A Step in the Write Direction--December 16, 2013--"I or me"; end of page tip

A Step in the Write Direction

December 16, 2013

Update: A busy week with 4 editing/proofreading jobs: 50 pages, 261, 304, and 406. Done except for the 406-page job, a novel….Had more trouble with the COPD, and specialist thought it might be pneumonia. Chest x-ray not back yet, but antibiotics are helping a lot!... Really good Advent sermons the last few weeks. The first week our pastor talked on the Second Coming of Christ. Today he used the words of  “Joy to the World”—“far as the curse is found,” saying we are under the curse from Genesis, but Christ took our curse upon Himself at the cross. And “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” Good promise to remember, especially this time of the year when things can seem so crazy in the world (like here in Mesa where they found the body of a14-year-old girl in a Dumpster, and arrested the mother’s ex-boyfriend). Reminds me of the words of another song that “though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet.”

Thought for the Day:

If you truly believed that the Lord would return in, oh, let's say a week...

• What would you do differently today?
• What would you do differently tomorrow?
• What would you do differently during the week ahead?
• What would you do differently in whatever time you had remaining?
• Would you examine your own life to be sure you're ready?
• Would you live differently somehow? Would you immediately give up some habit that you wouldn't want the Lord to find you engaged in when He returns?
• Would you talk with your friends and loved ones to be sure they're ready?
• Would you have more of a burning desire to be sure your friends are ready to go?
• Would you be more likely to witness to your co-workers at your place of employment? (source unknown)

Laugh for the Day:

·         Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

·         Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: “You stay here; I'll go on a head.”

·         I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

·         The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

·         When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

·         Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

·         Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.

Song for the Day:

Light the fire and trim the tree
It won't be long 'til Christmas Eve
So close your eyes and make believe
That dreams really do come true

Manger scenes and mistletoe
Christmas cards from friends we know
They'll disappear like melted snow
At least for another year

Watching children as they play
Makes you wish that Christmas would stay
All year long just for
Dreamers like me
And those who believe
The joy of the season would stay
All year long like a December snow
That just won't let go
Let's hold on to Christmas this year

(Lyrics by Dave Clark; recorded for 4HIM Christmas album 20 years ago.)

Writer’s Tips:

Two common mistakes I found in a book I just edited—when to use “I” and when to use “me”. In the following sentence the author wrote: “Does it have to do somehow with Lydia and I?” Leave out the words “Lydia and” and see how it sounds: “Does it have to do somehow with I?” You know that doesn’t sound right; correct would be “Does it have to do with…me?” That’s how you can always tell.

Another thing I found in this particular book was that, at the end of a chapter the author spaced down until they reached the end of the page and it went automatically to the next page. You don’t have to do this (and it’s difficult for a publisher also to have to delete all these extra lines). After typing your last line, hit Enter to go to the next line, then CTRL Enter,  and that will take you to the next page.

Christmas Devotional

The Light of the World

I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life (John 8:12).

It was not how I planned to spend Christmas Day. Locking the door of my car in the darkened hospital parking lot, I made my way toward the entrance. For the past five days I had gone to

my husband’s room at 8:30 a.m., left for an hour or two in the afternoon, and returned around 5 or 6:00 p.m. Now he was facing surgery the next day.

At the hospital entrance, I stood for a moment, enjoying the decorations on the lawn. Lights everywhere—on the trees, on wire-formed deer, on wooden wagons full of gifts. Lights spelling out Christmas greetings. “He really is the reason for the season. He is the Light of the world,” I realized anew.

Entering the hospital, I thanked God that His Son came into the world for just such a situation as I was going through.

•  He came to give assurance—in my dark moments, when the doctor told me that my husband was “high risk” and might not pull through the surgery.

• He came to give comfort—in my fear when the surgery had to be postponed and my husband taken to ICU for six days because of heart problems.

• He came to give joy the next week—in the waiting room when the surgeon said everything came out okay.

Lord, thank You for sending Your Son to bring light to my world. May I walk in that Light during this Christmas season, as well as the rest of the year.

 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

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