The Writing

Whew! I've been writing like a mad woman lately!  The first chore of the morning is feeding the horses and, while they are eating, the morning devotional is composed, typed, and posted.  After morning chores, the work of the new book begins.  Well, new BOOKS.  It turns out I'm writing two books.  The first book is The Waiting:  When the answer to your prayer is delayed and your hope is gone.  I'm excited about this book.  I've taken some of the devotionals from Luke 8 (The Jairus series), added some extra devotionals, pulled out some nice quotes, and am steadily making a book.  It's 123 pages so far.  The second book is The Journey.  It will include the morning devotionals from Luke 9 as well as some personal commentary about my own faith walk.  It's harder writing.

My first book took nearly ten years in the preparing.  I've learned a lot since then.  The Advent book took 90+ days.  Well, maybe less than that.  It was insanely fast.  This time, I'm treasuring the effort, allowing God to direct the pace, and finding more peace in the work than I ever thought possible.

What I had forgotten is how much work is required besides writing.  I've spent the entire afternoon doing footnotes, but have thanked God steadily for how easy He made it.  All the footnotes are done and compliant with Chicago Manual of Style, which is a miracle in itself!  The formatting has begun and, after I have proofread the entire text about a jillion times, it will be converted to a PDF and sent to a printer.

I've also spent a little time this afternoon deciding about page size, internal paper weight, paper color, bindings, cover, and quantity of books to print.  There are quotes to compare and cover designs to choose.  The amazing thing about all these tasks is that God planted a great love for books in this little girl more than a half-century ago.  There has been tremendous joy in handling a beautifully made book and, believe it or not, years before I ever considered publishing, I spent hours reading (for fun) about fonts, type styles, and the selection of paper. God spent decades preparing me for the tasks He has given me today.

Those disciples we've been studying in the mornings were given power and authority as their only tools, yet had all they needed for the tasks given to them.  In the same way, God plants in us exactly what we need for the tasks He gives us.  I've been reminded of that truth all over again today, and it is thrilling, humbling, and very exciting. When the book is ready, I will be as glad as anyone, but the best part of all is the journey with our Lord while the work gets done.

The Struggle With Words

The deal with guest bloggers is generally that they write for each other. When Dr. Leap and I talked about guest blogs, it included me doing one for him. I fully intended to do that, and had a topic in mind from the start. I knew part of the words I would write. 

Usually, it takes me about 30-45 minutes in the morning and about that much time in the evenings. If I have a starting point, I just start typing and quit when I get to the end. The post with the most-ever views was written with great passion in under 15 minutes. I usually scan it for typos and hit post. As crazy as it sounds, much of the time the first time I've actually read what I've written is after it posts. I know that's a little risky, but it's how I do it. 

Well, that's how I usually do it. The blog for Dr. Leap has been an insurmountable task for me. I couldn't seem to get it right. Yesterday, I worked on it all afternoon. I sent countless drafts to my sister, who kept texting back, "This sounds nothing like you. Why are you writing like this?"  She was right. Dr. Leap is a marvelously insightful writer with a beautiful and eloquent style. I wish I wrote like him. It turns out, I can write like him, but it doesn't fit at all with what I needed to say. Every draft I sent to my sister got nearly same reply. "Better but not quite there."

This morning, I sat down with the article and started praying. "Lord, You gave me this topic. What's wrong with this article?" The answer I heard in my heart was instant and painful. What was wrong was that I was trying to please Dr. Leap and his readers rather than the Holy One. Well, no wonder I couldn't write!  I invited The Lord to fix it, and in just a few minutes the article was on its way. 

The devotional this morning immediately followed. When I wrote, "For today, pray that we and our loved ones would be filled with such a holy fear that our greatest desire is to please Our Lord, that One who is the Lover of our soul," it was exactly what I needed to hear.  It was quick confirmation that my struggle with the article was all about pride and a jumble of priorities, but it seems we've got it straightened out now. 

I sent this final draft to my sister, who replied, "That one is it!!" and I think she's right. When Dr. Leap posts it, I will blog the link so you can read what God has given. I hope He speaks to you through what has been written, just as He did to me. 

Unexpectedly Grateful Heart part 18

The copy of my new book arrived today and it was exciting to see my words on those pages in black and white.  It's hard to believe that those quick text messages sent as a call to morning prayer have turned into a full book. As I turned through the pages, I realized once more how much I enjoy writing. Oddly enough, I enjoy writing, even if no one is reading. When writing is combined with formatting, editing, and designing, it is my absolute favorite thing to do!

I was pondering using a story from my archives for tonight's post, so I started flipping through Dropbox files. You will not believe what I found! Even I don't really believe it. I have already written another book, called Lessons From the Harvest. It's full of farm stories and brought back such sweet memories! What fun it will be to finish formatting and bring the book all the way to publication! I really like the stories, and hope you will all enjoy them, too. 

It's funny how surprises will pop up, like the book, at the most unexpected times. Even though I wrote the book and lived the stories, they were fresh and new to me and they felt like a gift of the past, refreshing and joy-filled. Tonight I'm thankful for those expected gifts that bring such joy, the satisfaction I receive from a job well done, and the pleasure that comes from doing work I love.