Sprouts of Possibilities by Carol Harrison

 

As I reflect on the year to date for my writing, I find I’ve accomplished very little. At times I think nothing has been written and yet I did submit three pieces to anthologies and one was accepted for publication. The other two I am waiting to hear about. That shows me some progress has been made. I know I wrote each month for Inscribe Writers Online and that shows me some progress as well. Yet there were times of nothing being written, no projects on the go, and no desire to start a new one. I question which direction I am supposed to go in this season of less writing activity. Should I begin a new larger project? Should I write shorter pieces and search for places to submit them? Maybe I should just journal for my own benefit. Many questions that have found no answer at this point.

This month’s prompt asked if I was still encouraged to continue writing and I must admit that on many days, I am not. I wonder if I should forget about trying to write and yet the journal calls my name on many days. It is a place to pour out the thoughts, activities, and yes the frustrations of the day.

Before he passed my husband, Brian, challenged me to write several different things. I started on both of them and now they sit. Unfinished. One is very challenging and an emotional journey I am not quite ready to continue on. The other is more for fun and yet I haven’t looked at it in two years. Maybe now I could return to it with fresh eyes and see where it leads.

One thing I will continue to work on this fall is stories from my life that will be printed, bound, and given to my grandchildren for Christmas. Many days I find it difficult to work on these without Brian here to bounce ideas off of and share memories with and yet that shouldn’t stop me from continuing on what has now become a tradition for the grandchildren. They expect to find another booklet of stories as their Christmas gift. I don’t want to disappoint them and so that encourages me to continue writing at least that and the Inscribe blog post. I better get busy working on writing those stories as there are not many months left until Christmas. Maybe there are still a few sprouts of possibilities in the rest of the year.

 

Carol Harrison lives in Saskatoon, SK and is attempting to figure out where to go next in this writing journey.

The Only Way To Know What Lies Ahead by Melanie Fischer

I remember the days when us kids would hop in the box of pickup-trucks and go for a ride. That was in the age when it was not illegal but equally a bad idea.

It was so exciting to gaze over the tailgate and watch the trees and signs wiz past the back of my head. I would then lock my eyes on a particular object and become fascinated with watching it come into focus as we moved further away.

Life tends to work in the same way. It whirls experiences by our head that can only be brought into focus by moving past them. How could we possibly know the positive impact of our painful experience unless we move beyond it? How would we see the blessings within a loss without moving through it? How could the reason for a period of excruciating pain possibly come into perspective until we become far enough away from it that we can see it clearly? It is not until we move past the object that we can focus on it and understand what the purpose of it was.

When in the back of the truck, I could have turned around and watched that same object through the windshield. What a different perspective that would have been. I would have known what was coming, perhaps it would have spoiled my fun though. Things seemed to come much slower when looking ahead rather than seeing what unfolded behind. And what if we stopped or turned? The object that I anticipated seeing would have never come into full view.

If I have learned anything from looking back, it is that it rarely looks the same as it did when I was looking ahead. If all things came to us the way we “planned”, we would never experience hardships and blunders. We don’t fill our dreams with hurdles, or pepper our plans with hurts, although, it is the bumps in the road that makes life an interesting ride.

If we are trusting that Christ is in charge, then we are trusting that we are going where He intends for us to go. It is up to us to pray for direction then move ahead. It is when we do that we are rewarded by getting to look behind and watch the past unfold.

We can set goals, have dreams, and look ahead. But the only way that we will know for certain what lies ahead, is by moving forward then looking back.

Connecting the Dots by Vickie Stam

Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

I sometimes find it difficult to only reflect on the previous year because I find myself playing a mental game of connect the dots. When I look back, I end up looking further; following the trail back to that first dot. A person, place or thing that stands out.         

A thought entered my mind while I was thinking about last year. I realized I had been out of school for more than three decades. Wow! Time had slipped away. I never felt the years gaining on me until I looked in the mirror. The lines of time were forthright; each one growing more difficult to conceal. Underneath it all I could still see the younger me; the girl who enjoyed her English class during her time in high school. I recognized that time in my life as one of those first dots. My formal introduction to writing. 

Taking part in a number of writing classes over the last four years has only heightened my desire for a pen and paper. After so many years away from school I never imagined that in my forties I would choose to enroll in some general interest writing classes, but I did. There I was putting words down on paper for someone other than myself. I was so far outside the 'safety net' of my journal and I was enjoying it. 

Last year, I actually began to admit, "I'm a writer." When someone asked me, "What do you do?" I didn't hesitate to tell them that my husband and I are farmers, words that flowed out of me rather easily. It's part of who I am. And then I heard myself say, 
                    
"I also like to write." 

"What do you write about?" 

They sounded intrigued.

I explained that at this point in time I mostly write about myself?

"Anything non-fiction, really"  

Those words, "I like to write" were out there hanging in the air, hovering over me with an overwhelming sense of insecurity but in that moment I could hardly take them back. Even though I felt uncomfortable I felt something flutter in me. It was the moment of truth. Another part of who I am.

"Are you writing a book?" They asked

 "No.... not yet." I replied.

"But I am writing for InScribe Christian Writers' on-line blog."  

Most people I talk to have never heard of InScribe. Neither had I until I found myself searching the internet for an on-line writers group, a place to connect with other writers, people like myself who can't imagine life without words, brainstorming, writing, editing and maybe even--- publishing.

In January of 2014 I was preparing my first post for InScribe's blog. I felt nervous and excited all at the same time. I wondered what people might think or say about the stories I would contribute each month but the feedback has been nothing but kind and gentle. Encouraging.   

Writing allows me to feel everything. It is my constant companion. I can't imagine my life without it. I look forward to what God has in store for me as I press on. Writing contests, delving into fiction, having short stories published and who knows.....in the future, I may even tackle writing a book.

    **** In my world of dots, I trust that God holds the marker. That he has traced every line long before my feet travel its path from one to the other. I trust it is his will that I write, and I trust it is his will that someone reads it.