When a friend sent her latest book to press, I replied, “Congrats! Do you usually reward yourself, or is sending it off reward enough?”
“Rewards are fun!” she said — it might be an afternoon movie, going on a trip, or in her case this time, even downloading a copy of my Sacred Pauses: Spiritual Practices for Personal Renewal. Thank you, my friend–I appreciate your support 🙂
Yesterday I was able to complete and send off my sermon series for CSS Publishing (yay!), so now it’s my turn for a reward. Regular followers of this blog may remember that we came up with the title here as Ordinary Time with Jesus. As I’ve worked on the sermons for the few months since then, I still think it’s a great series title, and it helped me focus my writing too.
Each sermon is based on a gospel text for “Ordinary Time” leading up to the Advent/Christmas season 2015 (yes, this project does have a long lead time!). And each relates to “ordinary” everyday life with titles like Jesus’ No-Nonsense Guide to Getting Rich, Jesus’ No-Nonsense Guide to Success, Jesus: the Original Superhero?
As for reward, well yesterday it seemed like reward enough just to finish my manuscript and send it off, plus we had Vietnamese salad rolls for a celebratory supper afterward. But today, hmmm, I think I’m looking for something more. . . .
Writing/Reflection Prompt: Do you reward yourself when you’ve successfully reached a deadline? Or is finishing reward enough?
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April Yamasaki 
Sometimes the accomplishment is the satisfaction of finishing. Other times when I’m exhausted from the time and energy involved it requires a reward, even if small! One of those rewards are friends or family members who celebrate with me. Congrats!
Yes, besides the satisfaction of finishing, small rewards are a bonus–like you, I enjoy time to celebrate with friends or family members, plus this time I also treated myself to an ice cream sandwich which was a real treat in the hot summer weather we’ve been having 🙂
Finishing an article is usually more of a relief than a reward for me! The reward comes later when (if) readers engage me about the article. It is satisfying to feel that the hard work that goes into writing is appreciated and might even be important to someone else. Thank you April, for engaging those of us who write for and about the church!
You’re welcome, Donita. We may not ever hear how a piece of writing might impact someone, yet I am convinced that God uses it and us even when we’re not aware of it. In that way, I understand writing as an act of faith, and pray for God’s continued leading. – April