dream for these past nine years, and my heart wants a break? I want to NOT care. I want to sit here and soak in the moments without trying to play scenes in my mind and figure out the next black moment. I want the torment of striving to be over.

I think every artist feels this way. I mean, Van Gogh cut off his ear for the madness of wanting to
create.
Yeah, I know that writing is in me. That more stories are in me. That I am going to find more word count down the road.

But right now? I think my heart is weary. My mind wants to wake up to reality and leave the dream alone for a bit.

Ever felt this way?

For me, I am the newest NaNoWriMo dropout, a writer turned reader, and a mama-writer minus the writer....for a season of a faint of heart.

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Angie Dicken is a full-time mom and lives in the Midwest with her Texas Aggie sweetheart. An ACFW member since 2010, she has written six historical novels and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency. Angie also spends her time designing one-sheets and drinking good coffee with great friends. Check her personal blog at angiedicken.blogspot.com and connect at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dicken.angie, 

Twitter: @angiedicken

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/agdicken/

Don’t Forget the Old Goals in the New 2015

Happy New Year!

It’s filling all the corners of the internet. Greetings from friends and people you bump into at the grocery store. It’s clogging our social media and reminding us that this is truly a new year.

I can’t believe how fast 2014 has gone. Those who said that the older you get the faster time flies, weren’t lying as I always thought they might have been. But 2015 is here. This much has proven true. Have you entered the Carol or Genesis awards yet? If you haven’t, you really should. Let this year be the year you don’t procrastinate on your entry submission and keep the coordinators (aka: myself and Pam) from hyperventilating over the details. 

Have you laid out your goals? Picked your One Word? Set the New Year’s resolution?

Can I encourage you to do one thing with your new year?

Pursue your dreams.

Finish your goals.

Complete what you started.

We think: New Year, how awesome! Let’s start something new.

But what if instead of starting something new that—let’s be honest here—we most likely won’t finish in 2015 before May rolls around, we finished what we have already started.

Are you putting off the edits? What is holding you back? Insecurity? Fear?

Are you waiting to finish that book until the “right time”? I’ll be brutally honest: that time is never going to show up unless you carve it from the granite that is your schedule.

Are you holding off entering the contest because you’re afraid that your book isn’t good enough to make it to the finals? I’ll ask you this: what if it is? You don’t learn unless you put your best foot forward. And sometimes that best yes is simply hitting “enter”.

New Years aren’t just an opportunity for the freshness of new projects; it’s also the perfect opportunity to take a fresh start on something you’ve been dragging your feet about.

Never has motivation run so clear and straight as it does in the New Year.

What about motivation for this thing you’ve come to dread you say? Thirty minutes a day on a project you loathe or simply tolerate will get you far if you concentrate only on that project for the sole thirty minutes. And you’re done. Move on to something you love or want to work with.

Provide yourself with rewards. A cookie, a chapter of the book you are dying to finish, an extra five minutes in a warm, soothing bath, an escape to your favorite coffee shop to people watch.

None of these things require money, but are things we often deprive ourselves of enjoying. Use this as fuel.

Old projects don’t have to take a back seat in priority to the projects you really want to work on, or vice versa. All you need is the determination to make this project happen.

See, New Years are fresh, beautiful opportunities. Yes, dream of the new idea, the next project, but don’t let the joy of starting something new, let you forget the thing you loved and couldn’t wait to start last year.

This could be the year that dream comes closer to coming true.

***This beautiful post brought to you by Casey Herringshaw saving Amy Leigh Simpson's hyde!

Boulevard of Broken Dreams…

Is this where you are? Have you been here?

Has the past taught you to dream big . . . or dream safe?

I feel like for many of us, and even some of the best and most passionate writers I have ever had the pleasure to know, we cut ourselves off at the knees. We let doubt and fear and those pesky little odds and insecurities creep in and derail our dream. Have you? Have you been wondering, after those rejections come back to chip away at you . . . am I fooling myself? Wasting my time? Will my words ever see print?

For most of my life I didn't dream of becoming a best-selling novelist. I didn't even dream of becoming a writer. I was a singer. And that dream, for so long, was completely tangled up with my identity. In some ways, it will always be a part of who I am. But, my life without pursuing music . . .

 

Is it devastating? Void? Am I itching with every stalled note in my chest to stand before a crowd and pour out my song? Am I heartbroken?

No. I love music. Love to sing and worship and belt and harmonize. I LOVE it. But that dream of my youth dwindled and found its place in the real world.

Now I have a new dream... Isn't it great how, at any point in time, God can birth something new in you? He can expose a passion you didn't even know existed. I write. Not only because I love it. Because I do. I also love music. And running. And baking. But the simple truth is, I simply can’t not write! So this is my dream. And for however long it’s mine to hold, I’m gonna make it BIG!

Let’s face it… dreams can be brutal. I mean, can you imagine how foolish some of the greatest minds in the world must have felt… failing time and again? Having people ridicule them for their ludicrous theories and ideas. But imagine what we would be missing if they listened to the wrong critic... if they let go too soon.

On the other end…

A hard truth of life is that sometimes dreams don’t come true.

But maybe we just haven’t found the dream that God has for us. And whether it’s writing, or something else, you've just got to trust that the one who gave you those dreams will help you see when to hold them tight… fight with everything you have, get beaten down a hundred times before you see that beautiful thing take off into greatness.

Or... trust Him to know when to let go of those lovely detours, or maybe just see them for what they are, and find what you were meant to do.

Don’t hide your dreams in a safe place. Don't let the enemy steal something that is meant to be yours. Be bold. TRUST that the one who knows the desires of your heart has a great plan for the right dream. The right spouse. The right job. The right house. The right future. HIS way.

I’d love to hear from you…Have you ever wanted something that, in hindsight, you’re grateful you didn't get? Do you have any dreams that have carried on from your childhood? Have they changed? And how do you stay encouraged when your dream feels like a sinking ship?

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Amy Leigh Simpson writes Romantic Suspense that is heavy on the romance, unapologetically honest, laced with sass and humor, and full of the unfathomable Grace of God. She is the completely sleep deprived mama to two little mischief makers and would challenge anyone to a cutest family contest. Represented by Chip MacGregor of MacGregor Literary Inc.

His Perfect Pace at ACFW

Wow. Has it already been eleven days? It seems like yesterday that I was turning onto the highway toward my fourth ACFW conference! And this year, it came full circle...as my first conference was in the same place...Indianapolis. It is at that first conference that I pitched the same characters (cannot call it the same book, now,after three years of rewrites), met the first of my many friends and co-Alleycats, and basically fell in love with the writing community.

The difference between the last 8 hour drive to Indy in 2010, and this one, is I drove it alone this year...didn't drag my family of five(was expecting our fourth), and pawn them off at the Indy zoo, while I ventured to the Hyatt. This year, I was alone with Jesus, listening to His music, and anxiously looking forward to wrapping my arms around my sweet sweet friends.

As I crept closer, my foot grew heavy though, and I sped along the highway, fighting off the old anxious ways of the newbie I once was, and ignoring the signs that were telling me to slow down. I noticed the $375 minimum fine in the work zone, and I saw the orange cones. I kept up with traffic though, surely I wouldn't get caught. It was just a scare tactic...that big chunk of change. I was on a mission to get to ACFW, I wanted to get there fast and feel the happiness of being among friends and writers, and the thrill of showcasing what God has done, to editors. I kept my foot on the pedal, continued at a consistent distance from the car ahead, and slammed on the brakes when the roadside digital display of my speed showed I was 9 miles over and a flash indicated a photo had been taken.
UGH!
I thought I could beat the odds, because I didn't believe they were really keeping track. My biggest excuse being that I was keeping up with traffic...were they going to ticket all of us? But in the end, the ugly truth flashed in front of me and I was not keeping up with the expectations of the law enforcement. I had raced ahead, only to feel the big fat EXPENSIVE slap of defeat.

After attending four conferences, and looking back over how far I've come (maybe not to publication, but to some sort of maturity in the process)...I realize how that traffic incident is a mirror of the writing journey as I first embarked upon it:

Beat the odds: When I wrote my first story, and began to dabble in the writing circles, I honestly thought I would not fall into the "norm" of a long journey toward publication. I poo-pooed the idea of putting my first book in a drawer never to see the light of day. And I thought, "I will show them" when it came to the extensiveness of such an endeavor as publication. Just like my zipping by the warning signs on the road, I zipped by the words of mentors and authors who said, "Writing is not for the faint at heart."

Keeping up with traffic: When I first stepped into an ACFW conference, and pitched my novel, and compared my notes with others, hearing what agents and editors had asked for, wondering why I didn't get asked for that...I began to try and keep up with the traffic so to speak. I decided to write something else, to enter contests, to put that long list of awards beneath my name, to be sure I stalked the white board at the appointments desk each year and rack up the requests. EVEN IF MY STUFF WASN'T READY...I was not going to be left behind without success.

Facing the Ugly truth:  And that truth, just like the failure of maintaining the expected speed on the highway, the ugly truth of my writing journey before this conference, was that all those attempts, all those written words, ALL those rejections, pointed to the truth that I just wasn't ready. I didn't meet the expectations of the editors, and I paid the price of a wounded ego.
This year, after much rejection under my belt, I realize that the ugly truth of trying to beat the odds and speed along in striving toward publication, the ugly truth that I tried to keep up with "traffic" or the success of others, and facing the ugly but WONDERFUL truth that I just wasn't ready before, has led me to a place where cruise control in God's plan is so much more satisfying. I continue to see the lessons he had taught me during the self-induced race before. And now, I am ready to shout out and claim this journey as uniquely my own, at my own God-induced speed!

This year, I leave behind another ACFW conference knowing the importance of abiding, giving my journey to God, and realizing that publication is not the proof of my gift, but a fruit among many on the writing branch in my heart. Yes, there is always that niggle of comparison, that shadow of regret, but if I shake it off, point my heart toward the LIGHT of God's Grace, and release the pressure on that gas pedal toward success, He'll guide me down this road of my dream at His Most Perfect Pace.
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Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous, mothering days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

The 28-Day Challenge

“They were under royal orders, which determined their daily activity.” Nehemiah 11:23

You are under royal orders.

God has a destiny and purpose for your life. He has a plan that only YOU can fulfil on this earth. Many of you already know your purpose. (If you don’t, here’s a classic book that will help bring you some clarity.)

But does your purpose determine how you live your daily life?

Here’s some news for you.

God wants you to achieve your purpose.

If it’s writing – God wants you to write.

If it’s mothering – God wants you to mother.

If it’s leading others – God wants you to lead.

If it’s helping, encouraging, serving, teaching, whatever the case may be – God wants you to get the necessary training and skills and live it out to the best of your abilities.

For a lot of us, there’s a chasm between our life purpose and our current reality. Why? Because it’s easy to think of our dreams as something far-off and grandiose. Something we’ll get around to “one day.” When we seem unable to reach our full potential, it’s easy to blame the usual culprits – our current circumstances, our limitations, our finances, the abilities we were born with, or of course, our lack of time.

Image by digitalart, freedigitalphotos.net

Ah, time. We’ve all been gifted with the same amount of it. And how we use it is, of course, the key. The power to achieve our dreams doesn’t lie in the next self-help book or the next motivational speaker to pray over you at church. It lies in our daily habits.

It’s that simple. Your habits determine your destiny.

I love that verse I shared at the start from the book of Nehemiah, because it tells me that the little stuff matters to God. The daily routine, the things we do over and over again, day in and day out – that’s the seemingly unimportant stuff that shapes our destiny. And because we’re under royal orders from the King of Kings, our daily activity had better reflect our respect for what he wants to accomplish in our lives.

Oh, boy, am I ever preaching to myself here.

And here is exactly where a lot of us start to feel a bit defeated. The problem most of us have when we look at our lives is the dozen different things screaming simultaneously for improvement. So typically, in a burst of enthusiasm, we decide to make a drastic 24-hour turnaround in which we will overhaul absolutely everything in our life. We decide we’ll go from couch-potato junk-food-eater to organic vegan athlete overnight, pray for an hour a day, home-school our children Montessori-style while also teaching them Suzuki violin and studying on the side, de-clutter the house from top to bottom, volunteer at a homeless shelter, and while we’re at it, we’ll also write ten thousand words every day on our novel while doing one-handed push-ups.

Um… yeah.

Lean in a little closer and I’ll tell you a secret. This is important. It’s a secret that has the potential to change your life.

Are you ready?

Image by Vichaya Kiatying-Angsulee
freedigitalphotos.net

Here it is.

If you want to change your life, focus on changing ONE THING.

Did you get that?

One thing. No cheating. Not three things, or even just two.

Start with one.

Do that one thing every day for a month. Chart your progress. (Try using a chart like THIS one.) If you miss a day, begin again. This allows you to truly master that habit and make it a part of your life.

Then, once you’ve successfully incorporated one new habit into your life for a whole month, the following month you can focus on changing one more thing.

Are you getting this? Sure, it takes time to do it this way. But look at the end result. Do you want your habits to actually stick? Or do you want to continue down the path you’ve always gone - trying to change everything, and actually changing nothing?

So… are you up for a challenge?

Here’s how this is going to work.

1. Choose a habit

Choose one habit you’d like to incorporate into your life. It doesn’t matter how small or insignificant it may seem to someone else. This is YOUR life, and small, consistent action is better than no action. Here are some examples:

- To write 500 words a day.

- To make your bed every morning as soon as you get up.

- To spend 15 minutes of quality time with each child, every day.

- To get up half an hour earlier to have a daily Quiet Time.

- To exercise for 20 minutes a day, even if it’s just jogging around your clothesline.

- To deal with an email as soon as you open it.

- To wash the dishes each night before you go to bed.

- To spend 15 minutes a day de-cluttering or organizing an area of your house.

- To drink 8 glasses of water a day.

- To make a menu plan and cook dinner every week-night instead of ordering takeaway.

You might look at that list and want to do all of those things, and more. But don’t be tempted to fall into that old approach.

Choose one. Just one. Chances are, your one habit might look completely different from the things on this list. That’s okay. Choose one thing that is meaningful to you, that will ultimately help you toward your purpose. One small thing you know you can accomplish.

2. Make a plan

You may need to plan your day into a routine to find the time to incorporate your new habit. My One Word for this year was ABIDE. With three preschool age children, I knew that spending time with God each day was not just going to happen. So I drew up a routine. (See left). Every day we have different scheduled activities, so each day is slightly different. But by following my routine, I have been able to stick with a quiet time every day. Once I had that down, I worked on my next priority – spending quality “Focus” time with my kids each day, one on one. This, too, had to find a place in the routine, or it would not happen.

Now that these two areas have become a habit, it’s time for me to carve out

time for my writing again. It’s taken me a while to find my feet with this after baby number three, but I know that it’s time. That will be my focus for this challenge. So, I drew myself up a star chart. I know, I know. I’m a nerd. I’m also a teacher. It’s a teacher thing. Why should our kids get all the shiny gold stars? 

3. Share the challenge!

None of us are born disciplined. It’s a state that goes against our natural inclinations. So why not share this with a friend, and get them to jump on board too? Let’s get some momentum going and cheer each other on.

When you comment on this post, your name will be entered into a draw for a $10 Amazon gift card. Tweet or Facebook this post, and you’ll get an additional two entries per share. Check back in two weeks’ time, and we’ll take stock together and see how we’re all going – and you’ll have another chance to throw some more entries into the hat. In four weeks time, we’re going to celebrate together as we look at what new habits we’ve incorporated into our lives. If you’ve stuck with your plan that whole time, I’ll double your entries. Then I’ll draw a winner.

Don’t you just love a bit of extra incentive? But you know what? If you take this challenge, you’re already a winner. It’s your life, and you only get one of them to use. Let’s choose to glorify God through our daily habits.

So, let’s get started. In the comments, why don’t you share the one new habit you’d like to incorporate into your life?

Instead of doing nothing about everything, do something about one thing.

You can do that. I know you can.

Who’s with me?

Karen Schravemade lives Downunder and likes to confuse her American friends by using weird Australian figures of speech. When she's not chasing after two small boys or cuddling her baby girl, she spends her spare minutes daydreaming about the intricate lives of characters who don't actually exist. Find her on her website and Twitter.

The Tarnished Gift

NEGLECT

On Flickr by EllYouKayEee

The silver tray peeked out from under a pile of unused house decorations. When I cleared it all away, I frowned as the once shiny gift did not hold my reflection, but a rusty dull tarnish. Was it ruined? Had I neglected it too long and now it was no longer the treasure I received for my wedding long ago?

Panic fluttered in my chest as I wondered if the silver tray would ever match up to the shining beauty in my memory—(and I also feared what my mother would think if she'd seen how much I neglected the gift!)

Have you tucked your writing gift away, and allowed time to eat its way through your confidence, your dream? And when you dare to face that gift again, does the panic rise, the fear that, perhaps you've lost it, you've allowed time to suffocate the beauty in your ability?

I have.

In the name of taking a break, I tucked my gift away. And now, as I venture to blow the dust off my writing skills, that same panic I felt when I saw my neglected tray, niggled in my heart. Had I abandoned the gift God gave me—forever? Sure, I'd enjoyed the progress of six years of writing, the baby steps I'd taken toward publishing, and now, with a new year upon us, has my gift deteriorated to rust?

What if I can't write well anymore?

What if the break wasn't a time of rest but a destructive neglect of my ability?

But as I remember God's whispers to me long ago, I have you right where I want you, and that This path IS where I wants you, I can trust in the God who gave me the gift in the first place.

POLISH

On Flickr by MyLifeThroughPhotography

A little silver polish and some elbow grease was needed to make my tray shine again. This writer just needed to refocus, using Scripture and prayer to work off the rust. God's word tells us:

"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to devote ourselves to the good deeds for which God has designed us." Ephesians 2:10 NEB

I am currently taking the study, Everything Is Possible with God by Rick Warren,  which is perfect to get me back on track with polishing my gift. Warren talks about God's hand in fulfilling our dreams. Warren makes four points using Scripture that also spurred on questions of my own:

1. DON'T FEAR: “I will never leave you. I will never abandon you.” Hebrews 13:5 TEV

If I am certain that my writing really is God's gift to me,

 than why would I think He would take it away and abandon me?

2. DON'T FRET: “Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for him to act...Don't fret and worry—it only leads to harm.” Psalm 37:7-8

If I rush into writing again, without God equipping me, 

then what good will come out of it?

3. DON'T FAINT: “Always pray and never lose heart.” Luke 18:1 PH
   
   
   “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31KJV

Have I prayed about God's direction to polish my gift? 

To write the stories He wants me to write? To use His words, not my own?

 

     4.  DON'T FORGET:  “I will bless the LORD and not forget the glorious things he does for   

            me.”  Psalm 103:2 LB

          “The LORD is not being slow in carrying out his promises...rather, he is being patient with 

           you.”  2Peter 3:9 NJB

How many things has the LORD done for me on this writing journey?

Why would he forsake me now?

With care and quiet diligence, I rub the polishing cream over the soiled surface of the tray, and as I smear away the neglect, the gift returns a glimmer of hope, and then a bright shine of promise that it is still a piece to be treasured.

On Flickr by Kotomicreations

Do you know that your God has given you your gift for keeps? That no matter how much you lay it aside, or tuck it away, if you seek His will, He will bless you anew with the treasure He crafted only for you?

What will you do now? Walk away without hope in the shine, or begin to polish for a bright treasure ahead? 

***************************************************************************

Angie Dicken first began writing fiction as a creative outlet during the monotonous days of diapers and temper tantrums. She is passionate to impress God's love on women regardless of their background or belief. This desire serves as a catalyst for Angie's fiction, which weaves salvation and grace themes across historical cultures and social boundaries. Angie is an ACFW member and is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of the Steve Laube Agency.

Life Critique: A Year in Review

There’s nothing like decking the Christmas tree in baubles and lights for bringing home the reality that another year is nearly at an end. Heard any of these lines lately? - or maybe you’ve uttered them yourself:

“Where on earth has this year gone?”

“The years seem to be speeding up the older I get.”

“It seems like only yesterday we were launching into the new year. The time has just vanished.”

Every year we say the same things to each other with the same tone of surprise. It’s true – the busier we become, and the more responsibilities life heaps onto our plate, the faster our minutes and days and weeks and months fly past. Before we know it, another year is gone. 

The bad news? We won’t ever get it back.

The good news? There’s a brand new one waiting right around the corner. J

We can’t change what’s been. We CAN, however, learn from the year that was. As writers, we’re good at critiquing our own work and that of others. But how many of us take the time to critique our lives?

They say the definition of insanity is doing things the way you’ve always done them and expecting a different result. A lot of us live our lives this way. We have an idea of what we’d like to achieve in life; what we want our lives to look like. But that’s all it ever is. An idea. Intangible. Unreachable. Somewhere, simmering down deep in our spirit, is the knowledge of our full potential. But as the years roll past, we learn to settle for mere survival. Our grip loosens on our dreams. Our vision clouds. It happens so slowly that often we don’t even realise it’s occurred.

That’s why it’s so important, every now and then, to pause.

Take some time out from the seasonal madness; the relentless demands of life, and think back on the year that was.

What did you do to move yourself in the direction of your dreams?

What steps did you take to serve others with the gifts God has given you?

Did you grow in spiritual depth and character, inching closer day by day to being the person you know God wants you to be?

The destination is not the important part here. Life is a journey. We’re never going to “arrive”. But have a look at where you’re standing compared to where you struck out from at the start of the year. And ask yourself:

Do you see progress – however small?

Are you moving forward, or are you walking in circles, doing the same old things and getting the same results?

Do you feel you’re on the right path with your life – or does it seem to you that in certain areas, you’ve lost your way?

These questions are not about condemnation or pointing out your shortcomings. We serve a God of grace. And the fact is that we all go through different seasons in our lives. Perhaps this year you’ve begun a new job, experienced ill-health, or cared for an elderly parent. For me, the year has been full to the brim with messy, exhausting, wonderful life. I’ve given birth to a precious daughter and parented three preschool-age children. I’ve survived sleep-deprivation, tantrums, potty-training, a teaching contract, curriculum development, home improvements and a new blogging schedule. Writing has taken a backseat this year.

And that’s okay.

Nothing is wasted in God’s economy. It’s easy for me to look back at this bewildering blur of a year and measure it merely in terms of what I did or didn’t do. To feel like a failure because of all the ways I didn’t measure up; the goals I didn’t achieve.

But I’m sensing that God wants more from us than an annual checklist of achievements. As always, he’s after our hearts.

And if our hearts are turned toward him, if we’re willing to let him use us, then he will, no matter what season we find ourselves in. The journey might be slow and incremental, but the important thing is that we’re moving forward. Making progress.

Maybe you feel like you haven’t made any progress this year in the areas that are important to you. The days and months have slipped past and you’re still right where you started. In that case, perhaps it’s time to lift your gaze and refresh your vision. God never condemns us, but he does challenge us to grow and change.

As the curtain falls on another year, I’m taking stock. How could I better use my time? How can I more effectively live out the adventure of the everyday as a wife, a mother, a writer, a daughter of destiny? How can I grow into my calling?

Lord, what do you want from us in 2013?

As you evaluate the year that was, what do you feel God impressing on your heart?

Images courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net

Karen Schravemade lives in the land of Oz and likes to confuse her American friends by using weird Australian figures of speech. When she's not chasing after two small boys or cuddling her baby girl, she spends her spare minutes daydreaming about the intricate lives of characters who don't actually exist. Find her on her website, on Twitter or getting creative over at her mummy blog.