Beginning again -- again

I spoke with a fellow writer this week who was excited about his writing again. He told me he thinks about his book all the time, particularly when he isn't writing. And he has managed to find small chunks of time here and there to actually sit and write. He also told me he knows why he is excited about writing again, because according to his words, he hasn't been especially enthralled with the task of sitting to write for some time.

He went to a seminar. Then he went to a couple of good writers group meetings. Then he signed up for a writers retreat. And all of that ignited his passion for writing once again -- investing in his calling as a writer made that calling seem more real, more urgent, more attainable.

Because, let's admit it, there are few things in life as scary as staring at a blank piece of paper or a blank computer screen, waiting for words of inspiration to come flying out of our pen or our fingertips.

Sure, once we get the words flowing, it's easy after that. Getting some positive feedback from a publisher or editor, seeing a deadline in black on white gets the creative juices racing.

But the every day, mundane, mandatory process of writing can wear us down.

Unless we see value in it.

Let me share a parable with you: Our church runs a small food bank ministry each week. When we first began, we didn't ask for any donations, because we had minimal costs, and our church was happy to cover those costs. What we discovered, however, is that when the clients who received food from the food bank went out into the parking lot, they threw away some food items they had received. So, foe example, if an apple had a bruise on it, they threw it away. If the bananas weren't green, in the trash. And we realized that the clients didn't put a value on something they didn't have to pay for. So we started asking for a $2 donation. And people were happy to receive it, and we didn't find food thrown away. Why? Because they had to "pay" for it (although the donation was always voluntary).

If we don't see a value in our writing, we might tend to "throw" it away -- we'll find reasons not to attend a meeting, we'll find excuses not to write, we'll allow distractions to take us away from our calling.

Investing in your writing career is one way to ignite your passion to write. Remembering how excited you were about your story when you first started writing will inspire you to sit and write. And if you aren't sure you're writing the story you need to tell, sit down and make a few notes that will identify the story that is burning you up on the inside as it waits to be written.

Beginning again, again, is no sin. There is no shame in admitting you got side-tracked, but now you are back on the road again. Setting aside your current work and starting a new one is not the same as quitting -- you are just going to write the story that you should have started with.

Is something holding you back from beginning again, again? Tell it to go away. Nicely, of course. Tell it to come back after you've finished with this book, this story, this poem, this song.

All writers will, at times, face a brick wall of reasons why they can't write. And even if you can't write all day, for an afternoon, an hour even -- find fifteen minutes in your day and at least think about your project.

New beginnings are all around us at this time of the year. Today, right now, is the best time to begin. So sit, write, make notes, don't worry about how much you have left -- count your words from today, right now, and put them in the plus column of how much closer you are to the end.

And then, when you reach the end, begin again, again. And again. And if you haven't signed up for the writers retreat in April with Cecil Murphey as keynote speaker, you need to do that. Check out the details on www.acfwcolorado.com. You will definitely be ready to begin again, again after that.

"Do you know what today is?"

My dad would say in a cheery voice.

As I shuffled into the kitchen, my first thought was, How can anyone be cheery so early in the morning? Then I would try to think if this was some special day I had forgotten. I would grunt, then say, “Tuesday?” Hoping it was indeed Tuesday.

And in his cheery voice he would say, “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.”

I would groan not believing I fell for that one again! I heard this saying from my dad more times than I cared to count growing and never appreciated it.

When I was older, married, and with children of my own, I realized my dad was saying that today is a fresh start, make the most of it. Don’t worry about yesterday and the past. Today is a new beginning.

The song Morning Has Broken from the 70’s came to mind as I was thinking about new beginnings and this being the first day of the rest of our life.

God made that first morning and He gives us each new morning.

“What is today?”

“The first day of the rest of your life.”

Fourth Annual ACFW Colorado Retreat

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jill Hups, vice president, HIS Writers (north Denver chapter of ACFW)
Email: vice.president@hiswriters.acfwcolorado.com
Phone: 303-460-8122


CECIL MURPHEY COMING TO COLORADO APRIL 8-9, 2011
NY Times Bestselling Author and International Christian Speaker to talk on “Knowing God,
Knowing Yourself: An Invitation to Daily Discovery”

Cecil "Cec" Murphey, The Man Behind the Words, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s
fourth annual ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Colorado retreat, to be held at the
Ponderosa Conference and Retreat center in Larkspur, Colorado.

As a NY Times bestselling author and Christian international speaker, Cec has authored or cowritten more than one hundred books that have been translated into more than 40 languages and have sold millions of copies, including the bestseller, 90 Minutes in Heaven (with Don Piper). His newest book, Knowing God, Knowing Myself, released December 2010, will be the theme of this year's retreat.

Cecil has also written hundreds of articles that have appeared in a variety of publications. His
passion is to stimulate people's minds and nourish their souls. Since 1984, he has been using his writing and speaking to help him accomplish those goals.

Join us as Cec teaches on Knowing God, Knowing Myself, and let him lead you into a deeper
awareness of God's presence, startle you out of common spiritual reflections, and take you on an uncommon path of daily self-discovery and Christ-centered insights.
For more information and to register, go to www.acfwcolorado.com/acfwcoloretreat.

ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) of Colorado
Serving Christian Fiction Writers Throughout the Rockies
www.acfwcolorado.com


* * * * * *
This event is sponsored by ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) of Colorado.
You do not need to be member of ACFW in order to attend this event.
Visit us on the web at www.acfwcolorado.com

Renewal

You're my place of quiet retreat; I wait for your Word to renew me. (Psalm 119:114 The Message)

I love spring. Only in Colorado one is never sure exactly when spring will arrive. Since March is our snowiest month . . . well, there are absolutely no guarantees. Those of us who have lived in Colorado for any length of time know that all that snow could, and probably will, come all at once.

Especially since the “huge” storm that was “scheduled” for this week didn’t materialize.

I’m so thankful that I don’t have to rely on external circumstances for renewal of spirit. I am renewed each time I “feed” on God’s Word. Each time I pray, my soul is renewed. And every time I’m with God’s people my mind is stimulated and renewed, challenged by their lives to live wholly and completely for Christ.

This is especially true when I get together with other writers. It’s energizing to be around people who “get” me, who understand what I mean when I say my characters are speaking to me or they’re holding out and refusing to talk to me—even though I am the one who gives them life. Almost always I come away from such meetings with at least one “new” idea or thought to chew on.

I believe I mentioned in last month’s post that my hubby, Roger, lost his job early in January. We’ve now “survived” nine weeks of being unemployed. While we still have no prospects for a job out of the many he’s applied for, we are renewed daily through the prayers of God’s people. And our needs, and even some of our wants, have been provided for through the prayers and generosity of God’s people.

And I’ve been very busy, trying to keep up with the many editing/proofreading assignments I’ve gotten from both publishers and individuals. New writing projects with interesting prospects keep popping up as well. In fact, with all the renewed confirmations of God’s purpose and tasking for me, I’m a little bewildered as to how to handle it.

Until I remember that God is my quiet retreat, that in His Word I am renewed daily to walk His best path for me.

Marjorie Vawter is the ACFW Colorado Area Coordinator. She lives in Westminster with her husband and 15-month-old “kitten,” Sinatra.

New Beginnings

Bright yellow daffodils. Mercies that are new every morning. A first, fresh cup of coffee with real cream. The crackle of the binding when opening a spanking new book. A newborn with intense eyes full of wonderment nursing for the first time.

New beginnings. There's nothing like them.

But sometimes we let the past cloud our new beginnings. I was given a new beginning this week, but it took a few days for me to believe it, embrace it, and celebrate it. Why? The pain of the past was so close that my emotions couldn't catch up to the hope of the future.

God has something to say about that:

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland."
Isaiah 43:18 - 19 (NIV)

This little Scripture has popped up over and over in my life the last few years, a reminder to me that God is all about taking the barren and making it fruitful. I can choose to hand over Him the dry, dusty crumbles of the past, forgetting the barren places, the hurtful places, the hopeless feelings. Instead I can choose to believe He is doing a new thing.

Creation reminds us of God's character of trustworthy newness. Every single day God does a new thing, offering a fresh start as the sun peeks over the horizon and pours forth its warm, golden rays, beginning a day that has never yet been lived. The ecstatic little birds start to sing and their joyful worship songs fill the air as they welcome daylight--and new beginnings.

May I learn to do the same.