by Rebecca Yauger, @RebeccaYauger
We’re three weeks into the new year. How are you doing? Did you make any resolutions?
It’s easy to start the new year with enthusiasm and determination. Unfortunately, sometimes it doesn’t take long for that initial excitement to dim. The daily routine of post-holiday life begins and all too soon you can be thrown off your game. From there, it’s easy for discouragement or self-doubt to begin playing havoc with your schedule.
Hey, I get it. I’m the type that when my schedule gets knocked out of whack whether by me or life’s circumstances, it can take me FOREVER to get back on track. It then becomes easier and easier to find excuses not to write (or not exercise or whatever it is I’m supposed to be doing).
Like most of us, I feel better when I stick to my schedule and do what I’m supposed to do. But it’s amazing how easy it is not to do it once I’m thrown off track.
As a Christian, I’ve heard again and again that God’s mercies are new every morning. Now, while these are encouraging words, I don’t want to take scripture out of context. In Lamentations, Jeremiah was just finding hope again as we come upon this passage in chapter three. Verse 22 says that “The faithful love of the Lord never ends!” (Lamentations 3:22-NLT). And Verse 25 says, “The Lord is good to those who depend on Him, to those who search for Him.”
Every day we have is a gift from God and every day we can begin again. We need to search for God and trust in His plan for us.
If 2020 isn’t starting the way you envisioned, or you’ve lost your mojo, don’t stop completely. Today is just as good a day to start all over as January 1st was. Frankly, you don’t need to wait until Monday or the 1st of the month or even next year to begin again. You can start today, right now.
Don’t let writers block or doubt or just life stop you on this writing journey. All you need to do is stop, pray, listen and KNOW that God’s mercies are new today and his faithful love for you won’t end. Pick up a pen, grab your laptop or iPad, go to a library or coffee shop, or even just a different room in your house and start again.
Remember the words of Psalm 118:24 (NLT): “This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.”
Today is a good day for a resolution. Keep the past failures or disappointments behind you and start fresh right now, this day that the Lord has made.
You can do it.
Rebecca Yauger worked for 15 years in radio and television broadcasting, before starting on her writing career. She’s been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul and Guideposts Magazine and continues to scribble away on various projects. She also blogs at www.TalkingAmongFriends.com. Becky was past Vice-President and Membership Director for American Christian Fiction Writers (www.acfw.com), and currently serves as ACFW’s Web Manager. Becky and her husband live near Dallas, have two grown children, and two beautiful grandchildren.