Looking Back, Looking Ahead by Lorrie Orr

 

September's Prompt...

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23

It is a wonderful promise of God that each day is a new beginning to experience his faithfulness. As autumn activities start afresh in churches and schools, September can be a time to reflect on how the previous months have gone and to set new intentions for the months ahead. How has your writing life progressed thus far in 2025? Are you encouraged to move ahead?

The sun has moved from winter to spring, followed by summer. Now the sun sinks lower on the horizon and summer turns slowly into autumn. A new energy fills the air. In many ways, September seems more like the start of a new year than January. We grow up beginning the next grade in school, with new clothes, freshly sharpened pencils, and a stack of clean notebooks. It’s a good time to reflect on the past months and to set new intentions for the season ahead.

One of my assignments for a class taken at Briercrest Bible College in the 1970s was to set goals. We began with a lifetime goal, then five-year, one-year, and monthly goals, if I remember correctly. I thought the assignment rather useless at the time, because who knew where I would be in five years? However, I thought long and hard about my lifetime goal, wanting something short and succinct. In the end I settled on adapting a portion of the Westminster Shorter Catechism - "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever." To glorify God with my life became my motto. More recently I've begun thinking about the other part of the catechism - the part about enjoying God.

In Zephaniah 3:17 I read

 

The Lord your God is with you,

he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing.

How wonderful it is to know that God delights in me. I can walk through my days knowing that He loves me because I am his child. But to turn the tables, how do I enjoy God?

In all of life, my writing included, I desire to please God, to let his grace and love shine through. And when I do, I enjoy his presence and guidance. So as I reflect and set goals, he is right there alongside me, pointing out my accomplishments and encouraging me to keep on when I haven't met the goals I've set. Sometimes he takes me in a very different direction, such as this blog post which is not what I first intended to write.

Delighting in this year's writing accomplishments:

1. My memoir, Life is Short but Wide, is finished, and is currently being evaluated by a hybrid publishing company. Scary, but joyous.

2. Nine InScribe blog posts published.

3. Forty-one posts written on my person blog Fabric Paper Thread.

4. Uncounted words handwritten in my journal or typed on my laptop.

Trusting God with my intentions for the next four months:

1. Edit memoir as needed.

2. Begin a Substack newsletter. Have 10 posts written in draft by the end of September.

3. Tackle the unknown world of publishing with the help of Siretona Creative.

4. Begin another writing project. I have ideas, but am uncertain about which to pursue.

As I plan for the months ahead, I am resting on God’s promise in James 1 – “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him/her ask of God who gives to all generously and without reproach.” Isn't wisdom something we all need. How gracious of God to share his knowledge and wisdom with us. I know that my plans may change and that God is the one who plans my future. As I set my intentions, I rely on his grace and strength to complete them, or to go in another direction.

 

Lorrie lives on Vancouver Island with her husband with whom she enjoys

hiking, boating, road trips, and staying at home. Life is an adventure.

Not a Plan in Sight by Joylene M Bailey

 

Portrait painters captivate me. Maybe it's because I'm not a portrait artist, but I could watch them do their thing for hours. With some artists, the image they're creating is recognizable almost immediately. That's definitely the sitter's eye, her chin, her hair. The plan is clear, the method ... well, methodical. Deliberate.

Then there are other artists who seem to slop their canvases with a mash of bright or monochromatic colours. Completely unrecognizable as a portrait. When asked at this point in the project, I've heard some of these artists say they hope a discernible resemblance eventually materializes. Indeed, as they work, pushing the paint around in sweeps and flourishes and straight lines, a likeness does begin to emerge, rising from the depths to amaze me every time. One tiny brush stroke can change a painting completely. Was that the plan all along? Or did it surprise the artist too?

*****

What writing projects make my heart sing?

I had to think about this question for a long time. I love to write all kinds of things: children's songs and stories, adult fiction, poetry and rhymes, vignettes and scenes for a novel, my blog posts. Sometimes the project makes my heart sing and sometimes it doesn't. And it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the genre. What is it about each of these writing ventures that brings a thrill. And what makes it feel offkey? 

As I dug deeper I slowly came to realize that my heart sings when I write with no plan. When I let myself go, tap into that je ne sais quoi, and let the story materialize through my fingers somehow. That's it. That's when my heart soars.

One of my favourite stories came out of a prompt given at our writers' group meeting. The prompt was simply: Hello. What grew from there was a whimsical children's story that still makes me giggle every time I read it. Maybe it's only fit to read to the grandchildren, but what a delight it was to write it. And I imagine God delighting in my delight, like I take joy in the joy of my grandchildren.

A keynote speaker and author I once heard at a writing conference called himself an intuitive writer. He related how, during the writing of one of his novels, an essential character decided to get up and leave the book three-quarters of the way in. It completely changed the trajectory of the story.

I LOVE THAT!!

I love the unpredictability and the surprise. Just when you think you're going one way, something happens to make the story change. It's unexpected, and brilliant as a firework. Like the one tiny brush stroke that completely changes a portrait.

Maybe you are a planner. You enjoy the outlines and the method. Like the methodical painter, your portraits are beautiful and full of wonderful details that delight your Creator.

Or maybe your heart sings when you have no plan and no boundaries. You too delight your Creator with your unique, surprising, and beautiful portraits. 

I think we are all one-of-a-kind creations of our Creator, created to create works of art for His glory, His delight, His purpose. And how wonderful to be able to do it in a way that makes our hearts sing.    

~~~~~

Photo by Pixabay

Today Joy writes from her home in Edmonton, where she will be living for nine more days before moving with The Cowboy to their new home in the country. You can find her Joy-infused view of the world at Scraps of Joy. 

By Faith, Not By Sight - Marnie Pohlmann

I need new spiritual glasses that see in the dark.

I often find myself in black circumstances, struggling with health or relationships or choices, and when I realize I have been stumbling about I am often confounded by where I find myself. My vision has blurred. I squint but can hardly see the shadow of God moving. I try to follow but become distracted, then I stub my big toe on whatever circumstance has befallen me, and the pain shoots through my heart and mind.

In those times, I am not the least bit happy. I begin to complain and whine about my situation. I slip away from God’s footsteps and the path He leads me on, falling into the ditch to wallow in the mud of self-pity.

Yes, I’ve decided I need new spiritual glasses so I can see my way through those ever-present dark times. Not like sunglasses, that shade my eyes from stark reality, but Son-glasses with infra-red lenses that show Christ’s blood awash over my life; God’s fingerprints in, through and over all the situations I find myself in. 

Do you need this sight as well? Do you know where we can get optics like that?

The words of Paul in Romans 12:12 provides a prescription for spiritual glasses that see in the dark.

       "Rejoice in hope,

                      be patient in tribulation,

                                   be constant in prayer."

Like my last prescription for new bifocal lenses, I had difficulty seeing with understanding at first, so I needed to study each word of this verse. My interpretation is this:

            

        Be glad. Delight in God because in God you have placed your trust.

                     Persevere with no complaining, because God is with you even in the struggles.

                                  Continually converse with God because God is worthy of thanks and adoration.

That makes it clear, doesn’t it? You see, it’s all about focus.

I know these spiritual spectacles are not easy to wear even when life is going well, so it’s no surprise that, like bifocals, it may take time to adjust to rejoicing, not complaining, and thanking God during difficult circumstances. The discipline to do so will chafe, especially those places right on top of my nose that are easily seen or just behind the ear that are less obvious to others. I will want to stop what I know is best because I feel the pain and discomfort.

However, I know the more I wear them, the more I will become accustomed to the fit and to the clarity of sight. I believe that as I delight, continue, and faithfully trust God day in and day out, I will be able to wear these spiritual glasses even when I find myself in times of dismay.

This prescription will light up God’s path for me through any circumstance. Focusing on this view will show me all that I have to praise God for. I will see, by faith, that I can trust God to lead me, to hold my hand in the darkness just as He does in the light.

When I refuse to focus on my circumstances but choose instead to capture thoughts of discontent and squish them, like bugs, between Christ’s death on the cross and His rising from the grave, I am delighted, not dismayed. I won’t need to complain to everyone who will listen. Whining is packed away as I look forward with excitement to the adventure God is taking me on. I will quietly discuss with Him all my questions and observances. Step by step I will continue focusing on life with God. His glory lights the way. I do trust He has a good plan for me, despite the difficult trail I have stumbled along. 

When my spiritual eyes focus on God, I cannot help but delight in Him.

I can focus on the hope that salvation provides, and so rejoice.

God holds my future.

I can carry on, step by step, without stopping and without complaining, because I am not alone.

God holds my hand.

I can constantly converse with and adore God, because He shows His love over and over.

God holds my heart.

As I learn to wear these spiritual glasses that focus on God, I may still stub my big toe in the dark, but through faith I will not lose sight of the One who walks with me, holding my hand.

Finding Kairos by Connie Inglis

When I first read the prompt for this month I felt like I had little to say other than, "Yes, without question, I feel God's pleasure when I write." End of blog post.

But the longer I pondered it, the more ideas the Spirit put in my head to the point that so many thoughts were spilling over that I wasn't sure how to connect them all. Isn't that so typical of the way God works? To first inspire us in some way, and then to ask us to WORK it out? To use the gifts and abilities He's given us to bring His inspiration to fruition? For me these are two sides of the same coin and do relate to the topic at hand. I believe we can feel His pleasure no matter if the coin is heads--His inspiration in our mind--or tails--getting our tails in gear and doing the work. (A little side note. The nickel grabbed my attention because of the beaver and the English idiom: busy as a beaver. I know, I'm quirky that way.)

The first idea that the Spirit gave me was this: Actually feeling His pleasure depends on me, on my emotional state. God's pleasure, on the other hand, does not depend on me, on us, because His pleasure in us NEVER changes. His delight in us, His love for us, is constant and unconditional. Zephaniah 3:17 says it so well (This is a picture of my granddaughter. She too delights in running):

The longer I think about this, the more overwhelmed I become at how out-of-this-world ineffable that truth really is. Which also means I can feel His pleasure in enjoyable times, like when I am writing, but also in painful times, in times of struggle. HIS pleasure is always waiting for me, wanting to be felt.

Then the Spirit reminded me of the beautiful word picture of this in Luke 15: the parable of the lost son. The father's love for, his delight in his lost son does not waver. Each day he goes out and watches and waits and when his son returns home, the father shows delight in his son, throws his arms around him and then throws him a party. The son feels his father's pleasure. How like our Father is this picture? We, like the son, and like Eric Liddell, can run to Him and for Him and feel His pleasure. It waits for us. (image is of Rembrandt's work, "The Return of the Prodigal Son.")

So, if God delights in me always, if He finds pleasure in me as His child, then I believe He truly desires that I seek and find that place where I am "feeling His pleasure" anytime--all the time. This is where the Spirit reminded me of what it means to be in kairos time in contrast to chronos time.

I was introduced to kairos vs chronos time a few years ago when I read Mark Buchanan's book, The Rest of God: Restoring your Soul by Restoring Sabbath. We are familiar with chronos i.e. chronological or sequential time that is measurable. Buchanan states that, "Chronos is the presiding deity of the driven." Kairos, on the other hand, has no English equivalent. Wikipedia defines it as, "a time lapse, a moment of indeterminate time in which everything happens." Buchanan calls it, "the scent of eternity in our hearts," and Madeleine L'Engle in her book Walking on Water calls it, "Real time. God's time. That time which breaks through chronos with a shock of joy..." And then she says, "the artist at work is in kairos." I think Eric Liddell would have said that when he ran he was in kairos time. It is often when I am creating, whether with words or paints, that I sense God's delight, a taste of eternity--kairos time.

I hope this blog makes sense to you--that you get the connections I was trying to make. And that you are reminded once again of how much God loves you and delights in you and that His desire is for us to feel His pleasure often, whether we are running or writing or cleaning up kid messes or caring for a parent with dementia. And when we feel His pleasure we are given a little taste of eternity, we are in kairos time. 

Delight - Lorrie

Delight's wardrobe spans the light spectrum for her moods range from pensive pleasure on grey, misty days to exuberant turquoise and gold dances at the seashore. Perceptive and alert to the moment, she sees details that others often miss - she is quick to share them with her companions. She loves being outdoors and sees nature as a showcase for God's creativity.

People love being in the same room as Delight for her positive outlook is contagious. But she has learned the pleasures of solitude and the need for time to feed her soul. Her energy level sometimes scares people for they think they will never keep up with her activities. Sometimes it seems as though Delight is everywhere at once, so dazzling that it's hard to watch her. At other times, she appears smaller and quieter, yet no less radiant.

Delight is willing to take risks and try new things - tasting an exotic fruit, tying her scarf differently, or giving a handmade card to a street person. Her collections are eclectic - words, smooth rocks, old books, model trains and recipes. She is learning to let things go rather than cling to objects and experiences out of fear of loss. She finds that God provides an unending supply of beauty in her life, that she will always have something on which to focus.

Although Delight can disappear for long stretches of time, leaving people to wonder when she'll be back, she tends to stick around most when people notice and coddle her a bit. She's not as reliable as Joy, her cousin.


NOTE: Several (like 15) years ago I read a book called The Qualities, in which character traits were personalized. A couple of weeks ago I was reading Psalm 37 and thinking about the verbs portrayed there - delight, trust, do good, etc. The thought popped into my head - what would Delight look like if she were a person - how would she act? The above sketch is taken from my journal that day. And then that writing caused an entire village of qualities to populate my mind. What a fun exercise!