Today I will come as close as I ever have to giving birth. Oh sure- I was there when Will was born (C-section) nearly 20 years ago and I saw what Marilyn went through. But this time the baby is all mine. It will be very different for me. The birth will be painless, as the pain has already occurred in the months of writing and rewriting. The event will not be messy, but the project certainly has been, with stops and starts, deleting whole storylines and getting rid of various characters. And no doctor will offer me drugs- but I may need a margarita anyway! After a year of work, today my novel, Even Better Than Before, is done. It has yet to be professionally edited, but the storytelling is done and the manuscript is complete. Nearly 20 of my friends will be e-mailed files today as they have volunteered to read it for me and give their honest reviews. I am excited, nervous and anxious to hear if it's good enough to consider actual publishing. Just like any parent, I want only the best for my baby.
I am generally an optimist and someone who embraces a good challenge. Writing this novel has been a wonderful experience; sharing it with others is pushing the limits even for me. I have many doubts. But today that is exactly what will happen, and over the course of this weekend and the weeks that follow I will impatiently await word from the "doctors" on the "health" of my baby. So please, if you are so inclined, say a prayer for my peace of mind. Pray for my patience, which needs help on the best of days. And if you would like to join the list of readers, shoot me an e-mail at Youthguy07@aol.com and I'll send you the file. No editing or proofreading required, just honest opinions on the storyline and the characters. It could be just the ticket you need to a little indoor entertainment on this holiday weekend. And if not, computer files are remarkably easy to delete. :)
My 60,000 word baby goes out into the world today. It's time to celebrate! And maybe worry just a little bit. Have a blessed weekend, my friends!
Because of Jesus,
Many of you know that Sunday afternoons are still difficult for me. From the time I was 12 until the time I was 47 I spent nearly every Sunday afternoon attending, helping with or leading a student ministry. Just over 6 years ago that portion of my life came to an abrupt end, and I still miss it nearly every week. So Sundays can be hard on my normally positive attitude in the best of cases.
Yesterday was NOT the best of cases. I didn't sleep well Saturday night. The medicine I am taking to help control my diabetes has some nasty side effects, and yesterday they all seemed to be kicking in at once. Will's prom Saturday night was just another reminder that life flies by, and it is so easy to miss the good stuff. I was thinking far to much about a difficult personal situation and a future that I desire but most likely cannot have. And so I sat, listened to music...and worried. I worried about my health. I worried about future opportunities to be involved in ministry. I worried about a friend who is struggling. And I worried about my own future happiness. All of that worry pushed me into a dark place; a sad place. I am considered by many of my friends to be a master of finding the "silver lining." Yesterday that lining was very hard to find. Very hard indeed...
Then last night I took out the trash. That may seem like an odd way to find a little peace on a bad day, but as I emptied one of our small trash cans into the big garbage bin I saw something I did not expect so see. I will spare you the details, but suffice it to say that this surprise made me both gasp and laugh. I was immediately aware that I had just spent the day wallowing in something over which I had no control. Life...and my future...will be full of surprises and events that surpass my grandest expectations. Things I once never dreamed possible have already happened. Blessings from God come every day, just like the sun rise. And suddenly I was reminded of one of my favorite scripture verses:
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Matthew 6:34 (The Message)
So today I am praying over those words of Jesus. I want to focus my attention on what God is doing right NOW in my life. And I want to give the future to God. Is it still scary? Yes! But it is so much less scary to know that my future, my life and my joy are in the hands of the Creator of the universe and Savior of humanity. The old cliche says that I may not know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future. Old cliches are often right. "Let the days own troubles be enough for the day." Words to live by on a Monday morning. Be blessed, my friends.
Because of Jesus,
It is absolutely amazing the things that we can get upset over and worry about. For the past 20 hours or so, Google Blogger, which hosts this particular blog, was not functioning. Normally I write the next day's post the night before, and last night I could not do that. I have blogged for nearly 650 days in a row, and I worried that my streak might be in jeopardy. I kept checking my computer to see if it was fixed yet. Plus it is Friday the 13th. I was seriously concerned.
What an idiot I am. Let's look at the facts. No one's day would be ruined if I didn't post. No one is sitting at home nervously waiting to see if I would come through with some witty or inspirational words. And no one (besides me) cares how many days in a row I have written posts. We somehow manage to work ourselves in to a frenzy over things that could not matter less. And we do it all the time.
Jesus cautioned us about worrying. In Matthew 6:25-28 he reminds to trust in God for the things we need. Yet we want to fix things and take care of ourselves. It seems to be a human trait that we just can't shake. We like to worry- and usually about things that we have no control over.
There are people who are very worried that next Saturday, May 21st, is the day that Jesus is coming back. There are billboards proclaiming this all over our nation. I find this very interesting, since Jesus himself told us "no one will know the day or the time"- which pretty much rules out predictions. I also find it funny that this is a concern for anyone. If you are a Christ-follower, then you should always be ready for Jesus' return. If you are not, then you don't believe he's coming back- or that it matters that he was ever here! Either way, seems to me you have nothing to worry about. And yet we do.
So anyway, Blogger is fixed, I'm ready for Jesus, and I am going to try to do better and live my life trusting God. It may seem like "the end of the world as we know it"...but I really do feel fine!
Because of Jesus,
