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"Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth.”

‭Hosea 6:3 (ESV)

𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨

19 Things I've Learned at (Nearly) 19

1. Seasons often don’t last as long as you expect them to. It’s easy to enter a season expecting it to last for a certain amount of time, only to find that it ends much sooner than you thought. Don’t let it fly by without capturing the things God wants you to learn. Life is a rollercoaster; you’ve got to learn to ride the highs and lows for however long they last.
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2. God is always leading and guiding you, often in unseen ways. If there’s one common thread I’ve noticed in my life, it’s this: God’s often unseen but always present leading.
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3. Others’ support provides room to grow. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the support of my parents, who have always shown an interest in whatever I’ve thrown myself into and done their best to give me room to explore and discover the giftings God has entrusted to me.
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4. Give something a chance, and you might like it. You don’t know what will stick. I’m grateful for my parents’ patience with me, as in my younger years I showed an interest in all kinds of things, from horses and dogs to weaving and basket making and many things in between. Most of those interests were short-lived, but a few have remained, and some of them planted seeds that have blossomed into true passions.
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5. Childhood convictions carry through all your days. Many of my most deeply held convictions—qualities such as contentment, willingness to work with what I have, and confidence in whom God has made me to be—have roots in the values instilled in me during my childhood.
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6. The sweetest joys are found in the simplest things. This was something I learned well in my childhood, and it’s carried over to this day.
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7. Church is bigger than a building. Once again, I have my parents to thank for teaching me this, as a major defining factor of my childhood years was the time we spent outside of the institutionalized church (but that’s a story for another day).
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8. You don’t have to go with the flow. The crowd isn’t always right. My family has always been willing to hold unpopular opinions on certain things, and I’ve learned that being different is okay. Just because most people think something is so doesn’t mean it is.
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9. Small beginnings can lead to great things. My writing journey is a good example of this. Some of you know that I started writing regularly at the age of nine, when I started a little paper devoted to dogs (my main interest at the time). Over the years, that grew and developed, and gradually I discovered that dogs were no longer my main passion: writing was. I haven’t stopped writing since.
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10. Diversity does not negate unity. This was one of the main lessons I took away from a time in my life I call the “freedom season,” during which I came to see some unbiblical ideas that had crept into my thinking regarding other believers who weren’t like me. Unity in the church has since become one of my strongest passions.
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11. Listening and learning is a form of loving. A great way to love someone is by listening to them with the intent of learning more of who they are and what matters most to them.
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12. Stories hold the key to people’s hearts. Whether true or fictional or somewhere in between, stories provide a connecting point and a bridge to others’ hearts. As a reader, writer, and friend, I’ve witnessed stories’ power to impact others many times.
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13. Faith is both timeless and timely. During a season of my life where a lot of changes were taking place during a short amount of time, I clung to this truth: God’s faithfulness is an anchor for my faith. He’s the only one who will never change no matter what.
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14. Faithfulness is the highest form of success. In a world that’s focused on the kind of success you can measure in numbers, it’s easy to forget that God calls us to faithfulness, whether we serve many or few. It’s freeing to remember that God doesn’t measure results the same way I’m tempted to; He’s focused on the work happening in my heart.
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15. Sometimes your dreams come true in ways you never thought they would. One of my childhood fancies was to publish a book by the age of sixteen (never mind that I had no idea how that would take place). That didn’t exactly happen, but I was published for the first time in print right around my sixteenth birthday. I had no idea what a literary journal was before I was published in one, so this was something I would never have imagined.
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16. Relationships matter. Lately I’ve been learning and growing a lot in the area of relationships. I’m finding that others help you grow at a far more rapid rate than you would grow on your own. I’m also seeing how others influence you in more ways than you realize.
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17. Learn to love people uniquely. Choosing to love someone is one of the most creative things you’ll choose to do, because each person needs to be loved in different ways. I’m learning not to underestimate the impact you can have on others (both positive and negative). Encouragement is powerful, and many hearts are starving for it, so be sure to give it whenever you can.
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18. Being able to joyfully adjust to last-minute change is a valuable skill. I’m still learning this. I like to have everything go according to the plan (preferably mine), and when something changes (as it often does), it can be hard to adjust. It’s helpful to be able to adjust without complaining or wishing for how I imagined things would go.
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    “You can think and plan and think some more, but none of that is half as important as doing something. . . . Sometimes you start with nothing and hope it all works out. Not sometimes—every time. All you really have is your willingness to fail, coupled with the mountain of evidence that the Maker has never left nor forsaken you.” — Andrew Peterson
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19. You never know where saying yes will lead. Don’t be afraid to jump in—sometimes you have to start before you feel ready. I’ve lost track of all the new things I’ve said yes to over the past year or so. All kinds of exciting opportunities have opened up, including things I wouldn’t have seen myself doing that have proven to suit me better than I would have thought and things I didn’t feel quite ready for that I’m slowly growing into. If you wait until you feel totally ready to do something, chances are you’ll never take the first step. But that’s not how God calls us to live. Trust Him to lead you as you step forward in faith. He’s already prepared you in more ways than you know.

𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴

In my November newsletter, I mentioned that I had landed a position at Skillful Pen Press, an indie Christian publishing company. Well, there were some changes in staff recently, and I was promoted to managing editor! I'm excited about this opportunity to get experience doing something I've been interested in for a while. I'll be getting started working on my first project with them soon, as we opened submissions for a poetry anthology earlier this month. If you're a young writer who's interested in submitting (or if you know someone who might be interested), you can find more information about that here.

Speaking of Skillful Pen Press, in my most recent newsletter I mentioned that my devotional piece "What Love Looks Like" was published in our most recent anthology, Tell Your Heart to Beat Again. It turns out that there was an error in the first printing, and my piece wasn't included. The error has since been corrected, but I wanted to let you know in case some of you had preordered copies. (If you preordered a copy using the link I included in that email, please let me know so I can send you a digital copy of my piece.)

And speaking of newsletters, I want to remind you that this newsletter is still in the baby stages, as I'm continuing to experiment with what is most interesting and helpful for readers. So if you notice any features being changed, added, or deleted, that's why. Thanks for your patience while we undergo construction. :)

𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴

One of my favorite stories I've ever written, "Cast Your Bread Upon the Waters," was recently published on a fellow young writer's blog. This story is special to me because it captures the external obstacles and inner struggles artists face as they choose to create. If your heart is weary from the fight and you're looking for encouragement to keep pressing on, then this story is for you.

You may have noticed the first ever guest post on The Grace Space a little while back. (If you missed Olivia Tracey's post, "The Power of a Kind Word," be sure to check it out!) What I didn't mention was that we did a post swap, which means that I also wrote a guest post for her blog. You can find that here: "The Path to Happiness."

I have a guest post swap planned with another writer friend near the end of March, so be sure to keep an eye out for that.

𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶

Some of you mentioned that you enjoyed the encouragement playlist I posted on the blog, so I decided to go back and make a similar playlist for the post "10 Songs to Encourage You While You're Waiting on God," which includes all the songs from that post plus five others. You can find it below:

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What was your favorite of the 19 things I listed? Don't be shy to hit reply and let me know—I'd love to hear from you.