Archive for the 'The Writing Life' Category
September 24, 2009 @ 6:20 am | Filed under: The Solid Rock, The Writing Life
Sometimes I think we look at Bible stories and imagine the characters in those stories to have been perfect in their own imperfect-ness, if that makes any kind of sense.
Though we read about their shortcomings, their weaknesses, their failures, it is almost always the moral of the story - or the end result - that we walk away with. These are the parts of the stories that we tuck like nuggets into that secret place in our souls where we capture the essence of what it is we think we are supposed to be. Or supposed to do. Or supposed to accomplish.
The reality is much more human, and it is that element that I think about this morning.
I love how Moses’ story ties into this. God heard the cries of the Israelites and He desired their freedom, so God invited Moses to join Him. It really didn’t matter what Moses thought the plan for his life was. What mattered most was God’s plan for Moses’ life.
So many of us today have a preoccupation with knowing God’s will for our lives. I know I’ve struggled with this before - some days, I still struggle with it. There are some areas where it is very evident that God is at work (like with my family), but there are other areas where it appears God is silent (like with my writing.)
What I am trying to remember is that God’s focus has always been on getting His people to come into line with His will and with what is on His heart, so that we (I) can adjust our lives (my life) to Him, rather than having God design His plans around us (me).
And what is God’s plan? God is, and always has been, actively drawing people to Himself.
This should liberate me; should free any reckless, nervous thoughts about the future. Because this alone means that I do not have to come up with plans for God, or design ways to achieve kingdom goals.
He is at work, and when I join Him - right where He is, I am in perfect alignment.
devotionals, life lessons, walk with God, writing
September 1, 2009 @ 6:44 am | Filed under: The Solid Rock, The Writing Life
Sometimes our lives can resemble a book.
There is a little romance. A little drama. A little humor. And a little (or a lot) of conflict. Of course every story needs conflict. That’s what keeps us interested. We enjoy seeing the characters of our books get into - and then out of - trouble.
Of course, in reality not every situation has a happy ending in 30 minutes or less. Real life is different, but it’s also better.
Every day there are words coming out of our mouths.
They can either build people up. Or they can tear them down. In the United States we having a saying, “Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
Truth: words hurt. They maime, they wound. Every word that comes out of our mouths will either hurt or help. It will either bring loved ones closer or push them away. This is something we need to consider when we are speaking—to our children, to our spouse, to other family members. To friends.
But this is not the only dialogue happening in our lives. Whether we know it or not, there is another continual dialogue going through our minds. It’s our internal dialogue. The dialogue occurs in two ways. “Thorough and organized” dialogue or dialogue that “bounces around like a little rubber ball in your mind.”
“Thorough and organized” thinking is similar to a great novel plot or movie script. A script is something the writer uses to put the movie on paper. It provides direction for the producer, the actors, and even the set directions.
The script isn’t the movie. The script is direction for the action. The script guides everything. Without the script there is no order and the action has no meaning. would jump around. Nothing would make sense.
Sometimes we don’t organize our thoughts in our mind, and our actions are the same. Our actions, our lives, seem to be without meaning and order.
Those times when I find my thoughts just running around in my mind, with no plan or purpose, I know I am in the big middle of chaos. I’m not talking about organizing daily activities. We all somehow manage to organize our days, some better than others.
But the BIGGER thinking, such as: Where do I want to be in the future? Where would I like to see my family in the future? What would I like my marriage to look at five years from now?What kind of adults do I want my children to be?
Sometimes we let our minds get carried away with concerns. We think about things that happened ten years ago. Or maybe we consider worries we have about tomorrow.
We also find our thoughts are full of emotions. Happy thoughts, sad thoughts, excited thoughts, or scared thoughts. Our thoughts are focus on whatever is going on that moment. One day things are good. The next day things are not so good. Our actions then follow our emotions, which we know can lead to all types of trouble and issues.
I don’t want to allow my thoughts, or what is happening around me, to be in control. I want Him to write the script of my life and then I want to allow my thoughts to follow that script and no other.
Why is that so hard at times?
March 19, 2009 @ 9:10 am | Filed under: The Writing Life, Uniquely Me
When I started this blog, the intention was to give tiny glimpses into a writer’s mind. Not necessarily a writer’s life. ‘Cause let’s face it. The writing life - most days - isn’t that grand! Instead, it’s a lonely road, one you want to detour from often, just so you can ’see’ folks again. Feel connected to the real world.
That’s on most days.
But then - quite unexepectedly - comes that morning when you wake up, your blood pumping just a bit quicker, your heart fluttering with excitement, nerves calm, fingers itching for the keyboard, your soul full to overflowing.
Fresh annointing.
A renewed one-on-one connection with God. The assurance that you’re on the exact path He has laid for you. The certainty that the stories on your heart - the ones that won’t leave you alone at night, even hours after you’ve logged off the computer - are the ones you’re meant to write.
You, and you alone.
Those mornings, those days - as rare as they sometimes seem - are worth everything.
Worth every hour I spend staring at the blank page, certain I’ll never come up with another intelligent, inspired sentence again. Let alone a whole book of them.
Worth every hour I stay shut inside my office, refusing to free myself from my self-imposed prison until I achieve my daily word count.
Worth every rejection I receive from well-meaning publishers, who love my writing (okay) but “don’t see your stories fitting the direction we plan to go at this point.”
It’s all worth it. And the reason for it seems so simple on those rare mornings.
I’ve found favor with my Maker. I’m doing the very thing He’s asked of me. I’m writing, and I’m writing the stories, the characters, the events He lays on my heart, imbeds in my conscience, and pierces through my soul.
I’m content in obedience.
I think I’ll be forever thankful for this call to write. Thankful for the privilege of having days free to pursue this calling. Thankful that He trusts me - ME - to tell stories that, in faith, will one day minister to specific needs in the lives of people I’ve never met.
I love being a writer.
Today.
March 9, 2009 @ 8:22 am | Filed under: School Stuff, The Writing Life, Uniquely Me
“Talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller skates. There’s plenty of movement, but you never know if it’s going to be forward, backwards, or sideways.” — H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Author
I’m considering this quote this morning as I sit at the computer and try my best to put the busy weekend’s activities behind me, and begin yet another week of writing and school work. It would be nice right about now to be able to lasso the euphoric feelings of this past Friday afternoon when I contracted the fever while at Hobby Lobby. Instead, it’s not only Monday morning but Daylight Savings Time Monday morning. I have the yawn factor, puffy eyes, and slightly disoriented feelings to prove it!
Not a lot has changed between five o’clock on Friday and now except the need to once again apply pressure that just doesn’t feel so good. Especially on Monday mornings, right? It’s time to dive back into full story mode and - write. And study. And be as diligent as possible at both. I keep waiting for the “warming up” period of writing to be obselete. But you know what? I think I’m beginning to realize that this apprehension, this hesitancy when I first sit down to the keyboard, is just going to be part of the game plan.
So as I try to rein in my thoughts, corral my emotions, and begin the arduous task of enforcing a huge dose of self-discipline, I’m thinking about the words in this quote. When I begin a story, I have a pretty good idea of the road map the story will ultimately travel. What I don’t know, however, is how it will GET there.
It’s always a faith walk with me, and maybe that’s one of the reasons I feel such uncertainty on some days. I’m relinquishing control, and asking God to once again speak through my words. I learned long ago that giving over that control brings the greatest sense of liberty and productivity. But it still doesn’t make it an easy task, does it?
For me, it means becoming quiet in spirit and in mind. While it’s not always easy getting there, it’s only when I’m enclosed with Him, that I can finally tap into the inspiration I need to get the work accomplished. So - with a fresh cup of coffee at my side, my manuscript on the screen in front of me, and His truths blazing in my heart - I begin this day.
What about YOU? How do you self-motivate?
What works for YOU?
February 11, 2009 @ 9:43 am | Filed under: Faith Lifts, The Writing Life
February 9, 2009 @ 7:04 pm | Filed under: The Solid Rock, The Writing Life
“I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand. That living word awakened my soul, gave it light, joy, set it free!” –HELEN KELLER
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My mind has been on living water a lot lately.
I’ve felt like a kid at a big giant water fountain - one so large that I’m raised on my tiptoes, with tongue outstretched, eyes shut tight in wonderful anticipation - loving the cool wetness as it bathes all the parched spots that life sometimes dries up.
Jesus has always delighted in giving water.
I think about the Samaritan woman. It’s often bothered me that she was never known by name, but rather by her location and her place in life. But today - as I sit here, reading through the story again, I’m touched by just how electrifying it must have been to meet Him.
He, who reached out to her - a woman and an untouchable - and with kindness she’d never known before, he softly, politely, lovingly gave her water to drink. No doubt she had come to draw water at that hour in order to avoid the mass of other women who would do nothing except point, whisper, and avoid all contact with her.
But this man - he looked her in the eye, perhaps even touched her sleeve to get her attention, and then he proceeded to begin a conversation that, interestingly enough, is the longest recorded conversation in the Bible between Jesus and anybody.
That is fitting, I think.
The water He offers us - all of us, the ones from the wrong side of town and the ones raised on church pews, the ones with faults and failures and the ones who’ve yet to taste bitter disappointment - is the same. What better way to demonstrate sharing this living water than by making direct eye contact, speaking words of truth in love, and taking time to meet a person in need - right where they are?
In a global community that is so caught up in living green, how is it that God’s love - this living water - is very often the last place folks go for solutions. This living water is pure, it’s free, it can be recycled over and over again, and will never clutter anything.
It breathes life, restores life, gives life.
It’s that wonderful, cool something that flows over my hand - and my heart, and my soul, and my spirit - awakening me, giving me light, joy, and setting me free!
January 29, 2009 @ 6:49 pm | Filed under: Faith Lifts, The Writing Life
I posted over at Faith Lifts today. If you have time, pop in and read some of the inspirational thoughts written by my fellow contributors. They are awesome women of God!
July 23, 2008 @ 8:19 pm | Filed under: Books, The Writing Life
July 10, 2008 @ 11:57 am | Filed under: The Writing Life, Uniquely Me
- If you win, do not brag; if you lose, do not show anger.
- When meeting new people, shake hands and repeat their names.
- If someone bumps into you, say excuse me, even if it was not your fault.
- If you are asked a question in conversation, ask a question in return.
- Do not stare at a student who is being reprimanded.
- Do not ask for a reward.
- In a hotel room, leave a tip for the hotel workers who clean your room.
- Make eye contact.
- Stand up for what you believe in.
- Live so that you will have no regrets.
I’m reading Ron Clark’s The Essential 55 again. He is a teacher who is known for the amazing inroads he has made with underprivileged, undernourished, undereducated students in rural North Carolina.
I wake up some days and am still amazed that I’ve made the decision to teach. Me - the same girl who grew up swearing (that would be figuratively, not literally) that she would never teach. While I’ve always had a healthy respect for my dad’s career and have had some amazing teachers in my own life, I wanted something different.
Or thought I wanted something different.
This desire to teach is something that is more like a calling to me right now, I guess. It’s a part of that urgency that is burning in me. I think that maybe I am just now at the point in my life where I am ready to fill up young minds with exciting possibilities that can be theirs. That should be theirs.
There is just something so special about young minds - when the mind and the heart is so open to influence - that tugs at my heart. Makes me want to help channel all that energy into positive avenues. Creative avenues. Avenues that will leave them changed, that will make them thinkers for life.
I believe that writing can do that for a person. It is a way to work through issues, to create a world of your own, to reach out and touch someone, to leave your fingerprints all over this life by the words you pen…
I want to teach that.
Ron Clark, teaching, the essential 55
July 5, 2008 @ 1:25 pm | Filed under: It's funny!, The Writing Life
I LOVE writing. And there’s really nothing I’d like to do with my life more than hone this skill and keep writing for as long as God sees fit.
But for all the folks out there who think this life is one of ease and tranquility, let me give you more correct information.
Many days it can be torture. Sweet torture, but torture nonetheless. Even as I struggle to tap into the right vein, to prayerfully and carefully endeavor to write my heart, I’m sometimes distracted by all the stuff going on outside my upstairs office window.
Who’d have ever thought that mowing a lawn or observing trash retrieval would ever sound so appealing to me?
This is just one of the many hazards of the writing life…
