the waiting game continues

The waiting game continues....
It is has been two months and no word on my book proposal.
As much as this sounds discouraging, it actually is encouraging. From what I learned at the conference in July, they said any proposal goes through a series of "pub boards". The idea, if they like it, goes from the first pub board, to the next and so on until it gets to the top board. the more time goes by, the better my odds. The initial e-mail the publisher sent me said she would look at in the next few weeks, but I'm hoping that is not the reason I haven't heard from her.
Here's hoping...=)

Talking to my Father

Ray Stedman, author of "Talking with my Father", equated Jesus' prayer life to breathing.
It just came natural to him.
He never stopped doing it.
He couldn't live without it.
It gave him life and helped give life to others.
So, why do I reach for the temporal, false stuff,
That only bring me death?

Blessed are the Meek

I was reading a book called the Kingdom Experiment, based on the Beatitudes. This chapter is based on the Beatitude " Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." I have always equated the word meek with attributes like timid, weak and soft spoken. According to this book, the Greek word used to translate it to the word meek, has been also used to describe a gentle breeze or a broken colt. In other words, it is spirit under control.
Have you ever heard the word meek used in this context?
It's like bridling a gale force wind or wrestling a bucking bronco.
Did you know Moses was considered the meekest on the earth?
Would you be considered the meekest on the earth?

The truth in my work

Thomas Merton once said" Do not depend on the hope of results. You may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless and even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more and more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself."
This is so true of my life, particularly working in child care. When you have spent the fifth consecutive hour mediating which toy belongs to which child, it is easy to get bogged down in the low pay, long hours or high stress. But, this verse gave me a lot of hope in thinking about the reason why I do what I do. It took me a long time to consistently focus on what really matters in my job: the fact that I get to have a hand in shaping and molding the next generation of people. That is what keeps me going.  That is the truth in my work. That's the truth that makes it all worth it.

Info for the Wannabe Author

I stumbled upon this article by Mary Demuth, an amazing Christian author. Some of you out there are in the writing business, and some of you secretly want to be published. whatever the case may be, I found this to be an informative and light hearted article and thought some of you might benefit from it. Enjoy!

10 Things I Learned as a Newly Published Author

October 14th, 2010 by Mary DeMuth

I found this article I wrote two years ago and thought it would be fun to share with you. I learned a lot as a newly published author, and many of those lessons are still valuable today.

What about you? Can you think of ten things (or four or seven) that you’ve learned since you’ve been published? Share them; we’d all love to hear.

10 Things I’ve learned as a newly-published author

I’ve learned a lot of surprising things as I’ve realized the dream of being published. For those of you in the midst of the pursuit, I offer a few snippets of advice that may help you along the journey.

1. Make friends. When you go to a writers conference, be more consumed with making relationships with other writers who are in your stage of publication. These dear folk will become some of your closest friends. As you get published, you’ll be able to seek advice, ask for prayer, and kindly request endorsements.
2. Get used to rejection. It happens on every level of the publishing process. You’ll be rejected by publishing houses, agents, magazine editors, people who DON’T want you to speak. And as you get published, there’s more rejection heaped on. Now that I’m a “midlist” author, I experience yet another level of rejection, getting messages like, “Well, we’ll talk to you in a few months, when we see whether your numbers are up.” Ouch. Repeat to yourself: rejection is normal; rejection is normal; rejection is normal. Rejection is the air you breathe in this crazy business.
3. Realize that publishing is a BUSINESS. Though you may view your writing primarily as a ministry, the folks paying you advances see it in bottom-line terms. Be prepared to be a part of that. Realize that a lot of the onus for marketing will rest on your shoulders.
4. Kindness will preserve you. Don’t burn bridges. Don’t be petty. Shun gossip. Yep, this is a weird business populated by all sorts of people. Realize it’s a small community and word gets out.
5. Do your best NOT to be difficult. Meet deadlines. Answer emails promptly. Listen, really listen, to your editor. Unless it’s deeply important to you, acquiesce to their changes. That will allow you to go to bat for the things you think really shouldn’t change. But always, always communicate with kindness and respect.
6. Make friends with folks in the industry whether they help your career or not. I’ve made some lovely, lovely friends who I will probably never publish with. The fun thing, though, is that this is a fickle industry. Editors and agents and publishers move hither and yon all the time. Connect with all sorts of folks, not for the sake of your gain, but because Jesus is fascinated by people and you should be too. Pay attention to the people God puts in your life. Perhaps that editor will become a lifelong friend.
7. Don’t become so hootie-tootie for your own britches that you are beyond editing. Make it a goal to write a better book (or article or column) each time. Be teachable. Become a lifelong learner of the craft. Go to conferences.
8. Give back whenever you can. Teaching enables you to learn more. Consider that helping other people become better writers is a gift you give to the future. You never know the impact Jesus will make through another writer.
9. Get rid of jealousy. Life’s way too short to brood on someone else’s talent or success. Rejoice with those who succeed. No sticking pins (or pens) into the hands or brains of successful writer voodoo dolls. (Say THAT ten times fast!)
10. Continue to read widely. Read different genres, classics, poetry, pithy articles, writing books, comics, and, of course, Watching the Tree Limbs. (Sorry, I’m simply obeying number 3 . . . yeah, baby, the marketing onus is on my shoulders!)

Yield

I have heard it said that God collects our tears in a bottle.
If this is true,  with all he tears I have shed in the past month,
He'll need a jug.
But, admist the tears and sorrow, I have heard God tell me one thing.
Yield.
So, what does it mean to yield?
Merriam webster says it is to submit or surrender yourself to someone.
That's a tough sell.
Especially when I know I am right.
But, I also know someone else who was right.
That was Jesus.
Yet, he still chose to yield.
To the crowds.
To His Father.
For us.

Taking off the Training Wheels

It id funny what leittle moments can do to make you thin kabout your relationship with God. Tired from a long day at work  we convened for dinner and went through the normal ritual of telling about our days. My husband told me all about his day with the kids and that he raised the training wheels on my son's bike, so that he could learn to balance more and not  worry about having no training wheels. I thought about this in my walk with God. As a beginner Christian, I was so worried about existing in the Christian sub culture. With all of my friends using Christian language I never could understand, such as  "salvation", "sanctification", and "accountability," I wondered if I would ever fit in. I constantly wanted to surround myself with those I thought scould speak the "language" and protect me from making a fool of myself. These people were my "training wheels." As I grew in the Word, continued going to church faithfully, and obediently folliowing what I felt God wanted me to do, the "training wheels" became less necessary.  As I submerged myself in that circle of  believers, my ability to survive became stronger and stornger. If i had quit because i felt intimidated, I would have never understood what it meant to be a Christian.
In the same way, my son is intimidated because he has not submerged himself in the discipline of practicing the fine art of bike riding. If he quits now, he will never learn, and miss out on the joy of cruising down the nearby sidewalk with the wind through his neatly trimmed hair. If I had quit becoming like Jesus because I felt intimidated by the people around me, I would not experience the joy of becoming like my"trainer".

The Four Leaf Clover

Just wanted to share this little poem I found in a book I got at a tag sale called "Portrait of Jesus"
I wanted you to be as inspired as I was when I read it.

"I know a place where the sun is like gold,
And the cherry bloms burst like snow,
and underneath is the loveliest nook,
Where the four leaf clovers grow.
One leaf is for faith and one is for Hope,
And  one is for Luck, you know,
But God put another in for Love,
If you search you will find whwere they grow.

But you must have Faith
And you must have Hope,
And you must be kind, and so-
If you watch, if you wait, if you look for the place,
You will find where they grow-
You will find where they grow.
( Found one day in memory's faded book)

A little wiggle now, means a lot less pain later

My son had been complaining that his tooth was hurting at dinner and when I examined it later on, noticed it was close to coming out. Since this is the first time I have ever been a "dental surgeon", didn't quite know how to deal with it. After a whole lot of screaming (him, not me) and a little bit of blood, my son's first tooth was nestled in my hand. After he calmed down, he proudly displayed his gaping hole in his mouth and enjoyed the ice cream popsicle as promised. After we were done, I told my son the story of how my father pulled my teeth when they were loose when I was a little girl. I told him that my father used to count "1,2,3," and wiggle it loose.Afther a few quick moments, we'd try again, as I'd scream and cry during every tug. One time, my dad tricked me. He counted as he had always done and I still screamed bloody murder. That is, until he showed me it had been out of my mouth and in that bloody napkin for some time.
It is never pleasant for me to put my son or daughter through a lot of pain. It would have been easier for me to let it go until it naturally fell out. But, I know that a little wiggle now, can lead to a lot less pain later.
It is the same in my christian life. I'm faced with many choices that would be easy to overlook. I can easily scream and whine when I'm faced with a challenge that seems too difficult. I could say that it hurts too much to face a trial or that to develop spiritually will just naturally happen on its own. But, I know, much like that tooth, that a little wiggle now, leads to a whole lot less pain later.

Pro-choice

The more mature I become in my faith and the closer I get to the Savior, the more I give up my right to have a choice. The moment I choose to follow Him completely, the less choices I have, because I have allowed God to make my choices for me. When I yield my right to choose to God's will, the more I realize that what I was choosing between, weren't really choices at all. They were merely distractions to take my eyes off of Him and on to myself.
So, I guess I am pro-choice, in a way. I choose to give up my right to choose. I yield to God's will.