NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo is one of the strangest words you may hear this month. It is a mash-up of words that all push me to do something that I have never done before! NaNoWriMo stands for, National Novel Writing Month. The challenge is to write 50,000 words (a novel essentially) in the month of November. Wow! I am not sure I have ever written that many words in a three-month span. But hey, who says a girl can’t give it her best!

Here in lies the problem.

I have had an idea for a novel bouncing around in my head for about 10 years. It is loosely based on my own experiences. The fear of writing altogether kept my hand far from the pen for about 8 years. The last two years I have waded into writing with safer topics and tasks. I have enjoyed blogging and free-lance projects, but this novel not only didn’t go away, but it grew. This summer, it rose to the surface with such force that I began the very first character sketch. The project buried itself under pleasant summer days, family adventures, and –let’s face it–a little bit of fear.

Then I was introduced to NaNoWriMo by a dear friend of mine. Like a magnet to metal the desire to write the novel in my heart rose to the surface and attached itself to the challenge of NaNoWrimo. So I’m diving in! I have no idea what this month will produce in the way of an actual novel that others want to read, but I am trusting that the process itself is God-driven. I trust him. I no longer expect logical end-results from journeys I take with the Lord. I have learned in my years with Him, that he brings about lessons and opportunities for a purpose that I could never have imagined in the beginning. Life is like a tapestry. We are looking at the back of it. We see tangles of various colors and patterns that frankly don’t look like much. The finished product–our Philippians 1:6 life if you will–is the front. This is what He is looking at the entire time.


He weaves every thing into our lives with the end-result in mind.


An end that only He, in his infinite creativity, could ever have imagined! Maybe this challenge will result in a book. Maybe it will show me a part of my writing that I need to really work on, or a weakness in my character that needs renewing. I am up for whatever he has in store for me. I want my end-result tapestry to be pleasing to Him, I have to trust that His point of view is better than mine.

With all that said, what is He nudging you to do? Is there a little change He is pushing you to make? Is there a new adventure He is inviting you on? What’s holding you back? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!


 Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 1:6