Experiencing God - Glynis

The past four months have been a mixture of flurry and frustration, questions and prayers and absolute confirmation that God is on the throne.

Before I was diagnosed with cancer, I felt I sometimes needed to prove the presence of the Lord in my life. Or I would think that I had to justify my beliefs to certain people. Then God allowed me to walk through the valley. It was like a big old tarpaulin had been removed from my life.

Initially I was shocked and saddened about what was happening to me. Then after some eye-opening experiences, I realized God was doing a great work. I suddenly understood that justification and providing evidence were not the answers. Living a life in obedience to God was.

There was a call on my answering machine from Sue when we returned from the oncologist. It was on the day I received the definitive diagnosis of ovarian cancer. It was on the day I was informed I would require chemotherapy.

I had not seen Sue in over three years.
“Why did God wake me up at three o’clock this morning and tell me I had to pray for you and to come and do your flower beds?” her voice echoed over the machine.
I replayed the message to make sure I had heard correctly. I had. My mouth dropped. It was late so I had to wait until morning to pick up the telephone and call my long-lost friend.

We went through the social graces and both apologized for not being in touch sooner.
“Did you hear about me?” I eventually asked.

“What about you?” Sue said.

I proceeded to tell her about my cancer. The silence was deafening. Sue had not heard a thing about my recent news. She knew nothing of my cancer. She only knew that God had woken her up at three o’clock in the morning and told her to pray for me.

Sue rejoiced alongside me as we discussed the marvelous, timely way God works. When Sue informed me about her struggle with cancer years ago it was my turn to be silent. Not only had God rallied Sue to pray on my behalf, but He had chosen someone who had walked through the valley, too. I was even more encouraged.

It was wonderful hooking up with Sue again, but what was more wonderful was realizing how desperately I needed prayer and how much I desperately needed God. He showed himself mightily in that moment with Sue and continues to do that in many ways. I am learning to be still. I am learning to listen. Sometimes I still have selective hearing but I am trying my best to walk in a way that is pleasing to Him.

I might have lost my hair due to chemotherapy, but I have not lost my faith and trust in God. I am thankful for all the ‘Sue incidences’ that serve as confirmation that He really does reign.

God has allowed this to happen to me so that He can do something through me. I have had to give up my students for now, which was tough. But God has opened up a few doors for my writing. I have a niggly feeling that God is telling me something again.

Accolade and Inspiration - Bonnie Way

The flashing curosr blinks upon the screen, and my hands sit poised as my mind searches for topics, ideas, words. Just write, I tell myself, but nothing comes. I try to remember that time when I wrote for myself, for the simple joy of stringing words together, no matter who saw them. How long ago was that?

Before the pull of publication reached me, the heady thought of seeing my name in print. I read no longer for info or joy, but with the question, “Could I write this?” Those who read this writer’s words—would they read mine? And so I sit before my computer, an editor in mind, and try to picture what he would like. Yet each attempt fails to measure up to that imaginary editor’s approval, and when my attempts did pass the imaginary editor’s approval, they failed to meet the real editor’s approval.

Before the beginning of blogs, when each word I wrote could be put before readers for comment. Yet those comments failed to come. Was no one reading? A site meter revealed how many read, but failed to reveal what they thought of it. Was I boring, stupid, silly? I read other blogs, trying to find how they attracted readers who commented. And again and again I tried to write, only to wonder—will they like it?

I doubt I am the only writer who inspiration has been killed by desire for accolades. And yet I wonder what the world would be like if we wrote only those things that gained applause. I think of the group of writers who put their years of work into clay jars and hid them in caves. They wrote not for worldly approval, but simply with the knowledge that they had something to say. They never knew their work would someday be known around the world as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I think of the writers whose words are not hidden in vases to be turned to dust or discovered by chance, but whose words are met with anger or derision or laughter. From Jeremiah to Dietrich Bonhoeffer, writers wrote words that found only disapproval. Yet still they wrote, and it is their names that now call up our approval.

So I stare at my blinking cursor, and consider my hunger for that approval. Does it matter so much that my name appears on a book or website or in a newspaper or magazine? Does it matter how many hits my blog gets? Or does it matter that I wrote what God called me to write, for the person whom He knows needs it, whether I even know it or not.

Mundane to Significant - Gwen Mathieu

I was so blessed today after reading Violet’s blog on encouragement.

I need her words of wisdom daily - a great motto for my refrigerator. My only achievements as of late are typing and re-typing 399 recipes for our church cookbook, writing up church building committee minutes, working at our bible camp and cutting lots of grass, etc., etc. I feel like Moses, caught up with the mundane.

And then God called him to do the supernatural – moving the Israelites from the land of Egypt to the Promised land. It was a much bigger undertaking than writing an article or even a novel; definitely much bigger than writing this short blog. But I, like Moses, feel inadequate to carry out the task, putting it off until the last minute.

Oh, I read a lot; usually a book per week so all things are not mundane. I find reading and housework much easier though, than formatting an article, pasting it for the world to see and letting people know how much I don’t know.

But I will heed Violet’s advise to stay the course. To realize today is the beginning of the rest of my life to write for His glory.

And I, too, encourage you writers to keep plugging away.

Gwen

Be Encouraged

The other day I got an email from my friend Maralee. (Maralee is a ventriloquist who has a TV show called Maralee Dawn and Friends.) She told me about an email exchange she had with a man named Bear. He has an idea for an animation series and told her how he wrote to artist and illustrator artist Kevin Scott Collier about his idea. Kevin Scott Collier wrote back and included a couple of sketches of what Bear’s characters could look like.

(The name Kevin Scott Collier rang a bell with me So I checked and found this was the same KSC who interviewed me for Kid Magazine Writers in 2005. I read on with interest…)

Bear emailed Collier back: “Just looking at these pics again. They are awesome. So how does someone become so generous with their talents?”

Kevin Scott Collier replied (quoted with his permission):

Dear Bear,

Let me tell you something. In November 2003 I wrote a short story for a niece about a boy who accidentally gets an email from an Angel in heaven. (Heaven had gone high tech.) When I was writing the story I felt God's hand on my shoulder. He spoke into my heart that this story would be a book for all kids to read. I prayed to God asking if this were true, where would I find a publisher, whom should I contact... how was this all going to happen. God touched upon me that if I trusted in Him, he would bring me everything and everyone I needed.

As I was mailing the story to my niece, I overhead some men in the next line talking about books to the clerk. I wandered over and asked who they were. It turned out to be a youth fiction publisher from another state, who just happened to be in the area
on business. We chatted, and two days later after receiving a copy of my story, drove back up from Indiana to Michigan, took me to lunch, and signed me to a book contract. "Barthpenn@heaven.org" was published.

Now I was a published author, but I was always an artist. I stumbled across the internet and met a lady who had written a poem. I asked if she could email it to me, as she wanted advice. For fun, I illustrated the entire poem over two nights, and created a pdf "book" for fun to email her back. Turned out she was a minister's wife from Ohio... and she showed it to a friend of hers that was a book publisher... it was contracted, and Topsy Turvy Land went to print.

In the summer of 2005 my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Later, on that very day, a publisher I had never heard of contacted me and asked if I would illustrate a book cover for a survivors book on Breast Cancer. I did it for free, and I went on to illustrate a dozen other books for them, too... and mom recovered.

In late 2005, I had an idea for a book based on Noah's Ark I wanted to write. I wanted a co-author,however, someone who could add to my idea for a book. I found a lady named Kristen Halter in a writers group, and we began writing "Natalie's Ark." I discovered this Godly woman was a single mother, and her son never knew a father... didn't have one per se, he had vanished. So, Jarod prayed every night to Jesus for a dad. I fell in love with this woman (who live 350 miles from my home in Ohio) and married her, and adopted her son. Now I am a dad... you can see us all on our homepage... http://collierauthors.blogspot.com

I recently stumbled upon the Old Schoolhouse Magazine's website and saw they had a mascot (frog) for their reading program, and it was clip art... so I redrew the character and sent it to them for free just to help. They liked my stuff so much, they want to hire me as an illustrator for their magazine.

Know what life is all about, Bear? Planting seeds and having faith that God will lead you to the right people.

I'm here.

- Kevin

I thought Kevin’s letter was a great illustration of how God is at work in our lives even when we aren’t aware.

So be encouraged. God has barely begun to do the ministry through your life. Stay the course. There is something big ahead for you. It is God who sets up the big appointments and they are supernatural. Keep planting those seeds and following His lead.”