It’s Not Our Time Part 1 (and your NaNoWriMo breather)

I thought I’d pop into your Saturday morning and distract you from your NaNoWriMo writing.

Anyone else participating in that epic event this year? I know how important it is not to get distracted, so I’ll just say this blog post isn’t a distraction, but a quick break when you need to give your fried brain and stiff fingers a breather. You’re welcome.

Bonus: I have a little bit of NaNoWriMo for you at the end of this post to bounce you back into your writing. 🙂

First Things First

The year after high school I didn’t go on to college. (if you’re curious about why, send me a message, I’d be happy to share the lists of whys.)
All of a sudden, without hours of schoolwork to do each weekday, I was flooded with options of how to spend my time. And I was desperate to get it right. Not waste a minute. Or else the clock would strike midnight and the time would be wasted and gone. (I’ve had an excessive amount of pumpkins and glass slippers on my mind as I’m currently directing a Cinderella production. 🙂 )

But there’s just so much one could do with one’s time. Such as write a 50,000 word novel in November. Help with a Cinderella production. Spend time with family and friends. Help at a camp. Clean your house. Be a staff member for a writing website. Become a vocal teacher. Start a blog. Read books. Bake muffins…

Okay I think you get the idea. I’m sure each of our lists could go on and on. The point is that, I’ve looked at that list before and wondered, how do I know if this is truly how God wants me to spend my time? How do I know I’m not wasting my time?

What’s Important

Someone once wisely said, “When we are who God wants us to be, then He will show us what we should do for Him.”

God’s first mission in our life (after the fall of mankind) was to reconcile those who believe, to Himself through His Son. (2 Cor. 5:18-21) And daily He continues to refine our hearts to obey and long for Him and the things He loves.

Though God cares about how we spend our time, remember our hearts are of first importance to the Lord.  Don’t get so lost in worrying about what you do, that you forget who you are in Him. Which is the foundation to knowing what you should be doing with that time.

Start Where it Counts

God’s writing His story. We’re living on His time as the plot of His story unfolds. He created time after all. It’s not really our time to fill as we please.
God created us specially, to bring Him glory. That’s pretty cool. The number one thing we were created to do with our time is bring glory to God! And we can’t fill time with anything sweeter than time spent with our Creator. 🙂

The more we long for Him and the things He loves, the more we’ll long to do the things He wants us to. You’ll find He’ll fill your time with circumstances and people that will drive you to know and love your Savior more.

So start by spending the time with Him, He deserves. (reading/studying the Bible is a great place to start!) He’ll incline our hearts to fill time with things that matter to Him, which in turn, will matter to us.

And so ends a brief Part 1. I decided to have a Part 2 for this topic as I found I’ve learned many things, too long to share in just one blog post. So come back in two weeks to hear the conclusion of these thoughts, which include what to do when we feel like we’ve wasted time and a few practical thoughts on how to know we’re spending our time in a God glorifying way.

A Bit of NaNoWriMo 2017

Fun Fact: I wasn’t going to do NaNoWriMo this year. And then it was Oct. 31st and I was like, “I can’t stand it, I have to try!”

If you’re participating in this epic event, you’re most likely knee deep in late nights, words that come out on a page even if they don’t make sense and already on your last bag of your favorite snack food. (pumpkin cheerios, anyone?) In fact, your family already may be wondering if you’re even alive at this point. (quick tip: let your family know that you’re participating in NaNoWriMo before they storm your Attic prepared to call 911)

Your NaNoWriMo experience could be that you’re hitting your daily word count. Your stats graph on the NaNoWriMo site is touching the goal or even exceeding it. And you’re having a blast! This was last year’s experience for me all the way. I congratulate you, friend! It’s a wonderful thing to have fun with your writing and really grow.

Or maybe you’re on the other end of the whole experience this year (my end of the deal 😉 ). We’re just not where we need to be yet. Word count isn’t high enough. That stats graph on NaNoWriMo site is breathing down your neck. And staying awake is a problem.

Take a moment to back away from the computer screen, stretch your cramped fingers and get some fresh perspective.

Why?

Because I don’t know about you, but when I’m hunched over that keyboard watching the minutes tick away and I’m not getting the words out on the paper, I get frustrated and panicky. For one, because I’m a competitive person and I want to win. Thinking about not winning is painful. That makes writing painful. No fun.

But ya know what? My definition of “winning” may need a fresh perspective as well 🙂 Winning isn’t necessarily hitting the 50,000 word mark. (although that would be a fabulous bonus!) Winning means I gave it my best. I poured my heart into it. Maybe even got a little sweaty.

I never know what a month has in store. I decided to take on NaNo this year because trying is better than not, right? But to be honest with myself, I’m probably not going to hit that 50,000 word goal.

On another note, since my time belongs to the Lord, I should also hold on to the perspective that He’s in charge of my November schedule. He knows what’s going to happen and whether I’ll finish NaNoWriMo or not. If He so desires to use my time in other ways, so be it.

I’ll just give Him my all and the outcome is in His hands. Which to my utter delight so far, I’ve had more time to write than originally planned. 🙂

So even if you don’t hit that 50,000 word mark this November, you’re hitting some word count higher than 0 and getting part of your book written. *cue the confetti and balloons!*

So take a deep breath, thank the Lord for the time He’s given you to write, and I’ll let you get back to your NaNo novel.

Keep writing for Him, my friends!

Are you doing NaNoWriMo this year? In prep for Part 2, :p, what would you say is the one thing that fills most of your time?