Blog Stories
Hurt People Heal People
The other day I was thinking about a good friend who has a lifelong health issue. As someone who is talented, intelligent, and likeable, he might have ended up arrogant, in which case we would not have become friends! But the “thorn” he carries around day by day has made him a good listener, sensitive, someone who knows how to value others. A good friend.
They say that hurt people hurt people. A hurt person might easily hurt someone else as an expression of his brokenness, not necessarily because he is a terrible person. Knowing he has been hurt doesn’t help much, if he has hurt us or someone we care about. I’ve found that it does help to soften my view of him and possibly lead me to forgiveness.
Just Do the Next Thing…
I’m at that point again. Well, I get to that point often, I hate to admit. The point I’m talking about is when the details of what I need to do swirl around me like a meteor shower, with its corresponding lack of visibility. Not that I’ve been in one. But it seems like one.
So before my blood pressure and anxiety begin to rise, I frantically reach for the steno pad I always have on my desk. I think, I have to make a list. What’s my priority?
When I want to improve in fiction and I know there are a dozen tasks I could do toward this goal— read a book on craft, get a novel from the library and study it, work on my own writing, study editing, work on description, etc. I could benefit from all of these, but what to do first?
A New French Journey
In early May I will embark on the next part of my journey. For the first time in 3 ½ years I’ll be returning to France for a visit. Just a visit this time.
My first trip to France took place in 1989, and it changed the course of my life. After that I knew that a missionary career in France was my calling for that period. Two years later I arrived in France. The next twenty-five years took me back and forth several times, and I finally returned to the US for good in 2013.
For me this is more than a tourist trip.
Dive In
A few years back I had a life change. I was changing countries and changing professions. I’d been living in Europe for several years and out of the U.S. job market for many more. When I returned and needed to find a job, I didn’t feel very marketable. I figured if I were to find a job at all, I’d have to create it myself.
I had an idea, at least, to start. One of the things I did when I lived in France was teach English to retired people. I loved doing that, and really enjoyed working with that particular group of learners. As I returned I considered: What can I still do that could be turned into a job? The answer for me was French.
Five Questions for the New Year
Here we are in the midst of the colorful, festive Christmas season. Each year I get as much enjoyment welcoming the New Year as I do in Yuletide caloric merriment, purchasing, giving, visiting, singing, and decorating. As the year nears its sunset, I begin casting some thoughts in the direction of what’s coming as I cross the threshold.
Really. No Christmas blues, no wistful sadness. I feel a shimmer of anticipation and my mind is already darting to things I want to improve or try or experience or master in the coming year. I have a whole year as a canvas to play with.
For years I have been a goal-setter. But rather than create a list of resolutions the length of the Appalachian Trail, I set quarterly objectives, based on my annual goals (which fall into a few basic areas, like health, spiritual, fiction, personal, etc.). I review these quarterly. For me, it’s just more bite-sized and I don’t get discouraged as easily. It keeps me on target, and there’s nothing to prevent my adding new goals that weren’t there at the outset. Or taking some away. Or adapting some.
Stop…and Remember
Thanksgiving is barely over. The highway home was crowded with others like me who had visited family for a few days.
Aside from a couple extra pounds, one thing I brought back with me was actually, well, 8 things. My old photo albums from high school, college, and beyond. They’d been in my mom’s shed in a box for about 20 years, when I first left to live overseas. I had not looked at them since.
Flipping through the photo albums that chronicled my adult life was like rediscovering myself, like reassembling scattered, forgotten pieces of my identity. I needed that wash of memories to bring me back to the previous chapter and stitch it together. You see, when I left Europe three years ago to return permanently to the U.S, after nearly a quarter of my life spent there, I closed the door on a life, a career, a culture…and opened another one.
The Monday Morning Challenge
Monday morning I pulled out my notepad, as I do on most Mondays. I jotted a list of things I wanted to accomplish that week. Suddenly it hit me. If I do the same thing week after week, all I will have accomplished is my to-do list. I wonder if there is something bigger I am meant to accomplish.
I began consider my bigger goals, the ones that push out in the future. One of these is being a fiction writer. In that moment I knew that if I continued doing the same things I am doing now, I’ll be in roughly the same place this time next year.
That isn’t to say I haven’t accomplished some of my objectives in writing. I think my writing craft has improved in the last year. I was able to finish a novel in time to pitch it at a large writer’s conference in August. Though that is a milestone, believe me, the prize has not yet been won.
Southern Inspiration
Here’s an inspirational place: Southport, NC, founded in 1792. I first saw Southport when I was watching a Nicolas Sparks movie entitled Safe Haven. At the time, I didn’t finish the movie, but was entranced by the location. A small coastal town that, at the risk of using a cliché, can only be called charming, with an easy pace and historical intrigue. Despite (or because of) its laid-back magnetism, several movies and television series have been filmed there. I finally had the chance to go...
The Next Chapter in the Writing Journey
A new step in my writing journey was to attend the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Conference in Nashville in late August. I’d signed up months before, and when the time came I decided, instead of flying, I’d take a road trip.
The town of Asheville, NC, is about halfway to Nashville, so I made plans to stop there overnight both coming and going. I highly recommend Asheville. Not only is it a charming, fun, artsy town but there is a ton to do. (Apparently it’s a national capital for craft breweries, if you like beer…) Of course there is the Biltmore House, the largest private residence in the U.S., outdoor activities (like hiking, rafting, ballooning), and downtown Asheville (very cute), including the River Arts District. I dedicated a morning to the Arts District to satisfy my pottery cravings.
Romance in Provence
Last year I knew I wanted to write an inspirational romance. I enjoy writing both romance and what they call “women’s fiction”, a story of a woman and how she faces and grows through various challenges in her life, usually with a romantic sub-theme included. (good stuff!)
As I considered a theme for the current book, I tossed around a few different ideas.
The same year I had the wonderful opportunity to make a friend, Dawn, via Linked In. She’s a fellow Francophile, and we had many things in common. She runs a small group tour company to Provence and it sparked an idea…
Prodigals in Provence
My Next Post will be about my new book: Prodigals in Provence...stay tuned!
One Season at a Time
Summer is speeding by in a blur. Seems to take all year to get here, then it’s gone. Back to fall, then winter. I usually feel prepared for the fall by the time it gets here, especially after many weeks of temperatures over 90. Funny how I’m always ready for the next season by the time it gets here.
Events of our lives are like that too. We worry about this or that in the future, but by the time the space closes between the Event and us, we’re ready for it. We lean on God for the outcome and find we have a reservoir of strength we didn’t realize was so sufficient. So complete. A bit from ourselves (we have a few tools and attributes, though they fall kinda short), a lot from Him.