A Flicker of Lightning

Hope is in short supply. Some thought that the dramatic growth of knowledge and wealth that marked the dawn of the twenty-first century would give us a new birth of hope, but no. Anxiety and despair are the prevailing attitudes of our day.

Daily news headlines confirm this. We see it in the faces of people we encounter every day. Their conversations describe lives of futility and despair, fatalism and cynicism, in a world overcast with fear.

If you say this is nothing new, you would be right. Generations have longed for hope. The question is, can we help them find it?

The late John Gardner, who taught creative writing at Binghamton University, admitted that most fiction writers don't. “For the most part our artists do not struggle—as artists have traditionally struggled—toward a vision of how things ought to be or what has gone wrong; they do not provide us with the flicker of lightning that shows us where we are,” he wrote. “Either they pointlessly waste our time, saying and doing nothing, or they celebrate ugliness and futility, scoffing at good” (Gardner, On Moral Fiction, 16).

Seldom can we write a story that shines a floodlight of truth upon the human condition; perhaps once in a generation does a master storyteller do that. But even “a flicker of lightning” can help our readers find their way. This is why our world needs faithful Christian fiction writers, more than ever.

Joe Allison writes both fiction and nonfiction, and has been a member of the Indiana chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers since 2010. He lives in Anderson, IN, with his wife Maribeth and daughter Heather.

Moral Fiction

In other blog posts I’ve referred to the late John Gardner, long-time professor of creative writing at Oberlin College and elsewhere, who left us several classic books on the art of fiction. His life was cut short by a tragic accident in 1982, yet his books continue to share timeless wisdom. Consider this passage from The Art of Fiction (Vintage: 1985):

The value of great fiction…is not just that it entertains us or distracts us from our troubles, not just that it broadens our knowledge of people and places, but also that it helps us to know what we believe, reinforces those qualities that are noblest within us, leads us to feel uneasy about our faults and limitations (31).

Gardner believed that all great fiction sharpens our moral sense. While he dismissed preachy fiction,  he had a keen eye for the moral purpose of an author. If he found none, he felt the author had lost a great opportunity because “the ultimate value of fiction is its morality.”

It's true: Great novels prod the reader's conscience. Great authors shine the spotlight of accountability on the reader's life. Their stories become an integral part of who the reader is.

So when we embark on the adventure of writing a novel, I believe we need to ask ourselves, “What eternal issues are at stake here? How will my characters be tested by those issues? And how will Christ enable them to come through those tests stronger, more mature, and more like Him?”

Joe Allison writes both fiction and nonfiction, and has been a member of the Indiana chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers since 2010. He lives in Anderson, IN, with his wife Maribeth and daughter Heather.

Life is like my Bottom Office Drawer

by Mary Allen 

My bottom office drawer is filled with items which once had purpose. Short, white phone jacks; thick, yellow USB cords; blue cords with funny square ends to them that no one knows that they do; enormous grey plugs that look as if they mean business; and, six surviving cords from deceased laptops and printers roil about in my bottom office drawer. Each one was carefully placed in the drawer by me at some time in the past. Some of them are even labeled.

I didn’t throw them away because I expected them to be used again in the future. Plus, after laying out so much money, it felt wasteful to pitch them when the computer died, the monitor remained black, or I changed service providers and they didn’t want the old modem returned, a definite red flag as to why I shouldn’t have bothered to keep it any longer, either.

Recently, I reached into the bottom office drawer and the cords came out en masse. Also entangled in them was the cup heater, the direct line house phone (in case the power goes out), various program start-up-rescue disks, and several miles of thin, flat, black phone line. All that and I still couldn’t find the cord I needed. I was sure I’d labeled and stored it there.

I have a theory how this happens. It’s an enchanted drawer. Once the drawer closes the cords come alive and entwine like baby rattlers in a snake pit. The big nasty snake-cords eat the more benign snake-cords and have hybrid baby snake-cords that don’t belong to anything, which is why the drawer remains messy and full of useless cords that spring out at me when I open it.

A writer’s life is a lot like that drawer. We each have items we keep that were once useful. It could be articles we’ve written when we started out or blogs and activities we do that no longer serve a constructive purpose. When we try to keep all these once-useful things life gets messy, tangled, and bogged down.

A writer’s life, like that bottom office drawer, needs spring cleaning. What no longer has a direct use, makes a connection, or serves an immediate purpose must go. It’s not as simple as hacking away what was once a joy, but now is a chore. Sometimes “chores” feel that way because we’ve crowded them with other activities that cause us to lose focus. This means we have to lift each activity to God and ask what He wants to do with it. Only He has the foresight and insight.

How about you? What in your life needs to go? What needs straightening? What needs to be rescued from the bottom office drawer and moved to a place of importance on your desk top?

May God whom I serve, bless you, guide you, inspire you, and speak through your writing this year.

2014 - A Year of Destiny and Purpose

Dear Fellow Writers,

     2014 looms ahead like a bound book of blank pages waiting to be filled. For some, all that white is paralyzing. Others itch to fill the pages. Still others press the first page flat, prep the pen, and plan. Whatever your style, I encourage you to include God for only he can cause us to get it right. Do you doubt me? Look at 2013 one last time before you file it on the shelf.

     The Book of My Life 2013 is filled with scrawls, inkblots, and scratch outs, as well as exclamation points, underlining, and stars. So is yours. Evaluate it through God’s eyes and you may be surprised. What you marked as failure may have held important God-moments that will help you succeed in your writing life or as a person. The success you did reach may have not been as sweet as you anticipated. Why not? The Bible is filled with men who followed God and knew success, only to become prideful, neglectful of family or driven by accolades.

     As writers, we incorporate our experiences into stories of impact. We describe what we see and feel so that readers identify with us. With written words we define and clarify what escapes others. In effect, we are God’s reporters weaving truth into fiction in such a way that light comes to dark minds.When you look at it like this, every moment has the potential of being a God-moment.

     You have a destiny, a purpose to fulfill. This next year will move you closer to it if you let two truths guide you. They are true whether 2014 is a mountaintop or a desert experience.

1.   God has a plan, a destiny, for you that is good. He tells us straight out in Jeremiah 29:11 “I know the plans I have for you… plans to prosper and not harm you, to give you hope and a future.”

2.   You choose your destiny. This destiny is not assured. It requires a decision to follow Christ’s direction. He gives us freewill, yet invites us to follow him and obtain full joy. “I set before you today life and prosperity or death and destruction…now choose…” Deuteronomy 30:15-19

     The year 2014 will hold surprises. Some will delight you. Some will devastate you. One thing is assured. God is faithful. Listen to him. Each day search for the God moments. Be grateful. Then you will say, “Look what the Lord has done!”

                                                             

Happy New Year! 

May this year be the closest you've ever been to the Lord. Live for him. Write for him. 

              Mary Allen 

"Write So That No One Despairs"

A long-time professor of creative writing and successful novelist himself, John Gardner advised his students "to write with the assumption that one out of a hundred people who read one's work may be dying, or have some loved one dying. " He urged them "to write so that no one commits suicide, no one despairs...Every writer should be aware that he might be read by the desperate, by people who might be persuaded toward life or death."

For this reason, he cautioned, "The true artist is never so lost in his imaginary world that he forgets the real world, where teenagers have a chemical propensity toward anguish, people between their thirties and forties have a tendency to get divorced, and people in their seventies have a tendency toward loneliness, poverty, self-pity, and sometimes anger. The true artist never chooses to be a bad physician. He gets his sense of worth and honor from his conviction that art is powerful--even bad art" (Gardner, The Art of Fiction, 201-202).

Writers' conferences, workshops, and blogs insist that we strive for commercial viability. Is our work marketable? Is it entertaining? But Gardner confronts us with a question even more insistent: Is our work encouraging?

Our readers may be caught in the gears of daily life, like Charlie Chaplin in "Modern Times." They read our stories to find respite from the pain; and yet, because we try to portray life as it really is, we run the risk of drawing them in deeper and making their pain acute. Even fatal.

I remember reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby in a high-school study hall. The book left me in such despair that I struggled with depression for months afteward and swore off reading novels for years. Great literature? Yes. Great reading for a teenager trying to find his way in the world? It certainly wasn't that for me.

The next novel I read four or five years later was The Bishop's Mantle, by Alice Sligh Turnbull. I suppose Turnbull will never be as well-known as Fitzgerald, and I'm sure her novel didn't sell as many copies, but God used it as a healing balm for my soul. Turnbull helped me to see that the world still had room for compassionate, sacrificial young men, and I could be one of them.

Joe Allison and his wife, Judy, live in Anderson IN, where Joe serves as Coordinator of Publishing for Church of God Ministries, Inc. Joe has several nonfiction books in print, including Swords and Whetstones: A Guide to Christian Bible Study Resources. He's currently writing a trilogy of Christian historical novels set in the Great Depression.

Visit Joe's blog at http://hoosierwriter.wordpress.com

Worrying about Tomorrow

To a rabble of dirt farmers, ragged fisherfolk, and beggars, Jesus said,

Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?...But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow... (Matt. 6:25, 33-34). 

Think for a moment about the implications of the word, strive. Jesus says we strive for many things; we think, fret, and strategize about how to obtain food, clothing, and everything else we need.

Jesus doesn't dismiss these concerns. "Indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things" (v. 32). So striving for them--working intentionally to earn them--is not a bad thing. However, Jesus says we should "strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness..."

Current economic problems are as vexing to Christian writers as anyone else, because we work just as hard to pay our bills. We are no less inclined to worry about having the wherewithal to obtain the food, clothing, and shelter we need. Many times we wonder where our next assignment will come from, and whether it will keep a roof over our heads or pay our medical expenses. (As Shakespeare might say, "Prick us, and do we not bleed? Test it, and do we not get invoiced?")

Yet our situation is different in this respect: We are called first of all to build God's kingdom, not to make money.

Yes, the money is important because the things money will buy are important, but since our Father is there 'way ahead of us, we don't need to worry about the money first of all. Keep the faith. Write the vision. And know that "God will fully supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:19).

Joe Allison and his wife, Judy, live in Anderson IN, where Joe serves as Coordinator of Publishing for Church of God Ministries, Inc. Joe has several nonfiction books in print, including Swords and Whetstones: A Guide to Christian Bible Study Resources. He's currently writing a trilogy of Christian historical novels set in the Great Depression.

Visit Joe's blog at http://hoosierwriter.wordpress.com

 

 

Planning for Purpose

Can you remember what your life looked like when you were 12-years-old? Now, I know for some of you that requires accessing memories that are much farther in the past than for others.

As a 12-year-old girl, I spent my days in middle school. I had my first male teacher. I took piano lessons and played softball. I wore braces on my teeth and friendship pins on my tennis shoes. I changed classes for each period, took computer class for the first time, and got contact lenses. I also won my first writing contest.

This week I’ve been thinking about how God prepares us and provides for us all throughout our lives for the purposes He desires for us to complete (Eph. 2:10).  God promises us that he does, indeed, have plans for us to accomplish (Jer. 29:11) and that He will pave the way for us and equip us with whatever we need (Eph. 4:11-12),(Heb. 13:20-21) and that it will all be for the good of His people and according to His will.

This week I interviewed a mother and daughter whose just-released  book, Time to Choose: Growing Up Under Hitler and Watching History Repeat Itself, chronicles the mother’s upbringing in war-torn Eastern Europe during the first half of the twentieth century and her immigration to the United States. As a 12-year-old in Yugoslavia, Hilda’s family thrived as farmers because they knew how to work hard. She tended the chickens, herded the cows, and gathered vegetables from the garden and fruit from the trees. She helped her mother cook for their large family and hired help. She also began life as a refugee and took over the responsibility to care for herself and her family.

What struck me as I read the book and then talked with this remarkable woman, was the way God prepared her for the tasks He would set before her over the years.  He equipped her with the work ethic to provide for her family, even as a young teenager. He readied her to journey across Europe and on to America. He trained her to look to Him for every need she had and to obey even when it didn’t make sense. And eighty years ago, He placed her as the often-unnoticed baby of the family, where she frequently heard and saw things that would later become the basis for this call-to-action book.

So, what about you? How has God prepared you for the life you're living now? What in your past prepared you for your future? When you look back at your childhood, what clues do you see that you would be a writer? What events—good, bad, or ugly—is God using now to bring about His will for your life or those in your circle of influence?

*If you'd like to read my Amazon book review of Time to Choose, please click here.

Nikki Studebaker Barcus

 

Interview with Scott Nehring, author of You Are What You See: Watching Movies Through A Christian Lens

Last month, I reviewed You Are What You See: Watching Movies Through A Christian Lens by film critic Scott Nehring. I had the privilege of hearing Christian film critic Scott Nehring on Chris Fabry live (3-5pm on WGNR-FM, 97.9). Nehring's reviews have been syndicated on several websites including Reuter's, USAToday, FoxNews, and The Chicago Sun Times.

This book has a lot to say about how we look at movies as a Christian, but I also saw elements that spoke to writing. This month, I have the privilege of interviewing Scott Nehring.

JR: How did you get started writing movie reviews?

SN: I began in 2004 when I started my first site. I had gotten tired of the usual reviews I found online. It seemed most critics either didn’t have any idea what they were talking about or they were insufferable snobs. I thought I could step in and try to fill that gap.

JR: What are the most memorable responses (positive or negative) you've received to either your book or to your reviews?

SN: My personal favorite was having a woman named Tessa telling me she hoped I “get raped and contract A.I.D.S.” for my negative review of The Constant Gardner. The flood of responses for my calling Avatar the worst movie ever made (it is – and unbelievably racist to boot) is also another feather in my cap. It's always nice to receive compliments, but it's also fun to get someone riled up enough to slam your work.

JR: Have you ever tried your hand at writing fiction?

SN: Yes. I have been writing screenplays since I was child. I wrote my first screenplay when I was 12. I moved into writing stage plays in my late teens. I have been produced and enjoyed some minor success, but nothing to put a roof over my head. I’m living proof that just because you know what you’re doing, it doesn’t mean you have the talent and luck to pull it off. I backed away from fiction writing in 2004. Since then, I have found that my talent rests more in deconstructing stories and helping others learn how to see the components of a properly told tale.

JR: This leads into your book. The second section deals with the structure and character types common in movies. What do you think a budding Christian novelist can learn from that section to help their writing?

SN: As explained in my book, the structure and character archetypes found in story are engrained in us. These structures are instinctive to us and are used to influence how we communicate and understand concepts. By understanding how these narrative mechanics work and how they can be applied to our stories, the Christian writer can improve their work and make their tale more enjoyable to the reader.

JR: If you were to write a novel or screen-play, how would your experience as a film critic and writing You Are What You See influence it?

SN: The process of writing You Are What You See forced me to consider how I watch film. It also forced me to think about the kinds of stories I used to write and how I went about writing them. I went through a serious maturing process in regards to how I look at my work while putting the book together. I believe that would come through in my writing. I would be far more conscious to the messages I was weaving into the narrative and more aware on how those messages would play in the final script.

JR: Picture hundreds of Christian novelists listening for any advice/exhortations in reaching today's culture. (Okay, make it more like a dozen novelists.) We're all ears. How would you like to challenge us?

SN: The Christian writer has a responsibility to do more than simply write – they need to express their faith in their work. If you call yourself a Christian then your work inescapably reflects your faith. This being the case, you need to do your best to release works that glorify the Lord and the gifts He has provided to you. In short, we don’t glorify God by making crap.

Look at the culture we live in today. It is hollow and stagnant. This is because it is secular and only serves itself. A hundred years from now – I take that back, 20-30 years from now, how much will remain from this moment in cultural history? The Arts and the culture they produce have become disposable and ultimately useless.

Christian artists need to realize that when people complain about the state of our culture, it is their fault. The Arts have fallen into disrepair because over the last 60 years we have failed to fight for and protect them. We have handed over our role as cultural leaders and now see the results of that surrender. The time has come for Christian artists and writers to work towards reclaiming the culture. This is done by creating valuable works that aren’t just mimicking the latest fads or playing to the most sensitive and restrictive members of our audience. If we make works that are intellectually and artistically fulfilling -- ones that challenge the artist and the audience -- we can begin to make the changes in this society towards a more fruitful and productive future.

JR: Thank you very much for your time, and also for writing this excellent book.

If you want more information on Scott's book, go to http://www.YouAreWhatYouSee.com. You can also access Scott's movie reviews at http://www.GoodNewsFilmReviews.com.

"To Be Read?" Or "To Have Said?"

Here's a question for thought. On Oscar night, 1982, who would you rather be? David Putnam, the producer who walked up to the stage to receive the Best Picture trophy for “Chariots of Fire?” Or fellow producer George Lucas whose “Raiders of the Lost Ark” was the big money maker for the same year?

1981 movies too long ago for you to remember? All right, let's set the chronometer forward a quarter of the century and look at two other movies: “The Illusionist” and “The Prestige”. I find it fun looking at the Amazon reviewers argue about which was better. My opinion? “The Prestige” was the better movie but “The Illusionist” was the one I enjoyed watching better.

While both movies dealt with turn-of-the-century illusionists and released the same year, comparing them is like the cliché of apples and oranges. “The Illusionist” was an old fashioned movie, with a clear cut hero, a clear cut heroine, a clear cut villain, and a likeable antagonist. “The Prestige” had two leads that did not fit the nice neat molds. On the other hand, it made you think more. It strove to be a higher form of art.

Yes, you can say I'm dealing with the philosophical debate of making great art or good money. Should we aim to please the people even if we're being imitative rather than innovative? Or should we seek to make the critics notice, doing something that is more creative but may not have mass appeal?

Let's get real for a moment. Any true artist has enough pride in their work to do their best and not produce garbage, but also knows they need to reach enough people for their project to be profitable. However, there will be times when we debate on whether to take a risk that may lessen our audience or not. There's no right across-the-board answer.

But is it really money vs. art? No question about the money side, but let me propose that there is either a conscious or an unconscious message to the art. I recently read Saving Leonardo by Nancy Pearcey which looks at how worldview affects art. She mentions that Gian Carlo Menotti was criticized for his one act opera “Amahl and the Night Visitors” because the music was too beautiful.

As Christian novelists, is our goal “To be read” (i.e. getting books off the shelves and into hands) or “To have said” (i.e. having a clear message)? As I said, most of us would answer this question “Yes.” We want both. But, as I also said, we will lean one way or another as we write.

I have written two complete novels, over 20 years apart. The first one was basically written to become a popular adventure movie. I had no real message in the story. What's funny is that while I wrote it as popular fiction, it was probably too Christian for the secular market and too secular for the Christian market.

The reason I wrote the more recent novel was because I had a purpose for it. I thought I could get more people interested in apologetics by writing a novel about a murder mystery at an apologetics conference than I could writing a non-fiction tome. As I wrote it, I had no plans to write a second novel unless I felt led to. And you guessed it: my hunch is that the message novel is more marketable.

This question will affect certain aspects of your story, though. Some of you may have seen a question on the ACFW loop about whether it's appropriate to use a phrase that was considered vulgar when I was younger but has become more common place. Using it would be more realistic, but it might also be offensive to some readers (as well as making agents or editors nervous). On the other hand, I read a novel where the author made some very strong points that represent a theology that not all Christians share.

Let me get practical. In a couple of my works in progress, I've debated dealing with homosexuality and the tension between that lifestyle and conservative Christianity. I came to the conclusion it is not necessary in the story I'm working on now. I'm not as sure about the third installment. I know that this is a risk, but what is more important? To deal with the story and offend some people? Or keep everybody comfortable?

I'd love to get your feedback. This is a great philosophical question, and I don't believe there's a wrong answer.

Whose Skin Are You In?

by Mary Allen

You were influenced by writers from the first time the printed word whisked you through a magic doorway into other worlds and other lives. Mimicking those authors, you conjured up people and worlds of your own. Your craft developed still bearing the stamp of those you admired. Eventually you become a writer with your own style. You have “voice”.

Read through recent Hoosier Ink blogs. Notice how often you can identify a writer by their style, word choice, or tone. What you recognize is that person’s personality. They have gifted a bit of themselves to the reader.

Some may think voice is the flag we capture at the summit of publication, the prize in which our name becomes our trademark. I suggest that voice happens earlier, when we risk revealing our selves through the written word. Then publication, brand, and trademark rise from that which God created in you uniquely for a specific purpose within a particular time frame.

What you have to say, the lessons you carry from your experiences, and the very essence of your genetic makeup all unite to create you. Your Life Voice will be strongest when it lines up with God’s will and your Writer's Voice will emerge from your Life Voice.

What experiences have notarized your personality? Are you hiding these or letting them endorse your words with power? Have you accepted your God-given individuality? Have you incorporated values of your favorite authors in a way that strengthens and nurtures your Voice?

If you are still looking for your Voice check to see whose skin you are in. Are you disguised as someone else? Are you cloaking your strengths by copying literary heroes? Are you envious of how God uses his other servants? You will never be more powerful than when you are who God created you to be.

“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit or stand. When far away you know my every thought. You chart the path ahead of me, and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment, you know where I am. You know what I am going to say before I even say it. You both precede and follow me, and place your hand of blessing on my head. This is too glorious, too wonderful to believe! I can never be lost to your Spirit! I can never get away from my God!” Psalm 139: 1-6

Meeting God at Conference

Conference was a high-powered speed boat frothing the lake of our literary world. Now, however, the buzz has worn off. The adrenaline high has tapered to (hopefully) a consistent putt-putting, like a tugboat pulling freight. The day jobs and various roles we live have settled into mundane and routine chaos. It’s now that the true take-away value of those three days in Indianapolis emerges.

The teaching was great, the speaker fantastic, but I want to weep with gratitude when I recount experiences with people. They were like gentle kisses from God. Here are a few. I’m sure they’ll help you recall your own list.

*The kindness of wait staff to provide what was needed over and above their duty.

*Two new roommates who made me feel connected and comfortable. One whose first-time exuberance increased my conference excitement, the other who extended unexpected aid, were blessings directly from our Father.

*A chance to rejoice with a friend whose career is progressing, and another for whom God answered prayers and a fleece.

*An encouraging word given by a publisher.

*Comforting someone over a heart-wrenching situation and receiving back a Word of knowledge for myself.

*A chance to be generous in what felt like a very small way and having generosity returned in a large way.

*Hearing how time after time God brought his children through dire straits, disasters, sickness, or loss.

*Recounting to others how faithful God has been to me.

All through the Bible holy days and festivals were established to remember God’s holy intervention and emphasize his continuous active presence. Conference was like that – an extraordinary celebration of an extraordinary God doing extraordinary things in the lives of ordinary people.

Yes, the point of conference was to hone our craft, make contacts, develop new friendships, and promote ourselves. It was also so much more. Please don’t forget that what we do is really about God and people. This includes fellow writers, publishers, editors, and agents, those outsiders who observe us, and the very real human readers who buy books. God is interested in people. People are his heart. In the end, recognizing and aligning with his plan is what will keep us moving toward our own personal goals and sustain us through the tough or drab times.

Take some time to remember what God did for you specifically at conference, those who impacted you, and those whose lives you touched for God. I’d love to hear about a special God-moment you had. Also, those who didn’t go jump in here too, for God met you in special ways as well.

We Make Plans--God Laughs.

A beautiful Jewish woman once said: "We make plans--God laughs."

 Take my bookshelves for example.

They reminded me this week that "many are the plans of a [wo]man's heart, but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails" (Proverbs 19:21).

I'm no longer teaching full-time, and am in the process of moving all my materials, books and supplies into my tiny home office. My husband built beautiful shelves on my office wall. Still not room enough

Some inexpensive, short book cases caught my eye at Wal-mart, and I thought it was rather clever of me to buy two of them for stacking on top of one another.

God didn't give me an engineer's or carpenter's mind. I have two things working against me in the logic department: I'm blond and a soprano. (No offense to the smarter blonds and sopranos out there.) It never occurred to me that the little shelves wouldn't sustain the weight of another little shelf on top, burdened with more books than the library at Alexandria.

I was rather pleased with myself as I placed the last book on the top shelves when CRASH, the shelf on the bottom completely collapsed.

My plans seemed reasonable at the time. Now, they were clearly bad ones. I wonder--did God laugh? If I were Him, I would have.

It's been like this for me as I prepare for ACFW Conference. I had X number of days to get X number of pages polished and other preparations done. I was on a roll. I was going to be ready like no one else. I was a writing machine. (Click here to read how obsessed I am about conference: "Excited as a Puppy with Two Tails.")

Then, a friend of mine got sick. And that's when I had to accept an important truth: people are more important than my writing plans and goals and dreams.

I thought I had turned my goals and dreams over to the Lord long ago. But these interruptions taught me a valuable lesson. They taught me that God's plans and purposes will indeed prevail, whether I think so or not. He has a plan for my work in progress, and He knows the exact time when it is to be published or whether or not it will be. Because this journey isn't about me and my dreams. It's about the message He wants to give through me.

There have been other kinks in my journey toward ACFW Conference and my dream of meeting the agent and editor who will love my platform and my ministry. But I think God is sending these little detours to test my ability to roll with His plans. I won't be able to give anyone credit but Him, should any success be mine.

It's all bigger than me, anyway. But it's not bigger than God. He is bigger than any expectation I may have. And He can handle it. If I truly believe He's in control, and do my part to be a workman that needeth not be ashamed, then there will be peace.

And I, with God, will laugh.

What Oatmeal and Oranges Have in Common with You and Brother Andrew

Amid all the choices I had to read, I’m not sure how I happened at age eleven upon the blue hardbound book entitled “God’s Smuggler” by the founder of Open Doors, an organization which still ministers to persecuted Christians around the world.

Known as Brother Andrew, this Dutchman loved God and risked his life repeatedly to smuggle pornographic material into Communist countries. You see, after the communist government had declared the Bible to be pornographic, jail, torture, or death awaited those foolish enough to carry such contraband.

Once, Brother Andrew prayed the eyes of the border patrol would be blinded as he stacked Bibles openly on his seat. Every other car was pulled apart and searched, but he was waved through with only a cursory glance at his passport.

What most captured me was that God Almighty gave specific direction. “Andrew, go to Red Street, knock on the fifth door on the right and ask whoever answers if they would like a Bible.” Andrew obeyed, and was kept safe. His response amazed me every bit as much as this account from Genesis 12:1, “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.’”

Andrew wasn’t exempt from life’s problems. People betrayed his trust. Not every moment was so clearly defined. He had human frailties. Even so, God accomplished His purpose to reach Eastern European hearts just as He promised Abram that all peoples on earth will be blessed through him and his obedience.

As a young mother, I read a true account of an intercessor awakened by God and told to go shopping. She browsed the grocery aisles listening for further instruction as she filled the cart with flour, sugar, milk, baby formula, oatmeal. She hesitated over oranges, an expensive treat, but didn’t feel the task was complete until she’d added them. She didn’t know that a hungry little girl, being taught by her parents to pray to God to supply breakfast, had specifically requested them.

If God has given you a task – say to write—don’t grow weary in doing that job. Don’t let opposition or difficulties or logic sway you. There is power in the written word. Stories of Brother Andrew and that nameless woman impressed me to follow their example. You will impress others to draw closer to God through your writing. Don’t ever underestimate the power of an obedient heart sold out 100% to the Lord. Be that heart.

Who has been a Brother Andrew example for you? How has it impacted your writing experience? What is the hardest step of obedience/ trust you’ve had to make in writing?