by Katy Kauffman @KatyKauffman28

We’re at the end of a year which has been full of ups and downs—we’ve experienced a little more freedom during this pandemic, but we’re still using caution and wisdom. My heart is ready for some Christmas joy. How about you?

How is your writer’s heart? At the end of this year, we may be overwhelmed with finishing goals we wanted to accomplish by the end of 2021. We may feel a little panic at things left undone, like all those holiday memes we wanted to prepare before the pace picked up with Christmas decorating, making cookies, sending cards, and more. Or maybe we wish we could have submitted to just one more magazine or website. 

It’s easy for my heart to feel stressed with what I need to do and what I haven’t done yet. But if I let stress win, then my writing suffers. Have you seen that to be true? 

So here’s a check up for our writers’ hearts. How can we tell if we’re more stressed than blessed? How can we make sure we’re connected to our greatest Source of joy and inspiration, especially in one of the most joyful seasons of the year?

Ask yourself these questions to see where you land in the stressed vs. blessed scale. How’s your heart doing?

1. Are you focused more on getting “enough” followers or on interacting with the ones you already have?
2. Do you wrack your brain trying to come up with social media content for followers you don’t have yet, or are you observing what your current connections respond to and sharing more on that basis? (I’ve been guilty of the first option.)
3. Do you find joy in creating encouraging memes, or is it just one more thing to do?
4. Is personal time with God a part of the checklist, or is it the substance of your whole writing ministry?
5. When you sit down to write, are you excited about what God will show you to write down, or do you just want to get something on paper?

When I was blogging weekly and trying to write multiple assignments on time, I did want to write down something. But I’ve found that safeguarding my personal time with God turns stressed into blessed. What we learn from Him becomes the source of what we write. If our quiet times are filled with insight, understanding, joy, and God-focused prayer, our writing is likely to be filled with insight, joy, and God-centered principles. 

As we flourish in our relationship with God, He will help us to walk through the stressed seasons and dry writing patches. He will help us to remember why we’re doing this—why we write. Our mission is to share God’s truth and love with the world by ministering to one heart at a time. We don’t know if every member of our audience is feeling stressed or blessed, but we can keep our own hearts close to God so that what we give out comes from His heart. And His heart is always overflowing with love, warmth, strength, and grace towards us. 

So never let your heart go unchecked for long. If you’re stressed this holiday season, see if there’s any way to spread out a project to slow the pace, or ask God for the grace to persevere until it’s done on time. 

He can give us whatever we need to minister out of the wellspring of His love and truth, a wellspring that showers us with reasons to keep at it and find joy in the work. 

Merry Christmas, writer friends!

Katy Kauffman is an award-winning author, an editor of Refresh Bible Study Magazine, and a co-founder of Lighthouse Bible Studies. She loves connecting with writers and working alongside them in compilations, such as Feed Your Soul with the Word of God, Collection 1 which is a 2020 Selah Awards finalist. She recently started The Lighthouse Connection, a monthly writers’ newsletter including writing tips, inspiration to write, and news of submission opportunities.

In addition to online magazines, Katy’s writing can be found at CBN.com, thoughts-about-God.com, and three blogs on writing. She loves to spend time with family and friends, take acrylic painting classes online, and do yard work in the morning sun. Connect with her at her blog, Winning the Victory, and on Facebook and Twitter.