“Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Abraham Lincoln

I couldn’t help but laugh at this quote from President Lincoln. It popped up on my screen just moments after I decided my 100-day plan was to blog for 100 days. My decision is a spin-off from actor and filmmaker Kirk Cameron’s American Campfire Revival. He shows up nightly for about 20 to 30 minutes on Facebook Live to an audience of more than 20,000 of us. 

Instead of waiting for, celebrating, or fretting about what may or may not happen at the White House, Cameron decided to formulate his own 100-day plan – a tradition by presidents since Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. According to History.com in the article “Fast Facts on the ‘First 100 Days,’” President Roosevelt was the first president noticed for his swift action to right our country’s wrongs from the moment he took over the office, thus setting into motion the expectation of future presidents to also have 100-day plans.  

Cameron challenged each of us to come up with our own plan according to how we think God wants to use us to right our own wrongs. To right our family’s wrongs. To right our nation’s wrongs. It’s taken me 25 days to commit to my plan, and I’m still not sure how writing daily is going to right anything.

However, since January, the word “discipline” has stood out to me in every sermon, book, blog post, movie, joke, and conversation, and I knew it was about my writing. 

Laura Tremaine, an author who just launched her first book, Share Your Stuff. I’ll Go First., talked about the impact that the discipline of daily blogging had on her overall writing. 

Author and writing coach Allison Fallon said that writing daily changed her life. She told about how the discipline had a measurable and long lasting impact on her and her client’s physical health, attutudes, and more. 

Even though there were at least 50 other writers listening to the interviews, it sounded like Laura and Allison spoke just to me on the topic of discipline and writing daily. When this happens, I believe it’s God.

Athena Dean Holtz, an author and the founder and publisher at Redemption Press, set an ongoing example of discipline for a group of us writers when Covid-19 shut down the world. Athena led nightly Facebook Lives where she communicated inspiration, talked hope, and encouraged community. Hers has been a 300-day plan (probably more) and we’re still meeting. She shares scriptures and insights she’s written in her journal … daily. When this happens, He’s let me know it’s possible.

So, why’d I laugh at Abraham Lincoln’s quote?

I can’t imagine how I’ll follow through with blogging for 100 days, and I can’t imagine how foolish I’ll feel if I don’t. I laughed to keep from needing a box of tissues. For Lent, it looks like I’m giving up several things: laziness, wasting time, self-doubt, sleep, and my fear of feeling foolish. 

If you’re thinking about a 100-day plan, I hope we can swap stories.

In This Together,
Kim