Focus for a New Year by Steph Beth Nickel

 

Photo Credit: Didgeman on Pixabay[dot]com

My word of the year is FOCUS. And while I have long-term dreams and aspirations, the things at hand require my focus.

As an editor, it is, of course, vital that I focus on doing my best for each of my clients.

As a writer, I have numerous ideas for books I would like to write. But for now, my focus must be on completing the memoir I'm coauthoring with Paralympian Deb Willows, a follow-up to Living Beyond My Circumstances. I will also focus on the blog posts I've committed to write and my monthly newsletter, as well as social media posts.

And since my hubby will be retiring in March, nine days after his 70th birthday, I will be focusing on helping him prepare our home of over 20 years for sale. Lord willing, either this year or next, we will be moving west to be near our son and his wife.

And most importantly, as a believer, I will be reading less of the Word each day in order to dig deeper and focus on what He's teaching me. 

While, in many ways, I won't be "niching down," as it were, I will be quieting my mind and focusing on the task at hand. Not easy for an eclectically interested, eclectically involved "extrovert on steroids," but doable.

So, my fellow InScriber, what is your focus for the new year?

To help you determine where your focus should be, you may want to ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I want to accomplish in the first quarter of 2025?
• Which of these tasks are important as opposed to urgent, as Stephen Covey says? ("Urgent" being those tasks that distract us from what we truly should be focused on.)
• Which tasks can I delete from my list or delegate to someone else?
• What tasks that are truly achievable can I add to my current list?
• What am I going to set aside in order to achieve my goals? Watching TV in the evening? That extra half hour of sleep in the morning? Doom scrolling?
• Which optional tasks get my mojo flowing? What are those tasks I'm driven to accomplish even if it would be easier not to?

And THE question we must ask as believers . . .

How is the Lord leading me this year?

As you look to what you have at hand and how it can glorify the Lord and bless others, may He give you the wherewithal to discern what He has for you this year and all you require to accomplish the good works He has prepared for you.

A Pathway for Goals by Lynn J Simpson

For a decade now, my friend, Marne, and I have been meeting at the closing of December to review the past year and make new goals for the upcoming year. She’s called me her “goal queen.” But this time, as I sipped peppermint tea, my goal notebook unopened on her office table, I found my stomach tensing whenever she uttered “goals.” I’d bristle like I’d just leaned against the needles of a cactus.

Maybe my resistance was due to the incompletions of last year’s goals.  Or maybe the tension was due to my resistance of letting go and letting God take the lead.

Feelings of frustration, disappointment, and discouragement immersed when I opened my goal notebook and reviewed what I set out to achieve in 2018. I’d come to the end of two years pushing into what I hoped would produce fruit. Instead I felt bewildered, lost in a wilderness of doubt instead of hope.

As I went to take another sip of tea, I paused and read the lines of script written on my cup.

“Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light.…” St. Francis of Assisi

Faith, hope and light.

Your word is a lamp to my feet
 And a light to my path. Psalm 119:

And I felt a God nudge to let go of all I understood and how I thought things should go--a God nudge to turn and prepare my heart for Him in the wilderness where He provides comfort, hope, and renewal.  

The prophet Isaiah spoke comfort to the people of Judah returning to their homeland and into the wilderness that was also their pathway back to God. “A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3

Much later, John the Baptist preached hope and how to prepare the way for Jesus while he was in the wilderness of Judea. “This is he who was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ Matthew 3:3

And we are told of Jesus overcoming temptation by the devil in the wilderness. After 40 days of fasting, he resisted temptation by speaking out the promises of His Father. And then renewed. “Then the devil left him, and the angels came and attended him.” Matthew 4:11.

Whatever your writing (and other) goals this year, may you hold onto God’s promise that when you open your heart to Him and His ways, He will comfort you, give you hope, and renew you. And always straighten your pathways to bring you closer to Him.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

Lynn J Simpson is also at Lynn J Simpson, Writing and Photography Blog

Great Expectations for 2018 - Tracy Krauss

Many people choose a 'word' for the year to help keep them on track or provide inspiration. Yesterday you may have read about Ruth Snyder's word 'TRUST' or Karma Pratt's word "INTENTION". I also like to choose a word each year. In the past I've chosen such words or phrases as, ACCOUNTABILITY, PURPOSE, and JUST WRITE. 

This year I feel God has led me to the word EXPECTATION. I like how it fits so well with the month's theme for this blog. On January 1, the question was asked, "How is God speaking to you about your faith and writing? How are you anticipating God’s presence? How does He want you to step forward in faith?"

For me, all of these questions can be summed up in the word EXPECTATION. Psalm 62:5 says, "My soul, wait thou upon God; for my EXPECTATION is from Him." (KJV)

Expectation is, at its core, the act of anticipation. God has birthed in me many expectations for my family, my spiritual growth, and my writing - and I'm expecting Him to deliver! Although this may sound selfish at first glance, it's really about having faith - believing God's promises even when I don't see their fulfillment. It's about trusting God with the timing and the outcome, and intentionally surrendering each area of my life to God. Perhaps you've heard the saying, "God said it, i believe it, that settles it." I think this sums up what the word 'expectation' means to me. 

I am expecting God to speak to me through His Word. I am expecting Him to lead me, despite any bumps along the way. I am expecting my children to make good life choices and wayward loved ones to be saved. And certainly not the least, I am expecting to succeed in my writing this year.

2017 was a rough year for me in many respects, but through various trials, God has been teaching me about the importance of letting Him be in charge. The groundwork was laid and like Joshua, I sense God's call to move forward in 2018 with confidence. I believe He has great things in store for me and for InScribe as an organization. That is my expectation! Let's advance into the promised land and claim our inheritance this year. 

 Tracy Krauss writes from her home in northern BC. For more about the year of EXPECTATION, visit her blog: http;//tracykrauss.com/blog

Must We Set Goals? - Bruce Atchison

This month's theme makes me feel guilty. Why? Because I've not even begun to meet my goal of writing my manuscript of You Think You're Going to Heaven? My New Year's resolution has fallen by the wayside, just as have the autumn leaves.

But should I feel guilty? Look at what James 4:13-16 (BBE) says. "How foolish it is to say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go into this town, and be there for a year and do business there and get wealth:' When you are not certain what will take place tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist, which is seen for a little time and then is gone. But the right thing to say would be, 'If it is the Lord's pleasure and if we are still living, we will do this and that.' But now you go on glorying in your pride: and all such glorying is evil.

While it's folly to assume that we will accomplish something, it's still important to plan. I blew it when I resolved to write an entire manuscript this year. Even so, I have been blogging on the topic of who the Bible says will go to heaven.

I still plan on writing my book, even though I've been distracted from actually writing the entire manuscript. In the dark days of winter, I plan on expanding on my blog posts so that I can include them in my next book.

TEA TIME by Glynis M. Belec

I laughed my head off when I read the boxes. The packaging was more than pretty and the box beautifully made. A perfect exterior. A delightful and alluring presentation.

The variety of tea that beckoned me to sample was lovely. The Black Tea Chai, spicy and warming, had kept its promise earlier today, as outlined on the back of the cute triangular box. The Lemongrass, Ginger and Citrus did refresh my palate for a mere moment this afternoon.

I was enjoying this thoughtful gift.

Then I looked at the Slim Me tea. I admit I laughed at the title but took the bait.

Sure enough, the written word on the box indicated that if I incorporated this invigorating infusion into my calorie controlled diet, it would aid me in reaching my ‘mini me’ goals. Ha!

I just had to read the Detox Me box. Another wild promise. It was going to cleanse me through and through for a better me.

I tried them both later in the day. Nothing. I didn’t have a cookie with my tea but still no weight loss. What? But it said if I cut back on calories the magic tea would work.  And as far as the Detox Me, flavour of the evening, no change. But they promised one little teabag would make a difference. And, poof. Nothing. What’s with that?

As I contemplated the Revive Me or Oolong next, it occurred to me how fed up I get with false promises in the world (not that I thought for one moment my lovely tea would do anything in the big picture of my life.) The world is full of charm and deceit. Not a surprise. A nice analogy at best.

Sipping away on the Oolong, I felt no sun pampering or sauna-like experience. The Revive Me was nice to the palate but it sure didn’t put a spring back into my step.

I kept sitting and sipping and thinking. I thought about the new year and resolutions and my own un-kept promises in the past.  I thought about the changes in my life and the goals I need to make for 2016.

Specific goals, it has been said, are the best. Instead of saying I am going to write more, say, I will write at least 500 words a day and journal every other night.

Instead of saying I am going to read the Bible more, I will say, I will read a chapter a night starting from Genesis.

Instead of saying I am going to be kinder, I will say, I will bite my tongue when I want to lash out trying to prove my brilliance.

Instead of saying I will love deeper, I will say I love you more often and make sure my words match my actions.

Instead of saying I will help newbie writers more, I will say, I will get in touch with my new writer friends and offer some helpful tips, taking time to really listen without monopolizing the conversation.

I am hoping, planning, praying that my actions will speak louder than words on a teabox. But I know the only way that will happen is if I lean on the Lord for strength and direction.

 

I’m feeling deep in my soul that this just might be the year that it becomes less about me and more about Him.

Look at that. I already feel a spring in my step! And no tea. I’m thinking I might drink in a little more of that Sweet Revival. This infusion seems to be working.

                                        ****

And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.  Habakkuk 2:2-3 

Looking Forward - Susan Barclay

It's natural, as the year comes to an end, to look back and reflect on the events of the past twelve months, to consider how far (or not so far) one has come in that period of time, and to consider the year ahead.

Often it's a time when people create 'resolutions' or formulate goals. From my experience and from what I've heard from others, resolutions are usually broken within a couple of weeks. Instead of recommitting and moving forward, people tend to throw their hands up in despair and stop their self-improvement efforts.

Personally, I have moved from making resolutions to setting goals.While I admit that attempts to accomplish my 2012 goals using the Pick Four system failed, I still managed to complete two of the four on that list - finishing a Christmas short story (published in the anthology All Wrapped Up) and losing weight (17 pounds!).

As I look toward 2013, I have jumped on the Jan Plan wagon, which I found out about on one of the blogs I follow. According to the original post, "The Jan Plan will involve committing to finish one project. One. However you define 'finish'. Just doing what you have to do to get one project out of your unfinished knitting basket." My one project will be the completion of a short story I started this fall. If I successfully "get 'er done", I imagine there will be a Feb Plan, Mar Plan, etc. Please think about joining me and signing up for the challenge!


In the last couple of days, I've also been thinking about how to grow my character this year to become a less critical person. Yes, I admit this is an area in which I struggle. I can be critical of others as well as myself, not even attempting to extend compassion, understanding, or grace - especially if I'm around other judgmental people, who are quick to see the sawdust in another's eye while ignoring the plank in their own (Matthew 7:3-5). From the thoughts and mutterings I was wrestling with yesterday, I know this isn't going to be easy, but I'm determined. It will require me to learn more of God's Word, lean into and depend on Him, and remember that through Christ I have all I need for godly living (2 Peter 1:3). If I come to your mind this year, won't you pray for me?

For more of my writing, please visit www.susan-barclay.ca

Writing, Purpose and other Illusions - Tracy Krauss

It's hard to believe we are almost at the halfway mark in 2012. When I look back at my writing goals for the year, I'm also halfway between elation and dismay. Let me explain.

Last year I set out some very specific goals for myself in terms of my writing. These included increasing my blog following to a certain number, acquiring an agent, and seeing my third novel, PLAY IT AGAIN, in print. I'm happy to say that I managed to achieve each and every one. In some ways, though, last year's "success" set me up for a more lackadaisical approach in 2012. I decided to go with the "one word' trend for 2012 instead of a traditional list of goals, and chose the word "purpose" as my word.

It's been good in many ways. I re-read Rick Warren's PURPOSE DRIVE LIFE, perhaps gleaning more the second time around than the first, and I do consider the word 'purpose' on a daily basis in my prayers and as I plan my activities. However, not having an actual list of goals has left me 'purposeless' on some occasions as I sit down at my computer to do my online marketing and promotion. Exactly what am I trying to achieve? A broader reach? Increased sales? More hits on my blog? I'm not quite sure, so I just go about my business and hope for the best ... generally not the best method if you're at all interested in tracking measurable results.

All is not lost, of course. I obviously have some vague ideas about what I want to accomplish in terms of my writing, and just because I didn't list them in January doesn't mean I can't do so now. My fourth book found a contract thanks to my agent and WIND OVER MARSHDALE should be coming out this fall. As well, I've had some great success with my stage plays. I'll have four new plays in print this year, since I just mailed off two new contracts today for two more plays. Oddly enough, my first play, "Ebenezer's Christmas Carol" is making more money on royalties than all my books put together.

With so many irons in the fire, its often difficult to find the time to write new material, however. Perhaps this is where a self imposed daily word count would be in order. I enjoy the NaNoWriMo flurry of writing, and to be honest, I work best under pressure. Perhaps this is why concrete 'lists' tend to work for me. Even if I don't get around to completing everything on my list, it helps me to stay focused and gives me a sense of purpose. (There it is ... that word again.)

Its been a good year so far. Next year, however, expect to see a concrete list of goals come January. Some 'old tricks' still work best.