Now that I have had a chance to catch my breath from being in a somewhat disciplined frenzy last month, I’ve had some time to digest so much that I got from that experience. I learned so much from participating. I have to say that jumping into the experience must be much like diving off the high dive; which I have never done before. I had a lot of people supporting and encouraging me. At the beginning of November, I was determined to see it through and make it through with at least 50,000 words by the end. There were a few times that I literally had to take a deep breath and “just keep swimming,” as Dory from the movie, “Finding Nemo” would say. There were several people telling me just that in different words. I did better when I managed to get a day and a half ahead of the daily quota. There was less internal pressure, and that really made a difference with me.

I learned some things about myself last month. One of those things was that I am capable of more than I thought. So what that means to me is that I should hold myself to a higher standard of accomplishment. It has taken me years to write a lot on two other books I’ve written. One is a finished rough draft manuscript, and the other is almost finished, both of which are inspirational non-fiction. This leads me to another thing I learned about myself. I can write an inspirational fiction novel. That’s one of those things that I have always said that I could not see myself capable of doing. God has taught me this lesson several times; you know the one. It’s the lesson that, “I can do all things through Christ, Who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13.” It seems every time I say that, God sets out to show me that I can. I’m consciously trying not to say that anymore.

One of the things I was told about succeeding by the end of the month,  was that I could look back and see that although it was tough at times, it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. That one turned out to be true, too. I know that if it’s God’s plan, I will do this again next year. I have a sequel to this novel already in mind, and some of the research already done through genealogy research. I’m praying about that one, and if God says He wants me to do it, I will be ready come next November. I have plenty to work on in the meantime with working on polishing the novel I just wrote.

According to the National Novel Writing Month guidelines, I’m not supposed to work anymore on the rough draft of this one until January. That’s fine with me to be able to take December off and enjoy Christmas with family and friends. Mostly I like to take December and concentrate on the reason I celebrate Christmas. That reason is that Jesus came here as God’s only begotten Son, born of a virgin, lived His life to show us the way, and died with my sin crucified with Him. Then Jesus conquered death by rising again, making it possible for me to go to live with Him in Heaven one day. After December, I will be ready to go back to work in earnest, while keeping Jesus at the forefront of my writing. He is Who I live for, and He is Who I write for ultimately. If God is satisfied with what I do, then I am, too.

Have a very blessed week, everyone.