hail walmart, full of grace....

A couple of weekends ago, I threw a temper tantrum in my office.  A full blown I've had enough, this is frustrating, I didn't ask for these inconveniences foot-stomping time.  If I'd been the age I was acting, I would have been 3 feet tall and most likely resorted to throwing myself onto the floor as I pounded my fists.

Instead, I turned my annoyance to the print job that was coming out of my newly purchased, just installed, this-was-its-maiden-voyage printer and due to my impatience (see "tantrum" above), decided to give one sheet a little help and yank pull it out before it was completely done.

And after that, my new printer wouldn't print any more.

Ugh.

I tried everything technical I knew to do.  I unplugged it and plugged back it in.  I turned it on, and turned it off.  I smiled at it, complimented its sleek black look and winked, but every time I tried to print, I got the same whirring sound with no paper passing through.

Brand new printer, fresh out of the box, and now I was going to have to pack it up and, with my tail between my legs, head back to Walmart for a replacement. To make matters worse, that box it was fresh out of was already gone with last week's trash, along with my receipt.

Double ugh.

Standing in front of the Walmart counter the next day, I prayed for a seamless transaction. I was looking for a little grace.  Okay, a lot of grace.  As I meekly handed over said printer, clad only in a thin canvas bag, I explained to the customer service rep that it wasn't working properly.  And how I didn't have the original box and no, I didn't have the receipt either.  And how I'd like to just get out of the store quietly with a new piece of equipment and forget any of this ever happened.

I heard her magic words.  "Go get another printer."

My relief smiled from ear to ear.

Faster than a flight out of Philly, I made a beeline back to the electronics section, picked myself up another box full of print-o-magic, and returned to the service counter.  She crunched some numbers, handed me a receipt which I vowed to keep, and sent me on my way. 

Walmart extended undeserved favor to me, really. It wasn't their fault the printer didn't work anymore.  I was the one that had screwed up. I was the one with the hasty attitude, yet they were willing to give me another chance to calm down and do it right the next time. On their dollar.

God does that for me every day.  I yell, I scream, I want things my way and in my time.  When I finally settle down and see my immaturity and realize I've been fighting His perfect plan, I open up my pounding, clenched fists and humbly ask for some grace. Some undeserved favor.  For a do-over, promising to do it His way this time.

And He answers with grace, with a second chance. From that, I learn to love Him even more because He is a God who loves me and who lets me try again.

Even when I act 3 feet tall.

I'm a writer, you're a writer....

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Jeff Goin's newest ebook, "You Are a Writer."  I was glad I had a free weekend to read it because to be honest, I couldn't put it down.  I'm one who likes to print out the pages of an ebook so that I can highlight and make notes and mark it up.  This was a smart move on my part, as I immediately recognized none other than myself described in the pages of his writing.  I couldn't stop highlighting, or nodding my head in agreement as I read, or murmuring a hushed "amen, brother" as I read page after page. Each time I was done a section, I headed back to the laptop to print out more, eager to keep reading this jewel of an ebook that had come my way. I couldn't get enough of it.  It was just the direction and advice I'd been looking for to be able to believe in my writing again.

Jeff has an innate ability to aptly describe what all of us writers go through at one point or another; that surge of excitement upon discovering this writing that we love to do, and then that slow slide down the other side of the hill called Slight Success that takes us to the bottom where we sit looking around and wondering where our thrill went.

And wondering if we'll ever write again.

"You Are a Writer" recognizes that we all get to a crossroads in our writing life where we are faced with the choice of either turning back or pushing ahead.  Jeff wisely gives us real tools and challenges to show us how to get up, brush the dust off our backside, and head out once again into the dream that we have always known was ours for the taking.  The writing life is waiting for us; we just need to claim it.

If you've ever written, if you've ever dreamed of writing, if you do write, or if you're simply looking for the permission to call yourself a writer, this ebook is for you.   It's a drink of water in a dry and thirsty land where we wonder if we really can make it doing this thing called writing that we love.

Jeff assures us that we can. 

And I, for one, believe him.

sometimes...

possible

speak

enough

my un-themed blog

It's been a while since I've been here.  Thanks for your patience!  A full time job, a husband, a 24/7 fur-shedding golden retriever, a bossy cat and three grown and growing kids who haven't quite left the nest yet keep my days and life busy...and I wouldn't have it any other way.  But it leaves little time to write at present.

To be honest, I sometimes struggle with what to write.  When life is quiet and I find myself with time on my hands, my writer's block yells - "You have free time; write something!"  Here's a tip - the absolute worst time to try to write something is when an obstinate voice inside you is pressuring you to write something. 

So I don't. I wait.

And I read.  Read about writing, read about blogging.  The common advice out there is, "Blog your passion; write what you know; write posts about what you're passionate about."

Makes sense.  Sounds simple enough.

But for me, it's not.

I've been racking my brain about this.  I'm passionate about a number of things, but I'm not sure it's stuff that blogs are made of. And I'm really not sure I want to pigeonhole myself into one quasi-passion of mine to try and make a killing blogging about just that and only that. At the end of the day,  I don't feel good enough at any one thing to focus solely on it for content day after day, week after week, year after year. 

(and you're saying, cut to the chase already and just tell us your passions.  Ok, I hear you.)

 Here's my short list -

Photography (I'm in the learner position on this one)
Women's ministry (just getting my feet wet, but I love it)
Writing (again, I'm a learner)
Picture books (not nearly as captivating to others as it is to me, me thinks.)

See what I mean?  Ugh.  Stuck, stuck, stuck am I.

In the process, as I read article after post after tweet about having a blog with a theme, a niche, a passion, a hook, I keep coming back to the same common denominator; I keep zeroing in on the same idea. It's broad and it's wide, but I've come to realize it's what I know.  It's where I'm comfortable. It's why I write.

As for me and my blog, my theme is God, and my niche is life. 

There.  Done.  Settled.

Wow, that feels better.

That being said, I'm giving myself - and this blog - carte blanche to write posts about any thing, any day, any time.  Just the way I like it.

Hope you do, too.