What's Your Book Look Like

"We're all writing a book. What's your book look like?"

Talking to Joe Rogan, Kevin Hart touched on a theme I've heard other creatives press into, particularly author Donald Miller in his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life. Your life is a story. What do you want your story to be about?

Let me get more specific in hopes of avoiding your descent into depression and regret - "What do you imagine the rest of your story to look like?"

No. Not your story compared to her story, or that families story, or that creatives seemingly unending flow of stories. Your story.

And no, this isn't a call to abandon your responsibilities, your challenges, your hard work, your actual calling in order to run off with your self-imposed story. This is simply an opportunity to pause and reflect on your current reality and the direction you're headed. To take a breath and grab a journal and write the first draft of a five year plan to discuss with your wife when you're both clear-minded. To accept the hope that exists here and now even when the walls are closing in and the bills are stacking up and the hours seem like they're running low.

Today. Right Now. Without running from reality. Taking ownership of your junk. Accepting the premise that the Designer of All Stories has yet to bring your story here in the dirt to completion...

"What do you want to next chapter of your book to look like?"

Forget Forgiveness

...and ruin the next season of your life, faith and creative pursuits.

Seriously.

Forgiving ourselves of past wrongs, bad decisions, indecision, sins we've engaged in and wounds we've caused allows us the heart, mind and soul space to discern where we are and where we're headed with clarity and humility.

Asking for and accepting forgiveness from and of others will tear down those invisible, spiritual, emotional barbed-wire fences we've put up. Forgiveness builds healthy bridges for greater joy and fruitfulness. Not only for us, but also for those around us intimately and in passing.

And adorning the forgiveness of Creator God redefines and re-frames our entire journey forward as well as our view backwards. It's a forgiveness that embodies the core of the Christmas spirit.

Forget forgiveness and we can forget about healthy growth in life, faith and our creative journey.

Middle, End, and Begin Well this Christmas

If you're in the middle of a project, I mean, right in the thick of putting this thing together... be sure to pause, break, rest and spend time with the family you've committed the rest of your life to. Your creative pursuit, no matter how on fire you are or how demanding the season, it's still only one piece of the small pie that makes up who you are. Take time to share in the lives and pursuits of those around you this Christmas season.

For those of you at the tail end of a creative pursuit - you know, wrapping up that book, track list, conference circuit, design project, etc. - before diving into the next season, take some time to reflect on the journey. What are you thankful for? What did you learn from the setbacks? And look ahead as Christmas and the new year dawn. How can you shape your schedule to invest in the ones you love, the people who make up a significant portion of your life? The ones who support you in your pursuits? End well. Celebrate well.

Now for those at the start of a wild ride. Some of you are diving into the Christmas season with a condensed focus on worship, a tight schedule, and the stress of an unchangeable deadline - no, there's no backing out. You're committed. It's an honorable weight to carry. Two things: first, find time for meals, advent, and a refreshing act of service with your family and friends before the season passes; second, when all is said and done, celebrate and sabbath.

For those of you diving into new projects that stretch beyond the boundaries of the Christmas season, I'd challenge you to follow suit. Don't let the new journey enslave you. Discern your schedule, practice self-control with your creative rhythm, and clarify your values in light of all the pieces of the pie of life. It's your life, shape it. Own it. Honor the breath of life breathed into you for this season. Honor those Creator God put in your life, the ones who love you and are travelling with you.