A Step
in the Write Direction
October
6, 2014
Update: When I was younger, I saw the definition of
FAITH as: Forsaking All I Take Him. But I saw another on Facebook recently I
like even more: Forwarding All Issues to Heaven….I often say that my husband is
a “professional worrier,” and that if worry was an Olympic sport, he’d take home
a gold medal….Such a good sermon yesterday: “Remember not the former
things…Behold I will do a new thing…I will make a way in the wilderness and
rivers in the desert.” Today, do you have the Red Sea in front of you and armies
behind you—nowhere to go? You’re blocked in? Stand still! He’s still the God who
makes a way through the sea!
Thought for the Day: When you
can’t see it or feel it, He’s still doing
something! (Pastor Ira Brown).
Song for the Day:
Stand still and
let God move,
Standing still is hard to do
When you feel you have reached the end,
He'll make a way for you
Stand still and let God move
Standing still is hard to do
When you feel you have reached the end,
He'll make a way for you
Stand still and let God move
--Bill & Gloria
Gaither
Laugh for the Day:
A man in the deep South was
about to jump from a bridge when a passerby saw him and tried to talk him out of
it. "For the sake of your mother, don't
do it," the passerby pleaded. …"I don't have a mother." … "Then think of your father." … "Don't have a father." … "Well, then, think of Robert E. Lee." … "Robert E. Lee. Who's he?"
… "Never mind, Yankee, go ahead and jump."
Writer’s Tips (from unpublished
devotional book for writers):
“I’m O.K., You’re O.K.”
Make a careful exploration of who you are and
the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be
impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself to others. Each of you must take
responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life
(Galatians 6:4-5 the message).
The first
writers group I attended was made up of mostly beginning secular writers. More
than a critique group, it was as the old song says, a “mutual admiration
society.” No matter how poorly something was written, it received the response
“That was great! You should have it published!”
Later I
attended another group of professional secular writers. Unlike the first group,
these writers were grateful for helpful suggestions to make their work better.
They had all sold—and boy! had they sold. You could hear it in every meeting,
each one attempting to surpass the other in the number of queries and sales.
(Unfortunately, I often hear the same thing at Christian writers’ conferences as
each one sitting around a table tries to outdo the others in the amount of sales
and contracts.)
Beginning
writers are often awed by the successes of those around them—almost to the point
that they hesitate to submit anything. They don’t realize that the others have
been writing for years, or they may have had more advantages that make writing a
little easier for them (it’s never easy). Or some may envy their
fellow writers who have written and sold books, while they are writing only
devotionals and short stories.
God has not
called us to the same type of writing. Our talents are diverse. Thus, we should
not compare ourselves with others; rather, we should be faithful in writing what
He has called us to write.
In the Olympic
games, many countries are represented, but there is only one torch. As the games
end, the athletes from these countries stand together for the closing
ceremony—no longer in competition but as one. The athlete who barely qualified
may stand next to the one with the gold medal.
When we arrive
in heaven, we’re not going to be divided into neighborhoods labeled published”
and “unpublished,” “book writers,” and “devotional writers.” We’ll all be
together, and God will say to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant[s]”
(Matthew 25:23).
We have
different writing talents, but we carry only one torch—the banner of Jesus
Christ.
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
www.thewritersfriend.net
"A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"
"A Step in the Write Direction--the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers"
Donna:I like the acrostics for FAITH. I once heard it as "Forsaking All In Trusting Him."
ReplyDeleteThe end of this month, I wll be attending the Indiana Faith and Writing Conference @ Anderson Univesity in Anderson Indiana. I live maybe five minutes away from the site of the meeting. It is an outgrowth of a conference that met at the Wesleyan Publishing House in Fishers, In. I have not felt my fellow writers were competitors. I am aware of some of them being on a different level as I, but I learn from them all the time.