Inspired by Brenda J. Wood’s post on this blog in June 2024, R is for Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, share your thoughts on making the most of your written work. How do you recycle writing projects? Rather than reinvent, rethink.
It’s Tuesday morning. At the foot of every driveway is a
collection of blue boxes – one for paper, one for plastics, and one for glass. I
will soon hear the intermittent roar of the city truck coming up the street,
stopping at every driveway to throw the blue box contents into their respective
bins. (Here’s a short and interesting look at what happens after pick up.) The plastic detritus will be turned into more
bottles, fabrics, plastic garden pots. Paper is made into new paper products.
Just as the physical garbage of life can be recycled (and I
haven’t even mentioned composting), so can life experiences and writing. God takes
often-messy life experiences and transforms them into good and beautiful
things that reflect his love and light. Then we, in turn, can share about them
in our writing. One example is an article written for Today’s Christian Woman
about the walks that my husband and I take together. Writing about a bad mood
while walking led to Staying in Step: How walking with your spouse can keep you connected. Perhaps I could now take the bones of that article (published in
2008), revise, and submit it to another publication. Or I could write the scene
about being grouchy into a novel or short story.
I love the words of Isaiah where he speaks of God turning
ashes into beauty, mourning into gladness, and despair into praise. What
wonderful word pictures of the transformative power of God’s love for his
children. I used to worry about what people were looking at when my eyes would
meet those of a stranger on the ferry, in a restaurant, or while walking. Was my makeup messy? Was I wearing mismatched earrings? I’ve
learned less to care about what they think about me and now pray that they
would see the light of Christ shining through my face.
On my windowsill as I write this post, a cheerful sunflower smiles at me. It's standing in a recycled glass bottle that refracts the light. Soon the sunflower itself will be tossed in the compost bin to rot and create dirt in which to grow more sunflowers next summer. The bottle will be used again and again. God is the ultimate recycler – turning darkness into light, despair into hope, and chaos into creativity.
A bonus post today with two wonderful pieces to read in one sitting. Can't get better than that, Lorrie. Thank you so much for your thoughtful and hopeful writing. You say it so eloquently. And I loved your closing line: "God is the ultimate recycler – turning darkness into light, despair into hope, and chaos into creativity."
ReplyDeleteThank you, Brenda. I'm glad God redeems our days and moments.
DeleteI totally agree with Brenda. What caught my eye was the same sentence: "God is the ultimate recycler – turning darkness into light, despair into hope, and chaos into creativity." Thanks for sharing, Lorrie.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sandi. I'm so thankful for God's transforming power.
DeleteWonderful post, Lorrie. I can relate and have experienced how “God takes often-messy life experiences and transforms them into good and beautiful things that reflect his love and light.” What a wonderful God we serve. A great kick off post for the month! And thanks for not going into detail with the compost. ;-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sharon! Compost making is a messy business, but great for the garden!
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