As I work doggedly to fine-tune the first three chapters of my first novel,  create a one-sheet, synopsis, and a proposal for the ACFW conference, my nerves once again take over. It’s a thing I deal with before conferences. Frustrating. I lose sleep; ideas pop into my head at all hours of the night and my brain goes into overdrive!

By the fourth or fifth night of little or no sleep, I question whether I should even attend the conference. What if I get sick? Or am too tired to get anything out of the classes once I get there? A lot of money is going into this conference. I can’t afford to waste it!

Finally, I wake up (ha! what’s that?!) and take the whole matter to the One who never slumbers. Duh! How does a believer dink around in misery, waiting for days before recognizing she has a problem she can’t handle? Ask me. I’m pretty good at it.

In my recliner, middle of the night; on my knees, middle of the night; middle of my living room, middle of the night; I ask for peace. Should I go? Am I supposed to be a writer? I’m sure You’ve called me there, but now I don’t really know. I need answers. I need to cry, but I’m so tired I can’t. What is it You want me to do?? I just need an answer!

No answer. Nothing.

The day before conference, after three nights of beating on heaven’s door, I sit with my husband at the breakfast table and share our daily devotion. As he reads from the scriptures, my mind wanders a bit. How can I be so tired and not sleep? Are you telling me this writing thing is my idea, not Yours?  Suddenly, my mind is jerked back to the kitchen table and the words my hubby’s reading.

Paul is talking about the “thorn in his flesh,” a messenger of Satan, given to torment him and to keep him from becoming conceited.

 ”Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me,’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I sit there knowing He has answered my prayers. No, I don’t immediately fall asleep!  His grace is sufficient…and, tired as I am, I feel a bit stronger. And tears — ah, finally! — roll down my cheeks. I’m gonna make it. I’ll go to that conference and He will strengthen me!

I went. It was wonderful. And whether I get published or not, He’s teaching me that His strength is made perfect in weakness. And man, am I weak. Rest your power on me, Jesus!

My daughter suggests if I want advice on the computer problem I mentioned in this morning’s post, I maybe shouldn’t refer to my technology-wise friends as “geeks”! My grandson, age 5, knows better than that! He knows which side his bread is buttered on, and knows just who to “butter up.” So I’ll take her advice. Please, please, if there’s anyone out there who can answer my question, let me know. And I won’t call you a Geek, okay??

I’ve started reading Tyndale’s Chronological Bible. Very interesting!! It’s arranged so you read the Bible in a year - in the order it happened!  God’s people and The Days of Their Lives. It skips around some; ie…lots of Genesis and 1 Chronicles together; parts of Daniel, 2 Kings, and Jeremiah together, etc. I got interested in the sequence when I kept running into references to Nebuchadnezzar’s reign in other books besides Daniel, and a friend told me about it. Hopefully, I won’t get too busy and will make my goal of reading it in one year! 

My Kitchen this Morning

Oh, my!! My kitchen this morning. Oh, how do we get so busy??? Gotta start revising and editing my novel, but about a bushel of plums are calling my name from the pantry! And the ingredients for a couple of big recipes - for tomorrow’s church dinner- sit in the freezer, fridge, and cans…waiting to be assembled.

I spent most of the day yesterday with the “Geek Squad” getting my main computer cleaned and a wireless card put in. Walked in the place at 10:05 and finally got my computer back at around 3:30 pm. Now I can actually print from my laptop. Before this, the printer would accept prompts from USB or wireless, but not both, so I spent some of my writing time communicating between the two computers via email or flash drives. Good to get things set up. I was surprised I actually got the thing reset by myself last night, but not surprised that it took me around three hours. The PC is evidently still mad about the whole thing, cuz it keeps telling me I’ve unhooked the printer from the USB port and must remedy that. Yup, I did unhook it, and yup, it still prints for me. Any geek out there who can tell me…is it okay to delete the port?? It keeps telling me it’ll permanently delete it, but I’m guessing that’s how I get rid of those annoying pop-up boxes???? Obviously, I’m not that techno-savvy!

Besides learning a bunch, I enjoyed the Saturday night Awards Banquet at the ACFW Conference. Winning Authors from all genres were awarded Book of the Year status. What an impressive collection of writers and titles! Here’s the picture of my friend Rhonda Gibson, award-winning author for the Novellas category, that flashed across the screen as her award was announced. So proud to see a northwest NM gal walk across that stage. Congratulations, Rhonda!

This was on an old post, but wanted to share it again. Hopefully, all you authors will enjoy it!

Reflections

Reflect on the glory of the Father above.

Pray; then write, and reflect His love.

Trust that the Savior’s grace and light

will reflect in your words. Pray, then write.

Pray that the Spirit’s freedom will show

in all your writings, that the world may know…

through the love of the Father,

the grace of His Son,

and the freedom of the Spirit…

what our God has done!

by Barbara Lukow  © 2007

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness, with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.  2 Cor. 3:17-18

God never stops blessing!

 I’m so glad to be home. Missed my hubby and I think he missed me. He didn’t eat any of the TV dinners I stuck in the freezer for him, but ate the entire pot of tortilla soup I made up right before I left. Ahh. He still prefers my cooking! It felt so good till I realized that compared to TV dinners, that’s no great compliment!

We went to check irrigation last night and enjoyed God’s creation: the plums are ripening and ready for jam; apples are getting there; three fields are down and drying (I’ll get to bale this time!); and the cottonwoods are starting to turn. We stood at the foot of a couple of those huge trees and marveled at the beauty and power of God’s creation. The latest lightning storm struck close to home. The bark on two of the largest cottonwoods in our grove was stripped from the limbs and the trunk…a line that started in the topmost branches and followed down the trees all the way to the ground! Thankfully, we were safely ensconced on our recliners that night.

I was also blessed with the opportunity to meet and enjoy a group of Connie’s Christian friends over the weekend. Among them: Betty and Al Slade (Betty’s a fantastic artist and gracious hostess) of the Lower Blanco, CO area; Lauraine and Wayne Snelling (Lauraine’s a best-selling Christian author) of CA; and Betty Lucero and her husband from Clovis, NM. What wonderful folks!

 We spent the night in Betty and Al’s beautiful mountain valley amongst the pines, spruce, and aspen. A little overnight retreat where we enjoyed Betty L’s luscious cooking and spirit-filled conversation; Lauraine’s fun,down-to-earth ways — you’d never know she’s famous!; and Betty S’s gracious, bubbly personality.  You may have noticed I didn’t mention much about the men. They are sweet guys, all of them. I’m afraid we women kind of took over the conversation, though! Is that typical or what!

Think I’ll meander out and pick some plums. Time to stop jabbering and get to work!

Beautiful weather! It feels like fall here today. I just returned from the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference in Denver. Wow! What an experience! Met lots of new folks and learned so much. My friend Rhonda Gibson won another award, and I enjoyed attending the conference with another precious friend, Connie Peters. God has blessed me with wonderful writing friends. I think I’ll sleep a few hours now! Yawn!!

First cut is over; so is second cut. I missed getting to bale any hay in June, but got in on a little during July. What a blessing it is to live in the country!

It’s fair time again; that time of year when I always see kids I taught twenty-some years ago walking the fairway with their own kids! Oh, my, but the years pass us swiftly by!

I’m thankful to be almost back to normal. Still trekking to therapy once a week. It took me forever to feel good about driving again, but I’m managing that again, too. I have almost full range-of-motion back, but still building some strength. Wonderful folks at Therapy One! I’m so proud and thankful to be a patient there!

Twenty Important Things About Our Moms

I’ve been thinking a lot about Ethel and Iona (Jim’s mom and my mom) these days. They’re both pretty special ladies. I don’t think we give the women of their generation enough credit. These were the gals who did it all: lived through the worst decade of the last century, grew their own food, bore and raised children, worked outside the home, and trusted in God through it all.

If you’re a part of their generation, I salute you. If not, join me in saluting the moms who lived the lives they did. They deserve it!

Twenty Things About Iona and Ethel:

1.      Our Moms were both born right after the First World War.

2.      They survived the Great Depression.

3.      They lived through the Second World War, Korean War, and Vietnam.

4.      They started their married lives as farmwives in the mid-forties.

5.      They raised gardens and butchered chickens to feed their families.

6.      They taught in small country schools.

7.      They taught their children right from wrong.

8.      They taught us to respect our elders, our country, and our flag.

9.      They loved us so much, they weren’t afraid to spank us.

10.  They both know all about outhouses and Monkey Ward’s catalogs.

11.  They were wonderful cooks: our favorites were Ethel’s homemade bread and Iona’s fried chicken!

12.  They know what it’s like to do without, make the best of very little, and keep on going.

13.  They both taught Sunday School.

14.  They raised children who are all self-sufficient, productive members of society.

15.  They both walked with a child through the ravages of disease and disability: polio and cerebral palsy.

16.  They put their family before themselves.

17.  They worked from sunup to sundown.

18.  They taught their children a work ethic: professions of their children and grandchildren include teacher, principal, engineer, office manager, farmer, policeman, soldier, chef, technology director, opera singer, doctor, counselor,

19.  They taught their kids to trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

20.  To this day, they both read the scriptures and pray daily.

Mother’s Day is coming up in May. Let’s not forget to honor our Moms.