Joseph Campbell almost had it right when he said, “Follow your bliss.” The book of Nehemiah in the Bible says, “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” (Nehemiah 8:10 ESV) Joy is a great motivator. The joy that the Lord gives outlasts happiness. Even in an unhappy or trying moment, the joy of the Lord gets me through. Just when I think I can’t carry on, there the Holy Spirit is encouraging me. It was for joy that I began my writing journey many months ago. I have finished the rough draft of my first book. Now it feels like the real work has begun. It is slow going at the moment. I have the desire to make this project something worth other people reading. I can blame my sluggish editing on life. My two little joys are on their summer break. We’ve had family and friends’ birthdays, play dates, beach day, swimming, and trips to the library for our summer reading. We even went bowling which I haven’t done in a long time! It’s been fun and exhausting and non stop. I am also looking for a part time job as my younger child will be in school full time in September. I will miss being a full time parent, but it is a natural progression. My children love school. It will be good for me to pursue my dreams as well. I would like to make them proud and be a good example. I don’t want this book or my writing to get lost. The real dream is to combine my working life with my bliss! Anyone hiring writers? Call me up! And yet it’s not just writing for me. I want to use my talents to give God glory, to help and encourage people. I want to share the love of Jesus and if I can do that through my writing than I will be one blissful lady!
And that leads me back to my editing block. Writing is rewriting. I am facing a block of my own fear. This is the bummer part. Self doubt comes to steal my joy. I started to re-read my rough draft and I just kept thinking is this good enough? Will a reader find this interesting? Am I making any sense? I started questioning the whole book. Now I am procrastinating. I don’t want to face the nasty “good enough”fairy. While avoiding the work today, I read a Bible study by Joyce Meyer. I am laughing at myself now because the title is literally, “Are you asking for help?” Palm to face moment! The other subtitle is, “Not in Your Own Strengthen!” Sometimes God has to speak loud to get my attention. In all caps with lots of exclamation points!!! Can anyone else relate? The scripture that hooked me was, “For it is [not your strength, but it is] God who is effectively at work in you, both to will and to work [that is, strengthening, energizing, and creating in you the longing and the ability to fulfill your purpose] for His good pleasure.” –Philippians 2:13 (AMP) God gave me the longing to write. He gave me the idea in the first place. He will work through me to complete His purpose. I need only to ask for His help. I ask God to energize me and guide me as I edit and re-write this book. I must remember the joy. What joy will it be if I can encourage even just one reader? And so, I will drink a little more coffee and find those moments to myself to write. It is worth the work when I do it in God’s strengthen. I hope that you can follow the joy of the Lord and the purpose He has placed on your heart today.
Counting Sheep... 