Keeping Sight of God through the Busy Seasons

6:00 AM

NANO IS COMING! It's approaching on swift wings, flying down and upon us. Soon, we will be consumed in the craze nano brings: buckets of coffee, bars of chocolate, sore wrists, aching fingers, burning eyes, late nights, fists banging against the keyboard ...

It's easy to forget that November is still a month. A month of life that is precious and meaningful.

So, we as Christians must ask ourselves ... what about God?



It is so easy to forget, even when not in the Nano craze, that God is our rock and He is who we live for and strive to serve and please. I get so consumed with writing, I forget who gave me the gift of writing in the first place.

"I don't have time for God." That's such a tempting thing to say. Gotta get the words, gotta get them down. We only have 30 days and 50k is a lot. Those words aren't going to write themselves. If we take our minds off our task, we won't figure out that gaping plot hole. We've got to think about writing and our characters and the story every single minute or an idea might escape us.

...right?

I'm not saying you need to sit down to an hour long bible study every day. That's not really realistic. Not if you want to hit that 50k. But I am saying that you don't need to forget God. November is still a month of life. And, as Christians, we have pledged our lives to God.

So how do we keep our eyes on Him?

I went through a time last year when I was terrified I was going to have to give up my writing. I wasn't sure if that's what God had planned for me. I was afraid that it consumed me too much. That it was an idol to me.

And, for a time, it was.

Writing had consumed my every waking moment. Thoughts of my plot and characters drowned me daily so that I couldn't see the world around me, couldn't focus on anything else, couldn't give my whole attention to my friends and family when I needed to.

But how do you let go? How do you separate your story from yourself so that you can live?

Here are some things that have helped me.

Pray.

This seems like a given, but it is (in my opinion) the most important thing you can do, especially during the busy times in your life (like Nano). I don't like to make a schedule for when to pray, because when I do that it becomes something just to "check off my list" and I don't ever want God or my faith and the things that will build it to become something that I need to "get done" so I can move on to other things.

That being said, I do try to pray in the mornings when I first wake up, and at night before I go to bed. If I don't have any sort of schedule at all, I can easily forget to pray. I really encourage you to get up in the mornings and pray. Go outside for a walk, pray while you go make coffee and breakfast, or pray at your bedside, on your knees. Pray while you watch the sunrise. If you start your day with a prayer, it reminds you of who you are and whose you are. And that is very, very important.


Read the bible. 

This also is a given, I know. But spending just a few minutes in God's word will really help orient you and keep you in a constant state of spiritual growth, which is what we as Christians strive for everyday.

I want to post on bible studies soon, but I'll briefly summarize my thoughts for you here. When I say "read the bible" I don't necessarily mean pick a book and read a chapter every day. If you do that, once again it becomes a chore or a thing that you just "check off" your extensive list of to-dos. The most meaningful studies for me have come from embarking on topic studies.

What weighs on your mind? What tugs at your heart? What do you struggle with? What fascinates you? I'm doing two topic studies right now (sort of). One on kindness and one on self image / beauty / self-esteem / etc.

Immerse yourself in the word for just a few moments. Look for a new perspective in God's word on something you're struggling with. It will help you grow and bless you.



Keep your mind on Christian conduct.

We can never be perfect. We all know this. But keeping your mind on Christ-like behavior, being conscious of how you treat others, will keep your mind and heart on Christ.


Praise God.

This is sort of on the prayer spectrum, but you can praise Him in other ways too. Put on Christian music in the car and sing along. Put your heart into worship. You might find the break from writing-thoughts and all-things-books-and-nano will help freshen your mind for when it is time to write.



Nano is a wonderful thing. It is such a blessing to me in my life, and my writing and I cannot wait until November! But let's do our best to remember who made us and gave us the ability to write, to create. Thank Him, for He is good!


Do you struggle with separating your thoughts from all-things-books-and-writing? What are some things you do to keep your eyes on God?

<3 

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18 comments

  1. I love that your blogging voice is just so REAL. That you're not afraid to post this. <3 You're awesome.

    And a big YES to this post! It can be very hard to keep sight of God when I'm weighed down by school, NaNo prep, and my social life in general. It can be really hard. But like you said, we should always keep God as a priority and strive to realize that time spent with him shouldn't be a chore - it should be a joy.

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    1. Aww thank you! *whispers* I actually was a bit nervous to post this. I wasn't sure if it would get taken the wrong way, but I knew I needed to write it.

      And I find when you do a study that doesn't have much structure, it really does become a joy because you're wanting to dig deeper and learn more about the Christian aspect of the topic, and time really flies!

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  2. Wow, thanks for this I needed to hear it. :D

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  3. This was such a great encouragement and reminder. Thank you so, so much for posting this, Hannah! <3

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  4. Wow. I can sooooo relate, Hannah! I also experienced a time when I thought God was telling me to stop writing. I didn't *want* to, but I knew I wasn't as close to God as I should have (and could have) been. Things are better now, I'm growing, and...im still writing. :)

    Thanks for sharing!! :)

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    1. I think all writers who are Christians have gone through or are going through that. I want to do a full post on it soon. Maybe after nano! It's encouraging to hear you went through it to and are working things out! <3

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  5. As usual, you have great words of wisdom! :D I definitely feel like prayers shouldn't be scheduled too; otherwise I feel like I'm forcing myself to say them instead of it coming naturally. I do struggle sometimes to focus on God as well as my writing, but something that helps me combine the two is to pray before my writing sessions, whether it be to help me with my story or about life. Thanks for this post! <3

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    1. Yes, that's a good idea! I think I'll try to start doing that to. Thank you for sharing that! <3

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  6. This was another excellent post, Hannah! Even though I'm not doing NaNo, I still get caught up so easily with the things I've got to do and leave God out of the day.. So thanks for the reminder and practical tips! I'll be looking forward to your post on Bible study too - it sounds interesting! :)

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    1. Thank you! It's something I've grown really passionate about over this past year, mainly because I've always been told to do it but never /how/ to do it. And since the beginning of this year, when I figured out that important "how" I see now how just a few minutes a day can really change your life. <3

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  7. Gahh, I love this so much. I spend so much time with writing, but I get nervous that i'm *too* obsessed with it. I've been doing some more devotionals lately, and am going to start a prayer journal. I have really been thinking about that "this writing is for God," which has made me think a lot about writing in general. Maybe I'll have to write a post about this. Just a lot of thoughts bu tI loooove this post so much. Thank you, lovely Hannah! <3

    // katie grace
    a writer's faith

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    1. Ahhhh yes. I would love to hear your thoughts on it! And devotionals are good! We should have a study together sometime :)

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  8. THANK YOU FOR THIS, I NEEDED THIS. Life is at a HIGH insane level right now - so this was perfect. THANK YOU for sharing it! And yes, I do sometimes forget that life is ALL about books-writing-etc. XD. But one of the things that sometimes helps me is reading an allegory now and then - reminding myself of Who my books should be glorifying *nods*.

    ~ Savannah
    scattered-scribblings.blogspot.com

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    1. Ah yes such a good mindset to keep <3 I love the discovery part of writing a book. You learn so much about the world, and about yourself. I'm hoping that, now that my mindset is right, this next book will really help bring me closer to God. It's all about the mindset!

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  9. I definitely needed the reminder.

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  10. This is seriously the best reminder, with all of the craziness that is going to ensue once November 1 hits. Listening to worship music is one of my favorite easy ways to keep focused on God- it helps SO MUCH!

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