Writing Support - Bonnie Way

The writing course that I enrolled in at a local library wrapped up Monday night. It’s been neat getting to know the other writers, to hear about what they want to write, to see their enthusiasm for writing. At the beginning of the course, our instructor showed us several pictures from Curious George books and invited us to think about which picture represented where we were at in our writing. Some felt like Curious George walking tightrope across the power lines; others felt like Curious George being hauled from the sea, throwing up sea water and fish.

The picture that caught my attention had two parts. In the first part, Curious George sits on the deck of a ship, watching a sea gull flying above him. In the next picture, he’s standing on the railing, holding his arms out in an attempt to fly like the sea gull. I felt that was me. For years (I could say ten, as that takes me back to my first Inscribe conference and the beginning of my serious attempts to learn and grow as a writer), I’ve been attending writing conferences, reading books about writing, dreaming about writing. Now it’s time to start applying that. To jump off the railing and try to fly.

For the last class, our instructor invited us to write the first page of whatever it is we want to write and to share that with our fellow writers. I took with me the prologue for Dream of Peace, my young adult fantasy novel that I want to rewrite. It’s the first time that I’ve read my work to another group of writers (despite all those years of conferences and opportunities there!) and I stumbled and choked up several times. In the end, though, they all enjoyed what I had written and had good comments.

Now, we’re talking about forming writer’s groups to keep our momentum up, to keep encouraging each other. Again, I’m excited about that. It’s good to have others who share your dreams and can hold you accountable to keep working towards them. Just as my family used to always ask me, “When are you going to let us read one of your stories?” until I gave them a story... that novel I'm now trying to rewrite.

~ Bonnie Way

Finding Fulfillment - Jan Keats

“I will listen to God the Lord. He has ordered peace for those who worship Him!” (Psalm 85:8 NIV)
My daughter and I love to shop together. On one occasion something made me realize that shopping wasn’t just something to do, it was a bonding time between a mother and daughter.

At a clothing store one Saturday, we picked out a few articles and proceeded to the change rooms. We found stalls next to each other and we were soon engaged in a wonderful chat about our findings, among other things. Suddenly we heard a voice from the adjacent stall saying, “You two must be mother and daughter.” We both acknowledged that we were. Then the mysterious elderly lady’s voice said somberly, “I never had a daughter; listening to you both makes me wish that I had. You seem to be really close. I have a son whom I love dearly, but my son doesn’t like to shop,” she chuckled.

We were speechless, hoping to say something to appease her sorrowful and unfulfilled heart. At the same time we realized how grateful we were to have a special mother/daughter relationship. Neither of us saw that elderly woman. She left the change room before we did. We were having too much fun trying on clothes.

Throughout the rest of the day, we couldn’t get that woman off our minds. She must be so lonely, I thought. I wondered if she had found fulfillment in life. We didn’t know anything about her, yet our hearts ached for her. Was she widowed? Was she living all alone? Does her son live nearby? Did she browse the shopping centres frequently to fill the void in her life? Did she know God? We simply didn’t know.

But God knows. The woman was blessed with a son, yet she hoped to have had a daughter to bond with. The woman was also blessed with a long life, yet it seemed she was feeling empty and unfulfilled in her senior years. Even through her blessings, she had a longing for peace. The Bible says that God is the peace and joy giver. His promises are for her. His uncompromising peace is for her. Psalm 4:11a says, “But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy.”

How about you? Are you content and at peace with God? Fulfillment comes through trusting and walking daily with God. Your life is carved into his hand. As I remember the lonely woman, and how I was caused to feel her emptiness, I pray that she will find the peace and contentment she is longing for. Proverbs 30:5 says, “Every word of God is flawless; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.”
Lord, help us to seek and find fulfillment when we feel empty and lonely. We believe you are the true source of life, who offers peace and joy to everyone.

Jan Keats

The Things We Take for Granted

I’m ashamed to admit that when the power was off all night, the first thing I thought of upon waking was a hot cup of coffee.

I should have been concerned about the water pipes freezing, like my husband who had abandoned our warm ship and stepped out onto the ice-floe of our bedroom floor. Or how about our children? Did they survive the night? Or the older people in town who’s internal regulators don’t keep them as warm as the rest of us.

No, I shrugged deeper under the blankets and braved only one hand through a dark port-hole. Jack-Frost nibbled at my fingers and I retreated under the covers again. I longed for a warm mug to hold.

At last the craving for caffeine propelled me from my bed to my closet where I pulled on two thick sweaters, fuzzy socks and slippers, and braved a look at the white world below my window. Snow chips blew by in a hurry to Manitoba, and the odd one pinged the window as if to chastise me for thinking bad thoughts about Mr. North Wind. But I was really thinking that two hands around a hot cup of coffee would help me accept the scene below. It was like walking into my teen daughter’s bedroom. Great lumpy mounds of snow had been tossed haphazardly, landing where they may. A mammoth one stretched across the street, another draped over a car, and another, waiting for someone to trip on, lay in front of the church door.

Then, rising out of the chaos, lace. It had been flicked on a tree where it wove in and out of the branches like cut work. Later, with a blue sky behind , the sun would shine through the virgin veil and the blizzard would be forgiven once again.

But not now. I wrapped my sweater tighter, slid my hand down the cool banister and headed for the coffee machine. There must be some way, I mused, standing in the middle of the kitchen, to heat a cup of coffee.

Milk and cereal, which I usually have for breakfast, never tasted so cold and cruel. We all sat down together – my husband, our children and myself. And they stayed. I didn’t have to call them to the table. And I didn’t have to invite them to stick around. We lit an emergency candle and a few tapers and huddled together, taking turns warming our hands over them as the temperature plunged to near freezing in our house. The only time we left the table was to pull on our coats and gloves.

And the stories began. We told about our Grandparents who lived by candlelight and lanterns every evening. They sang, they crocheted, they told stories, they talked. And we talked. We prayed for the power boys who braved the blizzard to restore our warmth and lights.

There were times of silence. Real silence. No TV, no radio, no beeping gadgets with our children’s noses buried in them. Even the lights were hushed and the fridge no longer whined. Yet our children stayed. I snuggled into the warmth of our love and togetherness.

My daughter decided a fondue would work without the power. We melted a chocolate bar and dipped cantaloupe in it, and we connected. We listened to each other, we laughed, and I almost forgot about my longing for coffee.

And then the kids started to burn toothpicks and chocolate bar wrappers in the candles. And then it was over. They drifted off, staring at the Wii, much like I had stared at the coffee machine. The lights hummed and the kids whooped and ran for their electronics.

I lunged towards the coffee maker and turned it on. I prayed. “Thank you Lord, for all the things we take for granted like lights and warmth and power. Thank you that we are always in your hands even when we think we’re doing just fine on our own.”

I looked at the coffee filter in my hand. I turned the machine off, pushed it back in the corner and unplugged it. I don’t even drink coffee.

Pam Mytroen

The winning equation

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Hebrews 12:1-15

TO CHEW ON: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

There is something inspiring about watching athletes win a medal – especially when those athletes are from your country and you know a bit about what it took for them to get there.

Canadian speed skater Cindy Klassen is one such inspiring person. Always a gifted skater, she was rejected for the Olympic women’s hockey team before she even tried speed skating. Once she put on those speed skates she began winning medals including a bronze in the 2002 Olympics. Then in a freak accident in 2005 she cut twelve tendons, a nerve and artery in her arm and was forced to take time off. But she bounced back, winning five medals at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin. However, in February of 2008 she again cut her season short to be by her sister’s side after Lisa Klassen suffered a near-fatal traffic accident. And later that year she had surgery on both her knees. Yet in December 2009, she qualified yet again to represent Canada in speed skating at the 2010 Olympics. Her story tells us something about the power of a goal and the strength of the human spirit when it comes to reaching that goal.

These elements also come into play in the race that is the Christian life. The ultimate goal for the Christian, as we said yesterday, is to hear Jesus’ “Well done!” when we break the finish-line tape. But the race is long, the obstacles many. That’s where we need determination, endurance, perseverance. Our inspiration and example is Jesus. I love how the Amplified Bible describes His role:

“Looking away from all that will distract to Jesus, Who is the Leader and Source of our faith, (giving the first incentive for our belief) and is also its Finisher (bringing it to maturity and perfection)” Hebrews 12:2 Amplified

The writer speaks of how Jesus’ finish (enduring the cross, despising the shame, seated at God’s right hand) inspires us. I also get inspiration from how He ran the middle of the race – His compassion, His single-mindedness, His wisdom, His ability to capture truth in little stories, His plain speech, His eye for the individual, and on and on… What a winner!

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for coming to earth to run this earthly race over 2000 years ago. Remind me to look to You for inspiration about how to carry on every day – and to finish well. Amen.

MORE: Find out more about Cindy Klassen at her web site.

Listen / watch her interviewed for 100 Huntley Street

Cindy Klassen’s Olympic schedule (her first race is tomorrow!)

(The above was first posted at Other Food: daily devo's February 13, 2010)

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