Catching Up

Hey, I'm such a bad blogger at times. I was finishing up The Wedding Dress so I could pass it off to a reader/proofer before flying to St. Louis for a board meeting.

Came home and have been prepping for this week over in Clearwater and the My Book Therapy Deep Thinkers Retreat.

I'll try to post pictures and notes over the next six days. BUT, I do have a plan for this little ole blog. I do. Hang tight. I'll get 'er done.

Thanks friends!

In the meantime, check out the Southern Belle blog! We're having fun over there. This week is the continuation of our island romance, Whirlaway Island.

Goals: Being prepared for eternity

Because we're trapped in time, it's really easy to have our focus on the here and now. Rightly so because if we don't take care of ourselves, our families, our responsibilities we'll find ourselves in need or impoverished without cause.

But this life is merely an internship for the next life. There will be an end to this age and we'll be launched into a time where Jesus reigns on earth as a just King and making right all the wrongs.

We could spend hours, days, even years debating end time theology. But I don't have the heart or the time for it -- and frankly, some of the debating and hairsplitting isn't holy or benefitting. We can read the Bible and know! God's Word is not for the ivory towered intellectuals. It's for all of us.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us God has written eternity on our hearts. We're supposed to want to "live forever" and "be immortal." But we must pass from this life to the next either by 1. Death or 2. Jesus return while we're alive.

Either way, we have to be ready to stand before Him and give an account of our lives. There is a reward system. I don't completely understand it, but I know God will reward even those who've given a little one a cup of cold water. Matthew 10:42.

He loves to reward. Don't feel like you have to "earn" it or something, He's looking for and recording as many things as He can to reward us. It's not like my old boss who insisted I write reviews on my team with a criticizing focus. She was never concerned about listing their success, only their failures.

Not so with Jesus. In fact, He's looking to turn our failures into successes. So here's the deal. Let's not be afraid to live life, to take a chance, to go for God's will while we have the time.

Let's not be bogged down by the passing pleasures of this world. Turn off the TV. Put away foolish things. Cut out friends or things that hinder your run in race. Set your heart and mind on Jesus. Trust me, He'll put you to good use.

He's not going to sign you us for the team because He needs another person or two on the bench. Nope, Jesus needs a team of quarterbacks, tail backs, tackles, lineman, offensive guards, defensive tackles. Punters, kickers, special teams.

You know, some guys want to play football so bad they go out for the team with a "sign me up, Coach" attitude. Remember Rudy from the movie... Rudy? He wanted to play Notre Dame football so bad he was willing to be a scrub, beat-the-crap-out-of-me practice player. He was on the team only to make the real players better. He didn't even get to suit up on game day.

But he hung in there, he endured an extreme time of testing so that... what? He might win the prize! And win the prize he did.

Do you know any other Notre Dame football player's names from those Rudy years? I don't. But I know about the too small, too inadequate player who finally had his moment of glory on the field.

We must live this life with eternity in mind. With our own moment of "glory on the field" to come. We must be prepared for whatever play Coach calls. By the time Rudy was called up, he was one tough son of a gun.

Be ready. Live your life with purpose. You do not know when God's going to say,

"Rachel, you're up, get in the game."

"What? Lord, I'm 50 years old. You don't want to use me, do you? I've waited all this time. I've gotten fat and lazy. I haven't read the Word or prayed consistently in years and... and... I've been living out my destiny by watching American Idol and Oprah."

"I need you in the game. This is your moment."

"Coach, I don't know the plays. I'm 50, remember. Most players are called up in their 20s and 30s."

With a kind sadness, He gazes into her eyes. "But I've been waiting for this moment for you. I've had this slotted since the foundations of the earth... for you. Didn't you know? Don't you remember all the touches on your heart where I reminded you? You actually thought I forgot you?"

"No Lord, but it seems I forgot about the destiny you wrote on my heart."

Don't give up! Live with eternity on your heart. If for some reason you're not called into the game in this life, you most certainly will in the next. Be ready. Hold fast. Stay in "training."

JOY!

Writing: Denise Hunter talks about life as a writer

My good friends Lena Dooley and Denise Hunter are talking writing over on Lena's blog today. Denise has some new releases coming (yay!) but on the featured book on this post is a re-release of Surrender Bay.

I love both of these women, their heart for the Lord, for worship, for others and for writing great books

Be sure to check it out!

Spiritual: Reproving Sin

Reading in 1 Samuel this morning and was really struck by God's judgment against Eli, the priest of the Lord, for not reproving his sons for their very bad priestly behavior.

Take a look at what they did:

Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the LORD. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand and he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.

(The priests servants robbed the people.)

Also, before they burned the fat, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, "Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw." If the man said to him, "They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire," then he would say, "No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force."

(The priest's servants defiled the sacrifice and bullied those making an offering.)

Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the LORD, for the men despised the offering of the LORD. Also, they slept with the women who served at the doorway at the tent of meeting.

Breaking it down, Eli's sons robbed and oppressed the people and Eli did not rebuke them. God said, "Enough," and cut off Eli's heritage. Like, "No man will grow old in your house."

His sons were killed on the same day, and Eli died when he heard the news. Sin is serious business. Even Eli said of his sons, "God will intervene when man sins against man, but who will intercede for man when he sins against God?"

Thus, the need for a Redeemer. A Savior. Jesus. He alone is the mediator between God and man. But my thought today as I read 1 Samuel was how Eli shamed his own name and his sons by not confronting their sin. God's anger was more at his silence than the actions of his sons.

Had they been rebuked and disciplined, their lives would've been spared. They'd not have defiled and oppressed the people. Sin cannot be endured or tolerated. First in our own lives. Second, in the lives of others. We misinterpret Jesus's words "Do not judge."

Actually, we are called to judge. But first, see to our own issues. Like, don't go calling out a girl on gossip when you gossip. Don't call out sexual immorality if you're involved in sexual immorality. There are plenty of verses on how and when to judge others. There's actually health and healing in judging -- shall I say discerning -- the words and actions of others.

If your friend is beating his wife, do you just let it go because "you don't want to judge?" No. You confront him, tell him it's wrong and he needs to change. You offer help and support to deal with why he behaves in such a way.

Parents! Discipline your children. Don't let the go on with ungodly behavior because you don't want confrontation. Or don't want to admit your children aren't perfect. You will save them a lot of pain if you shed light on the darkness of their hearts.

I love the verse, "foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. but the rod of correction drives it far from him."

Eli lost his families right and heritage because of his unwillingness to deal with his sons. They lost their lives. It cost Israel the arc of the Lord -- the presence of the Lord. Don't look the other way when you see sin. It may cost you the very presence of God.

This week, yeah, I know where I'm going

I've never been a super detailed person, but I've always set goals and figured out who and what I wanted to be.

Most of us set goals too large. Too loose. Too undefined. Like, "I want to be rich by the time I'm 35." Okay, cool, what's the plan?

Or, "I want to get married and have kids." Awesome. Family is the fabric of life. What's the plan to marry a good, compatible spouse? How do you plan to feed, cloth and educate your children?

Me? Those big long range goals and plans hardly ever pan out. I mean, do you see my name on the New York Times Bests Seller List? Or has Oprah called? Hollywood -- well, once but that's another story. More to come on that hopefully.

So, we set these big goals and we end up disappointed and discourage because some pie in the sky didn't land on our plate. More likely, it landed in our faces.

When I asked my good friend Stuart Greaves how he set his heart for the big things God has for him, he said, "I just don't picture the outcome."

So wise. So much truth. I've begun to offer up the large expectation of my heart back to Him and forget about the out come or what "that" will look like.

In my gut, I know there's more to come. I know God has more for me. I've felt it. I've had people mention pretty incredible things to me, things they see or feel from God for me. But I cannot make any of them happen. I cannot!

I can only do what God gives me to do today.

And what is that? Finish a book. Help a couple of writer friends with ideas. Write a short piece for Southernbelleview.

This week, I know I have to finish The Wedding Dress, keep up exercise, hang with Jesus and clean my house. That's it. I have room to juggle in case something unexpected comes my way, but I know what this week is about. That's what God has for me. That's my goal. That's what I'm doing.

Set goals you can see and obtain. Do what you have to do so you can do what you want to do.

Next week, I'll reassess, set new goal, start thinking of things I can't think of when I'm finishing a book. Getting to The End is pretty consuming -- time, heart and mind!

Don't live by the tyranny of the urgent. Live a designed life!

The Dark Under Belly of the Super Bowl

I've love the Super Bowl since the '80s and the era of Jim McMahon, Walter Peyton and the Super Bowl Shuffle.

But twenty-five years later, the greatest American sports show -- US Today called the Super Bowl the greatest show on earth -- is one of the largest venues for human trafficking.

Read: Sex trade for underage girls and boys. We hear about it other countries and exclaim with disgust. We wrinkle our noses at "those people" who sell and buy sex from enslaved women and boys, even men.

But wake up America, it's in our own back yard. American girls, usually runaways, are trafficked at our Super Bowl and purchased by.... American men. Not foreigners. Not "those people." Our people.

Football is an American sport. And unless some foreign dude is a major, major, major perv, he's not going to fly here to buy sex for the weekend. He can find it at home. (That's another issue...)

It's our men. Our girls. You can read some stats and articles here. And here.

Last night, three churches gathered to pray for our youth and against sex trafficking. God met us in a powerful, divine way. As I was singing prayers along with those offering prayers, I looked at my co-worship leader and said, "Know what's horrible to me? We must pray with the same compassion and fervor for those who are doing the trafficking as those being trafficked. They are just as enslaved."

Me, Rachel Hauck? I'd say, "Burn in fiery hell for what you're doing." And if they don't fall on their knees to Jesus, if the fear of the Lord doesn't grips them, they will spend eternity away from God, in hell.

But Jesus came that All, yes All, might come to the truth. He sees the wickedness in all our hearts and has compassion. The Cross is one size fits all. One act of amazing, unparalleled love covers all sin. From the trafficker on down. Know the worst part? A girl or boy enslaved in sex work needs Jesus's redemption as much as his or her captors.

And if they don't meet Him, they spend eternity in the same place.

Enter the heart of the Judge. Jesus is a blaze with Justice for the weak and broken, those caught in oppression and bondage. We think His lack of "activity" means He doesn't care. But Jesus is all about justice! He proved it. On the Cross.

Oh the beauty of the Cross.

His heart is breaking for those caught in such greed and lust they'd sell an innocent girl to man after man, destroying her soul, for money.

How much money can one girl make for her pimp? $200,000 plus. It's true. The love of money is the root of all evil.

Don't be ignorant. Inform your children, your friend, especially your girls, about the dangers of human trafficking. Runaway American girls are usually caught up in sex trade within 48 hours of running away.

If they're not found within 96 hours, they never be found without a miracle.

Worse, this shedding of innocence, this "blood," is on our hands America. It's our men buying. It's our men selling. It's our girls being enslaved.

Slavery is alive and thriving in America.

Pray for mercy. Pray for forgiveness. Pray for true hope and change. Pray for Jesus the Judge to come and make all things new.

Becoming a Writer Part 3

Let's get a few basics out of the way. To become a writer you must...

• Have a seventh grade reading spelling competency. CHECK
• A story idea. CHECK
• A writing implement. Pen, pencil, paper, computer, crayon on the wall. CHECK
• Some modicum of determination and inspiration. CHECK
• Time each day, even a minute, to write. CHECK

After the first blaze of inspiration fizzles -- anywhere between one sentence and fifty pages -- you have to figure out just where this book is going.

Here are some key tools to making your idea into a publishable novel.

1. Dynamic characters. There are several ways to do this. Creating a super hero like Superman. Creating a super cop or super cowboy. A heroine who can draw the attention and restraint of a vampire. ;)

Mostly great novels are made up of ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Bruce Willis in Die Hard. Meg Ryan in Sleepless in Seattle. The character Elizabeth in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird.

Ask key questions: What does my protagonist want? What's keeping her from getting it? Why can't he get over his fears to realize his dream? What wound still darkens his heart? What is her story journey and what will be her epiphany? What can she do at the end she can't do in the beginning.

In Dining with Joy, it seemed rather simple, but the thing she could do in the end she couldn't do in the beginning was make banana bread! It took a whole book and emotional journey to get her there.

Do your character work! Figure out who these people are. Ask "why" until you get at the rock bottom answer.

Me: Why can't Joy cook?

Me: She's an athlete. Just doesn't like it. Doesn't have that gene.

Me: But she never learned to cook?

Me: Her father did all the cooking. Not her mom. No example.

Me: Yeah, but, she's a cooking show host...

Me: Her father never let her in the kitchen. He was creating.

Me: And...

Me: She started resenting him, and cooking.

Me: Ah, now you're talking. But so much she didn't cook?

Me: (eventually) She never learned to cook because she resented her father, thinking he loved food and cooking more than the family.

A-HA!

Now, I can take all of that as a building block to the plot.

2. Work out your plot blocks. Know where your story is going. Even if you like the creative, pantser process. A friend was studying architecture. She wanted to do design, be creative, forget the rules. Yet each time she turned in a design, her professors told her, "this will fall down. it's not usable." Finally, one prof said, "Learn the math. Then you can do what you want."

My friend was amazed at the power and design ability she had once she learned the rules of building buildings.

Learn the rules of the craft. Work out your story so you know where you're going. Even for a fun road trip, you have a map. A plan. Take the time to figure it out.

Weave the plot with the characters fears, goals, dreams and desires.

3. Cause conflict. Things should not be easy for your protagonist. People should not be polite. Issues and people, life, disaster, whatever should get in the way of your protagonist achieving his dream. Or, perhaps he's given up on his dream and you story is how one more event makes him almost give up on life.

You need conflict for a great novel. Author Davis Bunn had a NY publishing house editor tell him, "Ambush the reader." Let the unexpected happen. Make it happen. Turn situations and dialog upside down and write what you see.

In Softly and Tenderly, Jade was beginning to give up on having a child of her own. She'd lost three to miscarriage and one to abortion. But she was secure and loved in her marriage to Max. Until...

Then a woman is killed and Jade learns Max is a father and must raise his son. We ambushed Jade in that book. Hopefully, we ambushed the reader. :)

4. Weave the spiritual or emotional message with the characters plot and journey.

5. Bring all conflict forward. Don't hang back with a story point for some big reveal while filling the pages in between with chapters that don't move the story forward. Don't just repeat what the reader already knows.

In Dining with Joy, I wanted the big disaster to be Joy failing on a national talk show. I'd planned to write this about 2/3 of the way through the book. But I realized it needed to come more in the middle. But then what? What happens after she's outted?

Well, I had to dig deep and figure out what else was going on in Joy's life and figure out her final disaster. It was a smaller one, but after all she'd been through to that point, it was the most emotional one.

So... AMBUSH THE READER! Allen Arnold, fiction publisher at Thomas Nelson says, "Conflict makes great novels."

6. Have a satisfying ending. After you've taken everything from the protagonist, bring back hope. Let him finally find peace, achieve his dream, or whatever. The ending doesn't have to be happily ever after, but must be satisfying.

7. Once the novel is written, in all it's crappy glory, rewrite with word painting in mind. Be more careful and purposeful with your word choice. Start layering in emotional and physical colors. Make sure you have 3 of the 5 senses in every scene. Begin to hone and craft.

8. Mostly, tell a story. Take us on a journey with a complex, compelling character that we'd put up with almost anything to hang out with for 350 pages.

God bless your writing!

Becoming a Writer Part 2

So you want to be a writer? Fantastic. It's a wonderful, great, hard life. I mean, things I couldn't even imagine being an issue or concern before I started writing, are now an issue and concern.

I'm like, "Who knew?" For example? Like, how to "brand" myself. I thought only corporations used brands. Blogging with purpose instead of eclectic. Social media. How to work in partnership with publishers while remaining responsible for your own career.

Or things like staying with changes in publishing, the nuances of the Christian fiction market. You know what was selling well, what the readers demanded, five, ten years ago is very different from what's selling like hot cakes now.

I wonder if some Christian readers who used to read secular books are migrating to the CBA world and picking up books they never knew existed. As a result, a lot of these readers are romance readers, it changes the balance of the market.

Just a guess. But come on romance readers, we welcome you!

So, what do you need to know as you start out?

1. Read a lot. Read widely. Read to study the craft. How did the author put this story together? When I wanted to write chick lit, I read a lot of chick lit to figure out how the author told the story.

2. Study the craft. We have some great tools and work books over at My Book Therapy. Make sure you understand point of view, how to use conflict and tension, the purpose of back story, all the basics of good writing.

3. Write your book all the way through to the end. Don't stop and start over more than once or twice. My first book took 2 years to write because I kept starting over. Keep going. There is always something that happens in the middle or the end that reveals something you can layer back into the beginning.

4. Rewrite your book. Get it critiqued. Rewrite it again. Dig deep to get those character layers. Delete stuff! Rewrite. Your genius will reinvent itself. Trust me. :)

5. Get involved with writers organizations. Join ACFW, ACW, My Book Therapy, RWA, local writers guilds or groups. Take or audit a creative writing class at the local college. Get into the writing community.

6. Attend conferences to learn and to network. Get to know people. Join Twitter and Facebook. Follow authors, editors and agents.

7. Listen more than you speak. Give more than you take. Be teachable.

8. Be ready for the long haul. No shortcuts.

9. Once you've finished your manuscript and attended a conference or two, and you feel you're ready to query agents or editors, research the ones you're interested in. Read their guidelines. Read their blogs. Be informed. Send them the RIGHT stuff. If an agent does take children's manuscripts, don't send yours! I tell you, writers can be so obtuse sometimes.

10. Realize your manuscript is not God's gift to literature. You've not written something that defies all the rules and even a publisher who doesn't published Amish Sci Fi Steampunk still won't want your masterpiece. Don't shoot yourself in the foot.

11. Once you find an agent interested, do what they ask as soon as you can. Send the synopsis and first three chapters if that's all they want. Don't send them the whole manuscript. Follow directions. Same with any editor you might be dealing directly with.

12. Behave like they taught you in kindergarten. Please and thank you. Honor. Do what you're told or asked. ;)

13. Blog with a view to hone your prose and to observe life. Observing life, catching the hyperbole is so much a part of great fiction. I am a big fan of blogging as a way to train yourself as a fiction author.

Can I end on the lucky number thirteen? I think I will. I'm not afraid. Next, I'll blog on what I think it takes to make an average author extraordinary. :)

(... to be continued. Part 3)

Becoming a Writer Part 1

Lately, I've had a some folks ask me about becoming a writer. They, or someone they know has written or wants to write a novel. I get asked a lot about how to get published and the steps involved. So, I thought I'd discuss it here. Create a reference. Make a few people laugh. Make a few people cry.

One. Writing a novel is hard work

It's more than an idea, a flash of inspiration. It's more than a driving passion. More than the wrongs you want to right about your life or the life of others. Its not, please, please, please, a sermon or church lesson. It's not theology or doctrine. It's not a tract or propaganda. It's not a way to sugar coat your driving message.

It's story. It's a slice of life. A novel is taking the ordinary and making it, in some way, extraordinary. The storyteller in you has to see the hyperbole in life and assign it to your characters.

To write a novel you need quiet alone time. Not always, but some where along the way you need to dig deep and get the core layers of the story on paper.

You need "butt in chair."

You need the ability to stare at a blank page for more than a minute without quitting, going to You Tube or surfing the web. You need to write what's on your heart, letting the words flow, then have the courage to go back and change or delete half if not all of them.

You need to be teachable, to learn the craft. Let other writers read and give input on your work.

Your mother/father/sister/brother/husband/wife/children/employee/dog/cat/best friend do not count as accurate readers. Why? They know you. They hear your voice in the story. They will love it because they love you.

Outside input is a great test to your voice as a story teller. You either have it or you don't. You can learn craft. You can't learn that inner "story teller" that makes pretend people come to life.

I knew I might, just might, be able to make it as a writer when I was in Venezuela way back in '89, training typesetters at a newspaper how to use my company's computers to do their job. While they practiced one afternoon, I started writing a story. As new writers often do, I worked with a burst of inspiration which soon faded because all I had was a "what if" idea. No real story. But, it started out well and I pasted it to a display ad page (this was before PCs!) and typeset it.

I had to go back to teaching, so I left my page for later. When I went to pick it up from the typesetter, four men hovered over my story, reading it. Now remember, I'm in Venezuela. They speak Spanish. My story was in English. They smiled, told me they like my story, blah, blah. They were flirting. The probably understood some of the words but not the concept.

Two months later, I go back to the paper to work on another project. One of the typesetters stopped me in the hall and asked in his broken English. "What happened to the girl?"

"What girl?"

"In the story?"

"What story?" Ohhh... I laughed. "I don't know. I never finished it."

He frowned. "We want to know. What happens?"

So four men who didn't read or speak English well carried that 500 word piece in their hearts for ... two months? I tucked that moment away. Maybe, maybe, I could become a writer. Some day.

That's a piece of my story. What's yours? What's the reaction to things you've written? Take those tidbits of encouragement and use them as inspiration.

(... to be continued)

ACFW Featured Author

Thanks to Dineen, Mary and ACFW for giving me a spot on the ACFW Featured Author page this week.

Wasting time

I stopped watching Oprah a few years ago. One, we got rid of TV. All we have now is Blueray. But even before we cut the mind sucking entertainment tentacles from our souls, I stopped watching Oprah.

One, she was preaching a different gospel. Why would I spend an hour of my day with someone leading millions astray from the truth claiming Jesus the Christ wasn't the only way.

I wouldn't spend one second let alone a full hour listening to any other false teacher so why would I listen to and follow Oprah?

Listen, if Jesus is not the Christ, He's a crazy man. No other so-called gods or spiritual leaders died brutal deaths on a cross claiming to redeem humanity. What a nut job Jesus must have been if he was not the Son of God.

Two, Oprah talked a lot about her dreams and becoming someone when she thought she was no one. So why was I giving her an hour of my time and thought and heart instead of giving it to my dreams, my goals, my friends and family?

Granted, I can find all kinds of ways to waste my time. Even tell myself it's needed for my career, social media and all that, but really, how much does it gain me?

I went to a young man's funeral yesterday. He died too young, but in many ways, it was God's mercy. Staying off drugs and out of trouble was not easy for him. But he righted his life and died in the arms of Jesus.

The church was packed with friends and family. As people spoke of this young man, I was so surprised to hear he had several "moms," and lots of friends. I took for granted a kid struggling to stay straight was a loner, having alienated all his friends and family.

While his life was over, I felt for the young ones mourning him. "Don't let your life be wasted. Make it count." Change what has to be changed.

But change isn't easy is it? We often can't see our failures and weaknesses, or pull ourselves out of the hole we stand in. I've got plenty of blind spots.

But what we do with our time does count. We can "take it with us." We will give an account to the Lord for our time. Take stock, what are you spending your time on? I was thinking last night I had nothing to do so I goofed around on my iPad a bit, looking up apps. But you know, I couldn't spent an extra hour in prayer. Not that iPad play is wrong, but I could've done both.

I've not nailed all of my disciplines. I struggle, but I want to do the best I can with the time I have on this life, in this internship God has granted me before I pass into eternity.

I don't want to be like Jacob in Genesis 28:16, "Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it." Next Jacob was afraid and "How awesome is this place!"

I want to be expectant of the Lord. To be awake. To be aware. To keep my heart in a place of humility. "Down heart, down." To say, "I see the Lord is in this place."

Are you asleep? Will you awake to realize God was there and you missed it? What things can you cut out of your life that are keeping you from your dreams and goals, from the very things God has called you to do and be?

Also, is there someone in your life struggling? How can you help them? Are you "mom" to a teen losing his way. Do something about it. Speak up. It may change the course of his destiny.

Yowza, y'all

I can't believe it's been a whole weeks since I blogged. Tis the way of deadline. A friend said to me at church today, "You're always on deadline."

Um, yeah, pretty much and happily so.

Here's how I define deadline. Three months before the book is due to my editor. Before that three month marker, I say, "I have a book due." Or, "I'm working on my next book."

But at the three month mark, I have to buckle down and get 'er done. By then, I should have most if not all of a first draft done. First draft meaning I have an idea where I'm going but half if not more could change or be severely tweaked.

Two months out, I start rewriting. I need at least two weeks before the deadline for someone, anyone, hello? to read the manuscript for sanity. Did I miss closing a plot thread? Does my story logic and sequence make sense? Are the typos too funny for words. Do my characters ring true.

Then, I need a few days to go over it and send it in.

The last month, which is about where I am now, I call it Deep Dark Mode. That means "Girl, put your head down and get this book done, don't you dare look up for the light of day until the final, this is it The End."

Speaking of Deep Dark Mode...

Went to church, got "wooshed" with a flag!

I'm a worship leader at a non denomination church with... shall we say... charismatic leanings. We're not weird. Nor "holy rollers."

But we do believe in living a Spirit filled, Spirit led life by prayer and the Word. We ascribe to the things Paul writes about in 1 Corinthians 12, 13 and 14.

In the past, we've encouraged people to worship the Lord in Spirit and in Truth, urging them to express their hearts to the Lord as we sing.

Dancing and flag waving has become a part of that expression for some. And distraction to others. Some want the leadership to let the people worship freely. Dance is found as a form of worship in the Bible.

Other in the congregation want it restricted. They feel they cannot invite outsiders because the guest won't understand the flag waving and dancing. It's too unusual. Different.

We've noticed guests arriving and leaving early. If they stay, many don't return.

So the leadership has been debating this topic for months now, even talking with the pastor of another church who has a large dance ministry. He has the same struggle.

Now I grew up with this stuff. The pastor's wife at our church in Tallahassee was a dance major at Florida State. She was a beautiful dancer and trained those in the congregation how to dance before the Lord. There was structure and order to the dancing.

Flag waving? Not a big deal. We do it a ball games, right? Scripture is full of the singers going out behind the banners. AKA, flags.

When the Lord sent me to Israel in '93, I was on a dance and intercession team. And I'm not a dancer...

Yet I can see how it's a distraction. Our sanctuary is boxy, and not built for a lot of movement.

Maybe to the outside eye, flag waving and dancing seems like an awkward expression. In my church now, we don't have a dance ministry leader, so there's less organization and structure.

All in all, those who express themselves in dance and flag waving do it well.

Recently the leadership talked to the dancers and flag wavers about moving to the back of the sanctuary during worship.

Being in the back means more people feel liberty to move about... And some are not always aware of their movements.

Sunday we had a couple of visitors. Like most first timers, they sat in the back. When worship started, the flags started. In the back.

And somewhere along the line, those visitors got "wooshed" with a flag. Not once, but twice. It's unclear if they were hit with the flag stick, or if just the flag itself wafted over their heads, but either way, they were gone. Skedaddle. Out of there.

One of the pastors tried to catch them, but they were too quick. The whole incident seems to have been a combination of things.

The flag waver not being aware. The observers not moving quick enough to remind the flag waver to pay attention.

The guest probably felt uncomfortable and not bold enough to tell the flag waver to be careful. I mean, would you? If you were in a new church?

I've been in some kind of ministry for 22 years. Before that, I watched ministry from my parents point-of-view.

It is never, ever easy to be in ministry. Some people want more liberty and more room for the Holy Spirit to move. Others want more structure, more organization.

I've heard debates over polar opposite issues like pre trib and post. Healing is deliverance from sickness to going home to heaven being the ultimate healing. Do we have to tithe ten percent? Wasn't that the Old Testament?

Leading a church is not easy. I don't envy our pastors. Because every one in the congregation comes to the house with their own paradigm, their own experience, and even yes, their own fears and wounds.

Pray for your pastors. Ask the Holy Spirit to teach and enlighten them. Don't pray what you want, or what some other guy wants, pray what Jesus wants. He is the perfect leader.

To the couple who got "wooshed," I pray you find the right church home where you can grow in the love and knowledge of God. Grace and peace. I'm sorry you got "wooshed" today but we are imperfect and still working it out.

What about you? Are their church traditions or expression that you like? That make you uncomfortable? Is it valid? Is it culture?

Light yoke, easy burden

By the fall of 1990, I'd been on the road for four years, traveling seventy percent of my time, installing computer systems and training newsroom and classified ad reps around the world.

I'd been to Australia twice. Ireland, Spain, Venezuela three times (before Chavez, thank goodness,) Mexico, Canada, and traveled the U.S. from California to Maine.

Two weeks in Mexico magically stretched into three. And I had NO money the last week I was there, traveling from one little town to the next.

A personal weekend to New Zealand -- I had to see what kind of town was named Christ Church -- was nixed by my company when the Australian distributor wanted me to stay to do additional training. (Oops, Rach, yeah, we forgot to tell you about that...) During the training days, a married man pretended to be single and flirted with me the entire time. Thank goodness I was unmoved by his advances.

I came in from lunch one Friday with my co-workers to find I was on a three o'clock flight to Colorado Springs with one of the engineers. I had an hour to go home, pack, and get to the airport. We landed around ten mountain time and drove down to Pueblo. We arrived at the paper at midnight and worked until the wee hours. By then, I'd been up almost twenty-four hours.

Did I have plans for the weekend? A young, single girl? You bet. And it didn't include trouble shooting a down system.

I've sat in dark, out of the way offices and cried because the publishers were livid that their half-million dollars systems weren't working right. I've worked forty hours on weekends to get the output right for a classified ad section so we could make a Monday "go live" date.

I once trained seventeen Mexican typesetters gathered around one tiny fourteen inch monitor how to write production reports using Informix via a hired, outside, interpreter. A task complicated enough without a language barrier!

I'd done trade show in Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Melbourne, Australia. Toured Toledo Spain where the Christians were persecuted by the Muslims. Chains of remembrance were nailed to the side of churches.

I'd driven the highway from Sydney to Melbourne.

I'd laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. Once, I just fell down on the side walk and guffawed.

I'd shopped in St. Louis until I dropped.

I'd met amazing people, bonded with talented, fun co-workers, strenghtened my weak Spanish, faced enormous challenges and won. I'd both loved and hated that corporate job.

And I got tired. There was just a point where I said, "I can't do this travel thing any more."

So, that fall of 1990, I was in a hotel in Charlotte, NC, spending the night there before catching a plane home the next morning.

"Lord," I said just as an exhale from my heart, "Your Word says Your burden is easy and Your yoke is light. That if I come to You, You'll give me rest. I'm weary, heavy laden and I need rest. I don't want to travel any more."

The prayer was all I had because there were NO solutions in the natural. If I wasn't on the road training, there was no job. I was not technical enough, nor trained, to be an engineer. Customer support had two non traveling positions, but they were filled. We road warriors backed them up when we were in town.

Documentation was new and also filled.

Literally, outside of quitting my job, getting off the road was impossible. I'd asked. My boss had nothing to offer me. Another road warrior had tried to come off the road. Didn't work. They kept sending her out.

So, I flew home from Charlotte with a peace, but no hope of a solution. Monday morning of the next week, I went into work, prepared my expense and trip reports and checked the calendar for my next assignment.

December was blank. I had no trips. But the word Doc was written on all the weeks.

Same with January. And February. Doc. Doc. Doc.

In the course of a few days, on the heels of my prayer, a shift had changed in personnel and a position had opened up in Documentation. My boss slipped me into that slot and I planted my "glad to be home" self and never traveled again.

In 1991, the Lord began other changes in my life. My best friend, now known as Hubby, began to realize we were supposed to get married! That's a whole other story. We were engaged by the end of the year and married in March 1992.

God hears our prayers! His timing is perfect. But as we lean into Him on a daily basis, releasing our hearts to Him, He actually engages us on how to pray! And when.

That rest prayer was totally spontaneous to me. While I understood what Jesus was telling the people in that passage, I'd never applied it so deep and personal to my life.

The Lord Himself, by the Spirit, prompted me to pray, "You give rest, Lord. I need rest. Your burden is easy, your yoke is light."

He answered immediately. I believe He wanted to boost my faith. He wanted to encourage me. He wanted me to know He was intimately acquainted with the issues of my heart.

As you go into the New Year, ask Him what is on His heart. What is He prompting you to pray, to believe for in this season?

The week in between

The week between Christmas and New Years. I'm never quite sure what to do with this week.

Work?

Play?

Vaca?

Piddle around between work and play?

In my corporate life, I had this week off and it was play and vaca time. I'd visit family and friends. But now that I'm self employed and work at home, this is the oddest week of the year.

What to do with the "week in between?"

I have a deadline for March 1 and am a few thousand words away from finishing the first draft. I really need to use this week to finish. And I will. I will!

BUT, my husband is home, on break from church and school. He's asking me if I want to "go to lunch" or "see a movie." Ahhh, yes!! But, um, No!!

This is the week I assess my life. How did I do last year with my goals and disciplines? What do I want to do differently next year? What do I need and want to change?

During the "week in between" I feel like I can do anything and everything. Yes, I can exercise an hour a day with Tony Horton five days a week. Yes, I can eat salad for lunch every day. Yes, I can spend at least an hour a day in prayer and the Word. Yes! I can write the best book EVER in six weeks. Yes, Yes, Yes!

Then January 2nd hits. I'm sluggish and tired, and I don't want to spend an hour with Tony Horton making my body hurt. I don't want salad for lunch, but a sandwich. What? Write the best book ever in a month and a half. Fergettaboutit.

But hanging with Jesus? I must! I will! I can do without all the rest. But not Him. I'm not perfect by any means at carving out time for prayer and the Word. I get distracted, tired, even bored. Not with Him, but with myself.

The best things in life come with discipline, focus and setting goals. Being determined. Yet even so, we need God's grace and vision for our lives to enable us to do the very things He's put on our heart to do.

So, what will I do with this "week in between?" Write. Assess. Pray. Get ready for 2011 knowing God is good. Knowing He loves me.

My biggest goal for 2011? To tap into His divine nature. After having a "joy attack" over Thanksgiving, I'm realized I can do more, be more, than just existing and surviving. I don't have to "not" have a panic or anxiety attack, or worry attack. I can actually engaged God's divine nature and experience JOY and PEACE, and LOVE at a holy level.

Look here: 2 Peter 1

²Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

³seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

⁴For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

That is an unbelievable statement. We can become partakers of His divine nature! That's my goal for 2011. To gain understanding and insight into this.

What about you? What's your plans for the "week in between" and 2011?

And we have a winner!

I'm so honored and humbled by all who participated in the Dining with Joy Nook give-away. The voice and influence of others is so critical to an author's success these days.

Thank you!

The winner of the Nook from this grand campaign is..... (drums rolling)

Sherrie Maner!

Congratulations!

Let's all give a shout out to this winner and join with her in the JOY of winning this season.

Merry Christmas to all.

The Pull of Light: Aching to See More

@stickyJesus: how to live out your faith online, by Tami Heim and Toni Birdsong, is a book about how to infuse God’s heartbeat into social networks. This post is part of the @stickyJesus Blog Tour of Light. You can follow @stickyJesus on Twitter, Facebook, or learn more about the book at www.stickyJesus.com

Can you imagine what it’s like to live as a blind person? To intermingle in a world void of color, beauty, depth, height . . . void of light?

For most of us blindness would seem unbearable. However, even 20/20 eyesight isn’t a gurantee that you can see much of anything. In fact, you can fumble around, trip, and fall just like Bartimaeus, only your blindness might be spiritual rather than physical.

No matter where you are in your journey with Christ, you should never live beyond the ache to see more of God’s Light. Our pursuit of revelation, intimacy, wisdom, and mercy from God should be the prayerful desire of every believer.

Still our Light flickers. It begins to diminish when we think we know it all or start to see other’s opinions, beliefs, ideas, or perspectives as less than. We begin to ignore the pull of Light. Instead, we take the reigns because we caught one too many glimpses of our remarkable selves.

Time and again Jesus uses blindness in His parables to illustrate how easily pride, religion, sin, and self righteousness can replace the ache for Light in a person’s heart—even a person who claims to know God.

In John 9, Jesus heals a different blind man. The man exuberantly tells the Pharisees about his miraculous healing. Outraged (for several reasons), the Pharisees promptly throw the man out of the synagogue to which Jesus later retorts in John 9:39-41: “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” He goes on, “If you were blind you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

Ouch.

In the book Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, author Donald Miller suggests that the enemy’s best trick isn’t to get us to commit some great evil. Instead, he allows us to develop a religious habit in which we hear about God but really never engage with God.

Religious habit suffocates our ache for Light.

That’s what happened with the Pharisees. They weren’t so much “the bad guys” as they were guys who had “arrived” and settled in their minds exactly who God was (and wasn’t)—so much so, they didn’t recognize Him standing in front of them. Turns out, God was greater than they could have imagined. Jesus blew their tiny, little God boxes to smithereens.

We’ve all got some Pharisee in us. We think we’ve figured out something super spiritual so we check off the box as “done.” But that’s never true. Until we “arrive” at Heaven’s door, we’ve never really “arrived” at anything.

God is the Author and the Finisher of our faith. For self-reliant, type A people (yes, especially writers), that truth can be one of the toughest to which you’ll ever have to surrender. Absurd isn’t it? That someone else holds the pen and makes the edits to your life? That someone else can shed more Light on a bias you’ve worked years to build up? That someone else might actually . . . be . . . perfect?

So how do you keep your ache for Light strong? Like Bartimeaus, the blind man, you simply tell Jesus each day, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

Scriptures to help amplify your ache:

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law.

Psalm 119:18

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-25

Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death . . .
Psalm 13:3

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12

Post/Tweet this today:

Until we “arrive” in Heaven, we’ve never really “arrived” at anything. Open my eyes, Lord. Give Light to my understanding. #LiveSticky

Join us tomorrow for The Direction of Light: Pointing Them to Heaven at Wayne Hastings’ blog.

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Rachel here. I really loved the line "religious habit suffocates our ache for light." It is easy to replace our desire to see Jesus in both His divinity and humanity by going through the motions of worship but never really opening up our hearts.

What about you? Are you going through the motions, pretending to "see" the Lord but being quite blind? I'm asking to "see" my religious blindfolds this Christmas season. What do you think?