ABIDE: Special Guest Post by Caran Jantzen

More and more people seem to be exchanging the idea of a New Year’s resolution for a word that sums up a plan or goal for their year to come. Words like Enough, Abundance, Whole, and even Nope have been shared on friends’ and acquaintances' social media pages. While I resolved to abandon New Year's resolutions years ago, I had yet to embrace choosing a word to identify with and focus on for the year to come. I could blame it on indecisiveness, or bucking a trend, but if I’m honest with myself, it has more to do with the exhaustion I always feel around that time of year.

Looking back to when January 2019 began, I felt burned out. Instead of looking toward new and exciting opportunities ahead, I was drained from all of the times in prior months that I had said yes when I should have said no. As the new year unfolded, my body gave out, and colds and the flu consumed me for seven agonizing weeks. My body was forcing me to say no; it was forcing me to pay attention to myself and my needs--something that has never come easily for me.

If I could sum up my last year with a single word, it would be the word LISTEN. Last year, I began a journey through counselling on learning how to better listen to myself and my body. I began to dig deeply into my needs, and realized that I had been ignoring many of them in favour of helping others. In the process of talking about my needs, I learned that meeting everyone else’s needs was not the same as meeting my own--even though at the time it felt like it. (Enneagram 2, anyone?!)

I also began to listen to my emotional needs. I have been learning that I am not very good at asking for what I need, especially at an emotional level. I tend to be introspective, but not allow others into that quiet, often dark space. I’ve been listening more to what my emotions are telling me, and then opening up with my husband and others close to me about what I’m feeling, and what I need.

Most importantly, I started listening more intentionally to God speaking to me through the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe that the Bible is God’s Word spoken to us, but I also believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, speaks to us in a way I’ve learned to call listening prayer. The intimacy and joy I have experienced through listening prayer is a powerful testimony to a two way relationship with God--receiving from Him, as well as pouring out to Him.

As 2019 progressed, my burdens, emotional, physical, and spiritual, became lighter. I felt joy when months earlier I had felt heavy and depleted. Listening to my physical body, my emotions, and God my Father gave me a new outlook for the last half of the year. My incredible counsellor, a prayerful mentor, a supportive husband, patient friends and a Faithful God have all been instrumental in assisting me on this journey.

Early in December, I received an email from a friend about the idea of choosing a word for the new year--but with a twist. Instead of me choosing the word, I would invite Jesus, by the power of His Holy Spirit, to give me a word. In the midst of the bustle of the Christmas season I brushed this idea off. But one morning, with just days to go before the new year’s arrival, I decided to pray a listening prayer using the prompts my friend had provided. I asked Jesus, through His Spirit, to reveal His word for me for 2020.

The question had barely escaped my lips, when the word ABIDE sprung to mind. I followed up with another question. “Jesus. where in your Word confirms this for me?” Immediately the phrase, ‘apart from me you can do nothing’ came to mind. I had to look up this verse, as I couldn’t remember the reference. It is from John 15:5. “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”

This year, 2020, God has given me the gift of His Word, John 15:5, and a clear call to abide in Him alone. I look forward to seeing all that this year brings--in my family, in my writing, in my friendships, in my spiritual, physical and emotional health, and in all of the good gifts He alone gives--as I abide in Him.

Caran Jantzen lives and writes from British Columbia. 

InScribers Come to the Well by Nina Faye Morey

And do not neglect doing good and sharing,

For with such sacrifices God is pleased.

~ Hebrews 13:16

When I first checked our InScribe website to view the offerings at this year’s Fall Conference, I was disappointed that there were no formal workshops on offer. I read the explanation provided about the Open Concept Conference model with some trepidation. It wasn’t clear to me how this was going to work, so I did a bit of research on this type of meeting. Being an introvert, I wasn’t sure if this participant-driven format would suit me at all. I pondered it for quite a while before I finally decided to go ahead and register. Even though the format didn’t appeal to me, I had to admit to myself that this interactive Open Concept model might actually be good for me. You know . . . like that medicine that tastes awful but cures what ails you?

The explanation given for the Open Concept model included the invitation to come with an idea for a topic that we wanted to learn more about. Since I was planning to create my own website, I was eager for any information that I could glean from other attendees on this process. So, I decided to suggest this topic for one of the sessions. I had no idea whether many would be interested in this topic, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the assigned room fill up quickly with those who were eager to talk and learn about website building. There were several who already had their own websites, and it was enlightening to hear their experiences with the different website platform providers, such as WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace. There were also a few, like me, who were just getting ready to set up their own website and were looking for advice on the pros and cons of the various platforms, how easy they were to use, and what we should be thinking about including on our websites. I learned that two of the most important things to include are a newsletter and an email list for networking and marketing purposes.

The Open Concept model is governed by four “laws.” The first is the “Law of Two Feet.” It states that you are responsible for your own learning, which means that you are free to get up and leave a session at any time if you find it’s not right for you and join another. Someone suggested the analogy of “bees” and “butterflies” to explain how this works in practice. Some of us are “bees” who linger around gathering refreshing nectar, while others are “butterflies” who tend to flit from place to place. I am one of the bees, so I was happy to stick around and collect as much as I could from each session. I enjoyed all the sessions that I attended: Social Media, Medium, Marketing (Online & In-Person), Publishing with IngramSpark, and Christian Romance.

A highlight of the Conference for me was our guest speaker, Sigmund Brouwer, who writes novels for both children and adults. He describes himself as primarily a storyteller and this soon became obvious, as he is an extremely engaging and humorous speaker. I especially enjoyed his powerful presentation on and reading from his book, Thief of Glory, based on his father’s experiences as a young boy in a Japanese internment camp during World War II

So, my initial hunch proved correct. This Open Concept Conference format that initially left a bad taste in my mouth turned out to be good medicine for me. Along with refreshing the relationships I’ve developed with other InScribers over the years, this format encouraged me to come out of my shell much more than I would have during a traditional conference. Now that I no longer feel apprehensive about attending an Open Concept Conference, I’m hoping InScribe uses this format again in the future.