Writing Light 🌞

 

Covid was bad enough, but as I watched political events unfold over the past year, and especially in the last three months, I performed the stereotypical turtle move and disappeared into my shell. Writing has been almost nonexistent.

I’ve been afraid to speak what’s on my heart. If I click the “send” button too quickly after writing with passion or fear, will I regret hasty words? 

Do I have any understanding of my times at all?

The Lord has been patient with me. He’s allowed me to whine, to mindlessly watch TV game shows for hours on end, and to type away on my keyboard—and  delete. The grand entry of 2021 didn’t change my behavior, but a recent, online prayer service has nudged me to the point where I’m peeking out from my shell.

Last Sunday’s prayers were filled with the vision of moving toward our future with God’s help. The youth pastor used an amplified version of Psalm 23:4. “Fear will never conquer me, for You already have.”

Yes! I belong to Jesus! My job is to listen for His guidance and write what He wants me to write—in fiction and in blogging.

Another prayer reminded us of Who God Is. How I needed that assurance! I could move forward in writing and in life with that standard before me.

The prayer for our national leaders pointed us toward praying blessings over them, and for We The People to do what is right in God’s eyes and to teach our children to do the same.

We prayed for healing, looking forward to the time when the pandemic will be behind us and for the Church and its leaders that they may have wisdom for these times. And we finished with the Serenity Prayer.

The prayer service hadn’t shown me anything new, but the reminders encouraged me to:

 

• Listen to God and know when to move, when to speak, or when to wait. 
• Pray for my leaders, both within the church and in our country, seeking blessing and wisdom for them.
• Realize God can see it all—the global pandemic, the political maneuverings, the cry of every person’s heart.

 

God has always known that I would live in this era, in this nation, and that He would gift me with the skills of writing and teaching. It's time to come out of my shell and move toward new challenges and adventures.

 

With God’s help I can overcome fear.

With God’s help I  can write with a voice of reason and inspiration.

With God’s help I will speak Light and Life to all who can hear.

 

God has done the same with you. He has known you would live in Indiana in 2021 in the years of pandemic and political upheaval. He has given you the skills to write, and you have other talents as well. If you've had the same problem as I've had this year, read those words again--

With God's help you can overcome fear.

With God's help you can write with a voice of reason and inspiration.

With God's help you will speak Light and Life to all who can hear.

Go write.

Linda Sammaritan writes realistic fiction, mostly for kids ages ten to fourteen. She is currently working on a middle grade trilogy, World Without Sound, based on her own experiences growing up with a deaf sister.

Linda had always figured she’d teach middle-graders until school authorities presented her with a retirement wheelchair at the overripe age of eighty-five. However, God changed those plans when He gave her a growing passion for writing fiction. In May of 2016, she blew goodbye kisses to her students and dedicated her work hours to learning the craft.

A wife, mother of three, and grandmother to seven, Linda regales the youngest grandchildren with “Nona Stories,” tales of her childhood. Maybe one day those stories will be in picture books!

 

 

Where Linda can be found on the web:  

www.lindasammaritan.com

www.facebook.com/lindasammaritan

www.twitter.com/LindaSammaritan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your Promised Land

 

Remember the story of the twelve spies sent out by Moses to scout out the Promised Land? (Numbers 13:17-33) The idea was to figure out the lay of the land and the strength of the opposition so to be familiar with it when God gave the command to “Go!” This was promised land. Promised by God Himself. Yet ten of the twelve returned quaking in their boots, certain this land could never be conquered. It was filled with giants!

When I taught this story to my elementary level students, we pooh-poohed their lack of faith and applauded Joshua and Caleb for holding on to God’s promise. We pictured ourselves as if we were the Two Heroes, determined to carry on and serve the Lord, to take Him at His Word.

But.

Have you ever found yourself in the same camp with the Timid Ten?

What has God promised in your life? In your writing?

In my life, God has promised several things to me. Some of those promises are now fulfilled, a marvelous part of my personal history. Some of them I’m still waiting on. For some I’ve been given directions as to when to move; others, I keep listening for instruction.

When God added to my passion to write, He promised support. He gave the command to follow that dream and promised He’d be there to help me learn and progress and publish. He didn’t promise multimillion-dollar bestsellers (He didn’t nix the idea either!). He didn’t even promise which book, if any, would be published.

He has kept His promise. I’ve had short stories published. I write a blog and contribute to other blogs on occasion. I’ve written articles for the local newspaper.

And yet. There are moments when I question the promise. I earn maybe two hundred dollars a year from writing. Should I be contributing to family finances—even though we have enough right now? I mutter, “I’m not a real author. Who am I fooling?” And Satan answers, “That’s right. You’re a fake. You can’t write books that people want to read.” And I freeze. Not with writer’s block. With fear. I join the ranks of the Timid Ten.

At that point, I must make a decision. Will I stay in that pit of doubt inviting God’s wrath, or will I face the giants, who appear so intimidating, and barrel through them? God already told me He has my back. I can barrel through without fear! Once Joshua and Caleb received the go-ahead from Jehovah, their army blew through Canaan like a series of tornadoes demolishing one city at a time.

We, too, can seek the Lord’s will, listen for His answer, and follow His directions to victory. Consider what giants might be intimidating you, whether it be a writing project or a life situation. Has God made any promises concerning that project? Has He promised to stand before you and behind you as you face difficult circumstances? Then stay constant in prayer. Move when He says to move. Wait when He says to wait. Write when He says to write. And rest when He says to rest.

Join the ranks of the Two Heroes and enter your promised land.