For some of you, today feels just like any other day in 2020…a definitely “un-Christmasy” Christmas in quarantine or lockdown or mourning the recent loss of a loved one. For others, this day feels “kind of Christmas-y” — you did a few of the usual things to celebrate, but celebrations are nothing like what a regular year would bring. As for our family, we did some of our usual traditions, and since we’re not on lockdown, it feels quite a bit like Christmas, but today still feels quite a bit off compared to what we would be doing if COVID hadn’t happened this year.
This year is just plain weird. And hard. For everyone.
As luck would have it though, and in keeping with the “weird” theme of the year, I’m posting a blog post on this big holiday (a day when most bloggers take the day off) because today is the culmination of a year-long goal I’d set for myself back near the end of 2019.
Since I’m very good at putting everyone else’s needs before mine, I have put off writing my own words/thoughts for years, minus the rare spurt of blogging or my “mini-blogging” aka my social media writing. I know I need to develop my “voice” and “craft” (as they say in the writing community), but to take the time required to do so then to find someone else who’s willing to edit and critique and give feedback…well, this girl can’t fit all that into her already crammed plate.
Despite my tendency to move my own goals to the backburner and put off writing until all my other to-do’s are done, I set the goal to make more time for writing in 2020. I even committed to contributing to a blog series each month. Having a deadline, aka “a gun to my head,” was the only surefire way to make this goal a reality. If I was answering to someone else or risking letting someone down, I’d get it done.
Well, it worked.
As of today, I have 12 guest blog posts to show for my year.
Regular writing AND publishing, check.
Developing my voice, check.
Writing something beyond the character limit of Twitter or Instagram, check.
I’ll share the links to all the posts below, but I first want to encourage you. Whether today feels like Christmas or not, whether you were planning to set goals for the new year or not, and whether you need someone to help you stay accountable for reaching those goals or not…I say if I can set a goal to complete 12 blog posts in a year and actually follow through with it in the midst of a global pandemic and my busiest book launching year yet, you….YES, YOU…can set and reach the goals you want to accomplish as well. I don’t care what it is that you’ve been thinking about doing on the side or in the cracks of time your life leaves you that resemble crumbs under the dining room table. Go for it.
Figure out if you’re internally or externally motivated. Carve out space and time. Keep reaching out and asking for help. Take a step out of your comfort zone to partner with someone if it feels right and passes the stink test.
Whatever goals you have for 2021, you can do them because God is faithful. If He has placed a dream in your heart or head and given you the talents and resources to pursue it, He will complete it…but you have to keep showing up. You have to not quit just because it gets hard. You have to not quit just because one door slams in your face. You have to not quit just because it’s uncomfortable.
Growth is not comfortable. Growth is not easy.
Keep showing up, friend. You’re not dead yet, so stop making excuses for not doing something you can’t stop thinking about and make the time before time runs out.
PS – check out some resources at the end for helping you reach your goals in 2021!
PPS – special thanks to Alexis Goring for accepting my inquiry to guest blog for her “God is Love: Devotionals for the Heart” series this year!
Blog Posts:
November
As I sat at the computer reading and researching about COVID-19 back in the beginning of March, I knew this year was going to be hard, but like many of you probably, I never could’ve imagined all the battles we have faced since then.
Shortages of supplies we used to take for granted, misinformation about COVID-19 and an election, racial injustices, political unrest, family and friends quarreling, and so many deaths – deaths experienced in isolation because we can’t mourn gathered together like we usually get to – are all things we’ve been battling on top of just trying to do daily life. We may be arguing about a lot of things right now, but one thing we can all agree on is the fact we are having quite a bit of trouble in the US right now.
Job, a man of integrity who served God faithfully, knew trouble as well.
October
Ever been to a restaurant with a group of people and have someone in the group who doesn’t know what they want to eat?
First, they let everyone else order before them to buy more time. Then they possibly ask the waiter a bunch of questions, trying to narrow their decision by eliminating items they were considering. Or maybe they listen to what those who ordered before them got and just copycat someone else’s order that sounded tasty.
Maybe at some point we’ve all had a turn at being this person…unable to make a decision and then as the pressure mounts, we either make a decision in haste or just resort to accepting the decision someone else made and substituting it for our own.
September
Have you noticed the race we run as Christians has gotten a lot harder in this short amount of time? Anxiety and hardships have increased; convenience and comfort have decreased. Plans have been rescheduled, cancelled, and completely ruined. Relationships have been strained beyond what they can handle. Truths have been warped beyond recognition. We’re now running uphill on an unmaintained path, huffing and puffing and feeling a burn in our muscles like never before. We’ve maybe twisted our ankle a little on the uneven ground or lost our footing and cut our knee on a rock along the way.
We’re tired.
We’re weary.
We want to quit.
I’m tired and weary and want to quit.
August
Do you have a tattoo?
Tattoos are usually a pretty taboo topic amongst Christians, especially with earlier generations.
Nowadays there is judgment on both sides, whether you have one or don’t, the reasoning behind getting a tattoo or what they symbolize, etc.
It used to be that it was the hardened criminal or biker dude kind of individual pictured when talk of having or getting a tattoo came up. Nowadays there are worship leaders and suburban moms sporting tattoos. They are becoming more and more common in the church and if you attend a hipster church, you may even feel pressure to get a tattoo to fit in.
July
How many of us would be quick to raise our hand if we were asked the question “Who would like to have Christ’s power rest on them?”
None of us like to look bad in front of others. While some of us find it easy to not care what others think…
June
Have you ever felt like God plays favorites? When we measure “favorite” by the world’s standards, we think of someone else receiving something we don’t … like material blessings or healing or answers to prayers … and it begins to seem like God plays favorites. Our humanness equates “ease of” as a measurement of quantity of love – whether it’s ease of life or ease of gain or ease of struggle, the easier things are, the more we think someone is loved. We begin to believe God loves them better than, or more than, He does us.
May
“You care too much.”
Have you ever had this said to you? Or maybe you’ve said it to someone? Is it even possible to, as a Christian, “care too much?”
In John 15:12-13 (NIV), Jesus says “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” When you think about him saying that to his twelve disciples, including Judas who would eventually betray him, you can get a better picture of what he meant in Luke 6 when he also said “love your enemies.”
According to BibleHub.com, the Greek word of enemies is echthros…
April
Do you find your levels of persistence in prayer lagging now and then, ebbing away as the days of seemingly unanswered prayers stretch out behind you? You ask for family members to find Christ, for healing from ailments, for thorns to be removed…for good things that should be His will. But you hear nothing and wonder if it even matters if you pray or not.
What differences do our prayers make? Could the prayers of the saints stop the Coronavirus pandemic of today if we dared to ask?
March
My, how the world can change in a week! Those of us who’ve lost someone unexpectedly or been through a natural disaster or tragedy before already understand this. But a large portion of the world is finding out all at once what it’s like to have life change in a moment.
I haven’t heard anyone preaching about this being some sort of punishment from God yet, but I’m also writing this on March 16. The Coronavirus is still pretty new to most of the United States at this time (though, our friends in Washington state have been dealing with it since January) but the numbers of cases and deaths worldwide is growing steadily right now in most places. I imagine by the time this is published, someone somewhere will be preaching the idea that this is God’s punishment on us.
So, let’s bypass the fluffy examples I could’ve used for this devotional and dive right into the deep end: “Is God disciplining us with the Coronavirus pandemic?”
February
“Your name is going on the board.”
If you’re as old as I am, you probably remember the dread you felt when your teacher said this.
Back in the 1980’s, if you were acting up or, as was the case with some teachers, if you were just talking when you weren’t supposed to, the teacher would write your name on the board. Your next infraction resulted in getting a check behind your name, and if you got enough checks behind your name, you “won” a trip down to the principal’s office.
If you were like me, you tried to avoid getting your name on the board at all, if ever. I think I could count on Mickey Mouse’s hand how many times I got my name on the board in elementary school. I was a hardcore people pleaser and usually did my best to stay out of trouble.
January
I have been meditating on a different verse lately and thinking how it applies to this story about Jesus and Lazarus. It’s Ephesians 3:20 (NIV) where Paul mentions God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us.”
When we read about Larazus’ death, we have the benefit of hindsight, of looking back and saying “Wow! This amazing and miraculous thing happened!”
They didn’t have this benefit back then and because they couldn’t even fathom it, almost stopped the miracle from happening.
When Jesus got to the tomb, he said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha’s reply was (my paraphrase), “Are you SERIOUS? He’s gonna stink something BAD, oh MY, Lord.”
Resources:
(Affiliate links included)
To determine your tendencies and how you can best tackle your goals, check out Gretchen Rubin’s book The Four Tendencies
To “give yourself the gift of done,” check out Jon Acuff’s book Finish. This is actually my #1 recommend for people who have trouble reaching goals.
Habits are crucial for reaching goals, so there are a handful I’d recommend but High Performance Habits by Brendon Burchard would be where I’d start.
Photo credit: https://unsplash.com/@mockaroon