by Angela Arndt, @aearndt
The Times Square Ball
After a week of crazy family Christmas stress and celebrations ended, my mom and I always looked forward to New Year’s Eve. When I was a child, she and I would stay up to see Dick Clark’s program and watch the ball drop in Times Square. We enjoyed doing that little thing together and it felt as though we were celebrating with the rest of the world.
Isn’t it funny that even though the programs have gotten more elaborate with bigger acts and complicated performances, still, at 11:59 p.m. everyone turns away from the stage and looks up to watch that shiny ball descend as the countdown starts.
“Five.”
“Four”
“Three”
“Two”
“One”
At the stroke of midnight, noise and confusion erupts as crowds all over the timezone shoot fireworks, blow noisemakers, and kiss their way into the New Year.
Watching the show and shouting out the countdown is fun, but what if we prepared for the New Year another way?
Gratitude and Trust
Didn’t you love seeing so many people prepare their hearts for Thanksgiving by participating in the Gratitude Challenge? My social feeds were filled with photos of loved ones and inspirational quotes. And even though I didn’t participate, it blessed me to see people create a new habit of thankfulness.
I’m one of many writers who focus on One Word each year instead of making those oh-so-easily-breakable resolutions. This year, my word was, “Trust.” And yes, this year held many opportunities for me to trust. But most of the time when trouble came, I didn’t do it. Instead of looking to God, I fell into my old, “I can do it myself,” routine. I needed to change my point-of-view.
Changing Your Point-of-View
Point-of-view. As writers, we know that term well. We use it to let our readers see what our hero or heroine sees. But a youth pastor on my church used the following illustration to help us trust God’s point-of-view.
He said life is like climbing a mountain. Once we get to the top, the next one may be even higher or the valley even deeper but regardless, we have to keep going. He asked us to imagine God sitting behind us on the highest mountain of all. He said that God sees not only us but also all the mountains and valleys we’ll face in our future. This is why we can trust him with our lives. That little story helped me so much last year.
Gratitude/Trust Challenge
Starting a new year can be a little scary whether you’re planning to begin a new book, send out a proposal, or even update your website. So I’d like to challenge you to thank God for the assignment in advance and repeat that prayer every day for the rest of this year. It isn’t a magic formula designed to make your book a best-seller or make your dream agent accept your proposal, but it should help you see over the top of that mountain called fear.
Angela Arndt writes women’s fiction with a thread of romance, telling stories of strong, independent women in difficult situations set in small Southern towns. Her biggest hope is that she will encourage her readers to overcome their own “back roads” and find joy in the Lord again. Represented by Rachelle Gardner of Books & Such Literary Agency, Angela has a Master’s Degree from the University of South Carolina and continues learning the craft of writing fiction through the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Novel Academy. Connect with her at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram