Monday, November 18, 2013

A Step in the Write Direction, November 18, 2013--Are You Called to Write?

A Step in the Write Direction
 
November 18, 2013
 
Update: As I shared in the chapter “Letting Go of Guilt” (The Freedom of Letting Go), I usually don’t have a problem forgiving others for what they do. However, I had a problem forgiving myself for things I had done. I constantly played them over and over in my mind. One preacher told me that was like crucifying Christ anew. Then one Sunday morning, just a few years ago, while singing an old hymn in church—one I had sung hundreds of times before—the words of the third verse hit me like a sledgehammer and I began weeping with the freedom I finally found. I quote these words in the Song for Today, hoping they will bring freedom to someone else struggling with the same problem.
 
Thought for Today: Everyone has his own specific vocation mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. He cannot be replaced nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone’s task is as unique as his specific opportunity to implement it (Victor Frankl).
 
Laugh for Today: The struggling writer was being dunned for his rent by an impatient landlord.  "Let me tell you this," he said. "Someday people will look up at this house and say, 'Cobalt, the author, used to write there.'"  To which the landlord replied, "If you don't pay me the rent tonight, they'll be saying that tomorrow."
 
Song for Today:
My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious tho’t!
My sin—not in part, but the whole
Is nailed to His cross and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
            (“It Is Well with My Soul,” Horatio G. Spafford)
Writer’s Tips:
I, therefore…beseech you to walk worthy of the calling to which you were called.
—Ephesians 4:1 (nkjv)
You know you’re called to write when:
·        You’re tired and want to go to bed but there’s something inside that must be put down on paper.
·        Unexpected bills arise and you’re offered a good or better job, but you feel God wants you to devote more time to writing.
·        You’re asked to be the neighborhood chauffeur or babysitter (because you’re home all day), or the PTA public relations chairman (because you’re a writer), and you have to say no because of your ache to write.
·        None of your family understands why you skip a favorite TV show and sit at your computer for so long, sometimes with tears in your eyes.
·        Money is tight, but you feel led to take a writing course or attend a conference.
·        Your favorite “inspired” article or book proposal is sent out 12 times and returned 12 times with only a form letter, or no letter at all, but you send it out again because you believe in it.
Then you must know that your writing is not just a hobby but a calling. You’ll know it’s not the writing that’s important, but the message you have to share. And you’ll know that it’s not you, but Christ who lives in you (Galatians 2:20).
 
 (Taken from the Introduction to  A Step in the Write Direction, now on sale for $15, $3 s&h. Student edition, with assignments throughout, available for $10, $3 s&h.)
 
Don’t forget Advent is coming up. Order the 31-devotional Preparing Your Heart for Christmas for just $7.)
 
 Have a good week spreading the
gospel through the printed page.
 
Donna Clark Goodrich
dgood648@aol.com
www.thewritersfriend.net
http://donna-goodrich.blogspot.com
 
SALE: Books by Donna Clark Goodrich
 
Will take IOUs or postdated checks for up to 30 days!!
Christmas Is Coming…These Will Make Great Gifts!!
 
 
            Title of Book_________________                Regular Price             Sale Price (plus s&h)
 
A Step in the Write Direction, the Complete
            How-to Book for Christian Writers                   $25.00                         $15.00
A Step—Student Edition w/assignments
            throughout book                                                $17.00                         $10.00
 
The Freedom of Letting Go                                           $15.00                         $10.00
 
Healing in God’s Time—story of Dave Clark,
songwriter of 25 #1 songs                                 $15.00                         $10.00
 
Preparing Your Heart for Christmas—
            31 Advent devotions                                         $10.00                         $  7.00
 
Ohio Cookbook                                                             $10.00                         $  5.00
Michigan Cookbook                                                     $10.00                         $  5.00
Writer’s Club Booklet  (self-published)                       $15.00                         $15.00 (Sorry!)
Motivational Moments                                                $10.00                         $  5.00
Celebrate Christmas anthology—stories,
poems, and recipes                                           $24.95                         $15.00
 
Grandmother/Mother anthology—stories,
            poems, and recipes                                           $24.95                         $15.00
 
Divine Healing—365 devotions for dieters                                                     $10.00
* * *
Coming in 2014: The Little Book of Big Laughs (joke book)—160 pages for only $5.95
     Rhyme-Time Bible Stories for Little Ones—12 Bible stories in poetry
 
 
 
 
 

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