#376: Publish with a Purpose: Rest Then Rise

Welcome to Kingdom Writers, where we help equip and empower Christian writers of all genres to share your unique gifts with the world. We're your hosts, C.J. and Shelley Hitz.

This podcast is filled with spiritual encouragement as well as prayers to help you overcome the resistance you face as a writer. Your story matters.

In this episode of the Kingdom Writers Podcast, we are going to talk about resting and then rising as writers. We often have seasons. My name is Shelly Hitz, one of your hosts here at the Kingdom Writers Podcast. And I have seen these seasons in my life over the last few few years. I've had seasons of acceleration where there's just a lot of stuff that God is doing, a lot that is going on. And then I have had seasons of obscurity or you know, the behind the scenes preparation. You're still working, you're still doing things, building, you know, writing your book, whatever it is that you're doing, the preparation, but it's more behind the scenes and that season of obscure purity. But whether you've been in a season of preparation and more behind the scenes or a season of acceleration, sometimes you just need some time to rest. Can I get an amen?

And I have learned this the hard way. I have said this many times. So if you've been following us for any amount of time, you know that I am a redeemed workaholic. And God really began to move and bring breakthrough in my life regarding taking time off and learning to rest. In 2017, it was like I hit a wall and I just couldn't keep going at the pace that I had been going. I had resigned and quit my job as a physical therapist in 2011 and by 2017 had been six years full time in our business. And those first few years of a business, it's, it's challenging if you have been there, you know, I mean, a lot of businesses do not survive past that three to five year mark. And so at that six year mark, we were still going, but I was tired and I think my brain and my nervous system and everything just needed a break. And so the Lord gave me just grace, you know, and teaching me how to really take time off. And now I am so much better at having a Sabbath. You know, before I would have said I was practicing the Sabbath, but I really wasn't because I was still checking into social media, I was still checking my email and all of those things. It's still, you know, it was still work, it was still calling causing my brain to, to work and, and, and you know, get me into these cycles of like thinking about, oh yeah, what am I going to do about this or that and instead of really resting. So I encourage you, if you can, to really set aside one day where you're choosing to disconnect from the world and connect with Christ, connect with God and make that your Sabbath. For me, it is on Sundays. We, we actually attend church right now. We, we attend a church that is on Friday nights. So Sundays can be a complete Sabbath for me, which is glorious. I just love it and I need it because I do work with all of my heart and I, I do a lot of deep work and a lot of work that requires a lot of my brain cells, right. And I need that time off. But one thing that I've heard several times in our private group for Christian Book Academy is when people are stressed out or overwhelmed or just at a place of wanting to quit is to consider taking time away from screens. And several of our members and mentors have actually mentioned this in response to someone who's saying, man, has anyone ever felt this way or what have you done in this place or in this time? And so that is something that you can consider is taking some time away from screens. A lot of times they'll call this a technology detox. I usually try on my Sabbaths to do this. I'm not 100%, you know, I don't do this 100% well, but it really does help having just even your eye strain, you know, like all the things with the technology and how changes your brain. It' nice to have that margin. But I also try to take one week, so seven days a year where I'm completely off. Now I do have a team that can help me, but if not, you can set up an autoresponder on your emails, you can set things up and let people know on social media that you're going to be offline for a week or whatever it is. And so there are things you can do. I, I, I will tell you, when I took my first time away, it was seven days completely offline, no email, no social media. It was in 2017 and that's the summer. And I honestly didn't think the world could continue without me.

Oh, that's pride, right? That's ego. I thought our business is gonna fall apart, like it's just not going to be able to function without me. And guess what? Everyone was so accommodating. I let our Christian Book Academy members know I was taking that time off and they were so gracious and supportive and our team covered for me. And I had my assistant contact CJ if there was anything that was an emergency, and then he could come and, you know, let me know and if I needed to take care of it, or I could tell him what to tell her. And there was one thing in that whole seven days that she had, you know, to. To loop me in on. But it all worked out, and it was so good. Like, I had this spaciousness. I felt like I had an increase in my creativity. And I felt like I could finally, like, really hear God's voice more clearly because I took that time away. So I really encourage you. There are going to be, like I said, point number one, there are seasons. And in those seasons, you may be in a season of acceleration, where there's just a lot of stuff going on, or a season of preparation, maybe a season of obscurity, where you're behind the scenes and just working on those things. Then number two, make sure to take time to rest. After you rest, Kingdom writer, do not get stuck there. Because how many of you have felt that feeling, like when you've been on vacation, and then there's a feeling of dread coming back to work. The enemy wants to keep you from your calling. All right, let that sink in a little bit. The enemy, the devil, he prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. It says that in First Peter five. Right. And your enemy does not want you to continue in your calling of writing, publishing and marketing, yearbook. And so don't get stuck in the rest. You know, it's good to take that time off. We need it. Our brains need. Our nervous system needs it. Our body physically needs it. But once you've rested, make sure to rise and rise with the Lord and in his strength so that you can continue doing the things that God is leading you to do. We talk a lot about business meetings with God and meeting with him and. And allowing him to lead and guide you every step of the way. Yes. Even in your writing, publishing, and marketing. He wants to lead you in everything, and he wants to be part of what you're doing. And so rise. Rise, my friends. And this whole. This whole concept of rest, then rise comes from my friend Kara Osborne. I've heard her say it, but I love it. It's an alliteration, so it kind of sticks in your brain. Right. But it also. I have just seen it over and over again in my own life. It is. It is not only a essential to rest, but it's also essential to rise. Some of you have Been in a rest season for too long. You, you, you're just, you haven't been writing, you haven't been marketing, you haven't been doing all the things, and you don't need to do all the things. Hear me. But there, there, there may be some things that God's like, all right, it's time. It's time to rise. It's time to start taking these actions and start with 15 minutes. We have a 15 minute challenge every month in Christian Book Academy where we encourage you to do a 15 minute task once a day, Monday through Friday. It is amazing what our members accomplish in that part of. It's the accountability, the community, you know, the, the tribe effect. Everyone's doing it together. But what if you just took 15 minutes today to rise into the calling that God has for you? Now, if, if you're in the other camp where you have been doing all the things there, it may be that you need to rest so you know where you're at. And if you don't pray and ask the Lord, say, where am I at? What do I need to do today? And let me pray for you. So, Lord, we just pray for every Kingdom writer listening right now. I pray that you would just pour out your blessings over their lives, Lord. I pray that you would make it very clear to them. Is this a season where they need to incorporate more rest, maybe some Sabbaths or time away from screens, whatever it is for them? Or is it a season where they need to rise, where they've been stuck or paralyzed or afraid to move forward? And Lord, you're right here with your hand outstretched, saying, here, son, daughter, hold my hand and I'm going to help you take that next step. So wherever they're at, Lord, show them clearly and then help them to take that next step with you. We just thank you that no matter where we're at, that you are with us. Psalm 23 says, we don't have to fear evil because you are with us. We don't have to fear anything that comes into our life because we have a connection with you. You are here. You are with us right now. And if that helps, Kingdom writer, I just encourage you to put your hand on your chest, take a deep breath in and breathe out through your mouth. Even make a noise as you breathe. Do that a few times.

And just ask the presence of God to fill you right now. Just know that he is with you. He is with you and he will help you every step of the way. So, Lord, we thank you for this and we pray this in Jesus powerful name. Amen. Amen. Friends, thank you so much for joining me for this episode and I will talk to you next time. Bye bye. Would you like more? If you are enjoying this podcast but want more, I have something exciting to share with you. We have released what's called a private podcast podcast. So a private podcast you will not find by searching an apple. You have to know specifically how to subscribe to it. It's more private and exclusive and it just can be more relaxed behind the scenes. And my new private podcast is called Hits Blitz and it's wisdom for writers that you're going to learn from my 18 plus years of experience in publishing and online marketing so so that you can move forward in God's call to write. I am best known for injecting energy and enthusiasm into everything I do and inspiring those around me to take action. So I encourage you to listen in to this exclusive private podcast. It is free, 100% free. You don't have to pay for it and be prepared to be inspired by my next hits bullets. So you can sign up@trainingauthors.com hits blitz and if you have any other writing friends that you think could benefit from it, definitely share it with them. They can go to the Same link training authors.com forward/hits blitz to get access. Again, this is a private podcast so you cannot get access to it any other way. It's completely free. All you have to do is sign up and then you'll get all the information on how to add it to your podcast player of choice. So I can't wait for you to join me over there. I share a lot of things behind the scenes and more content just in a real time basis. So it's more like chatting with a friend or following someone on stories on social media. Except you don't have to get caught up in any of the algorithms. You'll just have this in your podcast player and be able to listen in wherever you're at, whatever you're doing. Some of the listeners told me this week that they were listening while we waiting in the Target parking lot while brushing their teeth. You can fit this into the pockets of time that you have, so I hope you'll join me. Come over to trainingauthors.com hitsblitz.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Kingdom Writers. We believe that you, as a Christian writer, have a specific role to play in the Kingdom of Heaven to impact lives for eternity.

And because of this, we choose to pour out our lives into encouraging writers like you to not only tell your stories, but to take the courageous step of self publishing your stories in books that will outlive you and leave behind a powerful legacy. This podcast is sponsored by Christian Book Academy where we help you give breath birth to your books. We invite you to join our community of Kingdom Writers.