I need catch up time, so...

I'm sharing one of my favorite verses:

Be still and know that I am God. ~ Psalms 46:10

Though it's my favorite, I'm not very good at it. Fortunately, God is willing to remind me. I'm so grateful God is endlessly patient with me.

God is good...

"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

An Irish Easter Blessing
"At the breaking of the Easter dawn may the Risen Saviour bless your home with grace and peace from above, with joy and laughter, and with love And when night is nigh, and day is done Make He keep you safe from all harm."

Found another lovely inspirational blog. http://www.reneegatz.com/blog1/2012/04/easter-blessings/

Registration for the Desert Dreams Writers' Conference is still open.
http://www.desertroserwa.org

Continued prep...

Yesterday, I worked on the query letter, synopsis for the series, and the synopsis for the book, the last being the longest of the three. Completed first drafts are done for the first two, and the last is headed in the right direction. And the questions flood my mind. Is it good enough? Is it as good as I can make it? Is there something I'm forgetting?

Then I close my eyes, take a steadying breath, and remember that God planted my feet on this path. Though I don't know where it's going, He does. Even if it leads into a rocky way, God will be with me, and when I stumble He will comfort me.

Psalms 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God."

Today, I will continue moving forward. I'll finish the synopsis. I'll review what I've done so far. I'll review what still needs to be done. I have a friend calling me this weekend, to give me some input. This will be ready by next week.

Feeling inadequate. I did a search through Yahoo for my website, and could only find references through my sister's site. Not good. If I can't be found, what good is all this? Feeling discouraged. Then I did a search through Google, and there I was. I need to rethink, re-evaluate, and make some changes.

Feeling a little like Peter...

Last January, I began wondering if my job was going away. Losing my job has been a constant worry, for me. In February, my main client laid me off. I wasn't devastated. It was Jesus on the storm-tossed Sea of Galilee, beckoning me to come to Him. I stepped out boldly, trusting that Jesus would not ask me to do anything I could not feasibly do, even if I did it badly and even if I failed in the attempt. He asked me to take the step, and I took it. Last June, I sent in my query, and when the mail came, today, still with no reply, I began to wonder: What if it was lost in the mail, on the way there? What if it was lost in the shuffle on someone's desk? What if it was lost in the mail coming back? A viable possibility considering the fact that I had received in the mail, last Saturday, a letter I was supposed to have received more than a week before. As my worries circled and spiraled, a gentle prompting so clear and so strong it felt like it had been spoken in my heart: Are you going to trust Me, or not? As simple as that. So, I put my worries away, and say, "Yes, Jesus, I trust You. Wherever You lead, I will follow, no matter how much I stumble and fall along the way. I will always rise and follow."

Rain kept me away...

...but it wasn't a bad thing, as I finally finished the current scene and started the next. I've always enjoyed the writing process, the way characters have of taking you places you never planned or imagined.

It's interesting to find things overlapping in my life. I've been contemplating humility and came across this scripture: Proverbs 15:33 "The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility." Am I humble? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Funny that I also turned to Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction." So at least I'm not a fool, because I don't despise wisdom and instruction. One definition of humility is being teachable.

How does all this relate to writing? If I want my characters to be humble and honorable, I need to know what it is and how to portray it. For example, to create God-fearing characters, I first needed to know that being God fearing means loving God.

Still writing...

...every day. And the WIP is becoming something I'm really enjoying, instead of something I HAVE to do because it's niggling at me all the time. Perhaps a better word would be nagging me all the time. The hero is still center stage, and I like him more and more. He brought up the scripture where the Lord tells Saul, "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." How much have I been kicking at the pricks? More than I want to admit. My counselor would point to the wall to remind me that some things I try to control are truly out of my hands, but if I really I want to, then I'm welcome to bang my head against the wall because it will have the same effect.

Looking out my window, it's dead calm. Watching the weather radar, I wonder if it's the calm before the storm, literally. The sun setting in the West spotlights the palm trees across the way, while all else is in shadow. Amazing.

Life happens...

Managed to finish all my work, that's the pay-the-bills work, and then had unexpected company of the good variety. A thoroughly enjoyable evening, but not much time for writing. No excuses. I'd been worrying about determining what time of year it is. Now it's decided. Also accomplished a bit of editing. Every little bit is another step forward.

A quote for the day: "All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible." ~ T.E. Lawrence

Scripture for the day: Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God."