Look how far you've come! by Deborah Jenkins

March is my favourite post to write because today (the 11th) is my birthday. I'm afraid I'm rather childish about it still - I love presents, cards, cake and balloons. I want to eat special food and do special things on this most singular of days, the day of my birth. I want to be sung Happy Birthday. If they like, people could sing it to me twice, all over the UK, while washing their hands with soap and water. What a thought...

I know some people who would rather forget their birthdays. They do not want to be made much of. They don't like the attention or the reminder of how old they are. We have one friend who literally will not reveal her age to anyone, not even her family. She does not like to think about it, and certainly doesn't celebrate her birthday.

I, on the other hand, allow myself to feel special on this one day of the year. I walk around beaming. If I'm at work, I tell everyone it's my birthday and I take in cake or other treats. If I'm not at work, I make sure it's a day that will stand out as different with pleasurable activities that I, and my family or friends, will enjoy doing. After all, it's a miracle that I'm alive. One scientific estimate for a human being to be born is about 1 in 400 trillion. I am one of those, and so are you. We are miracles!

I've lived several decades and been through a lot one way or another, as have you. We are still here. That's a cause for celebration. I believe that I was a twinkle in my heavenly father's eye long before I was a twinkle in my Dad's. That makes me happy. Both these fathers are together now. I hope they are smiling down today, admiring their handiwork.

Most of all, I celebrate because I know how far I have come. It's good to look back and be thankful. I try to spend time on or near my birthday reviewing the last year, writing in my prayer journal how I believe God has led me. Are there patterns to the things that have happened? What can I learn from them? What might God be wanting to work on in my life this year?

In our writing lives, most of us have things we long to achieve - unfulfilled ambitions or dreams for our work. We celebrate when we publish something or get a book deal or contract, with announcements, book launches and posts on social media. And quite rightly. But wherever we are in our writing, we have travelled to get here. We have made sacrifices, chosen priorities, taken risks. From time to time, we should celebrate and reflect. I'm not suggesting that this need be a public thing but it may be a worthwhile thing - between God, His writing gift and us.

The idea of altars, milestones and symbols are biblical - the gift of a rainbow to Noah, the twelve stones to commemorate the parting of the Red Sea, the taking of communion, to name just three - and I believe we can gain from using these principles in our personal and our writing lives too. 

Here are some suggestions: -

• Take out your pile/file/mile of self-published writing or published articles and books, whatever its size. Spread it out on the desk/table/bed. Do a little dance
• If you haven't got one, start a Writing Diary with a list of your published works from church newsletters to blog posts to articles/books. Tick each one and count the ticks. Feel good.
• Reread something you wrote long ago and something you wrote recently. Find three things you know you do better. Write them down in your Writing Diary
• Sing 'I AM a writer!" to the tune of Happy Birthday, twice through, while washing your hands
• Look back at the past year or so of writing activities, successes and failures. Is there a pattern? How has God led you and used you in your writing most effectively?
• Write down what you have learned from your mistakes. I like the phrase A setback is a set up for a comeback. To be successful writers, however you see that, we must work through our discouragement and begin again, more wisely
• Think about what you believe God wants you to do in the next year or so with your writing. Write it down and date it.
• List all those writing-related things you've been meaning to do but haven't E.g. Join the Society of Authors, join ALCS, write a query letter about that finished novel, have another look at that children's book idea. Star the ones you feel you should still do and make dates with your diary to do them
• Write a message/email/letter to someone else on the writing journey, giving them the encouragement you sometimes need
• Buy a cake/cheesecake/other treat and eat it with good coffee/tea/gin at your computer while working on your latest writing project and playing one of the following loudly: -Don't Stop Believing  Ain't no mountain high enough  or best of all this one You Say

Surely our distinctive as Christian writers is that we feel called by God to write. Sometimes, distracted by other stuff, it can be easy to forget this. So it may be helpful to take time out to celebrate how far we've come and reflect on where we might go next. Of course, our god is full of surprises, but if we do our part, I believe it's easier for Him to do His.

'Mark the milestones of your mercy and love, God: Rebuild the ancient landmarks! Forget that I sowed wild  oats; mark me with the sign of your love. Plan only the best for me, God. God is fair and just; he corrects the misdirected, sends them in the right direction. He gives the rejects his hand and leads them step by step...' Psalm 25:6-9 The Message

You have a way to go but look how far you've come! 

Click on the link to see the novella on amazon

Deborah Jenkins is a primary school teacher and freelance writer who has written articles, text books, devotional notes and short stories. She writes regularly for the tes, CWR's Inspiring Women Every Day and blogs at stillwonderinghere.net She has also completed a novella, The Evenness of Things, available as an Amazon e-book and is currently working on a full length novel. Deborah loves hats, trees and small children. After years overseas with her family, who are now grown up, she lives in Sussex with her husband, a Baptist minister, and a cat called Oliver.