Twenty-Six Before Twenty-Six by Steph Beth Nickel

 

It may seem a little early to post about the upcoming year, but I recently came across Karin Nordin PhD on Instagram.

Each year, on November 1, she creates a list of things she wants to accomplish before January 1 of the following year. Note: To silence the perfectionist, this content creator says the purpose of the list is not to accomplish everything on it, and if we complete even one task, she encourages us to consider it a win.

While we are 12 days into November, there is still time to create our "Twenty-Six Before Twenty-Six" list.

I have included my list below. Hopefully, it will encourage and inspire you to make your own. Note: The following list is in no particular order.

1. Create a barebones outline of the rest of the YA novel I'm working on.
2. Write at least 25K additional words of this novel. (I'm participating in NovNov, ProWritingAid's answer to the now-defunct National Novel Writing Month [NaNoWriMo]).
3. As much as possible, clear my calendar of other responsibilities so I can write at least 1K words six days per week in November.
4. Complete the current draft of my novel before the end of the year.
5. If I get the draft completed, recruit at least three beta readers to give me feedback two months after receiving the manuscript.
6. Declutter our main floor. (My hubby will be laying new flooring throughout. So, this is the perfect opportunity to do so.)
7. Seek to sell at least some of the things we don't intend to take with us when we relocate in Saskatchewan.
8. Schedule Substack posts through the end of the year.
9. Schedule social media posts through the end of the year.
10. Prepare at least one manuscript for self-publishing.
11. Complete the revisions of my devotionals based on the gospel of John.
12. Write at least three guest posts for blogs I contribute to.
13. Work on plans for next year's InScribe writing contest.
14. Take my friend out driving at least 4-6 times. (She needs her license to get a job.)
15. Visit with another friend who is housebound.
16. Make significant headway on the book I'm coauthoring. (We are working on suggested revisions from the potential publisher.)
17. Do resistance training or Pilates 3+ times per week.
18. Go for a walk or hike at least twice per week.
19. Eat more fruit and vegetable.
20. Drink more water.
21. Cut back to one sugary drink per day.
22. Send Christmas gifts to kiddos, who live either out of the province or out of the country.
23. Prep and send Christmas cards by December 1.
24. Write a Christmas poem for my church family.
25. Get together with my "church son" and his family, as we do each year in late November or early December.
26. Connect with my sister at least once a week.

And since I wouldn't classify myself as a perfectionist, I will be thrilled if I get those 25K words written in November.

How about you? Are you going to create your own list? If so, what would be your top three priorities?

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)

Photo credit for the graphic: Download New Year's Day, 2026, Greeting Card. Royalty-Free Stock Illustration Image - Pixabay

Looking Back, Looking Ahead by Lorrie Orr

 

September's Prompt...

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

It is a wonderful promise of God that each day is a new beginning to experience his faithfulness. As autumn activities start afresh in churches and schools, September can be a time to reflect on how the previous months have gone and to set new intentions for the months ahead. How has your writing life progressed thus far in 2025? Are you encouraged to move ahead?

The sun has moved from winter to spring, followed by summer. Now the sun sinks lower on the horizon and summer turns slowly into autumn. A new energy fills the air. In many ways, September seems more like the start of a new year than January. We grow up beginning the next grade in school, with new clothes, freshly sharpened pencils, and a stack of clean notebooks. It’s a good time to reflect on the past months and to set new intentions for the season ahead.

One of my assignments for a class taken at Briercrest Bible College in the 1970s was to set goals. We began with a lifetime goal, then five-year, one-year, and monthly goals, if I remember correctly. I thought the assignment rather useless at the time, because who knew where I would be in five years? However, I thought long and hard about my lifetime goal, wanting something short and succinct. In the end I settled on adapting a portion of the Westminster Shorter Catechism - "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever." To glorify God with my life became my motto. More recently I've begun thinking about the other part of the catechism - the part about enjoying God.

In Zephaniah 3:17 I read

 

The Lord your God is with you,

he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing.

How wonderful it is to know that God delights in me. I can walk through my days knowing that He loves me because I am his child. But to turn the tables, how do I enjoy God?

In all of life, my writing included, I desire to please God, to let his grace and love shine through. And when I do, I enjoy his presence and guidance. So as I reflect and set goals, he is right there alongside me, pointing out my accomplishments and encouraging me to keep on when I haven't met the goals I've set. Sometimes he takes me in a very different direction, such as this blog post which is not what I first intended to write.

Delighting in this year's writing accomplishments:

1. My memoir, Life is Short but Wide, is finished, and is currently being evaluated by a hybrid publishing company. Scary, but joyous.

2. Nine InScribe blog posts published.

3. Forty-one posts written on my person blog Fabric Paper Thread.

4. Uncounted words handwritten in my journal or typed on my laptop.

Trusting God with my intentions for the next four months:

1. Edit memoir as needed.

2. Begin a Substack newsletter. Have 10 posts written in draft by the end of September.

3. Tackle the unknown world of publishing with the help of Siretona Creative.

4. Begin another writing project. I have ideas, but am uncertain about which to pursue.

As I plan for the months ahead, I am resting on God’s promise in James 1 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him/her ask of God who gives to all generously and without reproach.” Isn't wisdom something we all need. How gracious of God to share his knowledge and wisdom with us. I know that my plans may change and that God is the one who plans my future. As I set my intentions, I rely on his grace and strength to complete them, or to go in another direction.

 

Lorrie lives on Vancouver Island with her husband with whom she enjoys

hiking, boating, road trips, and staying at home. Life is an adventure.

Do Not Despair by Steph Beth Nickel

Does your Lifetime Achievement Goal look something like mine: become a multi-published author who makes a good living from the sale of her books so she and her hubby can enjoy his retirement without worrying about finances? 

It may not look exactly like that, but you get the idea.

While I still plan to indie publish several books over the next decade or two (or more, Lord willing), that may not be what God has planned for me.

There’s an old saying that goes “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”

Currently, I have the honour of editing blog posts, books, and more. What a privilege to hear “it sounds like me, only better” and “you’ve not only made my writing better; you’ve made me a better writer.

How humbling! How encouraging!

Does God want me to spend my time coming alongside others and helping them polish the message He has given them to get into the world rather than publishing my own books?

Possibly!

And that should be a-ok with me. After all, His plans for my life are the very best—even those I would not choose for myself.

How about you? Are you despairing over what you’re not able to accomplish rather than doing each task as unto the Lord (Colossians 2:23)?

No judgment here! That’s what I do far too often—although I might not admit that it’s actually despair.

How can we determine if we’re investing, rather than merely spending, the time God gives us each day?

Here’s a series of questions that might help:

•  Do I commit each day to the Lord, asking Him to accomplish in and through me all He desires?
• Do I see my opportunities to bless others as opportunities to bless Jesus (Matthew 25:31f)?
• Do I do each task as if doing it for the Lord, as mentioned above?
• Am I willing to accept the fact that now may not be the time to pursue my writing goals?
• Am I willing to honestly evaluate my schedule and make space for those goals, dreams, and aspirations that persist?
• Am I willing to say no to good things on my list in order to take hold of the writing goals I believe God has for me?

These are only half a dozen of the questions we could ask ourselves when deciding if now is the time to make room for our writing.

If you’re like me, that’s only one important step on the road to publication. Next, we have to zero in on what we want to write.

Some writers are incredibly focused. They write primarily on one topic or in one genre—and they are quite content to do so.

But there are those of us who have eclectic interests (are scattered, are caught up in the Oo, Shiny!, or…SQUIRREL).

For example, I have written dozens of devotionals, have several unpublished children’s picture book manuscripts on my computer, have made significant headway on two novels, and have ideas for countless more projects.

Even if I decide to commit time to writing several times a week, I must focus on the work at hand if I hope to get anything published.

For me, that means completing the memoir I’m coauthoring with Paralympian Deb Willows and the YA speculative fiction novel I began in 2019 or 2020.

I also have several shorter writing tasks to accomplish each month.

Do you despair over not getting more of the writing you want to do completed?

Take a deep breath. Pray for wisdom and direction. Evaluate your schedule. And, whatever you decide, rejoice in the opportunities you have each day to bless those God has brought into your life—with your writing or in some other way.

It's All About the Follow-Through by Steph Beth Nickel

Follow-through is important even for those of us who aren't golfers.

Distractions are part of everyday life. But if we want to achieve our writing goals, we must first make a plan and then follow through with that plan.

Of course, there are times when life happens and we must revise our plan. That doesn't mean, however, that we should set aside our goals and dreams indefinitely.

At this stage of my life, I have to seriously consider all the things I'd like to accomplish and prayerfully determine which I'm going to focus on. I can set lofty goals of pursuing a plethora of my eclectic interests, but I know full well I'll only be able to follow through on a relatively small number of them.

I need a plan. And so do you.

What steps can you take to increase the likelihood that you will achieve your goals?

• Determine what your ultimate goals are and then break them down into tasks you can achieve in relatively short increments of time.
• Schedule writing sessions in your planner and treat these sessions like you would any other appointment. (You can make amazing progress in even 15-30 minutes three to five times a week.)
• Set a word count or time goal. When you achieve the goal, you can call it a win. If your situation allows and you're on a roll, you can keep going. (Word of Warning: Resist the temptation to write for countless hours for a day or two if it will leave you drained, reluctant to get back to writing for day, weeks, or longer.)
• Identify what keeps you from achieving your writing goals and determine how you can minimize distractions. (I'm thinking more of social media and those seemingly urgent household chores, not playing with your children, going for a walk with your spouse, or meeting a friend for coffee.)
• Speaking of social media... Some people install programs on their computer that won't allow them to surf the Web for specified periods of time. Others have a different computer for writing on, one they don't use to access the Internet. 
• Do you need music playing in the background? Go for it.
• Silence? Hang a Do Not Disturb sign on the door and shut yourself away in your room for half an hour ... after you've explained to your family how important your writing time is to you.
• Give yourself permission to write a messy first draft. If you take the time to edit as you go, it will be hard to get to the point where the words are flowing.

So, set your goals. Formulate a doable plan. And remember the importance of follow-through.

What Are God’s Invitations to You for 2022? By Sandi Somers

Image by Pinterest

Often we begin a new year by designing goals, ideas, and perhaps resolutions. In our blog posts this January, we’re focusing instead on what the Lord is inviting us to do.

 The more I thought about this topic, the more I realized how much the Lord initiates our faith-life, and how He is constantly calling us to, “Come, follow Me” (Matthew 4:19).  While following Jesus begins with an invitation to a personal relationship with Him, I also realized that God invites us to continue growing in our trust and love for Him (“Come, follow Me” is the Scripture the Lord gave me for this year.)

 Business Meetings with God

An important invitation came earlier this year to dialogue more deeply with the Lord about my writing. The Psalmist wrote, “My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me.’ And my heart responds, ‘LORD, I am coming’” (Psalm 27:8 NLT).

I began to practice Shelley Hitz's “Business Meetings with God”. She recommends that once a week we schedule a chunk of time to meet with God. While she focuses mainly on marketing, I’ve found her strategies to be beneficial for each stage of writing. I’m also integrating other life issues—family and household concerns, for example—to make these meetings more holistic. (My apologies--the link didn't work).

 The key is to hear God’s voice. This requires intentionally spending time in quietness with Him through two-way journalling (listening prayer), asking God for clarity, strategies, and confirmation. As we journal, we listen for His whispers of direction.

 Before this time, I had occasionally journalled questions and God answered with specific ideas. But now I scheduled regular meetings on Thursday or Friday. I chose my sunny upstairs spare room where the late afternoon sunlight streams in—especially important in our short winter days.

 During the week, I collect questions and items to discuss—an agenda of sorts. My journal entries begin with praise and thankfulness. Then after rereading my previous week’s meeting, I begin with questions: “How do I best…?” “How would you like me to approach…?” “How can I best glorify you…?” If God doesn’t seem to answer right then, He’ll sometimes bring ideas later as I write or become busy with other tasks.

 As 2022 dawns... 

One outcome of these business meetings is that God is inviting me to answer this question: “What would I attempt if I were sure the Lord is infusing me with wisdom, love, courage, and strength?” Here are some of my answers:

 ·        To maintain momentum in drafting and revising devotionals, working towards completion and into publishing. God has reminded me that to be a co-creator with Him in a new way, I’m to keep faithful in writing, and He will open doors at the right time.

 ·        To be more daring: at the same time as I revise my devotionals, I’m exploring other avenues for writing and submitting (including to FellowScript)

 ·        To experiment with fitting writing into cracks of time—afternoons or evenings—when I have other life responsibilities. (Often writing takes up my quality energy in the mornings, leaving other errands or tasks untended.)

 Intentionality matters. He's inviting me to be hopeful, believing, and engaged in writing that will have an eternal impact and will bring honour to Him.

 And now over to you…

 How and in what way is God inviting you to share your days and year with Him, particularly in writing, but also in your daily responsibilities and spiritual development?

 My prayer for us all: Thank You, Lord, for inviting us into what You have already planned, prepared and arranged in advance for us in 2022 and beyond. May we respond with “Yes,” to You. 

 

5 Steps to Achieving Your Writing Dreams by Steph Beth Nickel

A little note before we dig in … I use the singular they. Since some writers and editors don’t care for it, I felt a heads-up was a good idea. No need to make readers unnecessarily twitchy.

Hitting the bestsellers list. Earning a fulltime living as a writer. Getting that blog post written.

What are your writing dreams?

Whatever your dreams, there are steps you can take on the journey to making those dreams come true.

Here are five suggestions to point you in the right direction:

Determine your personal definition of success.

Fluid. Changing. As unique as the individual writer.

One writer may not feel that sense of satisfaction until their work is picked up by a traditional publisher. Another may choose the indie route.

One blogger may post new content regularly. Another may post only when they have something pressing on their mind.

One author may be overjoyed to see their first (and only) book in print. Another may throw a celebration when they’re able to resign from their 9-5 job.

What is your definition of success?

Determine to celebrate the small (and not so small) wins.

Did you post in your Facebook group each day this week? Excellent!

Did you finally get that promised guest post fired off to your friend? Good for you!

Did you just sign a publishing contract or upload your first book? Party time!

How and when do you celebrate?

Determine to make a plan.

Kudos to each of you who make a detailed plan and, for the most part, stick with it! Scheduled posts? Check. Write x number of words per day? Double check. Set short- and long-term goals? Triple check.

Some writers can only stay on track if they have a dated game plan culminating in the finished product. Others prefer fewer constrictions but still need a rough idea of where they’re headed and how to get there.

What does your planning look like?

Determine to be flexible.

Make a plan. Be flexible. Make up your mind.

As we all know, Robert Burns was correct when he said, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” If COVID has taught us nothing else …

Still, there are many things beyond the writer’s control, but they press on and take responsibility for what they can control.

Do you “go with the flow” or does a change to your plan give you hives?

Determine to persevere.

During the last five months or so, some have buckled down and achieved long-unrealized dreams. For others, victory has entailed getting out of bed in the morning. Don’t beat yourself up if you’re among the latter group.

Lao Tzu said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” I have also heard it said that a better translation would be, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with the ground beneath your feet.”

So, whether you’re making steady progress or simply standing up is progress, determine today to persevere. Take one more step on the journey to achieving your writing goals.

How will you persevere today?

Share in the comments what steps you’re taking to achieve your writing dreams.

 

Figuring It Out by Susan Barclay

This month's prompt asks contributors:  What incentives are you preparing to keep you on track with what you hope to achieve [with your writing]? How are God’s nudgings, including thoughts from His Word, part of your incentives? 

When I consider incentives, I tend to think of rewards, but I imagine the real questions here are: What do you hope to achieve with your writing? How are you going to stay on track? And what is God saying to you?

To be honest, I'm so tired after the holidays that I feel all "goaled out". My goals for Christmas and New Year's were to keep the peace, keep the balls in the air, and try to keep the focus on Christ. The effort has left me emotionally spent.

Still, I survived, we all did, and I look forward to 2019 with expectation that God is going to do great things in me and my family, that He is going to answer prayer, probably in surprising ways. That seems to be how He works!

Usually at this time of year I'd be formulating plans like "submit one piece each month, write 500 words per day," etc. While I haven't done that (yet), I do hope to put more work "out there," and to be more intentional in looking for markets. I still aim to finish the novel I started umpteen years ago, I want to get back to blogging on my website at least once a week, and I'll maintain my once-a-month commitment here. I have to admit that I'm pretty excited that I ended 2018 and began 2019 with writing prompts that were fun and produced material I expect to publish (somewhere!). 

How I'm going to stay on track is another question. For sure I'll continue to engage with my writers' groups and communicate regularly with my accountability partner. Maybe it will also be helpful to create a document where I can input my writing activity so I can see how I'm doing. I could include number of words written, time spent writing/researching/mulling, pieces submitted, etc. What methods do you use for tracking progress?

As for what God is saying to me, He is telling me to pray and spend time in His Word so that I know Him better and continue to grow in faith and trust. As the time of Jesus' return draws nearer, these are the most important activities in which I can participate and, frankly, writing pales in comparison. Although the better I know Him, the more I will have to write about and the more He can use it for His glory. Since I am currently exhausted, I think He is also telling me to rest. Can anyone relate?

A writer who's impacted me over the last few months, and whose work I can't seem to stop sharing on Facebook, is Susie Larson. She writes the most beautiful daily blessings, and I encourage you to look them up.

May God bless each of us this year as only He can.

____________________

Susan Barclay maintains a website at www.susan-barclay.blogspot.com. She is also the writing groups coordinator for Inscribe.

One Of Those Years by Marnie Pohlmann

We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps. 
(Proverbs 16:9 NLT)

Have you ever had a time when nothing goes as planned?

Checking my writing goals for this year shows 2016 is one of those years for me.

I did not set specific goals this year, as I explained in my Missing Pieces post last January, but I did still make a list of writing items I hoped to accomplish.

•     Continue contributing to this Inscribe Writers Online blog once each month.
•   Set up my own blog and post once each week.
•    Go through my old diaries and journals to glean anything that could be helpful to others.
•    Write my Circus book.
•    Complete a Christian Literature Survey course.
•    Participate in writing contests.
•    Attend Inscribe’s Fall Conference.

So how am I doing?

Epic fail!

I have made small progress on some items, but overall, life has interrupted my writing.

For months I have been struggling with a tsunami of situations that bring mental, emotional, physical and spiritual waves of distress. There is seemingly endless upheaval within my family’s life.

I am not alone. Others, too, have had a year of stretching their faith – health, housing, finances, friendships. The very joys that make up life are also the trials of fire each of us must walk through.

Am I stressed by it all? Of course! Yet there is also peace in the midst of this chaos, and even laughter.

I have not succeeded at my writing goals, but I am still able to write words, and even better - I am living the Word!

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 4:2-5 NLT)

I am learning to trust that God has the details under control. He is present in the midst of our storms.  I am learning to hold my plans loosely so God can direct my path.

I don’t know how the story of 2016 will end, but I know "The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights" (Habakkuk 3:19 NLT)

5 Pre-Requisites for Meeting Writing Goals - Ramona Heikel

Setting goals is still a relatively new activity for me, but I’m convinced it is a valuable activity.  

Then why have I done so poorly this year in tracking and working on my goals?  Well, I’ve realized that placing value on doing something, and actually doing it, are two different things.

Goal-setting has never been a high priority, and has never come naturally to me.  I struggle with it all the time.  Now I realize that before I am able to set goals and work on them consistently, I need to be able to master the “pre-requisites” for goals -setting. 

Here are 5 pre-requisites I have identified that will help with goals, with “Notes to Self” as reminders to work on developing new habits. If you have as much trouble with this as I do, maybe this will give some helpful insight!

Pre-requisite #1: Measurable, Realistic Goals

Only one of my January goals was measurable, so now in September, I am having trouble determining if I’ve met the other goals.  I’ve worked on them, but have I achieved them?

One goal was to submit several of my finished pieces for publishing.  I have submitted one.  But the year is almost three-quarters of the way gone, why haven’t I submitted more? Well, for one thing, I wasn’t realistic about these projects. For example, when I went to submit a non-fiction piece, I found it wasn’t technically finished at all, because I still had to put together a bibliography of all the references I’d used.  It took almost as long as writing the article to put together the APA-style bibliography.  Then I found out I needed to include a summary and biography with my submission.  It took a lot of extra time to do the job right.

Note to self: Make measurable goals, and to avoid frustration, plan more time and steps than you think you’ll need to complete a project.

Pre-requisite #2: Commitment

I’ve set writing goals now and then, forgotten all about them, and then haphazardly bumped into them years later as I went through my writing binders and files.  This year I even put a copy of my January Inscribe post (which lists my goals) in a prominent place in my To Do file.  But even then I still only actually reviewed my goals once or twice in the past nine months.  Why?  I probably lacked commitment to achieving the goals.

Note to self: Make writing goals that are important to me. Take time to decide exactly what I want to achieve with my writing, and how to get there.  These goals are worth achieving!

Pre-requisite #3: Tame the ADHD-Factor

I don’t have routines, I’m not a creature of habit; for some reason I rebel against routines and habits.  (I’ve heard that’s a creative thing, so that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)  I don’t write in the same place every time (right now I’m sitting in my car). I am more likely to jump into writing exciting new Project B than to thoughtfully, purposely work on the planned edits for Project A. All this creates chaos, and I’m not sure if or how I can change.

Note to Self: Keep trying to be mindful, to stop and take a breath.  Review your goals and realize you really do want to work on them, even the edits. Remember how it feels to accomplish a goal.

Pre-requisite #4: Regular Pondering Sessions

Sometimes I am a ponderer, but most of the time I am a do-er.  I like to be active, and don’t often like to sit still (a problem for a writer!).  I am also challenged by what I’ve heard termed as “fuzzy brain”, which happens to a lot of women at my age and gets frustrating.  So usually I will choose an activity that I can do, instead of one I think about, which leaves reviewing, analyzing and evaluating behind in the dust of my wild typing.

Note to self: Commit to regular, short pondering sessions.  These are necessary, but don’t worry, they’re not going to take over your fun creativity times.

Pre-requisite #5: Discipline

One problem I have with goals is that I find reasons to change, add or subtract them as I go.  As I worked on one goal and researched markets for some pieces, I discovered Story a Day in May, which looked like a great exercise to help me practice writing entire short stories—beginning, middle and end. I participated in it because it looked like a good tool to help to break my habit of starting a story and fizzling out near the middle because I don’t know how it will end.

I’m sure I benefitted from S.a.D.i.M, but I probably should have taken a moment to mentally review my goals or at least pondered what was more important to me: increasing my skills, or marketing my work.

Note to self: You can’t do everything, so stick with the plan instead of avoiding hard work or going down internet rabbit trails.  You’ll be glad you did.

I want to thank all of you who have encouraged us in setting and achieving our goals. Without you, many of us would be much less focused and determined in our writing journey.  And for those like me who are goal-challenged, I’m saying a little prayer for us!

Posted by Ramona

www.happilywriting.com

How Do You Review your Writing Goals? By Sandi Somers

Do you review your yearly goals throughout the year? If so, how often? What is your process like? If you don’t review your goals, what would be the challenges and benefits you could derive from doing so? Tell us about your process.

“A View from the Balcony”

This morning I’m basking in the sunlight on the porch of my next-door neighbours’ house, notebook and coffee with me. My neighbours have asked me to house-watch while they’re on vacation, and this morning I’m finishing my goals review and writing this blog.

 View From The Front Porch Next Door

I often review my writing goals every six weeks or so while outside the city. In the wide view of the parkland and mountains beyond, I’m enveloped in God’s creation. My head clears as I gain a new perspective on life and writing.

Last summer I discovered a wonderful set of questions to guide my review process. Rochelle Melander advocated getting away from your usual space—to a balcony, as it were—to rethink your goals. (Check the link.) Her questions were as revealing as they were thorough.

As a result, I’ve developed better action plans. Part of the plan was to break down goals into three-month or even one-month segments.  It worked! I couldn’t believe how much doing so focused me on the immediate and realistic priorities and tasks.

I’ve also begun to interweave a spiritual component with goal setting. This summer as I reset my goals, I prayed for God’s grace, insight and wisdom.

Insight came from our pastor’s sermon on Ruth and Orpah, the two young widows faced with a choice: they could walk into an unknown future in Israel with their mother-in-law Naomi, or they could return to their native Moab (Ruth 1:1-18).

Orpah chose to return to Moab and to her gods—she played it safe and lost so much of God’s potential for her.

But Ruth, drawn to Naomi and Naomi’s God, dared to believe that He could do great things.

Decisions

And without knowing her place in history, Ruth became the great-grandmother of King David, and Jesus’ ancestress.

         

 In reviewing my notes from that sermon, I came across these profound quotes:

“It takes faith to walk in a new direction. A bold choice." 

"When you honour God with your decisions, He honours you.”

“Pay attention to His tugs—His promptings.”

“Bold decisions impact our faith. God wants you to risk boldly.”

“Believe God can do great things!”

“Step out from the familiar and attempt something daring.”

 God is challenging me to be a Ruth and step into God’s greater plans. As a result, I've asked Him to:

·        Do something to bring the greatest glory to Himself.

·        Confirm me in the next stage of His greater plans.

·        Bring people into my life at the right time to implement components of those plans.

·        Fill me with His words: to exalt Jesus and to impact people in my generation and in the next.

 “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him” (Philippians 2:13, NLT).

“Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” 

William Carey

“It always seems impossible until it's done.” Nelson Mandela

Twelve Weeks by Susan Barclay

I have a couple of large writing goals for this year. One is to blog more regularly (daily, in fact), the other to finish my novel. Even more importantly, I really want to grow and mature in my faith. To accomplish these goals, I’m taking the 12-week approach to life.  

What is the 12-week approach, you ask? It comes from the book The 12 Week Year: get more done in 12 weeks than others do in 12 months by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington. Instead of thinking of a 12 month year as the time frame for accomplishment, think of the year as lasting only 12 weeks. Chances are you’ll be driven to accomplish more because you will no longer have that sense of having lots of time.  

The first step is to choose 3-4 goals to work on. Then identify your objectives and how you’re going to achieve them. At the end of each week assess your progress and map out your plan for the week to come. Schedule your activities.

So, for my goal of finishing the novel, I’ve determined to revise one chapter every weekday until I’m up to the point at which I left off. I have about 32 chapters written, so this goal will take me approximately six weeks. I’m not sure how many chapters remain beyond that (up until now I haven’t been an outliner), but writing a new chapter will take longer than revising one that’s already written. For now I’ll plan on writing one new chapter a week in the last six weeks of my 12-week year. I’ll schedule my writing for Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings, Wednesday evenings and Thursday afternoons.

Plans are great; it’s the execution that’s more difficult. Still, I am committed. And when I am done my novel, you will hear me singing this:

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For my website, please visit www.susanbarclay.wordpress.com