Did you pick a word for 2018? My word is reaping. At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of this word. It sounds like a non-active word, a passive word, one where you sit back and wait for something to happen. How could that be my word, as the whole point to a word is doing something, learning more about it, and putting it into action?
I discussed this with a friend of mine (Hi, Sherrinda!) and she encouraged me to look into this word further. So I did.
First, I looked in the dictionary. The definition of reaping is: to cut, to gather a harvest, to get as a return.
Sherrinda had commented: I love the thought of gathering in...taking in what is good...what is best...what is fruitful, and leaving behind the stalks, the chaff, the unnecessary. It's like culling out while harvesting the bounty.
So far, reaping meant to me, to get as a return and leaving behind the unnecessary. Now the word is active! It’s something I can do and act upon. I’m supposed to be writing, but I can’t reap (be published) without actually writing. And I can’t be distracted by what is going on around me. Each journey is personally specific.
Then, I looked up some scriptures that talk about reaping. I found a bunch of scriptures but two stood out:
2 Corinthians 9:6-But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Your reaping is tied to how much work you put into it. If you put in a little work, you get a little back. If you put in a lot of work, you’ll get a lot in return.
Finally, a song has been speaking to my heart. Take Courage. “Take courage my heart, stay steadfast my soul, He’s in the waiting. He’s in the waiting.” In our Christian walk, God is in the waiting. That’s where we learn who God is. It’s the same with our writing. When we’re waiting to be published, it’s not an inactive time. We’re busy writing, getting the next story ready, and the next. Studying craft. Making connections. Making our story stronger. So when publishing time comes, we’re ready.
One thing that keeps coming back to me about my word reap is when Boaz reaped he left some for Ruth. Not the scraps but stuff she could reap as well. In our writing journey we do the same when we reach out to help others either with inspiration, encouragement, or sharing knowledge. I’m eager to see how God uses this word in 2018 in my spiritual walk and in my writing.
This word also ties in with my word from last year:
expectation. When you’re expecting company, you clean house. When you’re
expecting a baby, you prepare the nursey. You’re not sitting around doing
nothing. You’re planning, strategizing, setting goals. You can’t read 300 books
in a day. You have to plan throughout the year to do that. You can’t write a
book in a day. You’ve got to break it down, tackle it throughout the year. Once
you have those daily, weekly, monthly goals in place, and DO them, then you can
reap. But you have to put forth the time first.
I have been writing consistently, setting clear goals,
and now have three critique partners in place. Just as I’d make a grocery list
in order to get groceries to prepare dinner, I write now to become published
later.
What about you? What’s your one word for 2018 and how has
it affected you so far? What do you do during the waiting times before reaping?
How have you been working toward your goals so far this year?
Sally Shupe lives in southwest Virginia with her husband,
two grown kids-a daughter still at home and a son nearby, and a whole bunch of
pets: five dogs, three cats, a rabbit, and birds at the birdfeeder (and the
mandatory snowman when the snow cooperates). She writes contemporary Christian
romance, with two completed manuscripts and three more in progress. They are
part of a series located in small town Virginia.
When Sally’s not writing or working full-time, she is a
freelance editor for several authors who write fiction and nonfiction; students
working on dissertation papers; a copy editor for Desert Breeze; a content
editor for Prism (became part of Pelican); performs beta reading for various
authors; publishes book reviews on her blog and with Valley Business FRONT’s
monthly magazine; is a member of ACFW and just recently became a PRO member of
RWA; loves genealogy, running, and crocheting.
Sally uses her love of words to write about God’s amazing
love.
Connect with Sally:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SallyShupe1
Blog: http://sallyshupe.blogspot.com/
Email: sallyshupe1@gmail.com
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sallyshupe1/
Website: http://sallyshupeseditingservice.weebly.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-schreiner-shupe-8217a639?trk=hp-identity-name
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SallyShupe1
Blog: http://sallyshupe.blogspot.com/
Email: sallyshupe1@gmail.com
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/sallyshupe1/
Website: http://sallyshupeseditingservice.weebly.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sally-schreiner-shupe-8217a639?trk=hp-identity-name
