Free to Be Me

"Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life." Galatians 6:4 (The Message)

I came across this verse a few days ago in a Bible study that I am working through entitled Discovering Joy in Your Creativity by Margaret Feinberg. Sometimes I think it takes a while for a verse we read from the Bible to soak in and take hold of our hearts. I feel that has been what has been happening in me since the conference, and since I read this.

I mentioned that I recently returned from the American Christian Fiction Writer's conference. It wasn't a WOW moment, but instead quiet confirmation that I'm on the journey that God has placed me on. I need to be faithful with keeping on that path and not straying. Believe me, it's easy to get sidetracked. So many things demand my attention throughout the day.

I have made a commitment to continuing on this journey to publication with my fiction writing. God only knows how long it will be before I achieve that first acceptance. But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is the path that God has laid out for me to follow.

Today I pulled out my first four chapters and started rewriting, polishing, and hopefully improving what I had already written. I plan to spend the next several days working on this before starting the next chapter. I'm excited that I set a goal of writing 20,000 new words during the month of October. That will keep me moving. Then in November we have decided to spend a week in Maine, so I can actually see and travel the area where my book is set. I'm so excited! By then the weather should be cold and perhaps even snow on the ground in New England. Perfect for me, since I love winter. Also, most of the time frame of my book is during those cold, winter months. I can hardly wait!

Today I take pleasure in being free to be who God created me to be. How cool that He has me doing a job that I love doing - writing and sharing with others what He has done in my life.