W is for Waiting, by Susan Barclay

 

As I was contemplating this month’s post, I remembered reading about how much time the average person spends waiting. A quick Google search took me to reference.com and some American statistics. I doubt we’re much different in Canada or anywhere else in the west. 

We spend

• 20 minutes a day for the bus or train
• 32 minutes in a waiting room before seeing the doctor
• 28 minutes in security lines when travelling
• 21 minutes for a significant other to get ready to go out
• 13 hours on hold for customer service (annually)
• 38 hours in traffic (annually)
• 37 billion hours in line (collectively and annually) – given Canada’s much smaller population, this number would be much smaller north of the 49^th parallel

In short, we wait a LOT. The Bible also contains many illustrations of this reality. Here are just a few:

• Noah waited for the floodwaters to recede and the earth to dry before he and his family could leave the safety of the Ark (12.5 months, see Genesis 8:13-14)
• Jacob waited 7 years for his beloved Rachel and worked another 7 years to fulfill his part of the marriage agreement (Genesis 29)
• The Israelites wandered 40 years in the wilderness before gaining the right to enter the Promised Land
• The Jews were taken captive in Babylon 70 years before being allowed to return to their homeland
• There are 400 years between the Old Testament and the New. Waiting and waiting for Messiah, the fulfillment of centuries of prophecy!

Even Jesus had to wait:

• 9 months from conception to birth;
• 30 years before the beginning of his earthly ministry;
• 40 days in the wilderness after being baptized by John and while being tempted by satan;
• four days before raising his friend Lazarus;
• hours of intense prayer in the garden of Gethsemane before his betrayer’s kiss;
• hours on the cross before dying;
• three days in the grave before resurrecting

Waiting is hard. It doesn’t come naturally. We want what we want when we want it. God, on the other hand, wants to develop patience in us. He wants to develop trust. He wants us to believe and know that He is God. He is sovereign and good even when it doesn’t always appear so.

As believers we wait for

• Answers to prayer
• God to move in situations and circumstances over which we have little to no control
• Unsaved family members and friends to come to Christ
• Guidance and direction from Holy Spirit

As writers we wait for

• The right words to flow onto the page
• Wisdom to know where to send our work
• Publishers to respond to our submissions and inquiries
• The right agent to advocate on behalf of us and our writing
• Words of affirmation or connection from readers

What are you waiting for today? What has waiting taught you about yourself and about God? As you look at biblical examples of waiting, what stories encourage you most, and why?

As you wait, rest in these words:

But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint. ~Isaiah 40:31

Waiting gives us time to develop character and Christlikeness. May we wait in a way that proves our faith and pleases the LORD. May our waiting be an offering and a gift to Him, and the results testify that He does all things well. And may those who come behind us find us faithful.

___________________________

For more about Susan Barclay and her writing, please visit www.susan-barclay.blogspot.com. 

Walk Your Way to Writing by Sandi Somers

It’s time for my morning walk. I dress for the weather, tuck my cell phone and house keys in my pockets, and head out. I normally walk around the neighbourhood, choosing different routes, often starting in an easterly direction.               

Each morning brings its glory. The clouds, particularly in pre-dawn, blaze orange and pink. Fresh petrichor after rain fills the air with fragrance. My ear is quick to pick up the varied chirps, songs, and whistles of different birds, even when I’m concentrating on something else. 

I note how seasons bring changes. Deciduous trees change their colours, from springtime bursting with light green buds, to autumn when fallen yellow, purple, and orange leaves crunch under my feet. In December, Christmas lights in different homes still glow until sunrise. In spring and summer I sometimes stop to admire the artistry of flowerbeds and yards. 

Research has shown there are many benefits to walking. It not only connects us with nature -- the sights, sounds, and sensations. Walking boosts energy and concentration and improves thinking and imagination. 

My walks are often prayer walks, praying for others, sometimes asking God to clarify a situation that’s perplexed me. I pray the Lord will reveal fresh ideas, solutions, or Scripture. And often He does! 

Those prayer walks include writing articles and devotionals. My cell phone becomes my handy recorder. Often a thought has really impressed me through my private time with the Lord minutes earlier. I capture an outline, a few ideas to be expanded later, or an engaging introduction. I ask the Lord to guide my thoughts. 

On my walks this summer, I discovered a quiet place to gather my thoughts. Several areas in my community are newly developed, and one includes a new park with picnic tables. I began to sit in the warm sunshine, feeling cozy surrounded by newly planted trees and bushes, where I composed articles and devotions, complete with revising and editing. Ideas that had been bubbling up now became clearer... 

And I received the Lord’s wisdom. I’m reminded of the promise: “From his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6 NLT). 

It's October now, and the warm days of autumn have given way to chill winds here in Calgary. I’m once again sitting at that picnic table, writing my first ideas for this November IWO post. But today, though it is sunny, I can’t stay long. The wind whistles through my jacket. It’s too cold for my fingers to edit and revise, and I can’t complete my whole post. I head for home, still thinking through and praying to receive more of the Lord’s insights.

Image by Pixabay

W is for Write ~ by Brenda J. Wood

 A writer is one who writes. If we write, then we are writers. What is holding us back? Where is our short story, our contest entry, our book?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but we are the problem. We are our own worst enemy.

A multitude of years ago, someone told me, “I see a book in there!” I knew what she meant but I didn’t want to write what was in my head. I was afraid to examine it myself and I sure wasn’t prepared to share it. I compromised by writing several cookbooks. Eventually, though, the first chapter of Meeting Myself, Snippets from a Binging and Bulging Mind, flew onto my paper.

By the time I became a widow, I had learned that pain on the page was better than pain in the heart. It was November, Nanowrite. I wrote the required 50,000 words in thirty days and published The Pregnant Pause of Grief.

My cookbooks were published out of fear. If only I had stepped into my truth earlier, who knows what I would be writing now?

(P.S. In case you are wondering: The Slightly Murderous Christian Detective and Cheering you up on the Weigh down!)

Friend, you are a writer. You know it, but if you haven’t taken it into yourself, start calling you what you really are.

Start saying these words both inside and outside.

I AM A WRITER!  I AM A WRITER!

And remember if you have only five minutes to write, you have no time to chew your pencil for four minutes (John Erskine).

Brenda J. Wood has authored more than fifty books. She is a seasoned motivational speaker, who declares the Word of God with wisdom, humour, and common sense.

W is for Witness ~ by Wendy L. Macdonald

  

God bears witness to all

with words

the Holy Spirit has breathed

through scribes He ordained

by the Blood of Christ 

to help the blind see

~

God’s writers bear witness 

with words

written for others to see

what Jesus has done

is wonderful 

in bringing us true peace.

“I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—

    I, and not some foreign god among you.

You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.”

Isaiah 43:12 NIV

What Scripture verse motivates you to bear witness of God’s redeeming love through your writing? 

This is my final post as a blog administrator. I have been greatly blessed by all your posts. Reading them each weekday has motivated me to reach higher and wider with words. You are a gifted group of writers. Keep at it. Keep looking up. Your witness with words is wonderful.

I will be taking a break from contributing to this site. When my break is over, I hope to offer an occasional guest post.

    

Wendy L. Macdonald is an inspirational blogger and YouTuber who loves photographing nature on Vancouver Island. Her happy place is making junk journals to sell in her Etsy shop. Her byline is: “My faith is not shallow because I’ve been rescued from the deep.”    

   

Villains, Victims and Victories by Mary Folkerts

 

Every good story needs a villain—the bad guy who creates havoc or the problem that causes misery. Can you imagine a story where everything is always perfect? At first, it might be a great escape from reality, but after a while, one simply gets bored of perfection. There must be a struggle or tension to create a dynamic in the story.

If you have a villain, you will undoubtedly have victims, people in danger or struggling with an issue they can’t resolve. It’s the age-old story of good versus evil where we most often identify with and cheer for the victim to overcome and the villain to be taken down.

The reader needs the author to give hope that they can prevail against struggle and pain and that victory is possible!

Even when we are not writing fictitious stories, these still seem to be necessary components of writing that capture the reader's attention. Who wants to read that Susie woke up to a glorious morning, went through her day without a care or angry word, fell into a deep, restful sleep at night and did the same thing again come morning? It’s not a compelling story without a struggle because it's unrealistic. We want to read about the problem Susie encountered during her day, something she had difficulty coming to terms with. Then, we want to know how she handled it and, hopefully, the steps she took to resolve it. 

We know real life is full of villains and problems, and the reader needs the author to give hope that they can prevail against struggle and pain and that victory is possible! So, what struggle is the villain of your story, who are the victims, and how are they affected? And what are the ways to victory? Let’s tell compelling, vulnerable stories that lead others to hope for their own story.

Mary Folkerts is mom to four kids and wife to a farmer, living on the southern prairies of Alberta, where the skies are large and the sunsets stunning. She is a Proverbs 31 ministries COMPEL Writers Training member and is involved in church ministries and music. Mary’s personal blog aims to encourage and inspire women and advocate for those with Down Syndrome, as their youngest child introduced them to this extraordinary new world. For more inspiration, check out Joy in the small things https://maryfolkerts.com/  or connect on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/maryfolkerts/