L is for Looking Back by Susan Barclay

  

Image from quotefancy.com

My husband likes to say, "Don't look back unless you want to go there." I suppose this is his translation of a few scriptures that promote looking forward: 

Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62);

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I [God] am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.  (Isaiah 43:18-19);

Brothers, I [Paul] do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.(Philippians 3:13-14)

Still, I can't help but agree with Winston Churchill. The end of a year is a good time to reflect on the events that took place, the people who filled our days, how we spent our hours, and the growth we saw in ourselves. These reflections help us to determine changes we may want to make as we head into a new year. They can also provide inspiration, encouragement, and hope as we see where we were on Day 1 and how God moved in our lives over the next 364 days. Our reflections can lead to worship and praise.

As a writer, looking back on our year(s) gives us something worth putting on paper, something others will hopefully find worth reading, something illuminating, something that points them to God. If I can identify His fingerprints over the course of my life, I can remind myself and tell others what He has done for me. What He's done for me once, He can certainly do for me again, and He can do it for others also. He's a good God and He is willing. 

Looking over 2023, I identify with the words of 2 Corinthians 4:8, “[I am] hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair.”  To quote Brené Brown, “One day I will tell my story of how I overcame . . . and it will become someone else’s survival guide.” While that day is not yet, I know that God is working and He won’t stop until the story is finished, until He declares that it is good. When that happens, you can be sure I'll be writing about it! Until then, I'll keep looking back, seeking glimpses of His handiwork, tucking them away, and like Jesus's mother, Mary, pondering them in my heart while I wait to see what happens next.

Merry Christmas, friends. Keep looking back and looking up.

_________________________

For more about Susan Barclay and her writing, please visit www.susan-barclay.blogspot.com.

L is for Love at Christmas by Sandi Somers

 

At this Christmas season, it’s appropriate to talk about Love.

I grew up in an era when we weren’t accustomed to hugging many people—a friend later called us “cool Canadians”. At young age I felt people who hugged me cared for me more than others. Then God graciously sent me to South America where folks lavished hugs on others, not only family members and close friends, but even casual friends. When I returned to Canada, I hugged everyone to the surprise of some. One good neighbour was shocked. “We’re getting mushy, are we?” (Fortunately, nowadays we Canadians are given to more hugging.) 

Some years later, the psychologist Gary Chapman authored the book, The Five Love Languages (1992). In it he described five ways that people receive and express love in a relationship. These are:

·        quality time, either through activity or through talking

·        physical touch

·        acts of service

·        receiving gifts

·        words of affirmation (I think everyone needs words of affirmation). 

How interesting that, although I didn’t have a psychological term for it, God had been revealing my primary love language long before I heard this concept. 

Knowing each others’ love language is a way to help you feel loved and appreciated. Misunderstanding can come when we don’t match another’s love language and expect them to match ours. 

We can discover someone’s love language by how they react to us. Someone frequently says how much they appreciate us. Another listens closely when we speak. Still another prefers to give gifts. They’re expressing their primary love language. 

On the other hand, when we don’t meet the love needs of others, people might complain. Which of the love needs might your spouse or family or friends complain about you? Or might you be dissatisfied in a relationship because your love language is missing? 

Here's a story that illustrates this last concept. Chapman recounted an incident in which a client's wife complained he didn’t love her. Chapman asked what she complained about. Well, he said she wanted him to help around the house. Acts of service was her love language, Chapman said. The client got the message. “Well then, bring on the vacuum cleaner!” he said. 

Now let’s expand our thinking to speak of God’s love for us. His love is perfect. Complete. Infinite. He is the One who can meet all our love needs. Romans 5:8 says it emphatically. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” At Christmas we’re reminded of how much God loved us when He sent His Son, Jesus, “Emmanuel, God with Us.” 

God’s love has practical implications for us, too. Jesus told His disciples, “Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12). As we love others in the greatest capacity that we know, the Spirit will infuse us with greater love, including expressing our love with appropriate love languages. 

As writers, we have an opportunity to incorporate love languages in our novels and non-fiction. You can heighten conflict when couples don’t match love languages. Can they discuss their needs? Or does conflict escalate? Or how about tangled family relationships caused by love language mix-ups? How can you bring your characters to an understanding that God loves them more than they can think or imagine? 

My prayer for us all this Christmas is that as we discover our own and the love languages of others, we can more fully love them as Christ would have us love. 

~ ~ ~ 

Note: While Chapman’s first book focused on the marriage relationship, he has written other Five Love Language books: for parents of children and teenagers, for single adults, and a special version for men. A Love Languages Quiz® is online. You can access it here. https://5lovelanguages.com/quizzes/love-language

L is for Lizards ~ by Brenda J Wood

 I trust you are not from the family of ectothermic critters. That’s the kind of being whose body temperature changes with the outside environment. Don’t confuse them with cold-blooded animals.  Lizards must be careful not to get too hot or too cold. Their blood is warm on warm days and cold on cold days. They can hardly move if they get too cold. They can’t even eat until their body warms up,

 Lizards blend into their surroundings. They camouflage themselves to almost any background and thus hide from predators like snakes, owls, and assorted other nasty things I won’t mention. 

At 120 degrees (F) they die. At 100 degrees (F) they must be in the shade. At 80 degrees (F) they can eat and maybe even run from their enemies. At 70 degrees (F) they come out of hiding and begin to warm up, but by 30 degrees (F) they die from the cold.

I dare to ask you. Are you a Lizard? Do you write only when everything goes well in your universe? Do you slack off when your personal temperature is uncomfortable? Do you write whatever the world seems to want? Do you stand firm on your principles in Christ? How do you weather the temperature gauge in your area?

Are you easily swayed by public opinion? Do you hide among a hundred other authors with the same careful prose? Do you stand out from the crowd or blend in with the everyday author on everyday topics in everyday life?

Whatever you do, refuse to be a writer whose words are controlled by anything other than Christ.

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.

L is for Listen ~ by Wendy L. Macdonald

 

A lot of what we write is the fruit of listening. When we pause and listen to the words of others, and of the world around us, we glean writing prompts. 

Nothing is more motivating for a writer than to have a topic tug at her heartstrings and beg her to tap deep into the subject. Do you love it when this happens? I do.

Journalling helps us pause and ponder life.  It’s a safe zone to zone in on what’s troubling us or what’s bringing us joy. Current world events found me contemplating my lack of empathy for those I don’t relate to. This brought me to the humble place of asking God’s forgiveness for my cold heart towards people I don’t understand. The fruit of this was that I now pray for places and organizations in the world I consider hostile.

Praying for difficult people may not bring immediate world peace, but it immediately brings peace to our hearts and minds. It helps us be godly hearers and doers of The Word. It helps us listen to the Holy Spirit.  

When we listen to hate with love, we become part of the solution. We enter the battle in the spiritual realm. We fight for both sides to win peace and safety. We pray for God’s will to be done. 

No person is perfect but Christ. When we listen with this truth in mind, it helps us hear the other side of the narrative we may have avoided paying much attention to. We discover a way to have genuine empathy for those we deem disruptive. Like Jesus did, we must love the perpetrator and pray about the problem.

Inspirational writers are called to inspire readers to listen to the Light. Our world seems darker than it did a few years ago—in so many ways. Now it’s more crucial than ever that believers be wise and not stir up hate regarding those walking in darkness. Love draws people to the Light. Empathy softens lost souls and creates a thirst for Living Water. 

Whether the difficult people we encounter via the news or daily life are hurling unusual beliefs on the airwaves or bombs on the streets, we’re still called to love them. We don’t have to agree with things that aren’t Biblical. But we do need to walk in love. Listening to others and seeking to understand their view of things is a sign of respect. It’s love in action. It’s deep listening. 

L is for listen. And love. 

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

Luke 6:27-28 NIV

Wendy L. Macdonald is an inspirational blogger and podcaster who loves to photograph nature on Vancouver Island. Her byline is: “My faith is not shallow because I’ve been rescued from the deep.”