31 Day Writing Challenge Wrap Up-Reflecting Back Over the Last 31 Days

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding.  In all your ways, acknowledge Him

and He will direct your paths." 

Proverbs 3: 5-6

 

31 Day Writing Challenge Wrap Up

I originally said "No" to doing this 31 Day Writing Challenge.  When a dear friend sent me information about it, I immediately said I didn't have time to do it.  I didn't have anything to write about, and I certainly didn't have anything that I could write about for 31 days! "No, No, No!" 

God had another answer in mind..."Yes!" 

Oh man!

God said, "Yes, you are going to do this.  You will write about fear, and here are your topics."  He gave me each topic that I was to write about and the order I was supposed to write them.  I quickly wrote them all down.  I've learned to follow Him and obey Him...period!  So I guess I'm doing this writing challenge then, God?

Yes, you are!

Every day, I would look at the topic and start writing.  Some days, the personal story that I was going to write about quickly came to my mind.  Some days, it didn't.  Some days I was excited to write about my topic.  Some days, I wasn't. 

The interesting part is that on those days where I felt unenthused...on those days where I felt uninspired...on those days where I wanted to change the topic because I felt it was too repetitive or it felt way too personal...those were the days where someone would send me a message saying "I really needed to hear that today." or "Your post really spoke to me today." or "What you wrote really made an impact on me." 

Ok, God.  I will continue to trust You on this writing journey. 

So, I stuck faithfully with His list only making minor changes here and there...with God's permission, of course!  God knew what I needed to write about each day, and so I trusted Him completely to speak to me as well as use me to speak to others.    

Throughout this process, I cried...I laughed...I felt moments of panic...I felt moments of great joy...I felt moments of fear...I felt moments of more panic...I felt moments of frustration and discouragement...I felt moments of elation and encouragement...

And you don't know how many times I thought "I can't believe people are going to be reading this." 

Many people asked me "How did you have time to write?"  I didn't!!  I had to make the time.  I stayed up late...I got up early...I wrote all throughout the day too.  I ignored huge piles of laundry...I ate standing up...I put off cleaning the dishes...I threw together last minute meals...I turned away from messes that needed to be cleaned up...I didn't watch TV (although my kids did--A LOT!)...I lowered my standards for everything in my life...I wore the same clothes twice (ok, maybe three times).  

Writing became a part of my daily life...part of my routine.
I wrote and I got three kids dressed, fed, and out the door.
I wrote and I ate breakfast.
I wrote and I read books.

I wrote and I played magic tricks and football and Uno and baby dolls.
I wrote and I ate lunch.
I wrote and I watched my youngest son take his first steps.

I wrote and I had play dates.
I wrote and I went to church.
I wrote and I taught Sunday School.
I wrote and I spoke at a moms group.
I wrote and I celebrated my youngest son's 1st birthday.

I wrote and I went to a Fishing Derby.
I wrote and I coordinated a Moms Night Out.
I wrote and I had a Praying Moms Group.
I wrote and I went on a family hike.

I wrote and I ate dinner.
I wrote and I invaded the kids' movie night candy drawer.
I wrote and I got three kids bathed, read to, had special time with, and tucked into bed.
I wrote and I enjoyed a date night with my husband.

I wrote and I went to bed.
Then I would wake up and write again.  

Let me tell you, it was one crazy month!

Writing became intertwined with every part of my daily life.  Life kept going and I kept writing.  It was constantly in the back of my mind.  I was either thinking about what I had written or what I was going to write about all the time.  It was truly exhausting! 

Am I glad it's over?  Yes.  Am I sad it's over?  Yes!  But mostly, I'm just grateful.  I'm so grateful for this journey.  I'm so grateful for this experience.  I'm so grateful for my obedience to God.  I'm so grateful for all of the encouragement and blessings I received from all of you.  I'm so grateful that God shined His Light into all of my fears and through my stories, He was able to shine His light into your lives and fears as well.

Let's keep shining His Light within the darkness of ourselves so that we can be a brighter Light for Him in this world!

Blessings to you all!
Christine Leeb

PRAY WITH ME:
Father, I give all of my fears to You!  Fear is a struggle that I have to face each day.  I break the power of those fears with Your precious word.  Help me to remind myself when fears creep into my mind that You haven't give me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and self-control. 
 
Thank you for using my blogs for Your bigger purpose.  Thank you for helping me conquer my fears through faith in You.  Thank you for giving me the opportunity to encourage others and share Your love with others through this journey.  I pray that You will continue to show everyone Your love and fill everyone with Your faith.   God, I pray that You will shine Your light into the fears that we all have and give us all bold confidence to walk forward trusting You with our lives.  Fill us all with Your faith instead of fear.  Let fear be conquered in Jesus' name!  Amen.

To the Readers:  Seriously...thank you!  I truly appreciate those of you who took the time to share a kind word and words of encouragement.  This was such an exhausting month, but when you took the time to read and comment on my blogs, it really made me smile and gave me that extra boost I needed to keep writing.  I will keep writing because I've learned that God can really speak through me in my writing, but I'm taking a break for a while, as I'm sure you can understand.  :-)  I really need to give my family my undivided attention.  I will wait to see what God has for me next.  In the meantime, keep shining!

Start from the beginning of this 31 Day Writing Challenge:  31 Fears to Conquer Through Faith  http://christineleeb.blogspot.com/2014/10/31-fears-to-conquer-through-faith.html