Tag: growth

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Learning From Rejections

One of the best rejections I’ve ever received is, “You’re piece made it to the penultimate round. Unfortunately, we will not be publishing it.”

Sadly, not all rejections offer a touch of encouragement, but I believe we can learn from them anyway. For instance, rejections teach us the humility to lean into our critique groupers’ suggestions, rewriting a rejected piece provides a lesson in perseverance, and praying for our writing helps us to rely on God’s plan.

For each lesson learned, we can lean into God’s plan with an attitude that marks us as writers who follow God. Yes, when someone declines our precious words, we feel the sting. Nevertheless, every turned-down piece helps us to grow both as writers and as God’s people.

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Walking in Obedience

The Old Town of Zurich along the river
Exodus 23:20 (ESV)—“Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.”

Stepping out of the bustling mall in the Zürich Hauptbahnhof, I clutched my guide book, finger marking the page for the start of a self-guided tour. Chock-full of information, the book led me through the Altstadt (Old Town), into churches whose decor left me in awe, through courtyards surrounded by charming buildings, to the shore of Lake Zürich. The book laid out a history of the area, a step-by-step path for me to walk in the present.

At Mount Sinai, God prepared a path for the people of Israel to follow in the present. He gave them not only the Ten Commandments but also rules for righteous living.

In return for their obedience, he promised to send an angel to protect them and bring them to the place he had prepared for them. He’d drive away their enemies and grow their population, one step at a time to protect the land from desolation and wild animals.

Like Israel’s path, our path comes from God if we choose to walk in obedience. God will help us to grow, one step at a time, on our path for today, our path for tomorrow, our path leading to our place in heaven.