line upon line.

Today is the day. 

I’ve decided to officially start drafting my next book. 

Remember a few weeks ago when I wrote to you about my new story idea? I told you how it’s been poking and prodding at me for months now, waiting for me to form a partnership with it. To go all in and take it seriously. So, with full confidence, I proclaimed to the world (or at least to all of you reading this newsletter) that I was ready to write!

…But then my whole family got sick. Multiple times. Christmas happened and my kids were out of school and life felt both too busy and too slow to start up my new project. So I waited. I pushed it to later. But today I realized that if I keep waiting for the “perfect time” to start writing, I’ll be waiting for the rest of my life. 

This book is different than anything I’ve ever written before, so I know it will challenge me in exciting and slightly terrifying ways. And since I’m dealing with a bit of trepidation, I can feel myself tiptoeing around this idea, as if I’m waiting for my nerves to settle or for someone to tell me to just sit down and start writing already. But here’s the hard truth: those nerves don’t ever really go away, and nobody else is going to force me to get to work. 

I just need to choose to start. I need to make that commitment and begin.

So what’s my plan for drafting?

To work on it every day until it’s done. To add new words to the page daily, whether it’s a scattered handful or 5,000 at a time. I find that if I commit to opening my document and spending time with my story every day, those little writing sessions add up to something far bigger in the long run. 

There’s a scripture I love that sums up my drafting philosophy perfectly—

For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little…

Those words remind me of the tried-and-true pattern that’s been around since before the world began. Those words remind me that God not only works with us one day at a time, but He walks us through this life line upon line, revealing His mysteries here a little and there a little. We don’t receive everything all at once.

But we receive enough for each day, for each moment. 

Just like my new book, each of us is a work in progress, so it’s a good thing we’re held in the hands of the Author and Finisher of Our Faith, right? He knows exactly what we need and when, so it’s His timing that I’m going to trust as I settle into this new season of creativity. 

Line upon line, this book will be written. It may be messy and incomplete, but it will be something. And it will be mine. 

If you’re waiting for the right moment to start something new, here’s a little nudge to get going, to seize your idea and go all in. I can’t make you sit down and get to work, but I can remind you that you already have everything you need to get started. 

The perfect time to begin is now. Because it’s here, and the Lord has given it to you. 

He’s ready. 

Are you?