A Step in the Write Direction--June 1, 2015--Count It All Joy

A Step in the Write Direction

June 1, 2015

Update: Interesting weekend. Went to our district assembly Saturday where our granddaughter renewed her minister’s license. So proud of her. They’ll be moving June 10 to take a church in a small town near Dallas….Enjoyed a good sermon this morning (see notes below), then had breakfast with my son…Have a doctor’s appointment with an orthopedic surgeon at 8 a.m. tomorrow morning (Monday) to see what’s wrong with my right shoulder. Praying that it isn’t a rotator cuff as I have my ticket to go to my brother’s near Nashville June 22, then on to teach at the Kentucky Christian Writer’s Conference June 26-27. Don’t know if I can do that if I need surgery.

Thought for the Day: “In spiritual warfare, Satan likes to wave his gun at you from a lot of angles. But your victory is rooted in the truth that Christ removed the bullets. The gun is empty” (Dr. Tony Evans, Prayers for Victory in Spiritual Warfare, Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2015, p. 37).

Song for Today:

My heart is sometimes heavy, but He comes with sweet relief;

He folds me to His bosom when I droop with blighting grief.

I love the Christ, who all my burdens in His body bore.

Each day He grows still sweeter than He was the day before.

            “Still Sweeter Every Day,” W.C. Morris

Laugh for Today:                              Doctor Funnies

"Doctor, Doctor! I feel like a pair of curtains!" "Well, pull yourself together."
"Doctor, Doctor! My little boy has just swallowed a roll of film!"  "Hmm...Let's hope nothing develops."
"Doctor, Doctor! I feel like a deck of cards!"  "I'll deal with you in a minute."
"Doctor, Doctor! My son has swallowed my pen, what should I do?"  "Use a pencil till I get there." (Gospel Greats newsletter, May 19, 2015).

Writer’s Tips: This week I’m sharing notes from Sunday’s sermon by Nazarene evangelist Norman Moore on having joy in trials. It was so uplifting and encouraging to me, I want to pass it on. (This can help you as a writer too!)

“Life isn’t fair. Sometimes it shows up on our front porch like a package that we didn’t order…. God doesn’t initiate trials; He permits them.”

James 1:2: “Consider it all joy…” Word “consider” means deliberate, not accidental. We choose pure joy. We choose our attitude. Can’t control what happens to us, but we can control our response to it. We whine to our bored listeners who are waiting for us to finish so they can tell us how bad they have it.”

“Pure joy.” He likes Florida orange juice—100% pure, no foreign elements, not from concentrate. Pure is “mature and complete.”

“Romans 8:16. We’re joint heirs with Christ. We share in His sufferings so we can also share in His glory.”

v. 18 – again “consider.” Our sufferings can’t be compared to the glory that will be revealed.”

1 Peter 5:6-7: “Cast all your anxieties on Him for He cares for you.” GOOD: He was in an elevator, holding a heavy Samsonite suitcase in one hand and an attaché case in the other. He finally put them down and they went up with the elevator. It had the power to take them up. God said to him, “This is what it means to cast your cares upon Me. I have the power to take them when you give them to Me.”

He likes old cars, and he likes to see the before-and-after pictures when they have been restored: the dents smoothed out, flat tires pumped up, upholstery cleaned. Through our trials and suffering, Christ restores us. He smoothes out our dents, pumps up our flat tires, and cleans us from top to bottom, front to back. “After you have suffered awhile, He will make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”

***

I hope some of this encourages you as it did me. His main point was to have joy in our sufferings. I told him afterwards about losing my husband, and said, “I have peace, but I’m not sure I’m to the ‘joy’ part yet.” But I know happiness depends on situations, and we have joy in spite of our situation.

***

 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

·          100-Plus Motivational Moments for Writers and Speakers – half-price $5, $2.69 s&h (This is free if you purchase 5 other books.)

·           A Step in the Write Direction—the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers—on sale for half-price--$12.50, $3.17 s&h

·          A Step in the Write Direction—Student Edition with assignments throughout—on sale for half-price $10, $2.69 s&h

·          The Freedom of Letting Go (new one coming out will have discussion questions; can be used in S.S. class or small group); original copies without questions now on sale for half-price--$7.50, $2.69 s&h

·          Healing in God’s Time (story of Dave Clark, composer of 25 songs that have gone to #1 on the charts); was $15; now $10, $2.69 s&h

·          The Little Book of Big Laughs--105 purse/pocket-size book of clean jokes--$5; up to 4 for same s&h—$2.69

·          Preparing Your Heart for Christmas (31 Advent Devotions) half-price—$5

·          Michigan and Ohio Cookbooks; half-price $5 each, plus s&h (depending on number ordered)

A Step in the Write Direction--May 25, 2015--dedicated to the military on Memorial Day

A Step in the Write Direction

May 25, 2015

Update: Because today is Memorial Day, I’m dedicating today’s blog to everything military. My husband was drafted five months after we were married and was discharged four months before his unit went to Vietnam, so he did lose some friends. We visited his grave for the first time yesterday at the Veteran’s Memorial Cemetery. Seeing his name on the stone made it seem so much more real. Then the family came to our house and we “celebrated” my birthday a day early. It was difficult this morning as Gary never forgot a birthday or any other special day. (He didn’t dare, as he could tell you who won the World Series every year from 1940 on!) To any of you who served or who had family members who served, THANK YOU. As the song says that my nephew Dave Clark wrote, “Freedom isn’t free.”

Thought for the Day: “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight—it’s the size of the fight in the dog” (General Dwight D. Eisenhower, January 1958, Republican National Convention).

Song for the Day:

Am I a soldier of the Cross, A foll’wer of the Lamb,

And shall I fear to own His cause, Or blush to speak His name?

Must I be carried to the skies On flow’ry beds of ease,

While others fought to win the prize, And sailed thro’ bloody seas?...

Sure I must fight if I would reign. Increase my courage, Lord.

I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain, Supported by Thy Word.

            Isaac Watts, “Am I a Soldier of the Cross?”

Laugh for the Day: A soldier leaving an Army base was overheard saying to a buddy, "This has got to be 'love at first sight'.  I'm on an eight-hour-pass."

Writer’s Tips:

I’m in a writer’s fog today (is that what happens when you turn a year older?) so, in honor of Memorial Day I’m sharing the first poem I wrote that our pastor put in the church bulletin:

Soldiers

Our soldiers fought hard for our country,

For us they bled and died.

They left their homes and families

To be someone else’s guide.

Just think how sad their parents felt,

Their wives and children too,

When they heard the news the man was dead

Who had always been so true.

We’re proud to have these soldiers

Who for their country bled

To win freedom for our nation

So it could be at the head.

            Donna Clark, age 9

 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

·          100-Plus Motivational Moments for Writers and Speakers – half-price $5, $2.69 s&h (This is free if you purchase 5 other books.)

·          Anthologies: only have Celebrating Christmas with…Memories, Poetry, and Good Food  left. On sale for $10, $3.17 s&h)

·           A Step in the Write Direction—the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers (with assignments throughout); original copies now on sale for half-price--$12.50, $3.17 s&h)

·          The Freedom of Letting Go (with discussion questions; can be used in S.S. class or small group); original copies without questions now on sale for half-price--$7.50, $2.69 s&h)

·          Healing in God’s Time (story of Dave Clark, composer of 25 songs that have gone to #1 on the charts); was $15; now $10, $2.69 s&h)

·          The Little Book of Big Laughs--105 purse/pocket-size book of clean jokes--$5; up to 4 for same s&h—$2.69

·          Preparing Your Heart for Christmas (31 Advent Devotions) half-price—$5

·          Michigan and Ohio Cookbooks; half-price $5 each, plus s&h (depending on number ordered)

A Step in the Write Direction--May 18, 2015--You Know You're Called to Write When...Also, callout for submissions

A Step in the Write Direction

May 18, 2015

Update: And now, just as a football player from the winning Super Team replies when asked what he’s going to do next, “I’m going to Disneyland!” Right! On Sunday, my two daughters, son, son-in-law, and two granddaughters are going to enjoy the “happiest place on earth” (really?). It’ll be good to get away for a few days.

Callout for Submissions:

·        I now have all my material for the caregiver book divided into chapters and am looking for devotionals (200-250 words), poems, prayers, and practical hints. Some humor would be appreciated too. Email me for the chapter titles. I do have a publisher who wants to see the first three chapters, but no guarantee of a contract, so right now I can just offer you a copy of the book when published.

·        I’m going to begin work on a new book for women who find themselves living alone either through death or divorce. It will be called “Yesterday I Was a Wife…Today I Am a …” and each chapter will be something different: a tax preparer, a plumber, a carpenter, a…” Whatever it is you’ve learned how to do that your husband used to do. I’d like it to be a practical book to help other women who find themselves alone. (Yes, I know, sometimes it is the women who already do these things, but not always!) Humor would be good in this one too.

Thought for Today: “God will never unfriend you” (Jimmy Fallon, on “The Tonight Show”).

Laugh for Today:

A little late for Mother’s Day, but thought you’d enjoy these things mothers might have said:

Mona Lisa's mother: "After all that money your father and I spent on braces, Mona, that's the biggest smile you can give us?"

Humpty Dumpty's mother: "Humpty, if I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times not to sit on that wall. But would you listen to me? Noooo!"

Christopher Columbus' mother: "I don't care what you've discovered, Christopher. You still could have written!"

Michelangelo's mother: "Mike, can't you paint on walls like other children? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get that stuff off the ceiling?"

Jonah's mother: "That's a nice story, but now tell me where you've really been for the last three days" (Sermons@clergy.net May 10, 2015).

Song for Today:

Thou canst fill me, gracious Spirit,

Though I cannot tell Thee how;

But I need Thee, greatly need Thee;

Come, O come and fill me now.

            “Fill Me Now,” Elwood H. Stokes

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 something inside 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 twelve times and

returned twelve 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).

Sherwood Wirt, the late editor of Decision magazine, spoke the following words many

years ago, but they still hold true for us today: “Either we Christian writers mean business about winning souls for God, or we should go out of business.…If you have been ordained to write, woe to you if you put everything else first. Woe to you if you do not give to God the best part of the day when you are most alert, when…the juices are flowing and the mind is creative.…

“We have the greatest subject in all history, the Man from Nazareth…the greatest

commodity, the gospel; the greatest book, the Bible; the greatest gift to offer, eternal

salvation. If that doesn’t motivate us…we’re in trouble.”

 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

·          100-Plus Motivational Moments for Writers and Speakers – half-price $5, $2.69 s&h (This is free if you purchase 5 other books.)

·          Anthologies: only have Celebrating Christmas with…Memories, Poetry, and Good Food  left. On sale for $10, $3.17 s&h)

·           A Step in the Write Direction—the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers (with assignments throughout); original copies now on sale for half-price--$12.50, $3.17 s&h)

·          The Freedom of Letting Go (with discussion questions; can be used in S.S. class or small group); original copies without questions now on sale for half-price--$7.50, $2.69 s&h)

·          Healing in God’s Time (story of Dave Clark, composer of 25 songs that have gone to #1 on the charts); was $15; now $10, $2.69 s&h)

·          The Little Book of Big Laughs--105 purse/pocket-size book of clean jokes--$5; up to 4 for same s&h—$2.69

·          Preparing Your Heart for Christmas (31 Advent Devotions) half-price—$5

·          Michigan and Ohio Cookbooks; half-price $5 each, plus s&h (depending on number ordered)

A Step in the Write Direction--May 11, 2015--Mother's Last Gift

A Step in the Write Direction

May 11, 2015

Update: So sorry about missing last week’s blog. When I called my doctor for an appointment last Friday morning, I was coughing so hard, they told me to come in that day. When I did, they sent me to the E.R., and then admitted me with pneumonia. I tried to talk them into a 24-hour stay, but it didn’t work, so I was in till Wednesday. Super good care (it helps that two of our children work there!). The poem below reminds me of a day several years ago when our family was going through multiple health issues (husband with all his, daughter with an insulin pump, son-in-law with MS). A friend called and said, “Does it seem like the rivers are overflowing?” Just then Isaiah 43:1 came to me and I replied, “No, I have flood insurance.”

A happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there, and to all the other women. As our song leader said this morning, “Even if you aren’t a mother, you had one, so you can celebrate.”

Thought for Today:

PASSING THROUGH

(See Isaiah 43:1-2)

"When Thou passest through the waters,"

Deep the waves may be and cold,

But JEHOVAH is our Refuge

And His promise is our hold:

For the LORD Himself hath said it,

He the faithful God and true:

"When thou comest to the waters,

Thou shalt not go down, but through.

—Annie Johnson Flint

Song for Today:

My mother’s old Bible, her treasure divine,

So dear to her heart and so precious to mine,

Each day growing sweeter, more fadeless and new,

My mother’s old Bible so precious and true.

My mother’s old Bible is true,

My mother’s old Bible is true,

My guide to that shore where I’ll meet her once more,

My mother’s old Bible is true.

                        D.M. Shanks, “My Mother’s Old Bible”

Laugh for Today:

Instead of Writer’s Tips, I’d like to share this story about my mother in honor of Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Last Gift

“The nurses on this unit are a special breed,” I said to the uniformed woman who gently changed the IV on my mother’s arm.

“No one is assigned to the cancer ward,” she replied. “We’re all here because we want to be.”

She went on to explain. “On the surgical wards, we generally see a patient just once, then they’re released. We don’t have a chance to get acquainted with them or the family. Here it’s different. In many cases, the patients go home, then, as the disease progresses, they return for a longer stay, so we get to know them and their family members as well."

This was my ninth 2,000-mile-trip in eighteen months to see my mother, and the way it looked, it would be my last time to see her alive. The night before she had slipped into a coma and she now did not recognize any of her children or grandchildren who visited often.

But the nurses knew us! And they were a special breed. During the day we could go to their lounge at any time and pour a cup of hot coffee or tea, or choose between a variety of drinks in the refrigerator. And every night when we got off the elevator, we followed the smell of popcorn to my mother’s room.

“Who buys all these treats?” I asked a nurse one day.

“It comes out of our own pocket,” she answered to my amazement.

* * *

After three weeks, my sister and brother had to return to their homes in other states, but I remained, still hoping for a miracle.

One afternoon I was talking with the ward clerk who was a friend of the family. “Your mother is so special to all of us,” she said. “All the times she’s been in here, she’s never complained and she has such a sweet spirit.”

We chatted for awhile, then my eyes spotted a vase of flowers sitting on her desk.

“What a beautiful plant,” I said as I reached up to touch it. “Mother has such a green thumb. She’d love this one.”

“We hate flowers!” she said bluntly. “Every time someone dies, the family brings up flowers from the funeral. It’s just a reminder to us that no matter how hard we try, there are some lives we just can’t save.”

I had never thought of it that way before but I could understand their feelings.

* * *

Three days after my sister returned home, I, too, had to go. It tore me apart to tell my mother good-bye and to realize that she probably didn’t even know I was leaving.

A week later I got the dreaded but not unexpected message: “Mom’s gone.” Another 2,000-mile flight.

The day after the funeral, my elderly stepfather said, “Let’s take some of these flowers to the hospital.” I agreed, then, remembering what the nurse had told me, I shook my head, explaining the reason.

“But I want to do something for them,” he insisted.

“And I know just what you can do!” I exclaimed.

Later that afternoon, I stopped at the information desk in the hospital lobby and asked if I could borrow one of their flower carts.

My stepfather and I went downstairs, and a few minutes later, we returned to the cancer ward. Getting off the elevator, we wheeled the cart down the hall and into the staff lounge where two nurses stood talking. Their eyes grew wide when they saw the grocery sacks. Then tears came to their eyes as we unloaded cans of coffee, boxes of teabags, bags of sugar, and jars of coffee cream. Other bags contained popcorn, salt, butter, and a variety of drinks.

“No one’s ever done this for us before,” one of the nurses said in disbelief.

“My mother would have wanted it,” I told her. “We don’t want you to look at flowers and be reminded that she died. Instead, every time you reach for a cup of coffee or tea or make popcorn, we want you to think of her and be reminded that she lived. This is her last gift to you.”

 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

·          100-Plus Motivational Moments for Writers and Speakers – half-price $5, $2.69 s&h (This is free if you purchase 5 other books.)

·          Anthologies: only have Celebrating Christmas with…Memories, Poetry, and Good Food  left. On sale for $10, $3.17 s&h)

·           A Step in the Write Direction—the Complete How-to Guide for Christian Writers (with assignments throughout); original copies now on sale for half-price--$12.50, $3.17 s&h)

·          The Freedom of Letting Go (with discussion questions; can be used in S.S. class or small group); original copies without questions now on sale for half-price--$7.50, $2.69 s&h)

·          Healing in God’s Time (story of Dave Clark, composer of 25 songs that have gone to #1 on the charts); was $15; now $10, $2.69 s&h)

·          The Little Book of Big Laughs--105 purse/pocket-size book of clean jokes--$5; up to 4 for same s&h—$2.69

·          Preparing Your Heart for Christmas (31 Advent Devotions) half-price—$5

·          Michigan and Ohio Cookbooks; half-price $5 each, plus s&h (depending on number ordered)