Discipline Yourself - Tracy Krauss

Writing takes DISCIPLINE.  

I'm not talking about the punitive connotation, but the self-regulating type required of athletes, musicians, or anyone, really, who is serious about their calling. I tossed the words DEDICATION and DETERMINATION around as alternates, but without DISCIPLINE (self-discipline to be exact) these may be little more than wishful thinking. 

No matter how busy, people tend to make time for the things that are important to them. If this is true, (and I believe it is) I am ashamed to admit that watching Netflix (or other irrelevant TV) must be important to me since I spend a fair amount of time doing it in the evenings.

What about you?

I'm going to be blunt. For most of us, "I'm too busy," is just an excuse.  Finding time to write, publish, connect with other authors, or market our work takes self-disciple. 

Paul says, Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9: 24 - 27 (NLT)

Paul is talking about the Christian life, of course, but the principle applies to writing as well. All the courses, books, and seminars in the world will not make a bit of difference if you don't take action - and then keep on taking action! There are no guaranteed tips, tricks, or "hacks". Moving ahead with your writing goals - whatever they may be - takes hard work and a stick-to-it mindset.

I know from experience that I am "gung-ho" after a conference or seminar, but applying what I've learned for the long haul is hard! It's easy to lose momentum. But like that runner, I have to keep on taking steps forward, no matter how small. I need self-discipline. 

Schedules, deadlines, checklists, rewards, or other incentives are all good strategies. Do what makes sense for you. But like anything worthwhile (praying more, exercising, changing our eating habits etc.) it boils down to one thing: choice. 

Self-discipline means making the choice. It's that simple.

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Tracy Krauss is the former president of Inscribe who works, writes, (and sometimes procrastinates) from her home in northern BC. Visit her website at: www.tracykrauss.com

Awakening Our Spirits During Lent by Sandi Somers

Our prompt for Lent was framed with the following questions: “How do you observe Lent? What impact does the time of leading up to Easter mean to you, your faith and your writing?”

In past years, my Easter preparation has been to read a Gospel, or read books such as Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ. This year, however, I wanted to engage more deeply in the meaning and beauty of Lent. Not coming from a Liturgical background, I researched both the history and regular practices of Lent. One helpful resource was SharonEspeseth’s earlier blogs on Lent. She challenged us to wake up our souls for Lent through goals, reading devotionals, prayer, repentance, fasting, and almsgiving.

Sharon’s concept of “waking up” resonated with me. It’s pre-spring, and in spring we wake up to new life after the cold, dark days of winter. Birds will soon return, and early spring flowers will poke through the soil. Just so, Lent is meant to awaken our spirits to its meaning. (The word “Lent” actually comes from the Old English meaning of “spring”!)

While we’re only a few days into Lent, God is already awakening me to focus on several important components.

Time with God

Several days ago, God prompted me to spend extended time with Him. Doing so fits into Lent’s second meaning: “slow” in Latin, a time we slow down to put our lives in order and to clarify priorities—like spiritual housecleaning. Without first spending time with God, I could become too absorbed in Lent’s self-examination, and my spirit can become heavy with my needs and the needs of others. How much I need to be reminded of Nehemiah’s words to his people: “The Joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). 

Confession and Repentance

God has awakened my spirit to greater confession and repentance, common practices of Lent. "Search me O God," the psalmist David wrote (Psalm 139:23-24). While self-examination is important, the Spirit points to areas that I need to confess. The Book of Common Prayer sums it up well: “We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.” We also confess things that have become too important—idols--including vices outlined in Galatians 5:19-21 and Ephesians 5:3-15

Collective Confession

Confession for me means going beyond myself to confess and call Canada back to God, especially during the current and past turbulences. My prayer has become, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Self-denial

A good friend described self-denial as a sacrifice, giving up something that’s hard to do. Perhaps excesses or preoccupations or distractions. For me, that means cutting cut down on coffee. Also, with living alone, I have a lot of time to myself. God has prompted me to spend more time with my extended family—through phone calls, emails/texts, visits, and invitations. I know there will be more self-denials to come.

         

Fasting to “Give It up for Freedom”

Scriptures teach that through self-denial and fasting, we can free ourselves and others from injustice and oppression (Isaiah 58:6-12). The International Justice Ministry has challenged me this Lent to “Give it up for freedom”, giving what money I save from my excesses to help stop slavery. 

As I’ve begun formal practices of Lent, I’m focusing more and more on why I’m observing this season. “Jesus came to defeat the Devil and Death,” wrote Barry Krammes, “but He also came to apply His victory to our daily lives. As we carefully examine ourselves we become keenly aware of our short-comings and sins but at the same time we are filled with overwhelming joy as we meditate on Jesus’ life and how He endured the cross for our salvation.”[i]

God is ready to awaken our spirits, not only during Lent, but also throughout the year. I pray you would have a listening ear and tender heart to respond to the “deep, deep love of Jesus”. 

For reflection:

As you describe your pre-Easter or Lenten journey this year, what principles help you most to focus on what Christ has done for you? How can your blog encourage your readers? 

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[i] Barry Krammes in “About” in http://ccca.biola.edu/lent/2020/#day-feb-27

Images by Pixabay

A Shelter in the Time of Storm by Pamela Mytroen

 A Shelter in the Time of Storm 

My phone vibrated in my pocket and whoop, whooped. "Tornado Watch. Funnel Clouds are in the area and could develop into tornadoes. Stay alert and take cover as danger escalates." I swivelled my shopping cart back to the entry of the store and parked it. Bursting out into the open area of the mall I searched for my husband. Where would we go? Where could we take cover? We were in a mall in Branson, Missouri and there was no basement. I paced back and forth in the corridor looking for him, going over my options. We could go down into the theatre, I reasoned, since it was a few steps below ground level, but still not far enough below ground to be protected from a tornado.

Finally I spotted my husband in a store across the way and I zoomed over to him. He chatted with a salesman. They had their backs to a huge window. Wind whipped the trees into arches that touched the ground, but they seemed oblivious to it all. I tugged on my husband's coat sleeve and mentioned the tornado warning that had blared through my phone. The salesman chuckled. "Oh we don't pay much attention to those warnings. They are non-stop at this time of year."

I looked at the trees bending beneath the fury of the wind, and then I glanced across to the store I had just stormed out of. People chatted, picked up merchandise, set it down, and strolled around like they were enjoying a walk in the park, even though their phones were also spewing warnings like popping corn in a theatre.

"But where would we go if there was a tornado?" I ventured, always the cautious one.

"Well, we would just crouch down, I suppose," he said in his slow drawl. He returned to his sales pitch.

I relaxed a little, seeing everybody go about their business like they were at the fair. But the next day we learned of several tornadoes, one that had left fatalities in its wake and of another one close by that had devastated a city.

It's true that when you live in Tornado Ally, you don't heed the warnings until it's too late. They are too common, too everyday to stop and take notice. On one hand people do not pay attention to warnings of imminent danger, and on the other hand, I seem to create imaginary situations to worry about as I think about my family, my job, and my health.  My pendulum swings to the worry extreme while other's pendulums swing to the careless and carefree side. While some people die of a tornado by not heeding the dire warnings, I might die of high blood pressure by worrying about situations that are barely a fist-sized cloud in the sky.  


The stress from my job and family situations had been building like black angry clouds, and swirling into tornadoes of anxiety. After much prayer, the Lord showed me that I was trying to meet everyone's expectations, which was impossible. He showed me that I needed a new mind-set. He whispered that it was okay to fail, to do my best and to stop striving. While I still tend to shoulder people's troubles, I'm learning to push my computer chair away from the desk, and take a break from the never-ending lesson planning. I'm learning to stop thinking about what could happen to my job with a new manager coming on board; I am learning to let go of the sky-high expectations my students place on me; I'm learning to fail and accept that I can't be perfect and I can't please everyone. I'm learning to stop worrying about my family, and their health, and be thankful instead. Switching one set of thoughts for another takes  self-discipline. I am amazed at the freedom and the space in my mind that was once taken up by stress and anxiety.

My daughter texted me as I was writing my blog and said that her two-year old dropped a can of Pepsi on his bare foot. She thinks his toe might be broken. Off she goes with her children into town on unplowed gravel roads while the snow is coming down. I could worry but I'm letting it go. I can't take on the burden. Instead, I find myself saying, "Thank you Lord for my daughter being a good mother. Thank you for doctors being available and for the wisdom they have. Thank you for watching over them."

As much as it takes concentration and hard work as I pour myself into my jobs and ministries, I find it takes far more focus and strength to shut down my OCD brain, to back away, take a break, call my friends, take time for coffee, and to intentionally focus on beautiful and praise-worthy things.

So today, in the midst of storms because there is always a storm brewing somewhere, I choose to be thankful. To be balanced. To hunker down and "take cover" when need be  - whether my grandson's toe is throbbing or my job is in jeopardy - and then to continue on my way, with His peace and joy. He is my shelter in the time of storm.


"Be transformed by the renewing of your mind," Romans 12:2b.

Pamela Mytroen

   

Go for the Gold with God by Steph Beth Nickel

This lady right here—gold medal-winning, world record-setting Paralympian Deb Willows—taught me so much about perseverance and overcoming one's circumstances. She also taught me what it looks like to go for the gold with God. 

When I saw the theme for this month, “A Metaphor from the Olympics,” I was thrilled. Having co-authored Deb’s memoir, Living Beyond My Circumstances, I knew I had a storehouse of information and inspiration. 

As writers and as Christians, how can we, too, go for the gold?

Dream big!

When Deb was a girl, she sat watching the Olympics with her dad. When she saw the swimming events, she said, "I want to do that."

Now, because Deb has cerebral palsy, her limbs don't always do what she wants them to. Many parents would have encouraged their child to set the bar a little lower, but not the Willows. They provided her with every opportunity to achieve her dreams—and she did.

What can we learn from this? 

If there's something seemingly impossible that we want to achieve, let's prayerfully ask God for wisdom and direction and do all we can to achieve our dreams (unless, of course, the Lord directs us on another path). It may just pay off in ways we'd never imagined.

Commit to Practice, Practice, and More Practice

Deb didn't just show up at an event and say, "Well, I'm here. Let's do this!" Of course not.

She spent countless hours in the pool strengthening her limbs and learning how to propel herself down the lane ... as well as learning to propel her wheelchair through a slalom course, play wheelchair soccer and bocci ball. 

When she felt like it, she practiced. When she didn't feel like it, she practiced. When a migraine hit, if at all possible, she practiced.

This woman's determination has taught me that anything worth achieving is worth hours of planning, preparation, and practice—even when we don't feel like it. This is true whether we're on our way to becoming a record-setting athlete or the best freelance columnist our local newspaper has ever hired.

Press Through the Hard Times

I already mentioned Deb's migraines, but one thing especially impressed me. As she said, the organizers of a Paralympic event won't reschedule simply because an athlete has a headache. Deb has competed when her body wanted nothing more than to stay in bed. 

Deb also tells of another Paralympian with whom she played wheelchair soccer. During the match, there was a loud crunch. This man's foot had gotten squashed between his footplate and that of another athlete's. The truly amazing thing is this: he refused to let the doctor put on a cast until after his swimming events. Talk about dedication.

Do I have this kind of dedication when I face hard times in my own life? Too often I'd have to say no. In fact, I can't even imagine persevering in these scenarios. What about you?

Don't Give Up When You Don't Achieve Gold

Deb was away from home competing in the Games. Normally, she would get in touch with her family after she had won a medal (or several medals). On this particular occasion, she hadn't won any medals or set any world records, but she did want to talk to her family. So she called home and who should answer but her brother.

He asked, "Did you win?"

When Deb said she hadn't, he asked why she was calling.

Brothers!

It is important to do the best we can—to do everything in the name of Jesus as it says in Colossians 3:17—but that doesn't necessarily mean we'll win a gold medal or hit the best seller list. However, one thing's for sure, if we give up, we never will.

By the way, Deb and all the members of her family are extremely close and have great fun together.

Give God the Glory

Here's Deb's perspective on what's truly important:

"In a very real sense, the medals I won are worthless. But when I share my faith with others, now that is pure gold. If back on that June day I did not swim my race, how many opportunities to share God's love would I have missed?" (from Living Beyond My Circumstances)

It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, which says, "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified" (ESV).

Will you go for the gold this day? And will you give God all the glory whether you achieve your dreams or not?

Steph Beth Nickel is a freelance writer and editor (among other things). She seeks to go for the gold from her home in southwestern Ontario. Deb and Steph are currently working on a follow-up book that will cover the years after Deb’s active involvement in sports. They’ve given it the working title Still Living Beyond My Circumstances.