By Julie Lavender @JLavenderWrites

David and I arrived back in May at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference early enough that we decided to explore just a bit before my faculty meeting kicked off and his appointment with a hungry trout commenced. Oddly enough, although I’ve attended BRMCWC for close to twenty years with just one absence, I’ve never taken in the view at the top of the campus.

Morning person, I’m not. Those sunrise excursions are just too early for me. Now, if you’re interested in watching, say, a meteor shower between 1:30 and 2AM, I’m your gal, because I’m probably still up at that time of night, usually pecking away at the computer. But, rarely do I enjoy time with the roosters before the sun breaks through.

With time to spare, David and I drove up to the top of the mountain, and if you’ve kept up with me at all recently, you can certainly guess I planned to snap photos of my pals Ginger and Geoff. We inched slowly up the mountain, my van just a bit hesitant in some of the gravel areas. It was all new territory for us.

But the view – OH THE VIEW! It was so worth it when we got to the top and exited the vehicle. I popped open the back of the van to grab my backpack. “Where’s Ginger and Geoff?” I asked my husband.

“Uh oh. I thought you wanted everything unpacked since I’d be taking the car fishing later today.”

Well, I couldn’t argue with that. He was right.

[tweet_box design=”default” float=”none” inject=”#Writing #BRMCWC #Writinglife”]The View at the Top of the Writing Mountain is Sometimes Better the Second Time Around by @JLanevderWrites on @BRMCWC[/tweet_box]

“Let’s admire the view the get you back in time for your faculty meeting,” David suggested.

I protested. Ginger and Geoff couldn’t miss the moment. It was one of the reasons I wanted to go to the top this year.

“If we hurry, we can drive back down, grab the stuffies, come back and take photos, and still get me to the meeting on time,” I yelled as I made my way back to the van.

David willingly followed, and we accomplished our goal.

I couldn’t help but think about some of the writing projects I’ve worked on since the conference ended. Some are moving forward flawlessly; some have required a lot of tweaking. And some? Well, I had to drive back down the mountain and start the uphill climb all over again with a blank page.

What about you? Have you had to go back to the beginning with a project and start completely over?

Well, as luck would have it …. No, I take that back. As inspired by the Almighty Author, there are words about starting over in the greatest Book ever written. Check out some of these verses about a fresh start, starting over, or doing something new.

You might just be inspired to chug your way back up the mountain for that gorgeous, stunning view.

Here’s those verses:

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
—Isaiah 43:19 (ESV)

“And though you started with little, you will end with much. ”
—Job 8:7 (NLT)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
—2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

“And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’”
—Revelation 21:5 (ESV)

“No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.”
—Luke 5:36-38 (NASB)

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.”
—Isaiah 40:28 (NKJV)

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
—Romans 6:4 (ESV)

“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.”
—Joel 2:25 (ESV)

Julie Lavender worked on the computer for many nights until the wee hours of the morning to complete her newest book, Raising Good Sons: Christian Parenting Principles for Nurturing Boys of Faith and Characterthat releases the second week of April. Julie co-authored the book, published by Penguin Random House, with her hubby, David. It’s their first faith-based collaborative effort, though they’ve also recently written twenty-two books for the children’s educational market. Julie is also the author of A Gingerbread House, published by End Game Press.