Processing the Seasons of Life by Steph Beth Nickel

 

Fountain Pen Note Notebook - Free photo on Pixabay

It's my guess that you're facing challenges of one description or another, no matter what season of life you're in.

You may be a young person wondering what the 2025/2026 schoolyear holds in store.

A 20-something just getting started with your adult life. So many decisions to make!

Maybe you're in your 30s, 40s, or 50s, deep in the weeds of "adulting." (I wasn't sure about that word when I first heard it either, but it's grown on me.)

And then, there are those of us in our 60s and 70s and beyond, facing the fall and winter seasons of life.

Whatever our age or our situation, there is one thing that will help us all process our thoughts and feelings.

And that's...

Writing.

Of course you may be writing for "the public." Books. Articles. Blog posts.

But there are several types of writing we can do that others will never see, not if we don't want them to.

Julia Cameron developed the idea of "morning pages," three pages of uncensored, unedited streams of consciousness put to paper before we officially begin our day. Because there is a psychological difference between writing by hand and writing on the computer, she encourages readers to use pen and paper. I did so for awhile and found it super helpful. I may have to return to the practice.

I'm currently making a brief entry in my journal at the end of most days. I first heard about line-a-day diaries from podcaster and author Kendra Adachi. This is perfect for recording 1-4 sentences that sum up each day. No matter how tired we are or how unmotivated we feel, most of us can bring ourselves to complete this exercise.

And then there's what I call "rambling until we stumble upon truth." I haven't done this type of journaling in several years, but I found it a great way to process my thoughts and feelings while encouraging my inner editor to take a break. Sometimes, I was surprised at what ended up on the paper.

These are only a handful of the ways we can process where we're at in our particular season of life.

I made a number of false starts to this post because I'm currently processing my way through imminent changes and those that I anticipate will occur within the next year or so. How much should I share? Would I just be filling the page? Would it actually benefit readers? 

I decided to save those rambling thoughts for my personal journal. 

You may find it helpful to work through the challenges you're facing in the same way. And those thoughts just may motivate you to share with others who are facing the same challenges.

Steph Beth Nickel is the former Editor of FellowScript and the current InScribe Contest Coordinator. Steph is an editor and author and plans to relocate to Saskatchewan from Ontario to be close to family in 2026. (Headshot Photo Credit: Jaime Mellor Photography)

Morning Pages or Mourning Pages? by Brenda J Wood

 

Morning pages or mourning pages? Only you can decide.

Morning pages are Julia Cameron's claim to fame. Her first book, The Artist's Way has been a bestseller for years and gradually she's added others, like The Writer's Diet to the mix.

Here is the basic premise to morning pages. Wake up. Make a quick coffee if you must. Write! Yes, hand write three 8.5 x 11 pages without thinking. Don't correct spelling or a thought. Just write. Don't think, edit, or correct. Just write.

For the first 45 minutes of awake time, the brain has no protective mode and what you write is what you are really thinking deep down in your being. Things you might not even dare to dream or think or realize or even act on, hit the page. During this time, your stream of consciousness explodes with brilliance across the page with thoughts you never knew that you had. Your ability to accomplish widens. For instance, I've written a book a year for the last 50 years or so, but last year I produced four new titles.

I began to use my time more wisely, think more clearly, edit more quickly. While struggling for a cover for my 366-page devotional Heart to Heart my morning pages produced the clear thought of a white background with single stem of a Bleeding Heart flower. I actually wrote this column one very early morning. It popped up on my morning pages.

I talk to God in my pages and am never disappointed. My struggles and solutions appear on the page. And all I do is wake up, pick up pen in my hand, and start to write till I fill those three pages.

I dare you to take this challenge. Let me know how it works for you. Like anything else, it will work for you if you work for it. The Artist's Way, including other books by Julia Cameron, are likely available in your local library, but I recommend that you buy it so that you can scribble in it and do the exercises in it.

Sincerely, Brenda J Wood, Morning Pages Convert!

Top Photo credit: Image by Engin_Akyurt from Pixabay

Brenda J Wood has authored more than fifty books. She is a seasoned motivational speaker, who declares the Word of God with wisdom, humour, and common sense.

Ritual and Routine, Preparing Atmospheres ~ Joylene M Bailey

My husband and I are entering a new season. New home, new community, new calling. New season.

This demands some new rituals and routines. Since I don't really have any in place yet, I decided to do a study on ritual and routine, and the difference between them.

I paid special attention to my movements this week, from the time I woke up each day. Maybe I already had some rituals in place that I hadn't noticed before.

I wanted to pay attention to what I do naturally; what fuels me, what I lean towards doing, what brings me joy. These are the things that become rituals - things that prepare the atmosphere for my writing. They settle me into my work, my purpose, my calling.

~~~~~

Rituals help you make the most of time and help you feel you have more of it because you are enjoying yourself more deeply as you flow through the day, adding touches that stimulate enthusiasm and give energy.

[Alexandra Stoddard - Living a Beautiful Life]

~~~~~

It's natural for me to wake early. I love the early morning; I'm most creative in the morning. Once I've dressed in comfy clothes, slithered my feet into cozy socks, and put on my grey cardigan with the shawl collar, I head to my new library, painted in Woodlawn Blue. Such an airy, peaceful colour.

The large windows face Northeast. Morning light slowly and gradually bathes the room, illuminating the books on the shelves, which give me joy whenever I look at them. The sound of the outdoors is important to me so, except on the coldest of days, the first thing I do is open the windows. It's a bonus if the birds are singing, but more than that, I need to hear the trees speaking to me: the tentative whispers of the poplars, the confident wisdom of the grand evergreens.

Coffee in hand, I sit at my desk in the library to write Morning Pages. Morning Pages has been mentioned a few times on this blog, but if you're not familiar with them, suffice it to say, it's a brain dump, and it doesn't have to be pretty. Morning pages are meant to empty your brain of everything holding back your creativity, and they're not meant to be kept forever, like a journal. I couldn't bear to think of throwing out a pretty journal, so I got the old-style school notebooks - four for 79 cents.

~~~~~

~~~~~

Morning Pages are three pages of longhand writing, strictly stream-of-consciousness... not meant to be art. Or even writing ... Pages are meant to be, simply, the act of moving the hand across the page and writing down whatever comes to mind. Nothing is too petty, too silly, too stupid, or too weird to be included... Nobody is allowed to read your morning pages except you.

[Julia Cameron - the Artist's Way]

~~~~~

My Morning Pages are scribbled as thoughts come fast and furious. Not my best handwriting. But I do love handwriting - the actual act of handwriting, the forming of the words as the ink from my smooth-flowing blue pen glides across the paper. So, I take a couple of minutes to handwrite some quotes into my quote book before I tuck in to my Bible reading for the day.

~~~~~

The grey cardigan with the shawl collar, the open windows, the sound of the trees, sitting at the desk, handwriting - these are rituals. They fuel me and give me energy.

Daily rituals are personal statements; they fuel our zest for living.

[Alexandra Stoddard - Living a Beautiful Life]

Coffee, Morning Pages, Bible Reading & Prayer, the walk I take before breakfast. These are routines, a usual order and way of doing something that brings structure to my morning, and thus my day.

And I haven't even got to my writing yet! The ideal for me would be to head back to my library after my walk and breakfast with The Cowboy, to write until 1 pm. Hopefully, with these new rituals and routines in place, that goal will be realized. I'll be fuelled and energized for the work ahead because I've already prepared the atmosphere. 

~~~~~

Sunrise image by ken lecoq from Pixabay

Writing image by Tanvi Malik from Pixabay

Joy is implementing some new rituals and routines in their new home in the country, where she lives with The Cowboy and a puppy named Chara. Find more of her joy-infused view of the world at Scraps of Joy. 

When We Listen by Steph Beth Nickel

When the words mean even more than the writer knew they meant,

then the writer has been listening.

And sometimes when we listen, we are led into places we do not expect,

into adventures we do not always understand.

Madeleine L’Engle

“Rambling until I stumble across truth.” That’s how I refer to journaling.

Sometimes, we simply have to “shake loose” those “places we do not expect,” those “adventures we do not always understand.”

They live within us. Sometimes on the surface. Sometimes buried deep within.

Have your own words ever surprised you? Have they jumped off the page as if that truth, that question, that reality was just waiting to see the light of day? Have those words ever inspired a blog post? A talk? An entire book?

Before we explore further, I want to let you know I’m not talking about perfectly polished prose. I’m referring to that sentence or phrase that flows from the tip of your pen or from your fingertips without forethought.

Yes, we have to “kill our darlings.” Not everything we think is profound and inspirational is meant for anyone besides ourselves. But let’s not deny the importance of words that are just for us either. 

How can we invite these words to impact our lives? How can we travel to those places and have those adventures Madeline L’Engle referred to? How can we listen?

1. Before you sit down to write, do your best to set aside distractions. Focus singularly on the task at hand. If you haven’t already, develop a pre-writing routine that triggers the “it’s-time-to-write” mindset.
2. Practice what Julia Cameron calls “morning pages.” Just put pen to paper first thing in the morning and write three pages to rid your mind of the clutter that you’ve accumulated. No judgment and no rewrites allowed. This is the ultimate info dump. Still, you may find gold among the dross.
3. Similarly, you can freewrite regularly. Choose a writing prompt or come up with one of your own. Set a timer. And write as fast as you can. Again, it’s important to silence your inner editor. You may discover an idea you want to pursue.
4. Try your hand at a genre or form of writing that is new to you. While it may frustrate more than inspire, there is a chance that looking at things from a different perspective is just what you need.
5. Go on an “artist’s date.” (This is another of Julia Cameron’s recommendations.) Do something that inspires you. Even in these days of social distancing and lockdowns, you can take a walk, snap some pictures, peruse Pinterest for inspiring images. (When the restrictions lift, you may want to grab a coffee with a friend, wander through your local art gallery, or curl up in a corner at the library and read a book.)

How do you “listen” before, during, and after you write? Have you travelled to unexpected places because of your writing? Have you had adventures you hadn’t understood before certain words flowed from your fingertips?

Steph Beth Nickel began freelance editing over 13 years ago and is currently taking new clients. You can contact her at nurtureandinspire@gmail.com To join her Editing Tips Facebook group, answer the questions here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/418423519384351 Glad to have you join us! Steph is also a blogger, author—and a labour doula. 

Valuing My Experience by Sharon Espeseth

In her book, The Right to Write, 

Julia Cameron has a chapter called, “Valuing Our Experience.” She begins the chapter by saying, “We do not see our size.” Ms. Cameron goes on to express what I might blush to say, "We are far larger, far more marvellous, far more deeply and consistently creative than we recognize or know.” To that we might say, “But that’s not the way I was raised or what the Bible teaches. . .
                                                                 

I have, however, studied and practiced The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia and I know where she’s going with this. We are children of God the Creator and we have that divine spark of creativity within us. “Creativity is God’s gift to us. Using our creativity is our gift back to God.” This is #6 of her Basic Principles for The Artist’s Way (p.3)




I have mentioned my doing Morning Pages a la Julia Cameron in previous blogs.

Today I'll review some of my qualifications for writing--perhaps more to convince myself than you that I have life experience helpful for writing. In doing so, I may convince you to self-evaluate as well.

I’ve Been Every Age

I’ve been through every age and stage of life from newborn to toddler to teenager, to young adult, middle-ager and senior. I’m in the decade that makes me a septuagenarian, but I am still a fairly healthy and independent person.

Hank and I Playing Cards with Some of the Kida

I’ve Lived, Not Just Played, Many Roles

From daughter, to granddaughter, sister, friend, spouse, mom, mother-in-law, cousin, niece, aunt, grandparent, school teacher, caregiver, employee, student, and probably several roles that don’t come to mind--I’ve been or still am most of these.

I’ve Worked in a Variety of Jobs (volunteer and paid)

From babysitter to secretary, waitress to writer, Sunday school teacher, youth and camp counsellor, musician at church, leading in writing groups, editing informally, writing school material for distance education. . .

I Have Experience. . . 

In teaching, writing (with clips and a few awards), parenting, marriage, grandparenting, friendships, caregiving, travel, gardening, hiking, biking, playing a few sports, skipping double Dutch, singing, playing a piano (without virtuosity), cooking, baking, canning, camping, horseback riding, and zip lining (only once, but what an experience zipping over jungle canopy in Costa Rica!) These are the activities that quickly came to mind. I have also dated, fallen in love and adopted children. I have read many of the classic novels in English and I struggled through a few in French some years ago.

I Have Written and had published. . . 

Essays, articles, creative non-fiction, poetry, flash fiction, memoir, and stories of faith, and stories in anthologies.

Stories in a Few Anthologies

Yes, I Value Experience 

But as Julia Cameron says,

          “We must be small enough, humble enough, to always be a beginner, an observer.
          We must be open to experience, new experience, new sources of knowledge and 
          insight, while still staying grounded in the fact that what we already know and 
          have done is also estimable, also important.”
                                                                  (The Right to Write by Julia Cameron, p. 49)
Discipline or Routine

I know I do better creatively, mind-wise, emotionally and spiritually when, or if, I can write those three hand-written pages--what Cameron calls Morning Pages--first thing in the a.m. She doesn’t think of this as “discipline," which she calls "a thankless word."

Instead it is “a creative routine,” which she says we all would do well to establish: “a rote, do-able, daily something that is there to fall back on.” For you, it may be another time or another way, but I know from valuable past experience this works for me. Now I need to figure out how to get this going as standard procedure even in our present circumstances.  I’ll need some help on this.

Hank, The Norwegian and I

Dear Lord, 

            If I am still called to write, help me write. Help me to manage my time better, to get rid of time-consuming clutter--of stuff, of burdens, of doubts and time wasters. Help me to develop a routine that would give me the space, the time, the comfort and the sense of peace that my writing affords, while not neglecting the ones who need me most. If in the process of writing, I should write something that would bless, comfort, or encourage someone else, help me to get it to them in published form or personal note. Amen.

Praising your name, 

Sharon 

The following poem, I had previously written in the second person. I am now rewriting it in the first person, so it hits home. You may like it in first person too.

Filling the Blanks

 By Sharon Espeseth

The page is empty.

Only I can fill it.

No one else knows

            that pattern of words

            that strand of ideas

            that bent of emotion

            that weave of life’s experience.

My pen, my fingers

            feel the rhythm

            of my story.

Synchronicity: God's Alignment by Sharon Espeseth

Synchronicities in the Bible

Joseph with His Jealous Brothers

Was it pure luck that Joseph, after being thrown in a pit by his brothers, ended up in Egyptian courts? That's where his brothers found him years later during a famine. Joseph, in charge of supplies, offered food to his family. His brothers, expecting retaliation, had been fearful upon meeting Joseph.

Acknowledging God had put him there, Joseph allayed their fears. "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
(Genesis 50:19-20)

The Old Testament is filled with stories of people who were at the right place at the right time in order to carry out God's plan.

Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem

Without Cell Phones

In the days before his crucifixion, Christ organized his final days. Before his ride through Jerusalem, Jesus needed a donkey. He sent two disciples to the next village with instructions about where to find a donkey and her colt. "Untie them and bring them to me," Jesus said. "If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away." (Matthew 21:2-3)

With arrangements for his last supper with his disciples, Jesus didn't call ahead to book the upper room. He told his disciples to go to the city and look for a man carrying a jug of water. They were to follow him until he entered a house and then approach him saying, "The Teacher asks: 'Where is the guest room where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?' He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there." (Luke 22:11-12)

Throughout all of history and again today, God aligns things for us. Even when we are reaping the consequences of our mistakes, God orchestrates situations to our benefit. As Christians, " . . . We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Roman 8:28)


What Is Synchronicity?

There are many definitions and discussions about synchronicity on the Internet, but finding something sound and succinct isn't easy. One blogger said that synchronicity is a concept one cannot understand by hearing about it. One needs to see it for oneself. Synchronicity must be "caught instead of taught."

Carl Jung, the early 20th century psychoanalyst was the first to coin the term synchronicity as "a phenomenon that occurs when two seemingly unrelated events occur close to one another, and the person experiencing the events interprets this correlation as meaningful." I believe he also referred to synchronicity as "meaningful coincidences."

I found some answers at https://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-coincidence.html,
including the following etymology of the word "coincidence."


The word coincidence is translated from the Greek word synkyrian, which is a combination of two words: sun and kurios. Sun means “together with,” and kurious means “supreme in authority.” So a biblical definition of coincidence would be “what occurs together by God’s providential arrangement of circumstances.”


Is this where Jung got the word, "synchronous" and thus "synchronicity?"

Synchronicity and Me

Looking back, I recognize, and am thankful for, many synchronous times and events, but I will restrict my telling.

1. June 1: Sandi Somers listed The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron as a resource. Located book at
home. Began reading.

2. June 8: Identified with author's ideas on "blocked creative." Started writing Morning Pages.

3. June 25: Started Week One, Day One. Expectations: Write Morning Pages, 3 per day. Plan and carry out 1 2-hour, solitary Artist's Date per week. Written Check-In at week's end. Do not read Morning Pages. (Put in envelope or don't go back in notebook.)

Cameron provides Exercises and Tasks. To do the program effectively, participants should do Exercises and some of Tasks.

4. June 22: Check-In for Week Three and every week thereafter asks,

"Did you experience any synchronicity this week? What was it?" 

Began looking for synchronicity. Recording pleasant, unexpected happenings, plans that unfolded like a river going downstream.

5. Observations as weeks progress: More synchronicity. More abundant flow in my life. Increased awareness of synchronous happenings. More writing. Getting more done.

Morning Pages become increasingly more spiritual experience. Written prayers and Bible quotations
pop into my head. More frequently offer worries, complaints and needs to God. Ask God for wisdom for myself and others. Less fixing. Learning to let go and let God. Morning Pages more devotional.

6. Keeping up with program. Repeated two weeks when I didn't cover enough ground.

7. Surprised to discover this month's blog theme of "Synchronicity."

8. Week 9: Surprise! One of Tasks is re-reading Morning Pages. Coloured markers in hand, I  Take Stock, Take Heart, and Acknowledge.
Acknowledge synchronicity and how it blessed my life.

*Bible texts are in The New International Bible.

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Life: A Delicate Balance by Sharon Espeseth

Life: A Delicate Balance
Free Pixabay Image

Wisdom from Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way

In her June post, Sandi Somers mentioned The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. I found this idle and previously unused book on my shelf and started reading. I quickly decided this book might help me get from feeling stalled and stymied to accomplishing some of what I believed I was meant to do in life.

I was the blocked creative Cameron was talking about. I was the flower seed crowded out by weeds of care and concern for everything and everybody. While trying to fix everybody else, I was short of the sunshine and elbow room I needed to grow myself. Low on sunshine and nutrients, my growth was also stunted by a creative well run dry.

Cameron lists ten Basic Principles, which coincide with my beliefs. Sample: "Creativity is God's gift to us. Using our creativity is our gift back to God."

Two of her Basic Tools are Morning Pages and The Artist Date, which she says are a non-negotiable part of her "recovery" program.  Morning Pages are three pages written first thing each morning; the Artist Date is a session of approximately two-hours set aside each week and "committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist."

Cameron's program, which is designed to help us recover from blocked creativity, is divided into twelve weekly units. For each week, the author provides motivational material, quotes, and activities  suitable to that week's theme.

I have faithfully done my Morning Pages for 58 days. This works best for me when I rise early and write in solitude. I am on Week 6, Day 4. I have been a willing participant in the Morning Pages as this activity seems to keep me moving in the right direction. Often my writing is prayerful.

Not quite an Artist's Date as I am not alone

The Artist Date is something you plan and carry out on your own, which has been more challenging to me that Morning Pages. Sometimes I sit out on the front porch or the back deck and read or write, but I don't go off by myself as the author suggests. Does this mean I'm resisting this assignment? If so, I need strength and determination to overcome this reluctance.

Two weeks ago the assignment was to go on an extended date, one that lasts longer than the two hours. "Julia" suggested a more adventuresome outing. Yeah, right, I thought. If I can't do a two-hour date by myself, how am I going to pull this off? 

Wisdom and Synchronicity Making the Date

I hadn't been to Edmonton by myself since October 2015, when my sister Joan passed. Because of my husband's health, I didn't feel comfortable leaving him home alone. As we get older, Hank has become more protective of me also. I was gearing up for the Wednesday luncheon with my teaching girlfriends from my Fort McMurray years. Hank was going to drive me to the restaurant and wait for me in the hot van, which seemed ridiculous!

On Tuesday evening, Hank wrote down the time for Wednesday's Blue Jay's game. I reminded him we wouldn't be home on time, because, as I'd told him, I wanted to meet my niece and my sister for a dinner. His face fell. Was this an impasse? Would I have to give in and come home after the McMurray Girls Luncheon without seeing my people?

I reminded the Norwegian that I used to drive a lot and I'd be fine. I would pray for safety for both of us. He could pray instead of worry about me.

I would be going by myself. It was too late to make arrangements with my niece, Billie, or my sister Shirley. I'd  call them from Edmonton. Driving on my own was an unexpected pleasure. Comfortable and confident, I felt focussed. I shopped before the late luncheon. Billie-Jo met me for dinner in the evening. I stayed overnight with my daughter and family in Leduc. My sister from Calmar met me in Leduc for brunch on Thursday morning. I was home by 3:00 p.m.

I had a wonderful time and I suspect Hank did too. Julia Cameron would consider this episode synchronicity. When I set out to do what I set out to do, God was there helping with the details and keeping me safe. Everything lined up and I was grateful to all parties, especially my Father in heaven. I also whispered a thank you to "Julia" for giving me the gumption to venture out on my own.

Wisdom from Others

Lacey just trying to be herself

Recently I asked our seven-year-old grandchild, Lacey, "So, how are things going for you, Lacey?" "What have you been up to?"

"I'm just busy trying to be Lacey."

Interesting! I'm thinking, I'm just trying to be Sharon, to be who I believe God wants me to be.

A couple weeks ago, Connie Inglis, our InScribe spiritual advisor, shared her thoughts on Romans 5: 1-5. Because of my following The Artist's Way, the words of verse 2 especially touched me.

"For because of our faith, he has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to actually becoming all that God has had in mind for us to be."



 Maintaining Balance in the Ups and Downs of Life

Yesterday was a topsy-turvy day and I struggled to accomplish what I needed to do, i.e. write my blog, and take care of what my loved ones needed from me. For this, I took another look at the New Commandment Christ gave us.

What the good book says!

Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind," and then, "Love your neighbour as yourself." Sometimes we cannot, nor should we, meet all our neighbours needs. They must look after some of their own needs. Many of their needs are met by God, which leaves some needs for which we are responsible.

Help me to love my neighbour, Lord, as I love myself, and give me the wisdom to know which duties are mine. Amen.

Reflecting back / Looking ahead by Loretta Bouillon

In the spring of 2014, I joined Inscribe Christian Writer’s Fellowship. This group opened up a whole new level of writing for me as well as many exciting opportunities. I have tried my hand at contests, devotions, magazine articles, query letters, guest blogging as well as being asked to be a regular contributor to this blog.  I have also learned so much being a part of the chat group with Inscribe. I do not always participate in all the conversations but I read them and glean. The group has been wonderful answering any questions that I have had so far. I have met new writer friends (although not face to face…but I am hoping to next fall conference!) If you are a writer, published or not, I would highly recommend joining this group.

I attended Surrey International Writer’s Conference with my daughter (article featured on my own blog as well as in the February issue of Fellowscript magazine).  The networking experience as well as the information that we took away from the conference was invaluable.

2014 was a year of input overload and a very fast learning curve. Now that I have a little more understanding of the writing and publishing industry, I feel God slowing me down and realigning my focus. I don’t have to enter every contest that comes my way! Write that novel. Work on one project at a time. Develop my writing skills. Read that book and apply it to my daily life. Polish my skills. Practice, practice, practice. So this is what I will do.

Two resources that have come my way are ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron and  ‘The Writer’s Book of Days’ by Judy Reeves. I have begun reading both of them and this is what I am applying so far:

Morning Pages – You write three pages about anything you like. It is not to be edited (unless you want to later). Basically, you write to unclutter your mind so you clear the brain drain, to unblock and recover the artist in you. The pages are to be written longhand and not to be an artisitic attempt or written about anything in particular. Get all your worries and mind clutter onto the page. I realize that what I do with my journaling is much like this, only now I write without a “censor”; the critical part in me that is afraid someone might read it someday. I am quite enjoying the freedom of this process.

Artist’s Date – This is a two hour date with myself per week for twelve weeks to do something artistic/creative to develop my creative side. I have to say that I am not as successful with this task quite yet. I am working on it, though, and will save this experience for a future blogpost.

As I move forward into the New Year, I am doing so with a commitment to grow in my writing technically as well as really trying to hear God’s direction as to where it will take me. One day at a time. Like anything in my life, it is about trusting God. My “wake up prayer” every morning is this: “God, I give you my day. Please guide me and help me to be the best I can be at all You are asking me to do. Amen.”

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17 (NKJV)

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