An Invitation - Lorrie Orr

 

                          You are cordially invited...

to waltz with words to the rhythm of your beating heart

to play with sounds and syllables just for giggles

to create lists

     of mundane grocery shopping, knowing that food is never

         commonplace 

     of roses that will

          prick you with their thorns and 

          delight you with their fragrance and

          mesmerize you as you gaze into dreamy depths 

                  of endless blushing rosiness

 to pour your purple grief onto the page in torrents of messy

         phrases that will leave you

                   drained, but

                         curiously calm and oddly hopeful

to record the touch of your nose nestled in a small soft neck 

         so that

                   one day, 

                         in the future that is closer than it looks

                   you will relive that moment of fleeting perfection

to begin your longings with "Dearest Mom and Dad"

          to tell beloved ones

                   so far away what it is like

                   to raise children in a verdant jungle 

                   far from the home and country you love

to soothe a grieving soul

to share a bit of humour

to buoy up a downcast friend

to thank a giver 

          for time, for friendship, for kindness

to create stories to tell the world of infinite Love and Beauty

          with the hope that

                   Beauty will resonate from pen to heart 

                   to heart to over and over 

                   and over until

          at last

                   the pen is laid down with nothing left to say

                   and you are cradled

                   in infinite Love

lovingly, 

The Blank Page

Lorrie Orr writes from Vancouver Island where she enjoys boating and hiking with her husband. Gardening, sewing, reading, and spending time with her five grandchildren fill her days with happiness and contentment. She is newly retired from teaching high school Spanish. 

          

Finding My Writing Path by Carol Harrison

 

I couldn’t see a path, only a tangle of roots to trip me and overhead branches to whip in my face. Why attempt to push my way through the underbrush trying to discover a writing path. I’d buried the enjoyment of writing so deep for decades that no one knew it had once existed except God.

My husband, Brian, kept asking me to write about our journey with our youngest daughter, Amee, and the amazing things God had been doing. “I can’t. I don’t know how.” became my familiar refrain. I honestly didn’t think I could or should write so why try finding a path in the forest of doubt. He asked periodically. I responded in the negative.

Then Amee began to say, “Mom, you need to write my story so others will understand.”

“What do you want people to understand?” I’d ask her, not expecting her to articulate a response.

“Help people understand more about who I am and what I can and can’t do. Help them understand that God still answers prayer today. I know ‘cause I’m here.”

How could I refuse her request? I began to read notes I’d written through the years as well as various medical and educational reports. Remembering how winding the journey we’d been on and the amazing things that had happened proved to be a healing exercise. But I couldn’t get past writing the first few paragraphs over and over. I’d write and hit delete. Then I’d begin again. No clear path emerged about how to tell the story. I was stuck and wanted to quit.

A friend saw a poster about a one-day Christian writers’ conference in Saskatoon. She urged me to attend. All I could think of were excuses not to go. It’s for experienced writers. I’m not a writer. It’s for published authors. I’ll still be on crutches. The list continued and my friend countered them all with simple words, “Just go and check it out.”

I met some amazing people like Marci Laycock, Janice Dick, Susan Plett, and Bonnie Grove among many others. I learned about Inscribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship that day as well. Some people attended because they wanted to learn more skills or refresh ones they hadn’t used for awhile. Others wanted to write family stories but never publish. Still others planned to publish or had published pieces. This day was for people like me who didn’t think we could write anything.  

Each month some Christian writers from Saskatoon and area gathered and shared writing tips, prompts, and encouraged each other. After attending a few meetings, I chose to read those first few paragraphs of Amee’s story. Maybe someone could help me get unstuck. They did and the writing journey really began.

By the time I published the memoir, Amee’s Story, my desire to write had resurfaced. Encouragement from my family and friends spurred me on to write a few short pieces and then look for places to submit them. I stepped out of my comfort zone and sent away a story to Chicken Soup for the Soul which was accepted. Nothing Under the Tree appeared in their Christmas book of 2010. Holding the payment cheque and copies of the book, seeing my story in print, and hearing the excitement of others over this writing accomplishment acted like a chainsaw to begin clearing away of the underbrush clogging the writing path.

As I thought about other moments that helped define my writing path, I realized the influence Inscribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship has had on my journey. I have learned from others through conversations, workshops, and taking Marcia’s Devotional Writing Course. Challenges and contests have encouraged me to try new things, improve skills I have acquired, and grow as a writer.

A grandson’s challenge enlarged the path from memoir and short non-fiction pieces to writing fiction. A granddaughter’s request to join her at a local poetry writing workshop added yet another dimension to my writing path. Being the FellowScript columns editor meant sharpening my editing skills and learning many things in the process.

My writing path isn’t a tangled mess of branches hiding the way and roots waiting to trip me up. It has grown wider but it still has twists and turns. I can’t see where God will direct me next on this writing path, but I plan to follow and be a good steward of the abilities He has given. 

 

 

 

 

Carol Harrison now spends many hours on her writing, whether editing her works in

progress or writing something new from her home in Saskatoon. She enjoys the encouragement of her husband, adult children, and grandchildren. You can find out more about her at https://www.carolscorner.ca

Forrest Gump and My Writing Path by Bob Jones

"I just felt like running." Forrest Gump 

Writing was to me like running was to Forrest Gump. Early in my formative years I started to write. That day I wrote for no particular reason. I wrote a limerick and later a song and not long after a short story. I just felt like writing. Along the way I discovered that building a reputation for writing can provide unexpected opportunities to form a writing career. You are following a path that took you to where you are today. If you reflect on it, you'll see God's nudges along the way.

 

Whatever talent I had as a kid was raw and remained unrefined. I liked the creative writing portions of high school English classes. The grammar portions were endured, much to my regret. A project in English 11 class was a defining experience. I wrote the story of the Vietnam War through the eyes of a fictional US Marine. I created a journal of his experiences based on a composite of news reports in Life magazine and newspapers. The last page of the journal was an unfinished sentence, on a page stained by what looked like blood. The teacher’s A+ was encouragement enough to contine.

 

In English 12, I crafted what I imagined a reporter’s journal from 1864 would look like. I wrote the story of the Army of Southern Virginia during the American Civil War. Pictures with handwritten notations were pasted into a scrapbook. I singed the edges of the scrapbook endeavouring to make it look authentic. Another A+.

 

During my first job as a pastor in 1980, I wrote articles for a Canadian youth magazine, sharing real life stories of teens who came to know Jesus as their Saviour. Over time I got up the nerve to submit articles to a national religious magazine. The editor favoured me by publishing everything I sent and asking for more. More fuel for the fire. Editors are opportunity managers.

 

God opened doors for me by opening hearts to me. My first published book was the biography of a mom of three very young boys who died of cancer a few weeks after her 30^th birthday. Her husband allowed me to include family photos and gave me access to her journals. The last chapter of the book was her husband’s reflections on his grief and his life raising three boys as a single parent. The book, Ornament, won the Word Guild Inspiring Story of the Year in 2015. More fuel for the fire. Two additional books followed.

 

In 2020 I was asked to ghost write a woman’s story of childhood sexual abuse; her journey of recovery and building a world class treatment centre for victims of childhood sexual abuse. Her story became a Canadian bestseller in 2021.

 

Are all writers their own worst critic? I am. My best attempts at prose fall short in my own eyes but I see that God can take what I write to benefit others in unexpected ways. In May 2022 I was seated at a conference luncheon next to a stranger who introduced himself by saying he was inspired to pursue his own writing path by reading what I write at REVwords.

 

And so, I just feel like writing.

How about you?

 

 

I write to grow hope, inspire people to be real, forge an authentic faith in Jesus, and discover their life purpose.

Please follow my writing at REVwords.com

I would love to hear from you.

“Writer Interrupted” by Sandi Somers

I once said that If I were to write my literary memoir, I would title it, Writer Interrupted, because much of my writing life has wound through my experiences sporadically like a meandering brook, now appearing, now hidden under mossy grass.

 My writing success began early when I entered a contest in a Christian youth magazine—and won! Interestingly, this event didn’t birth a dream to be a writer. That came later.

  After graduating from university, I was invited to teach in a mission school in Colombia, South America. This was my first overseas experience, and I had so many interesting life experiences to journal and write to my family and friends.

 During this time, the first trickles of my writing dream began to appear. As I read books by Catherine Marshall to nourish my faith, I also absorbed her own story of becoming a writer after her husband passed. I was inspired to write faith stories just as she had done.

 However, when I came home from Colombia, I became engrossed in a new job as Teacher Librarian, and my writing stopped.

 Several years later, I discovered the devotional booklet, The Upper Room, and began submitting devotionals. Each of my earliest attempts was accepted.  My first entry was even anthologized and I was invited to write a seven-part series for their Upper Room Disciplines. In addition, after I queried The Quiet Hour, (David C Cook’s devotional companion to their Sunday School lessons), the editor phoned me—yes, phoned me—early one morning inviting me to write a series of devotionals. The genre of devotional writing seemed natural to me.

 Shortly afterwards I bought my first house, and my writing again flagged. Only occasionally did I write and submit an article. But over the years I was part of a local writers’ group that published our church newspaper, and I wrote an occasional article for our teachers’ professional journal. 

 Fast forward to the 1990s when I began teaching ESL. The cultural theme was a perfect fit for me. I had so many immigrant/refugee experiences to relate and so many cultural anecdotes my students told me. My writing momentum began again as I journalled and wrote initial drafts of articles.

 It was here I began developing my craft and vision, studying writing, taking writing courses and gradually planning different projects. Some ideas were workable, while others needed to be left in the back reaches of a closet.

 Several years ago I came to a crisis point, and prayed, “Is developing my writing part of Your plan for me, or is it just my idea?” Gradually God showed me that, Yes, His open doors of opportunity meant that He was guiding my writing. Then He gave me a special verse: Haggai 2:19: “Is there still seed in the barn? From this day I will bless you.”

 Sometime after I joined InScribe, I was invited to be lead writer for this blog; I also began developing monthly themes. Doing so has stretched my faith and writing, from my first tentative posts, to a variety of writing strategies. Comments from other bloggers affirmed and encouraged me.

 As I review my writing life, a number of themes emerged which I hadn’t noticed before. He gave me early success to begin my pathway. He provided major turning points, from the birth of a dream, to encouragement to grow in developing my gifts. Stopping when I had other demands in my life showed me that He was building my life with a breadth of experience and faith that I can bring to my writing. 

 Which brings me to today. I recognize how much the dreams He’s given us and our life stories are a vital part of the Lord's gospel narrative for the world. Sharing what the Lord has given me may be the key that unlocks the door to someone's needs.

 Though I haven't finished much of what I've dreamed of writing, the Lord often reminds me to keep faithful in creation and at the right time, He will open the way to greater publication. “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will do it (1 Thess 5:24).