Remember Your Priorities

Last week, during the Catholic Writers Conference Online, I was reminded of something that I’m going to just go ahead and remind you of, too.

Because you know what? We all need to hear this.

Remember your priorities.

You are Catholic first, everything else second.

That means your big-V vocation–spouse, parent–comes before your little-v vocational pursuits or jobs–including your writing.

Blogging is something that’s easy to get into. But that doesn’t mean it’s right for you. It doesn’t mean you should blog.

When you’re not sure how you’re going to fit one more thing into your schedule, here’s my advice:

STOP. Pray. Listen.

I know, that’s so idealistic. You don’t have time to go to the bathroom unsupervised, and yet I’m challenging you to find somewhere quiet and turn up your ears? All you can hear is your own screaming. What the heck?

I was asked in two different chats, by at least four different people, how they should figure in blogging time.

“They,” after all, say that you should blog to build or grow your platform.

“They” say that blogging is a must.

But you know what? “They” are a bunch of idiots.

Do They have the same priorities you do? Are They called to the same Vocation and vocation as you? How are They even speaking to you?

Take what’s good and discern what’s not, and after you do, don’t look back when you leave it in the trash can.

Not everyone can blog, not everyone should blog, and hey! That’s OK!

We’re here to encourage each other, and I want to cheer in your corner.

Remember your priorities.

Frequent the sacraments, first and foremost, especially the Eucharist and Confession.

Spend time with Jesus BEFORE you spend time doing your work, whether it’s your primary vocation or your work pursuits.

Give it to him FIRST. Everyone else SECOND.

If you’re really stuck, take it to Adoration. Sit in the silence before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and lay your head in his lap. Let his mother stroke your temples and close your eyes.

This is where you belong. This is where you are headed. This is why you struggle through the day.

If blogging is something you are truly called to do, you will. You can.

It’s not easy to do God’s will, but it’s even harder when we’re deaf to what God’s trying to tell us.

Let’s pray for each other, shall we? It’s not an easy thing, being an artist. It’s not an easy call we’re heeding.

But easy isn’t what we’re after. Heaven is.

That rosary is one I got via Trendy Traditions.

Ask and it Will be Given to You

Here is the second installment in our Lenten journey. Today Karina Fabian shares her journey to becoming a writer for God. However don’t be put off by the writer part, because the devotion is chock full of ideas for life and not just for writers. As mentioned in the previous devotion feel free to share your stories here or on Karina’s website or any of the other blogs where you see. Our goal, God’s desire in putting this on the eight authors who will share the journey is that we all find a closer relationship with Him.

God Bless and Enjoy.

I’ll see you next week and may your Lenten journey be one filled with love and forgiveness from God.

Christina Weigand

 

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:6-8

1996.  I was married with two toddlers and had left the Air Force. We’d moved to Wyoming, where I had no job and one friend.  I tried the supermom thing, cleaning house to within an inch of its life.  It didn’t much help.  Despite being an introvert, I was getting cabin fever—and it wasn’t the house.  It was my life.

It came to a head when I was reading a novel by Harry Turtledove—not one of his better ones, and I actually yelled at the book and at him.  “I could have written this!” I snarled.  Then the thought hit me:  Maybe, but I hadn’t.  And I hadn’t really tried to write in years.

I’d always wanted to be a writer and had even written a novel in college.  The stress of the Air Force had made me forget my dream, but when I left, I didn’t do more than give it a nod with one short story.  So what right did I have yelling at a multi-published author who was also a college professor?

Lent was coming up, so I put down the book, apologized and prayed.  Lord, you know the dreams in my heart.  You know I love to write.  This Lent, I want to give that to You.  I will stop reading and start writing.  Please lead me in what to write.

By Easter, I was writing for the Wyoming diocese paper, plus several other smaller local magazines.  I expanded to national magazines, mostly parenting articles.  Rob and I developed a near-future universe where the solar system was colonized and a religious order did space search and rescue.  I had asked and God granted.

I’ve done a lot of different writing since then, from silly fantasies and science fiction to devotionals.  Sometimes, I get a wonderful surprise, like when I got to write Why God Matters with my father.  When I start to feel off track, or stuck in a situation, I will stop and knock, trusting God to open the door to lead me on.

Sometimes, the door He opens leads my back to myself.

—–

Have you ever had a case of lifestyle “cabin fever,” where you felt stuck in a situation that maybe was pleasant, but not fulfilling?  Are you experiencing one this year?  This year, give that to God, but offer him a “trade”: give up something but also take up something that might move you forward in your life.  Dedicate that to him and ask him to guide the use of that talent or activity.

Dear Father in Heaven, you promised that if we asked we would be given, and if we knock, the door will be opened.  Here I am, knocking.  I give you the dream of my heart; take it to unlock the door that guides me to following Your desires for me in my life.  In Your most holy name, Amen.

Karina Fabian is an author, wife, and mother of four currently living in Utah.  In 2010, she and her father wrote a short devotional, Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life.  This year, they invite people to share their Lent stories at http://whygodmatters.com

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