Thousand Words

Several years ago, I heard author, actor, artist McNair Wilson say “Put something into the world everyday that wasn’t there before.”

That simple piece of advice has made a difference in my life by helping me make sure I put aside time to be creative. Some days can be one long string of doing endless repetitive things like loading the dishwasher or folding towels, and even the time I spend at the computer, which should be creative time, can turn into checking email and balancing the checkbook. I set a goal to write a thousand words a day—a thousand words that weren’t in the world yesterday—a thousand words that can add up over time to be a screenplay or a novel. So, in the last five years, I’ve written three novels, four screenplays, several songs and I don’t know how many articles and devotions all by remembering McNair’s advice. He even helped me find I could be a watercolorist again.

Before I go to sleep at night, I think about what I’ve put into the world that day. It may not have been much. I might think my work less than the best, and no one but God and me may have known what I even attempted. But I used the gifts and talents God has given me. I remember the words of Paul from Colossian 3, “Whatsoever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus…” So, before I let my thousand words go, I make sure I put them in God’s hands. Who knows the thousand ways he might possibly use them?