Okay, I confess: Several years ago, I created a new author website with a blog. Somehow, though, I never seriously committed to writing that blog on a weekly basis. Oh, when I did add a new post, I appreciated the comments people left. But life got busy. I became a caregiver for aging parents. The blog slipped down the list of priorities. You know how it goes.
This week I’m committing to a new start. Each Wednesday (assuming I’m alive and not in a coma), I will add a new post to my blog. It might be an update on my writing, or an observation on life, an inspirational thought, or something else. But whatever the topic, I invite you to share it with me and then to jot your own insights in the comments. By making this commitment and exercising self-discipline, not only should I sharpen my skills in capturing thoughts in words, but you and I can share friendly connections and encourage one another, too.
Yet, even as I make this fresh commitment, I’m already wondering about you friends. Chances are, I’m not the only person in the world who let a one-time idea slide. If so, maybe you’d like to make a new start, too? One person might resolve to read at least one chapter of the Bible each morning. Another might decide it’s time to begin one healthy change in daily eating habits. Yet another might commit to reading one book a month. Or to bank some money each week. Whatever. If there’s something you would like to begin but simply haven’t started, I invite you to join me and make a new start this week.
Of course, making a public commitment can be daunting. If I miss a week, some of you will email me: “Uh, Rick, where’s that blog post for the week?” But that’s okay. If I miss, go ahead! Because sometimes even the sincerest commitment can use a little encouragement from friends!
As an author, I find the topics of love and relationships fascinating. Countless writers have penned love stories. Movies constantly depict love in personal relationships. These never-ending topics are intertwined with human experience.
God loves us. He invites us, His creation, to embrace Him in a mutual loving relationship. But I’m afraid God understands perfectly the heartbreak of a husband or wife with an adulterous mate. He continues to bless with sunshine, rain, and provisions, even while so many ignore Him and run around with the Devil.
But God—the Author of Creation—didn’t shred His manuscript. In order redeem and restore part of mankind, God did the unimaginable plot twist: He manifested a portion of Himself to “beam down”—to be born of a virgin (the first Christmas) and to grow physically and to walk and talk inside His creation as part of it. What a mind-blowing idea! This is why the angel who explained events to Joseph, Mary’s husband to be, told him the child would be called Immanuel, meaning “God with us” (Matthew 1).
Writing is like creating a snow sculpture. Before you can sculpt, you must expend energy amassing a big, ugly pile of snow. After you’ve done that, you can take spoons and butter knives and start shaping the mass into a statue. But you can’t simply pick up handfuls of loose snow and pat them one at a time into the final, completed sculpture. You need the intermediate stages as you chip away and shape the snow into a shape worth seeing.
characters, ideas, and plot are there, you go back with your writer tools and rework that rough manuscript into the story you envisioned. If you’re a normal writer, you’ll need to work through it multiple times before the final version emerges. Even then, you’ll want to retouch it here and polish it there to make your final creation shine!
One scene from a nearly-forgotten movie remains fresh in my mind: A criminal visiting a run-down apartment looks through a doorway and spots a scantily clad girl sitting on a bed. She’s high on drugs. Immediately the lowlife tells his buddy, “I’m in love.” He proceeds into the bedroom to take advantage of the stoned woman.
in intensity and type of commitment. But if the love is genuine, its primary concern will be the welfare of the other, not using that person to please self.
Dear friends,
Recently, a friend made this observation: “Procrastination is an evil temptress. Her goal is to destroy your dreams with her siren songs of “Someday,” “Gonna,” and “Later.” Your protector is the Warrior Princess Now, and her sword, ‘Immediate Action.'”
What bait does she use? Distraction adapts her lure according to each person. If you enjoy web surfing, Distraction smiles and reaches for your hand, for she commands a never-ending supply of links to hinder you from your goals. Why, Facebook alone can fritter away hours at a time as you catch up with others with humor, selfies, and personal news. For another person, Distraction offers sports. Or seemingly eternal TV news (or “news”) and commentaries. Interested in politics? Pull up a chair; you ain’t goin’ anywhere, bub! And so it goes until, much later, you surface from this sea of trivia realize, “Oh no! I was planning to accomplish some really good things today!”