As one who loves to write and aims to serve God, I resolve this year to do the following:

1. Soak
Every day, before I lift my fingers to the keyboard, I will immerse myself in God’s Word. I will use that time to praise Him, ask questions, and center myself in truth so it can flow through me to my readers.

2. Learn
I want to grow in my craft, so I will educate myself by reading one book on writing every month. My list this year includes:

       Stein on Writing—Sol Stein
       Techniques of the Selling Writer—Dwight Swain
       Page after Page—Heather Sellers

3. Live
As Henry David Thoreau said, “How vain it is to sit down to write, when we have not stood up to live.” I need to have something to say when I sit down to write. I will listen to my children and spend time with the elderly. I will love people. I will stare at trees and think great thoughts of the One who made them. As Sir John Lubbock, another wise thinker, said, "Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." Writing sabbaticals are collection periods. I won’t stay away too long, but I won’t allow guilt to consume me if I spend my children’s school vacations taking them to the mall or a movie instead of locking myself in my office.

4. Stumble
This helps me minister and gives God glory. Now, I won’t purposely set out to make mistakes, but when I do—and I will—I won’t crawl in a corner to inspect my wounds. Instead, I’ll watch the tender way God deals with me and I’ll share that with my readers.

5. Eavesdrop
Once a week this year, I will buy myself a tall, nonfat latte and sink into one of the upholstered chairs in a corner of Starbucks, grab my pen and spiral notebook, and listen in on people’s conversations. This will hone my sense of observation and give me fodder for character studies. And because it's the right thing to do, I will pray for those I'm stealing from.

6. Bless
I will use my gift without expectation of pay--whether that’s helping a new writer, contributing to a ministry publication or teaching a class. I will tithe of my gift.

7. Walk
Walking accomplishes two things: it releases endorphins, which elevates mood, and it busies the left brain with all that mechanical motion so the right brain is freed up to churn out creative thoughts. According to Raymond Inmon, “Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.”

8. Reveal
I vow this year to make myself vulnerable to my reader and write only true words. There will always be safer, less incriminating options tugging at my fingers—but I will resist. If I want my words to cut to the heart of my reader and leave change in their wake, I won't settle. I’ll swallow hard, corral my fingers, and force gritty, edgy, startling, honest words to the page. And I’ll leave the results to God.

9. Anticipate
This year, I’ll be on the hunt for God. In every conversation, every still moment, every chance encounter, I’ll listen for His voice. I will wake each day with expectation, knowing that the God who is real desires to reveal Himself to me.

10. Thank
I will see the gift of writing as just that—a gift. I vow to thank the Giver every day for allowing me to help build His kingdom, encourage His people, exhort the stragglers, beckon the lost, and lift His name to whoever will read my words.