WINTER CONTEST! Enter Now!

2019 INSCRIBE WINTER CONTEST is here!

Held annually, InScribe’s Winter Contest was created to celebrate those members whose work was published in the previous calendar year. One prize of $100 is awarded to the winning submission in each category. If fewer than 4 submissions are received in a category, the category will be cancelled and fees will be returned.

Prizes will be awarded by April 30, 2019.

Criteria:

·      Members in good standing (membership must be paid up)

·      Send submissions to contests@inscribe.org

·      All entries must be original, published work

·      Publication must have occurred between January 1 and December 31 of the previous calendar year (2018)

·      Two copies of each piece are required:

·                  1 – A scan of the original publication, which shows your name as author, the source of publication, and the date. (Include Table of Contents if published in an anthology.)

·                  2 – A word document of your piece, re-typed into double-spacing, Times New Roman font, 12 point. Do not include your name, photos, date, or publication source. This document goes on to the judges.  

·      Online published items must be a third-party publication, i.e., not on the author’s blog or website, and submissions must include a link to the item and screen shot of item with the publication date. Also include the word document of your piece as stated above.

·      Simultaneous submissions are acceptable (may be submitted elsewhere)

·      Multiple submissions welcomed—entry fees must accompany each entry

·      Entry Fee: $30/entry (includes a professional critique) must be paid at the time of submission. See the website for more details.

Categories:

·      Non-fiction article

·      Devotional

·      Poetry—free verse or rhymed. Song lyrics accepted also. 

·      Fiction—Adult Short Story or Short Drama

Check our website for further details:

Endurance: The Christian Writer's Burden - Bruce Atchison

Writing and Christianity have one thing in common. Both require endurance. Both are also difficult but not impossible to achieve.

As we've all found out, brilliant prose and poetry don't just happen. They both require a good command of the English language and a firm grasp of grammar.

In Christianity, we are exhorted to, as the Apostle Paul put it in 2 Timothy 2:15 (KJV), "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."

King Solomon also acknowledged the labour involved in writing. He warned in Ecclesiastes 12:12 KJV), "And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh."

And just as we suffer rejections from magazines and traditional book publishers, we also suffer setbacks for our faith. As James 5:11 ((KJV) explains, "Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, (filled with pity) and of tender mercy."

We also know that God and editors don't reject  us when both correct or critique our work. Hebrews 12:7 (KJV) reminds us that, "If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"

It sure does seem though that editors have a grudge against us. Even so, we persist in shopping around our work. The same applies to evangelism. We persist in telling people about salvation, even when they become angry with us. As Jesus noted in Mark 13:13 (KJV), "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." The same applies to women.

I'm sure we've all felt at one time or another like tearing a verbal strip out of an apparently clueless editor. But we must keep in mind what James 1:19 (KJV) admonishes us. "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:" This likewise applies to women.

When our work is done, both for the Lord and on our projects, we feel that delightful rush of accomplishment. As Ecclesiastes 7:8 (KJV) notes, "Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit." May it always be so with you.

To Be and Bee - Marnie Pohlmann

As a writer, I have approached 2019 from a writer’s basic viewpoint.

Who:

Me.

What:

My purpose in 2019.

Where:

Where I am right now.

When:

While I live on this earth.

Why:

Because God has planned what I am to do for Him and I’d like to be about my Lord’s business. Having death in many ways hover over me for the last few years, I am cognizant of how much time I waste and let slip by, so my “good intentions” have become “good inattention.”

How:

Ah… and there’s the rub.

I have spent most of my life trying to discover who I am and what my purpose in life is. Occasionally I think I know the answers to these questions, and then the struggle begins anew.

I have learned over the last few years that the childhood trauma I experienced has had a dramatic effect on my brain. My coping methods, my self-talk, and my personality have all developed in light of that trauma. I have struggled to discover who the Marnie is that God knit together in my mother’s womb and who I was meant to be before trauma interfered. It’s the old philosophical question of “nature vs nurture” for which there are many facets of discovery and no absolute answers until we learn from God.

No matter who I was meant to be, I am who I am today because of my life experiences. No matter how wonderful God created me to be, I am still a sinner living in a broken world. I am still undeserving of God’s mercy and salvation through grace, yet I am the recipient of both. Therein lies my hope for answers.

You see, I have learned that no matter who I am or what I have experienced, God still has a purpose for me. As He redeems my life, He teaches me not who I was meant to be, but who I will be.

As depression squeezed my life these last few years, all my healthy habits fell away. This year I need to relearn the “how” of living. As I thought about this, I became anxious about the eating, drinking, and moving that is needed for a healthy body. I became frustrated at failing to be kind to myself. I became ashamed at my lack of self-discipline. So much must change! What to do, and how to do it in 2019?

I asked God what He wanted me to do this year. Should I stop some of the volunteer work I do for the church, the Historical Society, my work’s recreational club, or Inscribe? Most of this work both frustrates me and fills my cup. Should I write, or give it up? Should I work or look for something new that can pay the bills?

The word “be” jumped to mind. Yes, B… E... spelled out simply and boldly in front of my mind’s eye.

I jumped to the conclusion it must mean Psalm 46:10.

“Be still and know that I am God. I will be honoured by every nation. I will be honoured throughout the world.” (NLT)

What does “Be still and know that I am God” look like in my life this year?

“No,” God corrected. “That’s not what I said. Think about it for awhile.”

So, I pondered what “be” could mean.

Then at work I was given some flowers with a cute little stuffy in the center. It was a ladybug, but I first saw it as a bee. Yes, a bee. Confirmation of my “word” for 2019?

So, I pondered what “bee” could mean.

 

Bee.

I was certainly busy as a bee. When I think about it, though, a bee is only busy with the work it is designed for. A worker bee stumbles from flower to flower, collecting pollen to take back for others to enjoy while producing the honey they are known for. A bee is focused.

Be.

Just be me. With all my natural and nurtured faults, my quirks, and my creativity. Not trying to be who I think I should have been, should be, or should want to become. Just be me.

God loves me just as I am though He will not leave me where I am. I must grow and change, but that is not what my focus is to be. I am to focus not on my overwhelming life, but on the flowers God provides to attract and feed me, and then to take that nourishment to others. I am to become bee focused.

And how to do that?

Who:

Me with God.

What:

Choices, being transparent and honest no matter what I imagine others may think.

When:

Moment by moment, day by day.

Where:

At work, at church, at home, everywhere I volunteer, at my writing desk and when I am alone, with only God and me.

Why:

Because to be a bee is to have purpose and to know who I am to be - a servant of the King.

How:

By caring for myself as God cares for me and focusing on my Master as He leads me from flower to flower.

In 2019 I will Bee.

I will Be.

Marnie will BE in northern British Columbia, where she writes and occasionally shares on her blog,  Phosphorescent.

Tic Tac Toe - Shirley S. Tye

It’s taken me three months to get accustomed to retirement.  Days have slipped by without purpose in a helter-skelter fashion, with interest in many things diminishing. I envision myself in a comical animated image of the Dodo Birds marching in a row to drum music that leads them to the cliff’s edge where one-by-one they step off plummeting to their death and the end of their species. Oh, my!  There’s got to be more to retirement life!  There must be something of value I can still contribute.     

To avoid becoming a couch-potato, over-weight, out-of-shape, just plain lazy and complacent - not to mention cranky - I contemplated things that still might hold a tiny spark of interest for me; something to fan the flame of passion; something to put order and purpose into my life again.  Doing domestic chores and running errands aren’t exciting or strong enough reasons to unwrap myself from cozy blankets in the morning.  After some deep thought, I wrote a list of various projects I wish to complete or continue, and some to begin. All those tasks fall under the category of art; writing, drawing, painting, music, and, acting.

This to-do list does not operate on a rigid time schedule; after all, I’m retired and sadly there are still those boring house chores and errands that require attention.  I’ve created the list on Excel and I simply type an “x” beside the projects in the appropriate “day column” to indicate that I have worked on them.  This way I’m not wasting paper or recording a lot of detail that would only discourage me and bog me down.  Work days for me are Monday to Friday with no hours recorded so that my days can remain flexible and stress free. And no, I’m not typing an “o” in the “day column” to indicate that I have not worked on a project.  If there’s a week with several “o’s”, I may become discouraged and give up.  Tic Tac Toe can be a frustrating game.      

Once this system was set up, I had to know the answer to “why”.  Why should I bother working on these projects?  Different answers came to mind; to encourage others; to entertain; to teach. Now I need to stay focused on the reasons so that my work will continue and not die off like the Dodo Bird.  I’m sure with prayer the Holy Spirit will nudge me along and I’ll see plenty of “x’s” on the schedule sheet.