Rejection Club

More good news from Under the Magnolia Tree!

Coming in January 2026, I will have another story in a Chicken Soup for the Soul book! Change your Habits, Change your Life will be coming out just in time for everyone’s New Year’s resolutions.

In 2019 my first story was accepted by Chicken Soup in a book called Running for Good. This latest story, Running Through Grief, is about how I started running following the difficult winter of 2002-2003 when both my father and mother-in-law died.

So far running stories seemed to have worked for me. But over the years I have sent in many others that did not make it through the selection process. When I got the email saying I would be in the upcoming book, I was thankful that I had not given up.

Writing, like running and so much else in life, is about perseverance. Years ago, when I was a member of the Calhoun Area Writers Club, my friend Vickie McEntire facilitated a Rejection Club. At each meeting we would stand up and share the stories, books and articles that we had sent out for consideration that had not been accepted. Rejection may not seem like something to celebrate, but the idea was that if we never sent anything out there was a 100% chance that we would not be successful. ‘Bragging’ about our rejections gave us an incentive to keep on plugging away — a great lesson in perseverance.

I’m learning that perseverance — or the biblical word, endurance — goes deeper than just sticking to a task. Paul writes in Romans 5:

: “…We also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven character and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5, CSB)

No one gets through this life without having to endure some sort of problem, or affliction. Sometimes we bring these afflictions on ourselves, but more often we find ourselves with problems that we did not ask for or cause. Life is just that way and it is during the hard times that we learn to persevere.

So many of these difficult tasks in life need the type of stick-to-it attitude that can only come from the Holy Spirit within us. These include showing forgiveness, understanding, patience, and grace towards others. We may need to persevere to keep the lines of communication open in our families or communities. We may need to keep asking the Holy Spirit for the strength to keep going as we struggle with anger, grief, depression or health issues.

According to Paul, as we learn to persevere, we build character. This growth in character then teaches us what it means to have hope in God — a hope that does not let us down!

I learned through following a training plan for long distance running that reaching my goal was all about small steps —showing up each morning, choosing healthy foods, getting rest. The same is true if we are persevering in the hard seasons of life. Taking it one day at a time —or one hour or minute —builds our stamina and character.

We can’t do it alone, however, and that’s where our trusted friends and family members help to carry us along. But God promises to be with us also, supporting us as we continue to stand our ground.

So I encourage you to keep on plugging in whatever goal is before you, keeping in mind that rejection and failure are signs that you tried!

Submitting a story to Chicken Soup for the Soul is free and a great exercise for writers of all abilities. Check out their site here.