Yay!!!

The Story Isn't Over

Grateful for finding these words today at In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being (and I'm feeling especially today as though without Him, I'd be unable to move as the living is so very hard right now):

 "...we need not pretend that all is well in our lives in order to experience thankfulness. This coming Thursday, try to find at least one thing for which you can be grateful despite the tough times in which you may find yourself this year. It’s amazing how much happiness this practice can generate, on Thanksgiving, and throughout the year....Finally, knowing that the story is never over will help us to have a happy Thanksgiving....Could we acknowledge the good despite the pain of not knowing what could be coming?...Ultimately, I realized that we were holding back because the story wasn’t over. Then I realized that in life, our stories are never over, so why wait?"




You have been raised to life with Christ. Now set your heart on what is in heaven, where Christ rules at God's right side. ^[a]

   ²Think about what is up there, not about what is here on earth.

   ³You died, which means that your life is hidden with Christ, who sits beside God.

   ⁴Christ gives meaning to your ^[b] life, and when he appears, you will also appear with him in glory.....

   

   You must quit being angry, hateful, and evil. You must no longer say insulting or cruel things about others.

   ⁹And stop lying to each other. You have given up your old way of life with its habits.

   ¹⁰Each of you is now a new person. You are becoming more and more like your Creator, and you will understand him better.

   ¹¹It doesn't matter if you are a Greek or a Jew, or if you are circumcised or not. You may even be a barbarian or a Scythian,^[d] and you may be a slave or a free person. Yet Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.

   ¹²God loves you and has chosen you as his own special people. So be gentle, kind, humble, meek, and patient.

   ¹³Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you.

   ¹⁴Love is more important than anything else. It is what ties everything completely together.

   ¹⁵Each one of you is part of the body of Christ, and you were chosen to live together in peace. So let the peace that comes from Christ control your thoughts. And be grateful.

   ¹⁶Let the message about Christ completely fill your lives, while you use all your wisdom to teach and instruct each other. With thankful hearts, sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

   ¹⁷Whatever you say or do should be done in the name of the Lord Jesus, as you give thanks to God the Father because of him.

1 Colossians 3

   

   

Always something beautiful

Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.
Albert Schweitzer




Tina's PicStory

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged, and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.  -Proverbs 16:6




Praying this today and lately.  


Hard times have hit. 


I am still writing.  One week left!  


Pray for me? That I might see and speak truth. That I might live and give mercy.  For wisdom and kindness and peace....












This is the last leaf
in the year's book.
Now I come to grief
as the earth's breast goes hard and mean
and hay is packed for the manger. - Anne Sexton


Oh Angel of the blizzard and blackout, Madam white face,
take me back to that red mouth, that July 21st place. - Anne Sexton

Fun stuff, kids.  This is my husband being silly/romantic. That's the way he rolls.

Weekend reflections

Books

A room without books is like a body without a soul. - Cicero

Thursday  Challenge

Snow and Trees

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says "Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.” 
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

Love This

Source: havenandhome.blogspot.com via Natalie on Pinterest

Trusting the Process

It is the middle of week two of NaNoWriMo.  I have experienced a bit of that block that 'they' say can come in week two.  But I have been pushing through.  And there are elements in my story that are painful.  But I am also grateful to be exploring them.  Because I had asked for healing.  And I feel that this is part of that.  And when I'm in flow, coming back to the real world is a bit hard. And I'm left with so much of my characters.  But this is how it should be.  I have to trust the process.  I have to trust that this is God ordained.  And I am grateful that I am not going it alone.  And I am grateful that He meets me where I am.

I love fresh flowers at home.  It feels like a luxurious splurge - like I'm a rich lady!  And those vases, too, I love.  Garage sale find.

Deeper

Update:

This last week has been rather magical.  I've been happily wallowing in writing time  As I go deeper into my story, I go deeper with God. And I am loving my searching main character. I have just a hint of what she finds and I'm excited for her. I just feel God's hand over me as I write and if nothing else, this is for me and Him.



"What is a novel if not a conviction of our fellow-men's existence strong enough to take upon itself a form of imagined life clearer than reality and whose accumulated verisimilitude of selected episodes puts to shame the pride of documentary history?" - Joseph Conrad

submitting at Playdates

Scenic Colorado

Just a photo today.  I'm writing away!


scenic sunday

Words

"Gracious speech is like clover honey"




-Proverbs 16:24

Shadow Shot Sunday

It was eight am.  She'd been up for half an hour but hadn't moved from bed.  She didn't feel good today.  And she was trying to remember.  She needed to remember.  More so than usual.  That dream had been important.  For she hadn't spoken.  She had listened only.  This much she could recall.  And what he spoke, was meant to be carried over.  

For just a few more lines, click here.

Source: victoriamag.com via Nicole on Pinterest

This picture helped inspire my writing for today.

Day 2 update and a confession

It feels a bit magical so far, Novel Writing Month.

It seems that God is for it and I am being beckoned in by Him.

My school approved this month off.  Brett's parents are in town this week and have had the kids.  And I'm even here for a brief moment because I went over the word count goal yesterday!  5 pages of a brand new story has unfolded and I'm excited to see what comes!

One confession here:  Although I'm enjoying all the writing time I'm also missing the children.  They've been spending the night away - all of them- and being only a writer and not a mom would be sad and lonely, I've discovered.

Where I'll be for the next thirty days

I will be here, if anywhere this month, or however long I last.