YET ANOTHER DIVINE INTERCESSION

Using what I learned in a recent Bible study on Jonah, I am viewing the latest twist in my life as a divine intercession rather than an interruption! Thanks to Priscilla Shirer’s insight and wisdom out of God’s Word, the Lord is slowly changing my heart & my mind to accept this philosophy. And now I face the greatest challenge of all in my husband’s pending liver transplant.

Perhaps someday I will write about this and maybe even laugh about it in some respects, but right now it requires all my energy and focus just to put one step in front of the other as we go through this process. It is mind-boggling in how complex it is to get onto the national registry and fearsome in its implications, not only for the immediate future but for years to come. Yet, God has been over all this ground long before we came along on the path and because He goes before us, I know we can succeed! All I must do is keep my eyes on Him and my mind in line with His wisdom, and He will be both my front guard and my rear guard, ready to do battle as needed. No matter how He chooses to play this out, my hope is that we will stand firm in an unshakable faith rooted in His Word and heart.

Where does this leave my writing? At the moment, I honestly do not know. I cannot continue to make it the highest priority overall as I have been doing, but in between the moments of drama and danger, I intend to plow ahead with this calling in spite of all the enemy is doing to hamper my efforts to write for the Lord. After all, there is always revision later to “clean up” the sloppy and emotional structure I might put on paper in the midst of this situation. If He intends for me to write, not even this latest obstacle can stand in HIS way!

Thank you, dear readers, for staying with me through what's ahead and forgive my distraction and lack of attention to my commitment to post on this blog. God has a purpose and a plan and even when I cannot clearly see what that might be, I’m excited to walk by my husband’s side as He reveals the adventure awaiting us later this year. I pray that my writing will bring Him much honor regardless of the pain in my heart—and perhaps because of it! I couldn’t do this without the faithful prayers of many others and the courage of my husband, both gifts from the Father at a crucial time.

Many showers of blessings await us and I’m excited to be on this journey of faith with each of you!

Tools For Navigation, Part Two

Last week we examined the navigation tools of the map, compass, and rudder. If you didn’t have a chance to read about them, please check with the archives list as it will enhance this week’s post a great deal.

Sail – This tool is of great value to a sailor for it saves him a tremendous amount of work and effort. He can still move without it but only by the sweat of his brow. Of course, it is of no use when caught in the doldrums. The writer knows that without that wind to blow into his sail, he will go nowhere as well. His creativity is what fills his sail with the push to form ideas into plots and vague character traits into people who leap off the page and into the hearts of readers. For the Christian, this tool is the breath of a mighty God who is in control of the seas, the winds, and the weather on land and water alike—and our writing as well. He brings to our lives the incredible beauty of nature all around us that makes life so enjoyable and gives us the promise of an eternity in a Heaven beyond description.

Common Sense/Experience – This tool is priceless for the sailor, for it offers him a vast array of memories of similar situations and solutions from which to choose as he navigates new waters. This one pulls all the others together into a cohesive whole and is the reason Naval Commanders must prove themselves before taking the helm of a battleship or destroyer. The ability to make those instantaneous hard choices are what separates them from the less-experienced men who might hesitate one moment too long, resulting in disaster for everyone on board. The same goes for a writer, who needs to have at the very least some amount of knowledge under his belt before venturing out into the dark unknown of publishing. That can include but is not limited to an advanced college degree; but, even someone with an insatiable hunger for learning about the industry can be solidly grounded without those letters following his name. A prevalent attitude is that a multi-published author knows more simply because he has “been through it before” and to some extent this is very true. However, on a few occasions even professionals seem to lose their way with an arrogance that allows them to become lazy and refuse to do on-going study of their career field. The bottom line is that at times one without the first-hand experience but a broad understanding of the industry can be a better choice for an editor. For the Christian, the longer we walk with the Lord, the more instances we have of His mercy, grace, and provision. But if we waste that time and don’t stay immersed in His Word every day, we are of no more use to Him (and maybe less!) than someone who is an infant in his faith. We have to learn to listen to our God-given instincts, pay attention to our intuition, and seek His wisdom to make them all work. Using the tool of these life experiences combined with reading voraciously to learn more produces a richening and deepening of our fellowship with Him beyond measure.

It is my prayer these Tools For Navigation will aid you in your journey, whether as a Christian or writer or both!

TOOLS FOR NAVIGATION, PART ONE

As we sail through life we all know there are many obstacles to getting where we want to go in safety, with ease, and in a timely manner. I’ve been studying the book of Jonah this past month and my most recent lesson sparked some thoughts on the above topic. God provided several tools we can use for the purpose of finding our way, and these are appropriate for writers as well. Due to the length, this will be done in two parts, beginning this week and completed with next week’s post. Be sure to read both!

Map – We need this tool to get an overview of the area and to help us gauge the distance involved in arriving at our destination. For a writer, this would be an outline of some type for the book or story, whether simple or detailed. For the Christian, the Bible is our “map” and contains the specifics if we will read it. Some maps require only a brief glance but most demand a more focused study. It always helps if we have a goal to work toward before setting out on a journey!

Compass – This tool quickly pushes us back on track when we have wandered away. I would say for the Christian this would be favorite verses committed to memory that will come to mind instantly when we are in need and provide whatever help we require at that time. For a writer it might be a chapter summary that will display what we have missed in our writing that must be included, or what we have added that doesn’t belong there. In any case, using this tool leaves no room for doubt as to what is going on and we are remiss if we fail to consult it as we go along.

Rudder – This tool remains hidden to the sailor, with only a large stick-like apparatus on the deck to indicate something larger lies beneath. The single most important part of a boat, no one wants to be caught without one! In the hands of a skilled sailor, a rudder can push a boat through the roughest of waves and against the greatest of storms or it can lead you onto the shoals that surround you under the water. Determine the type of material your rudder contains and change it out if it isn’t strong enough to serve your ship. For a Christian, the rudder would have to be the Holy Spirit. He directs us on the trip when we use Him properly; we ignore Him at our peril. Writers would sometimes term this tool as being that elusive “muse” that brings inspiration and force to their writing. Attempting to put words on paper in its absence leaves much to be desired in the reality of the scenes we depict but when we allow God’s creativity to guide us He brings our ideas to life in ways we never could have dreamed!

I do pray these thoughts will bring many showers of blessings to your heart this coming week! Be sure to read next week’s post as well!

"INSIDES VERSUS OUTSIDES"

Recently I read online an article about building characters in fiction and it got me to thinking about the fact that we do this with people who do not exist! The first step suggested is to lay out a thorough and detailed character sketch, outlining life experiences such as birth and childhood, education, dreams, goals, marital status, description, personality quirks, spiritual depth, joys and disappointments. As new ideas occur during the writing process, the author adds to all this so that by the time the book is completed each character jumps off the page into “reality”. For a fiction writer this is a normal and necessary process; if the characters cannot live in your mind, how on earth will you ever make them come to life for your readers?

Yet, it made me think about how often we create a persona for the public to know while reserving a vastly different one for our family and friends. And I’m not talking about simply writers. All of us are guilty of this to some extent because we yearn to “put on our best face” and not allow others to see the ragged edges underneath. Nothing wrong with that in most cases, as long as we are not lying to ourselves. God sees the truth and knows our hearts better than we could possibly know them even, and we cannot hide anything from Him. Psalm 139:1-12 is an amazing passage to remind us just how present He is no matter where in the universe we may go. We cannot get away from Him, no matter how hard we try!

Read those words and examine your own heart this coming week in light of how impossible it is to run away from our heavenly Father. Ask Him to show you how you are doing the same thing when you create a whole new “you” for others to see without confronting and allowing Him to heal the rottenness beneath. Have you ever seen a log or large piece of wood that looks whole and perfect, only to discover it has been eaten away inside by termites? Ouch! I desire for my "insides" to match my "outsides"! Or maybe I should say it the other way around--for my outside appearance to match up with the real me inside. Only through the Holy Spirit can that miracle take place, however. I cannot do it in my own strength.

No matter how many words I write or how many fictitious characters I create in my imagination, eventually I am forced to confront my own spiritual needs and weaknesses. But not to worry—God has them all under His control as long as I continue to submit to His leadership. Oh, I’ll sin along the way all right, wish I could pretend otherwise. But when I do He will quickly remind me and just as swiftly cleanse me when I come to Him in repentance. Sound “preachy”? As I said, read this passage carefully. I believe you will find yourself there, as I have. But I also see God right there with me, and what a comfort that is!

I pray for this shower of blessing to fall on your heart in the coming days!

RUN OR OBEY?

Have you ever said, “I would love to write a book but . . . ” and left the sentence unfinished? How you fill in that blank is nothing more than an excuse. Whether it is a lack of time, energy, expertise, idea, or determination, you are running from the calling God has put on your heart. For so many years I argued with the Lord about this very thing, feeling that pull yet knowing in practical terms there weren’t enough hours in the day to stretch myself any thinner. So finally I threw out a fleece to Him: if You truly desire to use me in this way, then help me rearrange my priorities to find the time to embark on this venture. And you know what? He did!

With the move to Oklahoma three years ago, I found myself at a temporary loss of what to do with my time. Yes, we’d moved to be closer to our families, in particular our kids and grandkids, and I certainly spent many blissful hours doing precisely that. Building our business from the ground up also proved to be a challenge but an exciting one I enjoyed joining my husband to create. But I needed more than simply the role of wife and mother to be fulfilled.

“Oh, yes, that writing thing . . . well, maybe I’d better give that a shot.” The phrase became a daily reminder until it formed a lump in my stomach. How to undo that knot? Uh, write??

And write I did! See any relation in this? “He did . . . I did.” Our God never wastes anything and in His economy, He pushed me relentlessly to put my money where my mouth was. So I took a deep breath and began on a writing regime designed to complete a novel that was about half done at that point. In one of the first key steps, He led me to a primary source that turned into one of the most amazing gifts He’s given me in this long process. Not only did I get the historic facts confirmed and realigned, out of that and the friendship I formed with this person I discovered numerous additional plot threads I’d never considered before. In turn, I became so energized and excited about the characters and events in my story, they became more real to me and, I hope, to my readers. Amazing how God works!

You may ask what the turning point was, what one thing led to the unleashing of my potential as a writer? I can respond immediately with one key word: obedience. When I finally laid aside my own expectations and plans and concentrated on the one God apparently had for me, He is the one who set loose all that potential. I simply sat and wrote while He did all the work. And the result is a completed novel which I hope will bring Him honor, as well as the Kiowa people whose story it is. Now, once more it is up to Him. As my husband says about homebuilding: I am responsible for production but it is up to God to do the marketing!

It is my sincere hope and dream that soon From Now Until Forever will be available on Christian bookshelves everywhere!

SNOW AND WRITING

Recently we had two huge snowstorms back to back which broke all records for the most snow at one time in Tulsa as well as the most snow for a season. Places just north of us got twice as much as we did, collapsing roofs of homes and businesses and damaging boat houses up around Grand Lake along with the expensive boats underneath. Everything came to a halt here for several days, stunning everyone with the impact. No mail delivery for a week has to be some kind of a record (remember the old adage, “Neither rain nor sleet nor dark of night . . .”?), as was the lack of a daily newspaper for four days—the first time in history that had happened. No one could get out of their driveways, let alone navigate the neighborhood streets, which were never plowed. Schools were out for up to ten days and districts are now scrambling to make up all those lost days.

This may sound ludicrous to those who live in Montana or Minnesota, but for people who have lived their whole lives in Oklahoma, it was a disaster of monumental proportions. We don’t receive this much snow as a rule, hence the records which were broken in the wake of the storms, and certainly don’t know how to drive and move around in it to this extent. To be honest, I never expected it to happen here in the Tulsa area the way it did.

All this served to remind me just Who is in control when our lives seem to spin out of control. We depend on “government” to get us out of the holes nature throws us into at times, but is it really their job? When “government” lets us down, who do we blame? In our society today, we often seek to blame others for our own losses and tragedies, rather than shouldering our own ignorance or denial for creating the situation or exacerbating it.

A good example: our snow shovel was stolen the day before the second storm was due and we had to join literally hundreds of others at a local hardware store standing in line for hours to wait for the privilege of buying one of these devices which would hopefully prevent our being isolated again if we did, indeed, get twice as much snow as was being predicted.

My heart goes out to all who received damage as a result of this winter blast and who are still struggling to recover economically and emotionally. But I can’t help but point out that some of it at least was due to people not being adequately prepared. Occasionally common sense takes a holiday for any of us but that doesn’t excuse a pattern of being “too busy” to be bothered with stocking up on food and water, for instance, or ensuring that a snow shovel stands at the ready when needed.

As lay buried under all this snow, I realized how beautiful it appeared to be through the windows. Soft, white, clean, covering all the dirt and ugliness beneath, untouched by humans—it seemed to be perfect and even harmless. But try to get to the mailbox or go out to get the paper at the end of our long driveway and the illusion came to a bitter and swift end!

Aren’t our lives often like that, especially as writers? We see “storms” approaching and brush them off as no big deal, then reel when we are not ready to meet the onslaught. Boxing ourselves into corners with bills coming due and no money from our writing on the horizon, we can either face facts or run from them. One little rejection at such a moment can destroy us, when at other times we would brush them off with a few tears or irritation and simply go on. God’s Word tells us constantly to watch the signs and be prepared (is that where the Scouts get their motto from?); we ignore this advice at our own peril.

If your writing has become stale and listless, why continue to submit instead of revamping your approach? It won’t get any better until/unless you recognize the problem and address it. Design a contingency plan for your contingency plan if you need to, so you will be calm in the face of losing a client or prospective contract. As Christian writers, it’s all in God’s Hands anyway! But He does expect us to do our part.

Remember, there is a time and season for everything and when we find ourselves out on that proverbial limb all by ourselves, listening to the cracking sound as it breaks off behind us, claim His peace and know He has this, too, under control. He truly does work everything out for our good if we won’t give up but continue to trust Him no matter what!

WRITING LESSONS

One lesson God has taught me in writing this novel I’m completing is that when I write about the spiritual struggles of my protagonist, I have to pray first for the right words. To write at all I have to be in close fellowship or my enemy will gain a toehold on my heart and the words just don’t “flow” which is my way of knowing they are not under His leadership. So writing about her rebellion or fear when I have conquered it, however briefly, is difficult at best and can even result in a new battle of my own—unless I have bathed the time in prayer beforehand.

And even when writing about her victories, I have to be careful to recognize that they are not mine, but hers. Otherwise, I can internalize the whole scene into my own life when that victory never took place! Does that make sense? I suppose only to a fellow writer! The caveat to this is that one of the themes which emerged during the writing process is to show through the lives of my characters how God provides for our every need whether we have asked or not and whether we are looking for that provision or not. So I have concluded living vicariously through this character is okay for the author as well as future readers. Just another way God has made a way for me as well as my readers.

Perhaps this is why God has called me to write Christian fiction? At any rate, I will continue to honor Him with the words which He inspires, to tell the stories He has put in my heart, and to relate the spiritual journey in each book even if my own is a bit lacking at times. Eventually, it is my prayer God will reveal to me the reasons behind each story for I know He has not led me through each one without a higher purpose than simply telling a tale. I knew there was a reason this novel has study questions at the end, so readers can delve more deeply into God’s Word as the reader reflects on what she has read—and that reason was for my own growth!

My prayer is by reading a novel dedicated to Him, you will be motivated to study His Word and how it applies to your life. And the author will be honored as that glory goes to the One who deserves it. May God prepare your heart this day to receive whatever He has designed for you to discover of His richest treasure!