Here we go again by Jane Walters

As I write this, it’s completion day on my house sale. Yes, the place I have called home these past three and a bit years, the one I renovated from top to bottom – literally from gutters to foundations – and poured my heart, soul and physical strength into is no longer mine. It’s a sobering moment, involving a lot of goodbyes and, inevitably, a lot of tears. Seasons like this can bring a keen sense of déjà vu. I’ve moved a fair number of times in my adult life and I can’t help feeling, ‘Here we go again.’

It doesn’t have to be as disrupting as a house move, of course. You can get that phrase in your head from all kinds of very different circumstances. Maybe you say it to yourself every Monday morning as the week’s routines kick in after the weekend. Or under your breath as that trying friend or relative says or does that thing AGAIN. Perhaps – and here’s where I want to focus – you’re feeling it about your writing.

I can easily recall previous Januarys when I’ve been all fired-up and determined that THIS year is the one where I will start that book / finish that other book / get myself out there / fill in your own blanks. Inevitably, December has rolled around with its accordant disappointments or unexpected journey deviations. We’ve all experienced it, I’m sure, and it tends to temper our expectations of the future.

I’d like to share what someone told me, which helps every time I feel that I’ve been here before, that I’ve made no progress. She said that although the view feels familiar, take another look. You might think you’ve only been round and round the mountain instead of climbing it, but in fact you’ve been on a spiralling ascent. The view might be similar, but you have changed.

As I packed up my house to leave, the room hardest to say goodbye to was my workroom, my writing and sewing space. All I could think about was what I hadn’t managed to achieve: the unfinished manuscripts, the unfulfilled hopes and dreams. But then, I heard God’s whisper to my heart, and it made all the difference. ‘All the time you’ve been in here, I’ve been working on you.’ Wow! How precious, and how transforming!

I pray you’ll be encouraged to bash on, as I’m doing, and do more trusting as we’re writing.

Jane Walters is Chair of ACW and returns to More than Writers blog in 2024 after a couple of years' break (more 'here we go again'!).

She is currently working on more devotionals for BRF Ministries and preparing for her next residential retreat in February.

www.janewyattwalters.com

Insta: @readywritersretreats