Take delight in the Lord and he will give you your heart's desires. Psalm 37:4
Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for.... For everyone who asks receives." Matthew 7:7
And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. 1 John 5:15
Put a quarter into the slot and the mighty Zoltar will give you whatever you want.
Er...oops. Guess I got carried away. But I could find more similar bible verses. They're all over the place. Old and New Testament. Lots of little nuggets of gold in there that make even the most humble among us rub our palms together and dream of the possibilities.
Anything, God? Really? Ok...I'm going to be really mature here and not ask for money. Lots of verses about money in there too and I'm past wishing--I mean praying--for more money.
The desires of my heart, huh? Then I want to write. Not just put-put stuff on a free blog. Real, meaty stuff that people read and are changed by. And I want the things I do at church to go well instead of flop around like a dead fish until someone finally says, "Enough is enough. Put it out of its misery." And if it's not too much to ask, I'd like for something to go right for my husband for once. I'm not asking for him to have his career back. I just want a future we can look forward to. One that doesn't involve other people's funerals, preferably. Oh yeah. Amen.
Tapping my foot....waiting....waiting....
It doesn't work that way, my beloved daughter.
What?! Why not?! That's what it SAYS! In the BIBLE! That's YOUR word, not mine. I delight in you, I really do. You can ask anyone I know. They'll tell you.
I know. I know all things. And I love you too. More than you can comprehend. And that's why I can't give you all of the things you are asking for.
But these things are good things, Father. Things that can bring you glory!
And things that can bring YOU glory.
Aaaannnddd...that's a bad thing, why?
It's not bad, dear one. But it's shortsighted. You are only seeing the things of this world and you think you know best how to make things good. Some of the things you are asking for, well, they're not good. Not in the long run. Please trust me. I know things you don't--can't know.
Great. Then, why bother asking for ANYTHING?!
Calm down. Go ahead and ask. Anything just to hear your voice. Sometimes my answer will be yes. Sometimes no. But I'll tell you the secret to getting what you ask for. Are you ready?
Yes. For crying out loud. Yes!
That book in your lap? Look at those verses again. Not the one about Zoltar. The other ones.
Ok...says here in Psalms 37:5, "Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him and he will help you."
Matthew 7:9 says, "You parents--if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?"
And 1 John 5:14 says, "...he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him."
Wait a minute...so, you're saying I have to give you the "whole pie," as Pastor Mike says, trust your judgment, and ask only for things that please you? And THEN you'll give me what I ask for??
Pretty much.
How do I know what pleases you?
Do the first two things and you'll have it pretty well figured out.
Well, how do I do those first two things?
Ask me. Those are things that PLEASE me. I would be happy grant those requests for you. Are you beginning to see how this works?
I think so.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Monday, January 9, 2012
It is finished...sort of
Tutto e compiuto. That means "it is finished" in Italian. I know this because I've had my google translator up almost constantly as I wrote my story, which takes place in medieval Italy. It has been very handy for finding names, substituting swear words, and lending a bit of European flavor to the dialogue. But, at last, tutto e compiuto.
When the idea first struck to do something as crazy and time-consuming as writing a novel, my first course of action was to research literary agents and editors to see if it is even possible for an unpublished person to get anywhere in the "biz." I was not met with any hope that it could happen. Apparently, publishing houses don't take unsolicited material and agents don't take clients who have never been published. Is it just me, or is that the most vicious cycle of hopelessness ever instituted by man?
So, I thought...maybe I should just write the first chapter and send it in along with a query letter, and see if anyone bites on the concept of what I was wanting to do. I mean, I don't want to spend all the time it would take to write the WHOLE THING for nothing! It seemed so insurmountable when I was still struggling to figure out how to even begin. Like it would take years to write it. I just couldn't see how I could ever do it without a professional, real life person telling me it was worth doing, and maybe, you know, sending an advance check! Ha! Funny! Naive and funny...in a hopeless kind of way.
But I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and started typing. Then deleted and started again. And I kept going. Before long I had an 8-page chapter one. It was...ok. I knew parts of it were weak but I could go back and clean up the messy stuff. So I kept going. Chapter two ended and chapter three began. After two solid days of marathon writing, I had four chapters and my two characters were on a roll. Well, literally, on a journey. And I couldn't stop. The story had to come out.
Literary agents be damned, I was going to finish this story.
A surprisingly short two and a half months later, and a surprisingly long 298 Word doc double-spaced pages later, and......it is finished.
Already my mini HP has been closed for two days and I'm feeling a little lost without my friends, Sal and Fran. But they are big kids now. They have learned the lessons that I created for them. Lessons about grace, and humility, and forgiveness. They are now out in the great big world beyond my imagination doing the jobs that God called them to do.
What now? Well, according to my creative writing "professors," Steven King and Sol Stein, I should let it sit for at least 4 to 6 weeks without looking at it. That way, when I open it up to do revisions, or as Stein calls it, "triage," which evokes the image of a salpel slicing away big chunks of my story (shudder), I won't be so close to it and I will see the words in a fresh, more unbiased way. After that I will have a second draft. Then, I will go through the process again.
And the rest is up to God.
What to do while I wait? Well, I tried to let my brain take a vacation but it is revolting against the idea and formulating ideas for the next story, against my will and better judgment. A post-Reformation story. Circa early 1600's. There's this girl...she has a choice to make... Argh!!! Turn it off, turn it off!!!
When the idea first struck to do something as crazy and time-consuming as writing a novel, my first course of action was to research literary agents and editors to see if it is even possible for an unpublished person to get anywhere in the "biz." I was not met with any hope that it could happen. Apparently, publishing houses don't take unsolicited material and agents don't take clients who have never been published. Is it just me, or is that the most vicious cycle of hopelessness ever instituted by man?
So, I thought...maybe I should just write the first chapter and send it in along with a query letter, and see if anyone bites on the concept of what I was wanting to do. I mean, I don't want to spend all the time it would take to write the WHOLE THING for nothing! It seemed so insurmountable when I was still struggling to figure out how to even begin. Like it would take years to write it. I just couldn't see how I could ever do it without a professional, real life person telling me it was worth doing, and maybe, you know, sending an advance check! Ha! Funny! Naive and funny...in a hopeless kind of way.
But I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and started typing. Then deleted and started again. And I kept going. Before long I had an 8-page chapter one. It was...ok. I knew parts of it were weak but I could go back and clean up the messy stuff. So I kept going. Chapter two ended and chapter three began. After two solid days of marathon writing, I had four chapters and my two characters were on a roll. Well, literally, on a journey. And I couldn't stop. The story had to come out.
Literary agents be damned, I was going to finish this story.
A surprisingly short two and a half months later, and a surprisingly long 298 Word doc double-spaced pages later, and......it is finished.
Already my mini HP has been closed for two days and I'm feeling a little lost without my friends, Sal and Fran. But they are big kids now. They have learned the lessons that I created for them. Lessons about grace, and humility, and forgiveness. They are now out in the great big world beyond my imagination doing the jobs that God called them to do.
What now? Well, according to my creative writing "professors," Steven King and Sol Stein, I should let it sit for at least 4 to 6 weeks without looking at it. That way, when I open it up to do revisions, or as Stein calls it, "triage," which evokes the image of a salpel slicing away big chunks of my story (shudder), I won't be so close to it and I will see the words in a fresh, more unbiased way. After that I will have a second draft. Then, I will go through the process again.
And the rest is up to God.
What to do while I wait? Well, I tried to let my brain take a vacation but it is revolting against the idea and formulating ideas for the next story, against my will and better judgment. A post-Reformation story. Circa early 1600's. There's this girl...she has a choice to make... Argh!!! Turn it off, turn it off!!!
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