Selling Paint to a Poet -- Jocelyn Faire

Purple proclamation, Angel's Kiss, Sunshine Day, Starry Night, Little Boy Blue, Himalaya Sky, Plum Preserve, Petunia Trail, Electricity, Periwinkle, Velvet Robe, Surf's Surprise, Sailing into the Horizon ... Fifty Shades of Blue.

The Home Hardware paint man barely raised an eyebrow when I said that I sometimes chose my paint colour because of the name. His fingers tapped when I asked him what the sale sign meant ... the Bold Take 40% Off was past due, but the sign and cans were still in the centre aisle. Premier paint, premier names, Yes, he would honour the sign's price. And then my suspicions are aroused. "Why is this paint on sale? Is it a lower quality?"

"No," he says with a shrug, "people weren't painting that much in August, too nice, we sold deck and exterior paint in summer."

Bargain-- bar·gain ˈbärgən/noun-noun: bargain; plural noun: bargains: an agreement between two or more parties as to what each party will do for the other. A thing bought or offered for sale more cheaply than is usual or expected.

I am wary of words that pitch a bargain, and at the same time a sucker for them. Drawn in by words, disappointed when they fail to deliver, empty flowery rhetoric.

Words, words, words, the essence of writing, and yet the combinations of letters, consonants can be magical or repulsive, beauty or beast, rich or poor .... salt or salve to a wounded soul. Poetry intrigues me because of its density of words. Poems do not spoon feed me, I have to think about the meaning ... although at times I give up, if the meaning is too hidden.

One of my favourite back to school bargains for new words is the on-line dictionary Word of the Day. It's free, and I just signed up this month. My time is valuable and I detest signing up to be inundated with ads.

So far, Word of the Day from Dictionary.com, has lived up to its promise, every day an intriguing word enters my inbox, alongside four ever-changing word challenge links, if you want to eat words for breakfast. (Although Ellen DeGeneres' tear-streaked face has been bobbling in the side ad bar on several word days, and I wonder what she has done to tick off Cover Girl. Also catching my eye is the 57 year old mom that is pulling off a face mask to reveal a 35 year old face—you ignore the ads after a while.)

I have used words from the daily for the 3-word challenge, and being wordy, I added a few.

From word of the day—“geep” a cross between goat and sheep ... So, scripturally are these the sitting on the fence people?

Today my eye was drawn to the link 5 Fun Ways to Say Boring:

Ennui (Ahn-wee) not all boredom is created equal: some of it is fleeting or circumstantial, and some of it teeters on existential crisis ... derived from the French verb enuier meaning “to annoy.”

Bromidic
Prosaic (Is that what prompted Prozak?)
Insipid
Platitudinous (I fear this is often mistaken for wisdom in the churches?) 

I had not heard of ennui, I feel the need for a slight French accent to say that word. Insipid Ivory is a paint colour I would not choose, perhaps Bromidic barn red, or Prosaic purple.

Words are the paint we use to colour our canvas. I wish you Happy Painting.

When Jesus was asked why he told stories, he said ...I tell stories to create readiness, to nudge the people toward receptive insight. Matt 13: 12/13 The Message

Jocelyn also blogs at Who Is Talking. Her book Who is Talking out of My Head, Grief as an out of Body Experience, is available on Amazon.com and Friesenpress.

 

Older And Wiser? by Bryan Norford

The older I get the more likely the old saying, “There’s no fool like an old fool,” will apply to me. It’s too easy for a lifetime of learning, training, and experience to accumulate a formidable array of answers to the problems of life. We all develop a general idea of what life should be, a sort of matrix to lay over every life situation, but which rarely produces satisfying answers.

Although every life problem exhibits a stereotype of common symptoms, each one is unique. That’s why it’s always easier to solve other people’s problems—at least in theory—than fix our own. In fact, the older I get, it seems I have less answers to life. While I may accrue ideal guidelines for life events, the devil, as they say, is in the intractable details.

Ann and I face a particular irony. As we publish a second edition of our marriage devotional, Happy Together, some family marriages are falling apart. All our knowledge and advice is unlikely to save them. Here Paul’s words reveal some moderating counsel, “We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know,” 1 Corinthians 8:1–2

I’ve always maintained that the man who thinks he knows everything just doesn’t know what he doesn’t know; a sobering thought to an aging, arrogant mind. In fact, the more knowledge we accumulate, the greater the amount we realize we don’t know. This not only instils a deep humility, but our knowledge becomes increasingly deficient. So how can we respond to life?

This infinite unknown is true of life generally, but greatest when it comes to a growing awareness of God’s immensity. We know this instinctively, but it becomes real as we endeavour to learn about Him. The vastness of God himself, together with His attributes of love, mercy and grace, leaves us falling at his feet in speechless wonder and inadequacy.

Paul’s answer to our dilemma is love, on a number of levels. First, as most counsellors agree, we need to listen, not provide answers, even if we think we have them. In this sense a burden shared is halved, whether answers are apparent or not. Second, as long as we are all fallen creatures, we are always one with the other—whether their problems are of their own making or not.

Then we become spiritual comforters to the hurting and spiritual guardians alongside the fallen, not pharisaic advisors above them. The Bible heartily endorses the gaining of knowledge, but abuse of knowledge generates self-righteousness and superiority. Love provides the wisdom for its use.

I want to see “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10. Nothing in this life has meaning unless it contributes to this final destiny. So it’s important at any age for me to keep learning, but not just increasing knowledge. Love must be my teacher.

Back to School - by Loretta Bouillon

I love the summer. It can be busy—or should I say just a different kind of busy? With our family vacation, all three kids working at the pool, aquafit, friends visiting, school prep and trying to chip away slowly (very slowly!) at various writing projects - the summer has just flown by. Physical, mental and emotional energy has been poured into preparing our oldest son for leaving for university, along with several of his friends who make up our youth group. Many changes, exciting for those leaving, but harder for those left behind.

Our family has recently taken Maxx, our 18 year old son, to University of Northern British Columbia at the end of August. I know that it is inevitable that all my children will leave, but the day has arrived where the first is actually leaving the nest. As hard as it is, these are a few of the things I am certain of:

1) I will miss Maxx terribly. The sound of his guitar through the walls, his steadfast quiet spirit, his voice of reason when I feel a little bit crazy, and his willingness to pray for me when I need it.

2) He will be okay. He is a capable, responsible, amazing young man who loves God and will seek his guidance continually. He is on the meal plan in residence. He will eat.

3) I will be okay. I will go into withdrawal at first, maybe cry in his room for a bit, but then come to appreciate his room as MY extra space where I can retreat to do my writing, reading or watch a movie that no one else wants to watch. He also has a pretty awesome ensuite powder room off his room which will also become MINE!

4) We will adjust. God will see us through the changes. We will all miss Maxx terribly; dinner for four instead of five just does not sound right, however we will look forward to when he comes home: Thanksgiving, Christmas and reading week.

Life will go on! I am still homeschooling two other wonderful kids that bring me great joy. Back-to-school has begun and I am hoping to fall into a schedule for my writing as the kids do their studies. In October, I am looking forward to attending the Surrey International Writer’s conference with my seventeen year old daughter (who I believe is a better writer than I am!). It will be our first writer’s conference and a mother/daughter get-a-way. I signed up for this conference before I found the InScribe group so unfortunately, as much as I would LOVE to do both conferences, it is not possible. However, the Inscribe conference is on the agenda for next year!

I am new to the writing industry. It has been less than a year where I have actually called myself a writer (although I have always written). My work in progress includes a couple of children’s picture books, magazine articles, devotions and the hope to write a series of devotions and a parenting book for parents with teens.

In this season, I am passionate about writing about my life with my teens and hope to encourage other parents in this stage of the parenting journey. Over the years, when people ask me about my children, they sometimes seem perplexed as to how my kids can appear happy and accomplished, yet they do not party or date (casually). They also actually enjoy being with their family. This has inspired me to write a book about parenting teens. I ask God that the message would be humble and bring Him glory as not to portray myself as some super-mom. My journey has been completely reliant on Him.

As my life revolves around the school year, so does my writing. My prayer is that that I will find the balance between teaching, parenting, supporting my husband and writing. When God calls us to particular ministries, He will equip us. That is my prayer for all of you, my fellow writers, that you will be carried by our wonderful God as you pursue all God has called you to be in the months ahead.

I've Been Inscribed - Tracy Krauss

Inscribe's Fall Conference is just around the corner and I can hardly wait! Here is a little account of how I came to know about this wonderful organization, originally posted on my blog 'Expression Express'.

I came across Inscribe back in the summer of 2010 as I was searching the internet for ways to connect with other authors. Although I had been a 'closet' writer for many years, I was newly among the ranks of 'the published' and unfortunately, really didn't have a clue about building a platform, social networking, or book promotion in general. I suppose you could say, I came upon the marketing side of things through the back door. One of the suggestions I read somewhere was to set up 'google alerts' for topics that interested me, and that is how I found Inscribe.

You can't imagine my excitement when I discovered that there was a Canadian organization for Christian writers fairly near where I lived. (An eight hour drive... What's that in the grand scheme of things?) I was also thrilled to find out that they were hosting a conference that fall in Edmonton. I signed up!

That first conference was an eye opener for me. Rudy Wiebe was the guest speaker on Friday night and Sigmund Brouwer was the keynote speaker the next day. I was encouraged, challenged and inspired. I made my first, live connections with other authors who loved writing in the same way that I did. (As opposed to just online relationships.) I also found out there was a local writing group two hours from my home in BC, and I was introduced to the Inscribe Writer's blog and decided to become a contributing author.

After attending my second conference in 2012, I felt 'nudged' by the Holy Spirit to get more involved. I offered to help with moderating the website and was put in charge of the bookstore and membership pages. We now have a full time webmaster looking after the entire website - totally revamped and updated, I might add - so I no longer do that. However, I did offer my services as the BC rep and it is my honour to now serve on the executive as the 'Local Writing Groups' coordinator. In 2013 I also had the privilege of facilitating a workshop on blogging.

One of the things that I love about this organization is the humility and genuineness of its members, including the executive. There is no snobbery here. Published, unpublished, newbies, old timers ... everyone is welcomed and valued. People are willing to share their knowledge and  truly care about each and every member. Inscribe feels like 'home'. I'm so glad I found you!

Tracy Krauss lives and writes in Tumbler Ridge, BC. Visit her website for more about her many published books and plays. tracykrauss.com