Joy

Oftentimes, when we hear of God’s wrath and judgement, we feel tempted to entertain images of an angry God. We think, “God loves us, but He mostly wants to punish us for our sins.” When we get this idea of God, we forget that God embodies happiness! God exemplifies joy and wants us to experience a joyful life.

At the birth of Jesus, the angel in Luke said, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!” (Luke 2:10-11) Jesus’ entrance into the world brought us news of great joy! The fact that we may be redeemed from our sins by simply believing in Christ remains good news indeed!

Now, one may ask, “God has everything, so what about us could possibly make Him happy?” The Bible actually tells us what makes God happy! Luke says, “I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance,” (Luke 15:7). When one of God’s lost people finally comes to Him, all of heaven overflows with joy. Imagine someone giving all of their pain to Jesus, and, at that same moment, a radiant smile spreading across God’s face.

Another passage that proves that God has a joyous nature resides in David’s Psalms. David says, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore,” Psalm (16:11). David describes God’s presence as overflowing with joy and that He extends pleasures from His hands. God wants us all to live a joy- and fun-filled life. He hands His people good and pleasurable things.

Lastly, when we encounter difficulties, James the disciple gives us an idea of how to react. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness,” (James 1:2). Now, when we come across difficulties and feel tempted to view Him as simply an angry God, we must remember to count it all joy. God does not mete out difficulties and trials to us. He gives us everlasting joy in order to deal with the hardships.

Dear reader, consider this list of just some of God’s marvelous creations, a list of a few of the pleasures in His right hand: sunsets, warmth, deep breaths, birdsong, all the shades of colors, textures, languages, soft breezes, the sound of running water, phases of the moon, every way to make a song, grass and leaves—and the list goes on.

It remains quite difficult to believe that an angry God created all of these and more.

Written by Gracie

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The Dreaded Term Paper

So your professor finally stuck it on the syllabus: the dreaded term paper. Eight whole pages you need to write on some topic you don’t care about, packed with fluff to make it long enough to reach the page requirement. You saw this day approaching, but you wouldn’t let yourself think about it. A more horrible thought never crossed a mind–but now, here it looms, in your face, because it’s due in seven days. What do you plan to do next? Must you bear to spend hours and hours researching and writing something that you couldn’t care less about?

1. Find a Way to Care About It

As you go through life, you might realize that you care about a lot more than you thought you did. While you may not take interest in the general topic of your paper, you might find that you appreciate an aspect of it. If you need to write a paper on an aspect of Lyndon B. Johnson’s life and leadership, maybe you feel concern for the way that LBJ treated women, so write about that. Your professor assigned a paper on physics? Perhaps you care about sports, so write about the physics involved in sports! Get creative within the bounds of your professor’s requirements and find a way to believe in the assignment. Your professor wants a creative and passionate paper from you; deliver one with this technique.

2. Set Up a Reward System

If you keep getting up from your computer when trying to write your paper, consider setting up a reward system to keep yourself on track. For example, you might eat a small snack for every quote you cite or give yourself a ten-minute break between every three sentences you write. Choose from endless rewards; as long as you give yourself something nice to look forward to while working and you stick to the plan, you will hold a finished paper in no time.

3. Give Yourself an Ultimatum

If all else fails and you keep finding yourself on your phone instead of in front of your blank document, consider giving yourself an ultimatum. Put away your biggest distraction until you complete your goal. For instance, turn off your Wi-Fi until you finish the paper, or lock your phone in a drawer until you fill a certain number of pages on your assignment, or write on a bench outside until your paper is done so you don’t feel tempted to sleep away your problems. While this technique prods the most painfully when you don’t feel like writing, if you draw a metaphorical line in the sand like this, it will eventually force you to write.

Writing a paper when you don’t feel like it hurts. At times it feels impossible, but with these techniques, it passes by with much more ease.

Your professors ask a lot of you, and though it may sometimes seem like you can’t make the cut or that you don’t want to even try, you will realize that doing your best entertains—or, at the very least, motivates—you.

Written by Jessica

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My Writing Process

I check the due date. Next week, I think. I should probably start this paper.

First thing’s first, I guess. I settle in front of my computer and just start from the beginning. I reach my thesis statement and pause to think. In my head, I go over the points I want to make in my essay and craft a thesis that hits all of them while also making grammatical sense. Then, the real work begins.

Writing an essay takes me anywhere from thirty minutes to a few days, depending on how long the professor wants it. If the assignment calls for anything between eight and ten pages, sometimes I like to start by writing an outline. Sometimes I keep the outline completely in my mind; other times, I write it out on a Word document and fill it in as I go. Does this shorten the time it takes to hit the required page count? Nope. Does it make me feel more productive? Absolutely.

I usually leave my works cited page until the very end because who doesn’t? Then, I’ll circle back around and write a title if I haven’t already. In fact, I write most of my essays with “TITLE” written in all caps, because I find the easiest way to think of a title is to write the entire paper first and then go from there. (I definitely have submitted essays with “TITLE” still written on them, but that’s neither here nor there.)

As far as creative writing goes, my process seems either organized and understandable, or so all-over-the-place that no one but I can understand it. It depends on how far long into the writing process I find myself. I spend quite a bit of time staring at a blank page, trying to think of what to write. Sometimes I take a sticky note and pose a question to myself, hoping that my subconscious will answer it for me; another author suggested this technique. I make a lot of lists as well: plot ideas, potential names, genres I might want to dive into. Once I (magically) settle on a plot, I’ll either feel so excited to work that I start right then, or I’ll take my time and outline by chapter. It’s not the best process, but it gets the job done.

How do YOU go about your writing process? What works for you? What doesn’t?

Everyone has his or her own way of producing great work. If you don’t think you have one, ponder this question instead: what can I do to help myself create better work? Remember, we do all things for the glory of God. Find a writing process that helps you achieve that!

Written by Caroline

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Writing Your Paper for God

If you’re a Christian student like me, you might have wondered at some point how writing a paper at 3 AM—back cramping, eyes sore—has anything to do with God. We so easily forget that our academic studies should worship God, and we forget this much more easily when we start writing papers. How do essays relate to God? Why does God care about that? These questions may seem too ambiguous to solve, but the Bible gives us the answers.

Why Does God Care About Your Academic Essay?

You might think He doesn’t, but God’s Word says otherwise. In Deuteronomy 6, God commands His people to remember His laws. In verses 8 and 9, He tells them to “[t]ie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (New International Version, Deut. 6:8-9). God wants His people to remember His commandments because He knows they will lead them to good things. He instructs them to remember His words by writing them down. Though getting a good grade may at first seem the highest priority of an academic paper, academic essays should focus on using knowledge to steer their audiences away from wrongness and towards righteousness. They follow that same basic function as God’s commands, and they use the very same form: the written word! God wants you to turn from evil and do good, and your essay can help you discover and remember the right thing.

God Writes, So You Should too!

Not only did God inspire His people to write down His commandments and His Word, but God also wrote with His own hand. The Bible shows us several examples of God writing. Exodus 31:18 tells us that the Ten Commandments originated on “tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God” (NIV). Daniel 5 tells the story of God sending a hand to write on the wall of King Belshazzar’s court as a condemnation and a warning. God wrote to convey the permanence of His laws to the Jews in Exodus and the Babylonians in Daniel; He understands the necessity of writing! God is the Author of the universe who writes with His own hand, so we should have the courage to write as well.

Just Like Everything Else, Writing Can Glorify God!

Like any other basic action, writing can glorify the writer or it can glorify the Creator. In 1 Corinthians 10:31, God commands us to do everything for His glory; this includes writing. How does one do something for God’s glory? One must simply complete the action to the best of one’s ability. So when debating whether to finish your essay at 10 PM or watch another few episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and finish it just before class in the morning, remember that completing your assignment to the best of your ability glorifies God. Just learn what your best looks like and do that!

God Wants the Best for You.

Ultimately, essays hold weight in your education. God wants each individual to become the person He intends them to be, and oftentimes one needs education to continue that process. Essays instill in us the knowledge we learn and create applicable conclusions about it; they help us grow in knowledge, in goodness, and in wisdom, all of which glorify God as His kingdom of high priests. Essays help us synthesize our knowledge and utilize it, and Christian students should aim at utilizing it for the furtherment of God’s kingdom.

Written by Jessica

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Why I Write: Searching for Understanding

In a matter of seconds, after turning in a paper, my emotions swelled. Would my teacher like my writing? Would she be inspired? Would she think I am a fool? My education, like many children’s, included a plethora of written assignments. Persuasive essays, analyses, reflections, you name it. I enjoyed a classical style of instruction when it came to English. From the start of my education, I learned the basic principles of structuring a sound paper. However, I sorely lacked proficiency in one thing: grammar. Though I absorbed my fair share of grammar, the concepts flew over my head and my ability to mentally snapshot patterns from what I read helped me excel in writing without properly understanding the grammatical mechanisms themselves. I loved (and still love) reading and enjoyed the captivating stories I devoured while learning about myself and others. Despite harboring a passion for writing – finding inspiration from my narrative excursions – I fell short in its execution. However, my higher education presented the perfect space for me to pursue that passion and wield it properly.

In college, I am finally taking hold of the concepts notoriously described with fancy academic vernacular; funnily enough, learning languages helped in that endeavor tremendously, from Latin to Spanish. Often, native speakers of a language rely on feelings rather than grammatical principles when writing. Writers read a passage out loud to help distinguish their errors because they possess an intuitiveness for the language. When one learns a language, he or she depends on acquired grammatical structures to determine the correctness of a passage. So, it made sense that my grammatical knowledge leaned on intuitiveness rather than theoretical understanding. Every speaker holds a kinship to his or her native language and for me, writing helps me feel understood. Those who choose to read my work catch a glimpse of my mind. Most of the time, people walk and talk without hours of thought backing every single sentence they speak. Though I often prepare my thoughts before speaking, the practice of writing gleans from a much more intimate and involved form of introspection. Thus, writing holds a magnitude that conversation does not. I peer inside myself and feel the pull to determine how that information potentially relates and transposes to an audience. Writing becomes a reclamation of power because I set forth my own perspective; I make my case. For this reason, writing well brings a sense of importance and validity to that power. I feel accomplished with every sound sentence and flawless transition. Writers experience a sense of attachment and anxiety over their work, as that paper, article, or dissertation, represents an intimate part of themselves. This attachment should serve as motivation to grow as a writer; to expound upon the wonderful ideas swirling amid the writer’s mind. While my grammatical endeavors do not manifest perfectly, I enjoy learning how to better communicate in both speech and written word. The flick of each concise phrase illuminates my love for the craft, while every completed work pushes me further down this brilliant road of learning. I fondly address my newfound keen attention for grammatical detail as an English revolution of sorts. The war for laziness still seethes within me, but the liberation for this grammatical crusade burns stronger. I digress; splendid writing feels like ice-cold water breaking a sweltering summer heat.

Writing offers a unique angle for understanding. Strong communication exists to distinctly divulge the complex thoughts and ideas of the author.

Thus, writing exists to aid in better understanding one another. I aspire to share my love and knowledge for writing so that others may feel the satisfaction which comes from diligent and clear communication.

Amidst the all-too-common linguistic pandemonium surrounding us, I enjoy the simple pleasures good writing provides. Whether fiction or nonfiction, my love for learning leans on the accurate path of a pen.

Written by: Kayla

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