Category: New Year

Future Perfect

On By Betty OwensIn 2015, Authorview, Future Perfect, Helping Writers Become Authors, horizon, K.M. Weiland, Katie Weiland, moving, New Year

I’m so excited about 2015. Moving ahead always excites me though. I’m the daughter of a nomad. We moved so many times, I lost count. But one thing developed in me in the midst of all that. I could leave the past behind and look ahead. Out of necessity, to protect my heart and mind, I learned to turn my back on the place we were leaving–keep my eyes on the horizon–the place we were headed.

This attitude served me well over the years. My husband and I moved a lot less. We settled into a home in the suburbs and stayed put, raised our sons, and still stayed. The house is not large, so it’s quite comfortable now, with just the two of us. Well, until the sons come to visit with all of theirs. Then it can be a little over the top, but still fun.

Now the things I have to leave behind are different. They aren’t friends and houses and schools and countryside. They tend to be old habits and wasteful ways. Spring-cleaning takes on new meaning! Revamping, revising, renovation! I’m excited!

I’m also excited about Authorview this year. I started these interviews as a way to help friends find new writers and also, to help authors and writers promote their work. It’s always best if someone else promotes you and your work and accomplishments, don’t you think?

So out of these desires, came Authorview. In 2015, it will be a monthly post, every third Tuesday. Occasionally, I might plug in an additional post when I have a special request from an author.

This new addition to my blog has already been exciting, but 2015 promises even more. I’ve changed the interview questions, but they’re still lighthearted and fun. My purpose? To bring out some of the true character of the author, let the readers gain a little insight into the real person behind the book.

Next week begins the 2015 Authorview year. My very first interviewee is Katie (K.M.) Weiland. You’ll love reading about Katie, and if you’re a beginning writer, I highly recommend her workbooks. She’s committed to helping writers become authors.

I hope you’ll stop in on Tuesday, January 20th for Katie’s interview. If you’re on Facebook, you can “like” (yes, please!) my author page to get reminders of these posts and more (Betty’s Author Page). I promise not to overwhelm you with posts. Or you can have my blogposts delivered to your email. Just fill in the blank on the upper left-hand side of this blog.

I hope your 2015 is going well so far, but if it isn’t, perhaps you need to let some things drift away in the rearview mirror. Forget the past and set your sights on what lies ahead. The road lies before us. Where will it take us this year? I’m excited.

Forgetting what lies behind … stay focused on the goal … Philippians 3:12-21

"Me" Is Out of Here in 2015

On By Betty OwensIn back door method, Corinthians, God, God's plan, Happy New Year, hope, Me is Out of Here in 2015, New Year, possibilities, resolution, resolve
IMG_9611Happy New Year!
Resolutions. Do you make them at New Year’s? I have in the past, but this year—no. Why? I’m being honest with myself. I can make a dozen really great resolutions and that’s as far as it goes. They are soon forgotten. 
Or I remember them with guilt because I’m not following through. So this New Year, I’m planning a bypass. 
I prefer the Back Door Method. You know, when someone is watching the front door, you sneak around to the back and go in that way. Never happens to you? Er … okay. It’s also called a sneak attack, and it’s a method I often use to get around those things “Me” doesn’t want to do. 
You probably don’t have this problem, but the “Me” over here … has become a big stumbling block. Being my own boss in a home-based business, no one really tells me what to do, except my long-time best friend and confidante (we’ve been married forty years). But even with him, I can get by. I’ve weaseled out of a few situations in the past forty years. 
But “Me” can be rather insistent. Downright rude, at times. So, I’ve decided to give “Me” the official boot. Fired. Out of here. Bye-bye!
So what exactly is a resolution? A decision we make to change our lives. A firm decision. Resolve: firmness of purpose, a focused decision to better one’s life. Make a fresh start.
 
With that in mind, read this passage from 2 Corinthians (The Message):
14-15 Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.

16-20 Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.

21 How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

So … back to that ole “Me” who’s causing all the problems—

The old life is gone—“Me” is out of here—so now, as the New Year dawns, I can move on and create and do the things that I am specifically called to do. I’m not totally naïve. I know I will have to resist “Me” from time to time. Someone as difficult as “Me” will not give up without a fight. But I know I am not alone in the struggle.
One of those things I am called to do is to encourage you. My daily work involves writing and some of that writing is given as a praise offering to God. My hope being: out of that praise offering, you will be encouraged to follow God’s plan for your life, as laid out in the passage of scripture above. And in 2015, move away from following what “Me” wants and follow what “He” wants for you. Because it is vastly more beautiful than anything you can imagine on your own. “You” are “His”—and when you learn to oust the “Me” in your life, nothing can stand in your way anymore. 
He has this.Make a firm decision today to give “Him” first place in your life. Listen for His voice and don’t be afraid to follow, wherever He leads you. No matter how many times you may have failed in the past. Today is a new day—a new year—a new beginning for “You.”

My prayer for you today is this: May your New Year come alive with possibilities as you realize the plans He has for you.

Photo of squirrel from MorgueFile