What’s in the Cards for You in 2021?

To win at ’21, I’ve asked the Dealer to hit me with 3 new cards

Welcome to 2021, dear reader. I’m approaching 2021 as I would the card game: Twenty One. God is my dealer, and I’m asking Him to “hit me” with additional cards to give me a winning hand. Maybe you want to play too?

The goal of “Twenty One” is to get as many cards in your hand as you need to near or hit 21 points. (In a regular 52-card deck, numbered cards equal their number; jacks, queens, and kings are worth 10 points; aces can be counted as 1 or 11, whichever the player decides.)

A player wins if the hand totals or comes closest to 21 without exceeding it or being beaten by the dealer.

I’ve asked God to hit me with three cards to make 2021 a winning hand. Namely, I have three writing goals for the year: write a book, blog weekly, and engage readers on social media more effectively.

For years I have declared that I want to write a book that will change the world. This is the year I move from “I want” to “I will write a book.” I think that is what God is calling me to do.

I love blogging so I can “converse” with you about the lessons God is teaching me — or to share something funny (because I like to laugh). I want to blog more consistently, and I’m fairly certain the road to writing a book — while maintaining my day job and all the “cards” I’ve got already — will be filled with shareable moments.

Social media — a fabulous tool for marketing and communications (my day job) — isn’t my forte personally. I’ve asked the Dealer for that card, too, so I can have actual conversations with my readers — in the comments here or on the platforms I use. (I hope to get those going soon and will let you know!)

Toward those goals, I’ve joined a group of female writers of faith in the FlourishWriters Academy. It’s a yearlong adventure filled with workshops, coaching, and mentorship from writers who have already written and published. I think it will provide the encouragement and direction I need in my writing.

Now to put the plan into action

What’s that you asked?

What book am I going to write?

That’s the question I’m asking too.

The good news is that writers such as Stephen King indicate that they don’t know what they’re going to write, either. (I just finished reading King’s advice for writers, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. So good!) Some great writers begin with a situation or scenario and wonder how someone might get out of it, discovering the story, recording it as they go. The characters tell them what to write, authors say. The story somehow coincides with what a writer knows and loves.

(I am still waiting for a character to tell me what to write.)

It strikes me that I could plagiarize the life story God is writing for me. It’s what I know and love. (Well, mostly. Living it wasn’t always the dream.)

As I’ve sat in a chair and tapped my meandering thoughts on my keyboard, aiming for 1,000 words each day, the only sentence I’ve written that seems remotely inspirational is this: “Write this on their hearts.”

That’s the goal, certainly. I don’t think a book could change the world otherwise. As I explored that thought, I found this verse in the second letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers:

“Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This ‘letter’ is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.”

2 Corinthians 3:3, NLT

May God so use the words I write this year. To imprint hearts with the love of God and the word of my testimony — whatever story He tells me to write.

I’d appreciate your prayers — and your faithful readership — as I tap the keys this year to write a book, continue with this blog, and engage my readers on social media.

In the game Twenty One, players start with two cards and can request more. They want to get cards to total close to or equal to 21 points — without going over. Exceed 21 points and they go “bust.” They can lose by requesting too few or too many cards.

I hope the 3 cards I’ve requested will equal God’s calling for my life in 2021. Actually, I hope God will make me equal to whatever cards He deals me this year. I hope the same for you.

Will you play Twenty One too? Let me know in the comments.

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