I love blank paper. Every time I’m at Target I go down the office supply aisle and peruse the spiral notebooks and journals, sometimes buying, but always looking. I think it started when I was a little girl and I got a brand new Big Chief tablet at the beginning of a new school year.

Fresh.

Crisp.

Full of possibilities.

Every year, during this week between Christmas and New Year’s, I feel an excitement building up in my gut. The fresh new page laying out before me, filled with the same possibilities as that blank Big Chief tablet, just waiting for the words of my hand, and His. What will they say? How will they look?

Only He knows, and really, at the end of the day, that’s okay with me. Although there are certainly times when I’d like answers written in Sharpie, rather than #2 pencil, I don’t want to know everything that’s ahead. I walk ahead freely, and without fear, because I have 50 years of tablets filled with the assurance that He’s been right there with me, even when the words are ones that I didn’t really choose for myself.

Especially then.

If you’re moving ahead with some trepidation, I suggest you take a look back through this year’s tablet before you put it on the shelf. My guess is that, if you do, you’ll see the beautiful Hand of God woven through each line and between each word. Things may not have gone as you planned, or as you would’ve chosen for yourself, but you’ll see He was always there in every space, comma and period. I promise it will give you new confidence to open your Big Chief for ’14 with the Big Chief, Himself.

Write with no fear, and thrill at the possibilities.

“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 ESV

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28 ESV

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV