#DangerDays: The Next Step

Logo by Teresa Reep Tysinger

I began this #DangerDays series the first Tuesday in January of this year with the hopes that I could find enough guest writers to continue the series for a full year. While the guest writers who stepped forward have been nothing short of sensational, the well seems to have run dry. So while there may be some random posts to the series in the future, today marks the end of this as a weekly part of my blog. Thanks to everyone who contributed and followed along. Six months is not too shabby...

So what is my own personal "next step" when it comes to moving forward with faith and facing new challenges in my own life? Last weekend a dear friend e-mailed me a copy of a novel she had written as part of of Nanowrimo last November. I have never participated in the program, but the general idea is write a 50,000 word book in one month. Her novel was brilliant, and inspired me to return to a my own fledgling fiction effort I began about a year ago. That quickly turned into stating over again from scratch. In the past 2 days I have poured out over 4000 words, and I am very excited about the process. People have been telling me for years that I needed to write a book. I always assumed it would non-fiction about my life and my days as a youth pastor. But right now, at this particular stage of my life, I feel like I have a story to tell that is not about me. It's about forgiveness, hope, love and one remarkable weekend at the beach for a group of life-weary old friends who re-discover how much they need each other. It is still very much in the beginning stages of a story line, and to paraphrase Elton John, "this book has no title, just words and a tune." But I can't wait to get back to writing again today. 

So how does this new adventure fit into the #DangerDays? First of all, there is the challenge of actually sticking to it and carving out a daily time to write. Organization and perseverance are not among my best qualities. Then there is the fact that while I have done enormous amounts of writing in my life (newsletters, this blog, magazine articles, youth ministry curriculum, etc) I have not written any real fiction since college. Oh sure, I make up stories all the time! But not like this. Not a novel. And that scares me a bit. And finally, there is the risk that no one will ever read it, or if they do read it, not like it. Writing this blog is safe. People seem to like it, and if they don't I never know it. This book could lead to rejection. To deal with those three items I m gong to have to go forward with the faith that God has put this project on my heart for reason. I often remind people that "we are called to be faithful, not successful." Time to put up or shut up, Carl.

I hope you will pray for me as I begin this new chapter in my own journey. I also hope that if you have a story to contribute to the #DangerDays series you will share it with me. Don't think of the series as finished. Think of it as under construction. But I'll be back here tomorrow with another wild and wonderful Wednesday post. Hope to see you then!

Because of Jesus.