The Virus Vs. Our Vision, Vitality, and Victory

For the last eight months, we've been living in a war zone as we battle an invisible virus. We are filled with uncertainties, and no sure victory is in sight for the near future. We're weary. And with weariness come short tempers and defeatist attitudes. 

When the subject of our "_______________" times comes up, (you fill in the blank), every person who speaks of it to me, sighs or gets angry or confesses their depression. With the shutdown, writers confess they have more time than ever to write, but they suffer writer' s block or a lack creative energy.

I addressed a related topic last month, and today, I want us to move forward with a vision toward our future, with the vitality to progress toward our goals, and to win ultimate victory over the weariness that saps our strength.

How do we fight this war?

We start with prayer.

We know we need help, and where does our help come from? From the Lord. Ask Him to help you reach the finish line, to show you how to develop the ideas He's already given you, and ask what He envisions for your future work, rather than generating your own ideas. What does Jesus want you to write about? How does He want you to serve Him? He will give you the vision you need. 

We continue with prayer.

As I've prayed through the spring and summer, He has filled my head with so many story ideas, I'll need to live past the century mark to complete them. So now I'm working on the vitality portion of my prayers. I need the energy and drive to work efficiently, so I can get all these books written before I'm ninety! I need a sense of direction, a plan of action to get things done. 

We act on those prayers.

God answers our prayers for guidance and for vitality in our writing life with His plan, and we're obligated to follow it.  As we fight the malaise of "COVID Times," we feel weak and out of shape at the beginning, but like any other exercise, we'll get stronger as we work out. Besides, God is the Perfect Trainer. He'll strengthen us one step at a time. (And here's a side note for one possible step: our ACFW Indiana August 22 meeting!)

Like my writing sabbath last month, God sends us to places of refreshment--a book to study, an online conference, or a walk in the woods, and take the laptop along.

We finish with praise and thanksgiving! 

With the vision He gives, with the plan He creates, and with the vitality He provides, we can march a path to victory. We are soldiers for Christ. We've been given a mission to accomplish in His name. We live the words of Philippians 4:13 and  2 Timothy 1:7. No virus, no level of shutdowns, and no civil unrest can stop us from writing stories that offer Light to a hurting world.

Let the celebration of praise and thanksgiving begin!
 
 

Stuck on PAUSE

One of the options I like most about our television-viewing arrangement is the DVR’s (digital video 

recorder) PAUSE option. Need to grab a snack, dash to the bathroom, answer the phone? Just hit the PAUSE button and not a second of the comedy/drama/information on the screen will be missed.

Other features come in right behind the PAUSE button in the handy options category. Didn’t catch that last bit of dialogue? Hit the SKIP BACK button. And SKIP FORWARD may even edge out PAUSE as our favorite feature as it allows us to bypass commercials when watching previously recorded shows. Which brings us to the “R” in DVR. We prefer to RECORD the shows we like so we can view them when we want and repeatedly if we so choose.

But I’m not nearly so fond of the huge PAUSE that has gripped 2020 due to the coronavirus. While my enthusiasm to use the down time to accomplish all kinds of things waxed strong in the beginning, by the two-month mark, I’d all but lost my drive to accomplish anything. Thankfully, in the last couple of weeks, I seem to be experiencing a slow-moving “second wind” of that initial wave of productivity.

As this PAUSE extends, my mind floods with images of the many yearly events and regular summer happenings that have been cancelled, even as I mentally SKIP BACK to review the fun and thrill of summers past. Some days I can’t help but SKIP FORWARD to contemplate the potential impact of this PAUSE on yet another season, autumn. And what about the holidays after that?

I like to be busy, go places, spend time with people, plan ahead for upcoming adventures. But I have to admit there’s been times when I wished my life came equipped with a PAUSE button. Oh, how I longed to slow down the hectic pace of life so that I could catch my breath. But just for a bit. More than a few days of down time has always left me restless and unsettled. 

As disruptions to normal life goes, this one’s been a doozy, that’s for sure. Someday, we'll SKIP BACK to this stuck-on-PAUSE period, and I'm hoping we find some good and positive and beneficial things sandwiched between the challenging, the uncertain, the unprecedented. Which means, I'd better get busy and fan this second wind of productivity into a full flame.