The writer opens her journal. It’s new, brand new, and hand-crafted of real leather with her name stamped on the cover. It was a gift for her birthday. The cream-colored pages stare back at her, blinking with anticipation and waiting for her words. She hesitates and then trades pen for pencil. The first page of a new journal intimidates, so perhaps the freedom to erase will ease out the sentences.
But, NO, thinks the writer. There is nothing new under the sun. My words are nothing; they are foolish, even with an eraser at hand.
She looks at the well-made journal. It won’t stay new if I write in it, she thinks. And then she all-of-a-sudden knows a NEW to write about; one that’s ever-lasting and isn’t defined by the world that spins under the rays of the sun.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV). After she puts that down on the page, more words spill out about Christ and how His heart is kind and gentle toward her, and towards anyone who will come to Him. She fills the page and turns to another.
Writing Prompt: I heard it said a nice-looking journal inspires a writer. But in the above story, writer’s block comes at the thought of actually beginning. Pretend you are starting a first page of a new writing endeavor. What could you write? Make it like a journal entry and talk about something you consider meaningful.
The journal in above photo was hand-crafted by OLPR Leather Goods Co. in Mooresville, NC.