I'm Just Saying

Lately, I've been thinking that exercise is overrated. I've been lunging, squatting, crunching and push-upping for two and a half weeks and I still look like the Pillsbury dough boy. Actually, girl. I've got hair. Sadly, this is my own fault. I have not lunged, push-upped, squatted, or crunched for far too long. My body doesn't want to give up its life of leisure, and neither do I. However, I'm ready to give up all the doughy white goodness that comes with being sedentary.

So, what does this have to do with writing?

Nothing. Everything. It's about life. And life is about choices. Sometimes we have to do what we think is right, even if we can't see results, even if we're not sure of the long-term ramifications. Sometimes we have to trust that God has us doing what He wants right now. And right now is all that we need to worry about.

In other posts, I've talked about just doing it, about mommy guilt, about all the things that keep us from writing. Lately, I'm wondering if what really keeps us from writing is much deeper than those things. If, perhaps, we lack the faith that leads to giving it all over to God. Faith in Him seems so much easier than faith in His ability to set our course and to change that course when we get off track. To truly live our lives for Him, our faith in Him must become faith in His vision for our lives. A vision that is often beyond our ability to see.

I stood in front of the mirror this morning and wondered why I was bothering with exercise. It's so obviously NOT working. Yet, somewhere deep inside my dough-girl body there are muscles. They just need more time to work their way out. If I give up now, I'll never see what might be.

The same is true in a writer's life. Often, we see not what might be, but what is. And what is is often not what we hoped it would be. So, I pray that when you look in the mirror today, you'll see not just the person you are, but the person God sees - the potential beneath the failures, the success at the end of what might be a very long road. Remember, what God asks today may seem outside your ability, but as you work toward it you'll become more and more the person He has always meant for you to be.

What is it that's holding you back today? Put it behind you and go forth and write!