A Look in the Rearview Mirror

A Look in the Rearview Mirror

Yield. That was my word for 2023. Even as I typed it back in January, I didn’t have a full understanding of what it would mean to me this year. (If you want to view that initial post, click HERE.)

 

Here is part of what I wrote: 

 

“… YIELD means … trusting God with my life. Fully. Completely. It means giving up what I want for what He intends for me.”

 

I have a verse from the Bible I wrote out last year and placed on my kitchen counter. It is all about yielding.

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.

Proverbs 3:5

 

Sometimes you have to take a look back
before you can make that Right Turn.

This week I decided it was time to check in on how that word is playing out for me. I went back to the January 4^th post. After reading it, I read a few previous posts on my blog. The one that caught my attention…the one that made me laugh out loud was a post from August 24, 2022…just a few days before my high school reunion. 

 

In that post, I basically conceded that though I always considered myself a Florida girl, my true home was in Ohio. 

 

That was before Mike. Before he drove me to the reunion. Before he helped me with the post-reunion potluck picnic. Before we confessed our love for each other. Long before we married and… moved back to Florida. 

 

Yes, Florida is my home.

 

By January, when I sought a word to guide me through the year, I had already sought God’s guidance on my future with Mike. I want my life to be aligned with all God wants for me and of me. Yet, when I latched onto the word YIELD, I wasn’t consciously considering my personal life. More my writing life.

 

How silly of me to think I am so divided. My writing and my personal experiences intersect on a regular basis.

 

I can honestly say that I am daily yielding to God’s will in my personal life. I pray about it every morning and with almost every daily decision. But my writing life is another story. I keep my blog going, but what about other writing I need to do?

 

At last count I have at least ten novels in the works. That’s ridiculous. A few are “finished” but now, since I’ve learned more and grown as an author, I know they need to be revised. Some need a complete overhaul.

 

I tell myself I have a lot on my plate. A new husband, a new house to settle, finding a new church in a new town, well…you get the idea.

 

The truth is simple. I refuse to yield. I resist sitting down and tackling the hefty job of rewriting and revising. I have to face it…those ten books have been on my plate for long time. And…I have a wonderful family encouraging me, a husband who delights in my writing, and the time to write. 

 

I am coming to understand I am basically a lazy person. (Even as I type this, Mike is doing the laundry and vacuuming the floor!) 

 

It is May. I will honor my commitment to the word YIELD. I will earnestly pray for God’s guidance in those stories. I’m asking you, my readers to hold me to it. 

It occurs to me that you have to YIELD before you make the "right turn"...in everything.

 

So how about you? Did you choose a word for the year? How is it panning out for you? I’d love to hear from you and encourage you with your word.