(And to all of you on-top-of-everything people XD no, I did not send out a newsletter yesterday. I thought you had heard enough about me and my business for the week, so I'm going to save the newsletter for the middle-ish of December and add some Christmasy fun to the mix!)
But yes. I was very, very prideful. And, God taught me not just one, but a whole ton of lessons.
I got on my first critique call for The Author Conservatory, nervous but excited, and the instructor graduated me to the next step on that first call! I was elated, and I thought I had it in the bag.
Those were literally my exact thoughts, and it's honestly kinda (very) painful to admit it, but it's true. I thought I'd graduate from the synopsis on my next call, then maybe take like two more weeks for outlining, and be on to drafting by the beginning of November.
And God was like um NO. I have some different plans for you and a whole lot of stuff for you to learn, foremost of those being a heaping dose of humility.
Seven weeks later and just now graduating to outlining on Tuesday (which was so thrilling I literally almost screamed XD) I can say that God's plan was a ton better than my plan.
It always is.
He Is With You
I learned a lot more than just pride comes before a fall, even though that was a big thing God was teaching me. He had a bunch of other lessons stored away - and I know that these next few weeks (or months XD who knows!) of outlining He will be with me, leading me on His path and in His steps for His plan and for His glory, and teaching me more and more.
Every day spent walking hand in hand with our Savior is such a gift, such an adventure - and such an opportunity to learn. Every day is an opportunity to sit at the feet of our Rabbi, learning in the light of His love.
And sometimes that learning is hard - and hard as in a lot more painful and difficult than just spending longer on a writing step than you had envisioned. Hard as in so hard that a loving Jesus is the only One who can comfort and save you. Hard as in you need your Savior.
The good news - no, the best news of all? He is with you. He is with you this Holiday season. He is walking beside you. And in all the hard - such hard lessons, He still loves you.
He loved you enough to come down from Heaven. And He loves you enough to stay. Right by your side. Through every step of life. Because He cares. About. You.
And He cared enough about me to teach me a handful of lessons from something as simple as writing a synopsis.
What Else I Learned
1. Hold Your Plans Loosely - God's Are Better
Like I said, I had this whole plan, this whole step-by-step schedule for myself. And obviously, God had a different one! And what I needed to learn was His was better. His plan is always better.
Always.
And when we try to force God's plan to fit ours, instead of opening up our hands and trusting Him, we miss out on so much. We miss out on the beautiful peace that comes with trusting the King of the universe! We miss out on a plan that is a million times better than ours, even when we can't understand it.
God always has a plan, no matter what it may look like to our clouded, finite eyes. He is always in control, no matter how much the world may try to convince us otherwise.
And you can trust Him because He is literally holding the world in His hands. When you think about it like that, why would you not choose to trust Him? How could you put your faith in your tiny, finite, unpowerful self over the One who spoke the universe into existence?
But really, it all comes down to one thing: He is the King. He is God. His plan is better.
2. Be Patient - God's Timing Is Better
God has, like I said above, a perfect plan, and for every plan, perfect timing.
He knew that I would eventually get to move on to outlining. And He had a perfect plan for when I would move on.
And His timing is always better.
When we try to force everything to match our timing and fit our timelines we miss out on God's perfect, better timing.
And it's so so hard to wait. So hard to be patient in things that are a lot bigger than outlining and writing. But God never promised life would be easy or simple.
He promised that He would be with us and would help us, and that with the Holy Spirit, nothing is impossible.
We can wait, and be patient, and trust His timing because He is with us in the waiting. He is always with us.
3. People Matter Most
As I worked on my synopsis, one of the biggest edits I had to make was really knowing my characters inside out. I had to sit back and go through every tiny aspect of my characters, from the color of their hair and why that matters, to their siblings, to how and when their parents died, and why that mattered.
Because characters - people - are the most important things here on earth next to glorifying God. Not your success or your money or what you're doing but who God has placed in your life!
God's children - God's image bearers - are the only things on earth that matter. And we have to remember this - remember that everyone we see this Christmas season is made in God's image and God loves them.
People matter. That's why loving your neighbor as yourself is the second greatest commandment.
So whether you're walking through the mall, or visiting younger cousins, or working on a synopsis, remember that people - and love - is so important.
4. We All Have A Reason - A Purpose
For everything we do.
For every. Single. Thing we do we have a reason behind our actions - like I was saying in my previous post about motivation.
And in writing a synopsis I had to take a pause, sit back, and make sure all my characters had a reason for everything they were doing! They needed purpose and a life goal.
We all have a reason behind our actions, a purpose behind our lives, and sometimes that reason is not Jesus, when it should be. Our whole lives should revolve around everything Jesus - everything because of Him.
I had to take a second to make sure I turned my reason for writing back to Jesus, and I think we all have to sometimes step back, look at our lives, and shift it away from an "us" reason to a "Jesus" reason.
Our life purpose is to glorify God and give His name honor and praise forever.
He is our everything - and our everything needs to be Him. Our purpose in life needs to be Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.
6. God Cares About Every Little Aspect Of Your Life
And finally, I needed to remember that God cares about everything - from you moving to a new house, to a simple thing like writing.
The King of the universe cares about you! If that's not encouraging, I don't know what it!
So talk to him about it - pray about everything. Cry to Him about anything. Bring Him your sorrows and joys and live with Him.
He loves you, and you love Him. So talk to Him - rant to Him - because He cares about it all. He's your Father, your Friend, your Saviour and He is always listening.
No matter what you're learning - whether it's humility or trust or letting go - He loves you and cares about you and is with you.
Never forget that.