Ephesians 2:10

I have felt called for years, my lifetime really, to write. Within the last few years that call has turned into “write a book”. I have had my share of feeling unequal to the task and have wavered. I have started and stopped and started and stopped, and scrapped the whole effort and started anew, not once, not twice, I may have actually lost count by now.

A few weeks ago I got an email – spam – like everyone I get my fair share, but this one caught my eye. It was called “FlourishWriters”. A Christian-based writing course. They had a free webcast and I thought, what the heck. I could give up an hour to see what that’s all about — and if it was hokey from the get go, I could simply click the “X” and be done with it having only lost a few minutes at most. Turns out, it was the real deal. The ladies who were hosting spoke to my heart — and in the end, they offer a fairly inexpensive writing course.

When I received the workbook and thumbed through, I realized the class would begin with a bible study. WHAT? I’m already teaching one bible study and attending another. Like I need a third study. When do we get to the writing? But, then I remembered my word for the year…self-control. Heb 12:11 is my verse and it speaks to discipline being unfun in the moment but having a great reward in the end. So, I calmed my instincts, prayed and opened my heart to the study I had just received in its entirety.

One of the early things they ask you to do in this course is to map out the time you will dedicate to this courese. What? A SCHEDULE? I am SO BAD at scheduling myself. My time. It feels like “budgeting”…my other least favorite task. But, I did it. I opened my planner and scheduled four days a week, 5:00 a.m. – 7:00 a.m. for writing, and for now that means attending this self-paced class.

Today was section 2, so to speak, where we learned the DECLARE bible study method created by the co-founders of Flourish. And I will tell you – what was shared was a little, well, life-changing for me. My heart is so filled with joy. Truly an answer to many, many prayers. I don’t know what else to say. In the middle, part of studying is to “investigate” the words within the scripture you are studying. For a seasoned Christian this might be a “duh” statement — but for me, a baby Christian, this is big stuff…not the suggestion to study out a word — but HOW TO DO IT!

They shared a website called Blue Letter Bible and if you don’t know about it — you must check it out. It’s a site that allows you to see the origins of the word you are studying, where else the word appears in scripture, writings on the topic…you can search through different bible versions. All.in.one.place. Mind blown!

The verse we studied this morning in this practice was Ephesians 2:10, which is lovely and I choose to declare it for myself…

For I am God’s masterpiece. He has created me anew in Christ Jesus, so I can do the things he planned for me long ago.

Ephesians 2:10

When I feel unequal to the task of writing, when the devil tries to speak into me, THIS is the verse I will rest upon.

Turns out these ladies know a thing or two about the writing process, and we’re starting exactly where we should be…in the Word.