YOU  HAVE  SOMETHING  TO  OFFER!

It has been a while since I have been on here. There has been a lot going on in my world that I will be working up to share about. There is a lot going on in everyone’s world I am learning! That is why there is so much for people to write about!  I love that people use their experience, strength, and hope to  create topics for books, whether it be fiction or nonfiction.

Have you ever thought about writing a book? You have something worth saying! I have heard it said that we are to write what we know. There is a lot of power in that. Everyone has a story. By telling our stories, we can help others to know they are not alone in the things they have experienced.  Or if your life story is based on a unique adventure, you will give others courage to step out of their comfort zones.  Don’t shortchange yourself. Make a list of the things you have experienced in your life. Maybe you have traveled to several places that most people haven’t. Perhaps you come from a large family or maybe you are an only child. Both of those would offer unique circumstances and challenges. Have you experienced tragedy or gone through physical challenges? What are  your interests or talents? Draw on all of those things. Can you see how they can all be used in nonfiction AND fiction writing?

I want to also encourage you to write what you DON’T know.  We run into this a lot in fiction writing.  Writing what you don’t know forces you to do some research. There is a lot of fun in that! In fiction, you are creating new worlds! New people are being introduced along with new neighborhoods, new environments, maybe even new planets. New ideas and concepts are entering the scene allowing for a variety of problem solving skills.  I watch movies and am in awe of the creativity of the problems and solutions laid out for the characters.  Think about some of your favorites. I would love to hear about them!

I have made some beautiful connections from around the world through the words I have written. Some projects force you to be very vulnerable, but keep in mind there are people that are going through the same things and don’t have words of encouragement at their fingertips. You could be that lifeline for them.  I have friends on Facebook  who live on the East Coast, in Australia, England, and Africa.  I would never have met one of them if I hadn’t been brave enough to put myself out there.  We may not be close enough to go have coffee together, but we are connected through the heart. We have something in common.

My hope is that you would have the assurance to know that you have something to offer.  I love helping people on their writing journeys. I have written this today to let YOU know that you have a connection now to help you on each step of  your writing process.  I love how this person wrote a book about things to write about! So perfect!

A few of my friends and I love to create opportunities for new and seasoned writers through the Idaho Creative Authors Network. We love to start the year out with a one-day Writers Retreat and that is coming up on Feburary 15 at The Learning Lab in Garden City. It is a great time to get away from all the distractions at home and come and spend the day focused on our writing.

So be strong, be brave, and write on!

Visit us at Idaho Creative Authors Network

Follow us on Facebook

IMPACT!

We were singing a song in church last Sunday. It is not one I am particularly fond of. I know, that sounds sacrilegious, doesn’t it? I smiled as they congregation started singing it, I closed my eyes, and focused on the words.   By the time we were done singing, I was praising God in my heart for the message he had given to me through that song. 

It was calling women from the church to minister to broken hearts, assuring them of God’s healing power!  It reminded me of the impact we can make for God’s Kingdom in the lives of other women. As a pastor’s wife, I see many hurting women walk through the doors of the church. I see how overwhelming life can be for them. They need a listening ear, someone who can show them where the healing begins.

This section of scripture has proved itself true over and over in my life. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7(KJV) ³ Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; ⁴ Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. ⁵ For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. ⁶ And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. ⁷ And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

I have been able to recognize that the reason I have gone through certain tribulations was so that I could be equipped to help women who have come across my path that are going through the same situation.  I was able to relate to them on a more personal level. I was able to encourage them to keep going and that they were going to be victorious in the end! We all need to be encouraged.

I was having a hard time understanding verse 6 wondering how  our affliction could be for the consolation and salvation of others until I had dinner with a new friend one night. She had been in a horrible car accident when she was a teenager. I asked her if she had ever asked God, “Why?” Without hesitating, she told me that she hadn’t ever questioned it and later found out that because of her story, other people came to salvation. It all came together!  My husband has reminded me a couple of times through our trials that people would be watching how we would react. That seems like a lot of pressure at times, but when you consider how it may impact another person’s life and walk with God, it is worth being under that pressure.

Make an impact in your own sphere of influence! Lately God has given me the awesome opportunity of making an impact in the lives of children, many of them little girls (our future women. I love that God has given me the privilege of being able to introduce these little ones to the Lover of their souls and look forward to watching them grow so that they can their faith with others!

IMPACT! 

Follow me on Facebook and Twitter!

I did it!

I don't sew. My mother was a seamstress. I knew I didn't have to sew...because my mother was a seamstress. She tried to teach me, but I did not have the patience or the perfection gene that it takes to do a sewing project. I am in awe of people who can make beautiful clothes  and quilts. It just has not been my thing.

Because of the persistence of my mother-in-law, however, I have been able to taste the accomplishment that comes from finishing a creative task. I can definitely understand why people get the craft bug under their skin. We were called to go back to our hometown one summer for several weeks.   We stayed at my in-laws and almost immediately my mother-in-law took me to the craft closet stuffed with fleece and jeans and yarn.  She was bound and determine to help me make as many Christmas gifts as I could while I was there.   She did tell me at one point, "Okay, I got you started on the project, you know what to do so you take that home and finish it."  I had to inform her that it had to be completed while I was at her house because I know myself well enough to admit that as soon as I would walk into my own house, the project would be stuffed into the closet and there it would stay.

So I learned how to crochet a stocking and I made blankets for all the grandbabies and my sons.   Then she set me on task to do something for me, a ragged jean
I spent hours cutting out squares and then hours laying the blocks out on the floor to get just the right pattern and then weeks putting it all together. My mother-in-law loves going out on the patio first thing in the morning to sit in the sun so we would take our projects out there every morning and pin them together.   I would come back in the house and sew for an endless amount of time.   My father-in-law would approach me and ask how many needles I had broken that particular day.

I was determined to finish that quilt. Surprisingly, there were not as many tears shed through the frustrating effort as I thought there would be...until the end.   All the rows were sewed together, the backing was attached and all the ragged seams were clipped. I was told it was time to put it into the washing machine. I carried the heavy covering into the laundry room and placed it in the machine and chose the proper settings. I turned around and my mother-in-law was standing in front of me. She said, "You did it...how do you feel?" I wanted to burst into tears.   I did it! I started something AND I followed through with it. I have several projects started, but I had actually finished the whole project and it was beautiful, it was warm, it was mine...and it was worth it.

I love having people in my life that push me out of my comfort zone and that encourage and teach me along the way.  As much as I wanted her to at times, my mother-in-law never took the project over. She would talk me through the steps of changing the needles or piecing things together but would not do it for me.   I appreciated her heart to want me to experience that feeling of a finished project! How rewarding!

Isn't it Funny?

Isn't it funny how you have different friends for different needs in your life? In my last post, I shared about the encouragement I receive from my writing pals.  Today, I want to give a shout out to my church sisters.   Again, it is a group of women who "get" me, but on a different level than my writing buddies do. So maybe I should change the initial question of "Isn't it funny?" to "Isn't God good?!"

We are knit together with so many different characteristics that one person couldn't possibly relate to them all. God was the Knitter, He knows that so He brings little pockets of people to encourage each of our attributes.  Even our husbands can't relate on every level. They definitely serve a purpose and meet needs that our girlfriends can't in the areas of protecting, providing, ... and stuff. God brings certain people across our paths for a reason: to supply a need, to spur us on, to laugh with us.

I have  mentioned before that my husband and I have quite the opposite senses of humor. Here is another example. We were at a church music concert last weekend.   Even though we have watched this group, The Joint Heirs, many times and they sing some of the same songs each time, I tend  to get teary-eyed.  I can't help it. Different songs hit me at each concert, depending on what is going on in my life at that time.  Well, this night was no different.  Tears were running down my face, the pastor's wife handed me a tissue and I hear my husband compassionately whisper, "Quit your sniveling. We are supposed to be the rocks in this establishment."  I am used to this sort of teasing so I didn't miss a lick. I whispered back, "The Bible says that even the rocks will cry out."  Now, I did get a smile out of him, but my sisters would have laughed out loud!

Like my writing friends, my church sisters and I can play off each others humor very well too, but at a different level. We hang out a lot and have a lot of material we can use in our laugh sessions.   I set up a Sisters facebook page and we also have a group message. After one of our humorous  message sessions one of the girls decided that SIS should stand for Slightly Insane Sisters. Very fitting, I must say!

We have the younger women on there, the middle aged and the older women. The young girls in the group giggle at some of the conversations the middle-aged ones engage in, although they can be quick to throw a punchline in there as well. The older ones are usually so quiet that sometimes we forget they are there until we see a remark pop up from them, making us hope we didn't cross a boundary. Of course, we keep it clean, we just get carried away at teasing each other at times.  I approached one of the older ladies at church one day and said, "I hope we haven't been offensive in our interactions on our group message." She laughed and said she loved reading them and that she still  feels very young in her mind and hadn't been offended at all.

I love the assurance I have in this group of women that even though there is a time for laughter, that they will be the first lending a shoulder when there is a time for tears.  We have shared many heartaches over the years on many different levels, whether it be over hurt feelings, trouble with our children and marriages, or a death in the family. My sisters are the first ones that are there for me. They listen, the cry with me, they offer advice from the Bible and from their hearts.

My sisters and I are a team and I don't know what I do without them.   As our church grows, the needs become greater and I have some serious worker bees that I can call upon to help me. I love that!  I love that we can work together and serve together and laugh together.   This weekend we have been invited to go on a retreat with another church and five of us will be attending.   A few of them have not met my sisters from the other church yet and I am excited to see the interaction that they will have. I know my girls here will bring a flare to the event that I'm not quite sure the other girls are prepared for, but I can guarantee that flare is what will make them invite us again next year!  I also can guarantee that I will have a LOT more to write about next week upon our return!  God is good!

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends!

I just spent the day at a restaurant with a couple of great friends, although we were missing one from the group today who was unable to attend.   These are not girls that I am able to hang out with every day as we live in different parts of the valley. However, we love to get together to share a common interest: writing.  Each of us has a deep passion for writing. We have important things to tell the world and penning these ideas on paper is the path we have chosen.

Have you ever left someone's company feeling inspired and encouraged?  That is what these friends do for me.   If we are stuck on an aspect of writing, we are able to brainstorm together.  If we are needing an honest assessment of our work, we know we can count on each other to be truthful and helpful.  If we are embarking on a new writing adventure, we can count on each other to show enthusiasm.  I always leave our meetings wanting to go home and write!

We all need people in our lives who "get" us. When someone asks me about my projects, my heart FILLS with joy and  I could talk all day about it.  However, for the listener , a little bit may go a long way.   When you are with others who share a common interest, the sky is the limit.  You never have to worry about talking too much about one topic because they will be talking just as much about the same topic!

When this particular group and I get together, we play off of each other's humor well, which makes it even more fun!  We laugh and giggle and crack silly jokes.  There is a lot of play on words because words are our best friends!  If I use the same humor around my husband, I am more likely to get an eye roll than a chuckle. Although he is my biggest fan, our humor is not always on the same wavelength.

I want to encourage each of you to find your niche. What are your interests? What talents do you have? Find a group that will nurture those gifts. Meet with them periodically and experience that enjoyment of being you completely.   We have to spend enough time during our days trying to fit into molds that are too confining. Allow yourselves the freedom to meet with like-minded people who cheer you on in your endeavors.  It keeps us going!

The girls and I have been very excited to gather our talents together and offer opportunities to be that encouraging word in another writer's life and help them to achieve their dreams.  You can learn more about us (myself, Carol Green, Phyllis Vavold and Sheila Eismann) and see for yourself the exciting things that are going on in our world by visiting http://idahocreativeauthorsnetwork.com/ . We love being able to meet with other people that have  the passion for writing because we are able to customize our events according to their needs.

Be Careful With the Bananas!

         Our lives are based on relationships. Relationships with family, friends, our church, with God, employers, employees and believe it or not, everyone who crosses our path.   Too often, however , we get so wrapped up in taking care of ourselves and get so focused on  our own little world that we don't give ourselves fully to the people that are around us, even the ones closest to us.  From time to time we need to remember what it takes to nurture the relationships in our lives.  Are you all there for people? Are you committed to anybody other than yourself? Ouch.

Is there really anything so important in your day that you cannot be interrupted? Most of the things that surround us are just distractions that hinder our relationships.  We need to get a vision of what we want our relationships to look like and then take the steps necessary to reach those goals. Perhaps there are things that need cleared from our schedules. Perhaps there are things you need to work on in your own life to be able to be more transparent.

I did a fun activity with the kids from our youth group last week.   Each child was paired up with a partner. Each pair was given a knife, a plate and a banana.   The instructions were to cut the banana up, deciding as partners who would do the cutting and how many pieces they would cut it into.  I had only one girl team and they quietly discussed their plan. They made one neat slice across the middle of the banana, then stepped away from their plate. The younger boys made several neat slices and stepped away from their plates.  Two of my older boys in the group, however, sliced and diced their banana every which way until it was almost mashed up enough to feed the new baby born into our church family. They finally stepped away from their plate.

  They all waited for further instruction as I looked around at each team’s plate before smiling and saying, “Now put it back together.”  Jaws dropped.  You can imagine which team had their jaws drop the furthest.   I continued, “On the table, you will find clothes pins, tape, yarn and tooth picks. Your banana must look exactly as it did when I first handed it to you.”   The girls gently took their banana and secured the two halves with tooth picks then wrapped a piece of tape around it. Some of the boys got the inside of the banana looking pretty close but could not get the peel back on.  The older boys worked fast and furious, but truly there was no hope for their poor banana.

When every was cleaned up we discussed the lesson which you have probably figured out by now.   When we cut up and damage our relationships, most of the time we want to try to reconcile them and put them back together, but they will never be the same again. Even with the girls who only made one cut, there was still a scar.   The ones who mutilated their “relationship” tried very hard to get it back together, but there was no hope at all. That “relationship” could never be repaired.  It can really give us a visual and hopefully help us to understand that the relationships around us are so fragile.  

One parent and I were talking later about the experiment and after I said that those relationships would never be the same, she agreed, then said, “Sometimes they can look better.”  I pondered those words and she was absolutely right.  I thought about our marriages specifically.  We can say and do things to hurt our spouses. We can go through tough times, but as we work through it, it becomes a milestone that we can look back on and remind ourselves that we were overcomers.  We are stronger as we learn to weather the storms together.   I can see that happening with friendships and other relationships as well. The kids were able to use reinforcements to put the bananas back together. They SECURED them with other items to make the banana hold together stronger. We can do the same thing. We can SECURE our relationships with the foundation of God’s Word, with the new tools of communication, with new eyes of compassion toward the other. Our relationships can be strengthened through the lessons learned in the storms.   

I want to encourage you to slow down and really take the time to see who is around you. Take a moment and really look at your child.   Your spouse and children are around every day, but when is the last time you really looked at them and appreciated who they were? I challenge you to take the time to truly see people who come across your path this week. Look people in the eye and smile. Relationships are important and reconciliation can be so healing. If there are things that need to be taken care of, please do it. You are not guaranteed tomorrow.  Live your life with no regrets in those relationships!

The Taboo I am Willing to Talk About - Physical Consequences

My last article introduced the topic for my next few writing sessions, namely abortion. People tend to have very judgmental responses when this issue is brought up. What I want to do is educate others on the consequences of this decision.   Today we will look at the physical complications  that can result from the abortion procedure.

 Some complications are immediate and can  be short-term or long-term. Shock is one thing that can happen due to significant blood loss, causing the blood pressure as the heart rate increased. Perforation of the uterus can cause pelvic abscess that can result in death. Hemorrhaging can be a sign of infection involving many areas invaded by the procedure. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, weakness and fever can be signs of infection. Either of these issues needs to be treated immediately.

Other complications can happen years down the road. A post-abortive woman has a 50% higher chance of getting breast cancer and increased risk of cancer of the ovaries, liver and cervix, especially if performed on a woman’s first pregnancy. The reasoning behind this is that the  interruption in the hormones causes millions of cells to be at a high risk.

The uterus has the possibility of being punctured due to the instruments used during the procedure. Cervical lacerations or tears can occur. Abortions can result in placenta previa causing the placenta to be too close to the cervix . This can result in pre-term labor in subsequent pregnancies, many times requiring a cesarean section delivery of the baby. This condition can carry a higher risk of death and handicaps in newborns.

Pelvic inflammatory disease (inflammation of the reproductive organs) is yet another physical risk. This has many complications in itself, causing severe pelvic pain and scarring in the fallopian tubes.  It is a major cause of ectopic pregnancies in which the fertilized egg remains in the fallopian tube rather than making its way to the uterus.   This can be life threatening and can also be a factor in infertility.

Another heartbreaking circumstance that can occur is miscarriage, which is the natural termination of a pregnancy. Chances of miscarrying in a future pregnancy are increased by 45% for these women. That brings on a whole new list of issues. Not only can this cause more physical complications with the risk of scar tissue building up, but there are many emotional scars caused by this event also. The woman or couple has to work through the trauma of losing a child, telling others what happened and gain courage to try again. In general, post-abortive women are in poorer health overall.

As you can see, the risk that a woman takes is very great regarding the physical consequences. Women need to be more informed and truly understand what their future may hold in terms of illnesses and subsequent difficulties. It also needs to register within the minds of these women what they possibly may not hold in their future….a child.

The next article will reveal the emotional consequences of abortion. My hope as you continue to follow this  series is that you will start understanding the lives of the men and women involved in this decision. Although the choice may have been made out of  a dire situation with the hopes of things being “better” because of it, the life they have had to live every day since that choice was anything but better.   I want you, the reader, to understand that there is more behind the person than the choice they made.  Until next time, slow down and take a look into people’s eyes and try to see their story. Be an encouragement to them!

http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Behind-Eyes-JoEllen-Claypool-ebook/dp/B00FD65ZTM/

https://www.facebook.com/TheSecretsBehindTheEyes?ref=hl