Perspective Matters!

 by Anusha Atukorala

Last year, my husband bought a new car. We’d spent a few months visiting numerous showrooms – sitting inside posh vehicles and whizzing around on numerous test drives, until Shan was sure what car would suit his needs best. One day we planned to pick up my niece after a conference she’d attended in Adelaide, to bring her home for a few days. 

We decided to visit one showroom, then drive down to another located past the city for a five minute peek, before picking up my niece at her city hotel. At first, all went according to plan. We spent a happy hour at the first showroom, with a competent and likeable car salesman who was very persuasive. However … my beloved was wise.

 
He thanked the salesman, said he’d get back to him and we drove off to the second one. That’s when the script changed. The five minutes we were to spend there expanded to 10 minutes, And then 20 … 30 … until, oh dear, it stretched to one full hour! I kept checking my watch – anxious we’d get late to get to my niece. But the salesman and his manager were lions about to pounce on their prey. 

Back and forth they went, bargaining with my beloved. Until … the manager gave us the perfect deal! Before I could say ‘Mazda 6’, my delighted man was signing on the dotted line. How did that happen? My sweet niece was very understanding about our delay when I informed her that we got a little later than planned because we had unexpectedly bought a brand new car!

 

It was actually a win win situation. Shan bought the car of his dreams at an excellent price while the car team got their sale. The former salesman had lost out because he did not strike while the iron was hot. Perhaps it was all about perspective? The manager who succeeded, viewed the sale from the customer’s perspective - not from his. He gave us exactly what we asked for! He was good at his job!

 

Perspective Matters! As writers who string words together, what should our perspective be? Is it simply to share the burning issues on our hearts or is to meet our readers where they are? I confess that I don’t always check out my readers’ perspective, since I’m often driven by my own experiences, through which I seek to encourage others. Maybe I need to consider the readers needs more than I do now.

 

The truth is that I am a picky reader, so other readers could be a lot like me. I return from a trip to the library, lugging 20 or 30 books home. Yes, books tempt me! And because I have so many waiting in my To Be Read pile, I don’t always persevere with a story I don’t enjoy in the first 20 or 30 pages. I know I can pick up a more pleasurable read in the blink of an eye. The books I get stuck into, usually have a rating of at least 7/10 (by me) in order for me to keep reading. Fussy? I’m afraid so! It tells me then that others readers too, might be like me, and so … their perspective matters.

 

Today I’d like to focus on another, more important perspective. God’s! Recently, as I studied 2 Corinthians chapter 4, I heard God’s whispers. The gems He showered me with, encouraged me no end, like a cold drink on a warm, summer’s day. I needed a fresh perspective about life in the kingdom and also needed to put on God’s wise discerning spectacles, in place of my clouded, earth-bound ones.

 

The  Seven R’s of the JESUS WAY through Trials:  

(2 Corinthians 4)

1.     Realise the truth about trials.

a.     They are Temporary – a miniscule blip in time compared to eternity

b.     They are also Tiny – compared to the joys that await us

2.     Refuse to give into Satan’s ploys

3.     Remember all God has done for me in the past

4.     Re-focus my eyes on God’s kingdom and His greatness

5.     Raise my eyes to the things unseen

6.     Rejoice in my riches in Christ

7.     Rest on God’s unfailing promises

So I fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,

since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Cor 4:18

 

When you and I reach heaven, we just might realise that we spent too much time on stuff that did not matter and too little time on things that did. We might discover that the value system of heaven and its perspective is as different to ours here on earth as the wild, untamed ocean is to a grubby, small mud puddle!

 

So today, I pause and ask myself about my own viewpoint!

1 In my writing: Do I seek heaven’s perspective or one based just on the here and now? Will my writing count for eternity?

2 In my life as a believer: Is it based on what I see around me or on the things unseen in the heavenly realms? Am I living for eternity or living for the here and now?

 

Perspective matters! So in Perspective Matters, let’s have eyes that are able to see the things that count and will continue to count in eternity! Let’s have hearts that understand what God’s heart dwells on, what God requires of us and what God calls us to do. Dear beautiful friend, let’s hitch up our skirts and  roll up our trousers and dance through life, the Jesus way. Let our Lives, our Writing Lives, and our Relationships be viewed through God’s lenses. 

The one perspective that really matters is God’s, isn’t it? 

Oh may we see life through His eyes so we can love, write and live as God does!

 

“But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Phil 3:13-14

Anusha’s been on many interesting detours in life, as a lab technician, a computer programmer, a full time Mum, a full time volunteer, a charity director, a full time job chaser, until one golden day (or was it a dark moonless night?) God tapped her on her shoulder and called her to write for Him. She has never recovered from the joy it brought her. She loves to see others enjoying life with Jesus and does her mite to hurry the process in her world through her writing and through her life. The goodness of God is her theme song through each season, as she dances in the rain with Jesus.

Her first book Enjoying the Journey contains 75 little God stories that will bring you closer to your Creator. Her 2^nd book Dancing in the Rain brings you hope and comfort for life’s soggy seasons. Her 3rd book, Sharing the Journey is a sequel to Enjoying the Journey. More books are on the pipeline as she researches them through life's challenges and blessings.

 

Do drop in on her two websites to say G’day! 

She’d love to connect with you.

Dancing in the Rain 

Light in the Darkness

  

‘I was lookin' for love in all the wrong places
Lookin' for love in too many faces
Searchin' their eyes
Lookin' for traces of what I'm dreaming of…’

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net/David Castillo Dominici

That was me for far too many years; searching for a soulmate, ‘needing’ a fulfilling relationship, hoping for domestic bliss. Yet the harder I looked the further the prize receded into the distance.

It’s a basic human need, this need for love and belonging, and we reach a point in our lives where our spiritual and emotional growth can become stymied if we fail to satisfy that persistent yearning. We become ‘stuck’, unable to move on with other important tasks and milestones in life. Most of us settle down and marry in our twenties or thirties and muddle on with varying degrees of conflict and stress, peppered with romantic highlights and for those who get lucky, some hard-won joy and contentment.

Others of us turn to our careers or what we perceive to be our passion to fill that nagging ache within our hearts and souls. Still others care for parents and relatives, and some of us are besotted with our four-footed furry friends. Every path taken is valid and significant, and every twist and turn can be molded into a valuable lesson. For me personally, ‘real’ love remained elusive and I settled into my 56^th year determined to find ways to live a meaningful life without a partner by my side. In fact, God sort of arranged it for me.

It’s not that I’d forgotten about God over the years or even ignored Him overmuch. I’ve been a believer for a long time now and constant communication between El Shaddai and this somewhat wayward daughter of His has been the norm. Yet, I still made some wrong assumptions that drove a wedge between us. I was still trying to fill the God-shaped hole, which exists inside all humanity, with human love.

But God pursued me relentlessly.

A fiancé (not the first) exited stage right (my front door) in a flurry of doubt and confusion, citing unfinished business and pressure from his adult children. It’s a long and somewhat wretched story that I’ll leave entirely to your imagination. (Cue in the musical score from Les Misérables.)

This time, the separation was so traumatic, following close after my mother’s death, that I decided to go it alone for the rest of my days. Well, not quite alone…for God had finally got my full attention. I was done with human relationships (family and friends excepted). Absolutely done, I tell you.

I’d voiced similar sentiments in the past but this was the first time I knew, in my heart of hearts, that I truly meant it. I finally handed the reigns entirely over to my Creator and King, and the fear began to dissipate. Grief remained for a time but not intolerably so. Over the following months, as I read more and more scripture, searching each page with new impassioned eyes, a mantle of peace descended. My shoulders eased. The panic attacks began to ebb away.

As I steeped myself further and further in Christian literature and reached out to my priceless, loving Christian friends, I began to really know my God.

And you know what? I liked Him a lot! In fact, it wasn’t long before I was pretty sure I was in love! And the revelation that left me the most ‘gobsmacked’ is that I knew I’d finally found the one true love; the only one who could completely cherish every inch of my being; the only one strong enough, wise enough and gentle enough to give my still-girlish heart the depth of love and security I’d craved all my life.

But God didn’t stop at sweeping me off my feet. In very short order He set about building our very first home. It was a dream I thought I’d never achieve, and truth be known, no one else believed I’d achieve it either. Financial advisers insisted that, at my age and having only a disability support payment as income, I had no chance of breaking out of that iron-maiden commonly called the rental trap. Real Estate agents shook their heads and showed me through shoddy little hovels they assured me were within my price range. It was disturbing to see the combination of pity and desperation in their eyes as I said no, time and again. God had better in store for me. I was certain of that much.

He knew and understood my special needs and He also knew the desires of my heart, as, of course, He still does. This was one guy I was going to trust to come through for me. We were a team now and I had to learn to work with Him, not under my own steam for a change. I listened carefully, and I stepped out in faith, asking Him to stay my hand if I misread His cues.

And so it was that I came to find a block of land in one of the most beautiful parts of the country; a bank to give me the very small mortgage I needed to secure it, and a builder to give me a fixed-price contract beyond all the odds, which just happened to fit my tiny budget. How those funds came to be in my bank account in the first place constitutes a whole parallel narrative to this story, but I’ll spare you those seemingly mundane details for now. In truth each step of the process was a miracle.

During this honeymoon period of ours, God flooded me with His miracles. It was a tsunami of blessing and abundance. Along the way, there were some headaches and stresses, but that’s to be expected when you build a house.  We took it in our stride. Mostly, we just had fun! What a happy time we had collaborating over building design and materials, flooring, paint colours, tiles…and all the little extras that make a house a home. It was effortless!

The House that God Built

We moved in about a month after the expected hand-over date but He had even that under control. At first I was disappointed about having to wait but I soon realized that, with my chemical sensitivities, I wouldn’t have been able to live with the odour of fresh paint. It would have brought me to my knees physically. And so God delayed things a little. By the time He carried me across the threshold (for real!) the odour had dissipated and all that remained was the heady fragrance of fresh mountain air.

For the finishing touch, He proceeded to fill my rainwater tanks with bountiful rain. They’re overflowing as I write.

I don’t know any human being who can pull that off, do you?

I think I might finally have met ‘the one’. And He doesn’t even mind if I find human love as well, as long as I continue to put Him first. Either way, I’m going to be just fine.

God makes a fine husband. In fact, there’s none better.

And the view's not too shabby, either.

Melinda Jensen is a writer concerned with social justice, spirituality, the environment, and equality. She authors a blog on domestic abuse, particularly as it pertains to its psychological and emotional effects. Over the years she has had a smattering of short stories and poetry published in national magazines and anthologies.  At the moment she is working on two fantasy novels with environmental themes, both aimed at middle school readers. And more importantly, she’s engrossed in a non-fiction work that focuses on thriving in a materialistic, consumerist world, while limited by a tiny budget.

Have We Gotten Used to Speed Dating?

 By Jessica Everingham

Copyright Creationswap, by Richard Wong

Romance-junkies, which relationships do you find most engaging—those in television, or those in movies?

As much as I love movies, for me the answer is definitely TV. And as an aspiring romance novelist, that holds implications for the way I develop my stories.

The biggest difference I see between the relationships in TV shows, and those in movies, is time.

 In a show it can take six seasons for characters to declare their feelings. By this point they’ve built up a strong friendship, probably endured some life-and-death experiences together, dated other people, gotten jealous, fought, made up, and sacrificed for one another. And then, finally, they’ve both admitted their love.

In a movie, two people see each other. Five to fifteen minutes later, they’re soul mates, and spend the rest of the movie fighting the bad guys or their respective inner demons.

Nothing wrong with either method. But personally, I find television far more addictive. Which raises the question; have us novelists (or aspiring novelists, in my case) gotten far too used to speed dating?

Imagine for a moment, if there was a book version of Castle? The Mentalist?  Or [insert your favourite TV show here]? Dozens of shows capitalize on the slow-burn-friendship-turned-true-love. And while the ‘instant heat’ method is a proven success for books, is the alternative an under-utilized tool?

Jenny B Jones has pulled this off with flair in her novel, Save The Date. There’s heat in the book from the start, but Lucy and Alex’s relationship is built on shared experiences and a whole lotta sarcasm, over a period of several months. By the end of the story you know this romance will survive anything— whether it’s temperamental teenagers, a political rat race, a family tragedy or outrageously embarrassing relatives. Because they’ve already done it all.

Another great example in mainstream fiction is Veronica Roth’s Divergent series. Four and Tris have very realistic insecurities that affect their relationship, yet they’re mesmerizing together. They fight, they doubt, and they fear, but above all, they make the decision to stay together. The third book, Allegiant, contains the most romantic line I’ve ever read, spoken by main character Tris:

“I fell in love with him. But I don't just stay with him by default as if there's no one else available to me. I stay with him because I choose to, every day that I wake up, every day that we fight or lie to each other or disappoint each other. I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me.” 

Doesn’t that just make you go, “Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww”? Wouldn’t it be fabulous if a love like this was not so rare, even in fiction?

It’s a little outside the box. It’s a little unique. It’s a little scary. 

But it’s a lot of fun.

P.S. To all Castle fans, after writing this I discovered that there IS a book version. J J J

Jessica Everingham is a 23 year-old Australian who writes about God and love, and often combines the two. Her novel-in-progress, Hating Jeremy Walters, is a prime example.

Check out a sneak peek of her book through her website, jessicaeveringham.com, or connect with with Jess on Facebook, (www.facebook.com/jessicaeveringhamwriting) and Twitter (@JessEveringham). 

Going or Staying?

Jesus commands us to go,

It should be the exception if we stay.

It's no wonder we're moving so slow,

When God's children refuse to obey,

Feeling so called to stay.

 

I was reminded of this song by Keith Green last weekend and it's got me thinking all week. Jesus, after completing his mission on the cross and just before ascending to heaven, left us with some instructions. "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." [Mark 16:15 NIV]

 

Somehow, I think as writers, and certainly the more introverted types of us, we can use our written words as our 'going.' We send our words out into the world, bathed in prayer, and believe they will make an impact on people. And sure, all of that is valid.

 

But I am thinking that it could become an excuse not to go out and mix with people face to face, at all. We can hide behind our computers and say 'I'm doing my bit,' and maybe we are, but is it enough?

 

 

 

God is a God of relationship. He calls us to love our neighbour, to look after the needy, and to share His love. Can we, realistically, do that from our computer screens? Communiction is after all, a lot more than words. But for a shy introvert, relating to others can take a massive effort, it goes against what we naturally lean toward.

 

I'm not here to tell you that you should be all travelling to the mission fields, or that you're not good enough.  What I am offering is a gentle challenge, to myself as well, to search ourselves and get out there in the community and build relationships with people who don't know the Lord, not just rely on our printed words.

 

Wishing you a blessed Easter. XXOO

---

Amanda Deed resides in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne where she fills her time with work, raising a family, church activities and writing historical romance novels. Her new novel, Henry's Run, is due for release on the 1st of April, 2013. For more information, see:
http://www.amandadeed.com.au/
http://amanderings.wordpress.com/

For the love of letters.

Those of you who know me, or who have been following the random comments that make up my Penny Drops, will know I am a sucker for snail mail. I love the postman, anticipate the parcel lady’s arrival and drool over note-cards and paper sets in my favourite store. I’ve even found a blog/store called the Letter Writers’ Alliance and am wondering if Australia Post would be able to handle their Pigeon Post option. I love it!

But seriously, letter writing – that ancient art of pen and paper in a literal envelope, decorated by a stamp and carried by a number of vehicles over a period of days or weeks to its destination – is the very essence of what it means to write. Writers write to be read; one person to another. And this is exactly what letter writing is: raw, relationship driven communication.

Some people may draft their letters to friends. I don’t. And here is an interesting fact I learned recently: a letter’s copyright belongs not to the writer but the recipient. This highlights the trust implicit in letter writing, a trust not so present in the world of social media.

Despite the many relational opportunities offered by email, facebook, twitter or texting, there is something about the act of writing by hand that makes a letter more of a gift than plain communication. Perhaps it is the slowness of it for those accustomed to high speed typing, or the thoughtful recipient driven approach to word formation. When I write a letter, the person I am writing to is in my thoughts from the moment I write (okay, scrawl) Dear... to the time I drop the letter in the post box and count the days till the letter may be received. Perhaps I approach the process slightly religiously, but this is the luxury of friendship at snail mail pace.

And it’s this same thought and time that allows the letter to be a powerful tool for approaching politicians. Emails just don’t carry the weight that a physical letter does. One initiative our family has been involved with is the Micah Challenge Offering of Letters. It is a beautiful thing to read the letters written by my children asking their nation's leaders to make decisions considering the poor.

Historically speaking, the letter has always been used to carry important messages. The majority of the Bible’s New Testament was written as a letter. Its personal form is perfectly suited to carrying the enormous, life changing news about Jesus as seen and experienced in the writers’ lives. I’ll admit my letters are not divinely inspired as those in the Bible are, but they do give me the opportunity to share my faith and encourage those I love.

Letter writing also reminds me (as one who considers herself a writer by vocation) that I don’t just write for myself, for publication, for approval, for blog comments or facebook likes. I can and will put pen to paper just for one person.

And, if I ever needed more justification than that, I’ve always got a Jane Austen quote to back me up: “A person who can write a long letter with ease, cannot write ill” (Jane Austen via Miss Bingley in pride and Prejudice. )

So, fellow writers, share a story about a letter that meant a lot to you. But here’s the catch; you are not allowed to comment until you write a piece of snail mail first. Happy letter writing!

Penny Reeve is a children’s author currently living with her family in Western Sydney. This week she hopes to weed the front garden, read something other than the big truck book to her toddler and write a decent letter to an overseas friend!