My Writing Life Looks a Lot Like My Lawn by Bob Jones

The other day, I came inside with dirt on my hands and grass seed stuck to my shoes after one more attempt to fix the dead spots in our lawn before winter.

Jocelyn and I had been away most of the summer, and when we returned, our yard told the story of our absence: a patchwork of healthy green mixed with deathly grey. And of course, my perfection seeking eyes went straight to the grey.

On the bright side, the lawn is weed-free—thanks to the lawn company I hired. But the grass itself? Not so lucky. Earlier in the season, I’d patched and seeded with new growth, but weeks of drought while we were gone undid all that progress.

Jocelyn insists it doesn’t look as bad as I think. Maybe she’s right. But when I see the grey patches, all I can think about is fixing them.

The Secret

So, one more time, I dig, remove some old earth, spread fresh topsoil, scatter seed, sprinkle fertilizer, cover it gently with more topsoil, water, pray, and water again. The secret to new grass isn’t complicated: keep the soil moist.

And somewhere between watering the ground and brushing the dirt from my hands, it hit me: my writing life in 2025 looks a lot like my lawn.

There are spots of vibrant growth—moments I’m proud of. And there are patches that look deathly and barren. And just like grass needs water, my writing needs reading.

A Watered Soul

Reading other writers waters my soul. I soak up your subjects, your styles, and your sticky phrases.

· Brenda, your phrase about memoir writing as "a lifetime in a timeline" gave me writers envy.

· Susan, your poetic confession, "I am being reduced" carried surprising strength in its surrender.

· Sharon, your description of a favourite author’s ability to "wake up my gray cells." made me grin.

Encouraged

The prompt asked whether I feel encouraged to keep writing. Without a doubt. I'll keep working on my lawn and my writing because I want to be proud of what is produced.

And I reflect on God’s promise in the 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

God loves us—even when we’re our own worst critics. Maybe the best gift we can give ourselves is a little compassion. Compassion is like morning dew: quiet, renewing, faithful.

A daily grace that waters a writer's soul.

 

Bob and Jocelyn are both REVs and write at www.REVwords.com about hope and lately about the people they encountered in Ukraine.

What comes first…the seed or the dirt? by Melanie Fischer

Without the dirt there is no where to plant the seed. Without the seed there is no how to produce more seeds in order to plant.

Do we writers need inspiration in order to write, or do we need to write in order to become inspired?

In my experience, it is when those moments of complete un-inspiration are combined with the

discipline of showing up that the Lord has blessed my pen the most. In the times when I have threatened to quit, begged to stop, stomped my feet or stuck out my lip in a pout, but put my fingers to the keyboard anyway, that suddenly—lo and behold—something turned on.

The farmer toils in his field, then one day stands back to see what has come from his works. This is

what encourages him to plant again—but not until the work is done first. It is the physical act of sitting down and writing that gives us the opportunity to look back on what we actually wrote. This often becomes the fertilizer for the next piece.

There is a practical fear—what if the farmer plants the field then it is struck by a drought? What if the writer sits down at the computer and the mind is struck by a drought? All that hard work gone to waste. “But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7, 8. Stay in the word, live by faith, pray without ceasing—that is what allows our works to sprout, even when the land dries up.

To address the fear that our works will be unoriginal and will all look the same, consider a handful of wildflower seeds. They look similar—until you plant them. As they grow, they develop and become unique and individual. Once the writer starts writing, the story will develop. It isn’t until the seed is planted though that we see what it is destined to become.

So…how do I keep myself and my writing fresh as new articles are produced? I look back at the works which were created in those moments of un-inspiration; those moments that the Lord reigned upon my crops just because I showed up to plant them. “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.” 1 Corinthians 3:6.

Waiting for inspiration in order to write would be like a farmer refusing to turn on the sprinkler system until it rains. In order to write we must write. If this is what we genuinely feel called to do, let's make a plan of when to do it, show up, then do the work, even when we are not in the mood to do so. Plant the seeds and they will grow.

What is going to come first? The seed or the dirt?

Melanie Blogs about Purpose at: www.hungryforpurpose.com/blog