Little Seeds, Big Clouds and a Clock About to Strike

Habits. Good habits. Bad habits. You need discipline to create good habits and discipline to destroy bad habits. 

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash

Discipline. How do you get it? Some people seem to be born with it. Others struggle to maintain it. And still others don’t much care one way or the other. Me?  It depends on the situation. Sometimes, I really just want to see if I can achieve a goal and discipline comes naturally. Other times, I just can’t seem to create that same sense of excitement and my discipline has heads for the hills on a long vacation. 

At the beginning of this year, January 1st to be exact, I decided to do a challenge. A 75 Day Challenge. 

THE 75 DAY CHALLENGE 

Morning Cardio workout

Afternoon strength workout 

Eat 850 calories

Drink 4 litres of water

Read 10 pages of a non fiction book

Every. Day. For a total of 75 days. 

Now I know what you’re thinking. ‘Are you insane?!’ Yes. Well, probably. But all the best people are, aren’t they?

When I heard about the challenge, at first I thought, ‘HA! Yeah right. I wouldn’t last a week!’ I’ve been suffering from a sore lower back for a good year now and thought I’d maybe get through the first three days before pulling my back out again. Then I’d be in bed for a week and back to the Physio. But what if I focused on exercises that didn’t use my back and supported it as much as possible? Was I really going to let my fear of failing and getting hurt get the better of me?

My fear. How many times has it beat me down? It doesn’t feel like that at the time, does it? It keeps me safe. I mean, I don’t want to get hurt and I don’t want to fail.  But what if I succeed, then what do I do? It’s the unknown that my fear keeps me safe from. It’s nice. It’s comforting, but all those big ideas, all the story outlines I jot down for when I have time to come back to them … they just wait. They gather dust. So what my fear has done, is kept me stationary. Never growing, never evolving into something more than what I am. 

So, what’s the point?

I sat down with a lovely couple about a month ago and we were discussing the current issues - the pandemic, emergency mandates, talks of war. We moved to Revelation and how everything looked pretty grim. They said they believed we had maybe another ten years left before the Rapture.

‘Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you correctly. Did you say ten years?’

I hadn’t misheard. Now, don’t get me wrong. No one knows when it’ll happen, but just think about it for a moment. Ten years. That’s all you have left. One hundred and twenty months. Five hundred and twenty weeks. Three thousand, six hundred and fifty days. Eighty seven thousand, six hundred hours. And so on, and so on. But you get it. Ten years left of your life.

Photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash

I don’t know about you, but should I even be bothering to do a Bachelor Degree that will take me six years to complete part time? And all those story ideas I have, do I just give up on them? It has taken me over a decade to write the story for one of my ideas, what do I do with the other thirty two I have outlined on my computer? All the other things I wanted to do, wanted to see … I don’t know, but ten years doesn’t seem like enough time, especially when procrastination and anxiety are such good friends of mine.

I just don’t know … but then again, I think I do.

It starts with a little seed.

Without a little water, a little dirt, a bit of sunshine, little seeds won’t grow. But if you put in a little effort and don’t mind getting your hands dirty, that seed will sprout roots and habits will grow. 

First things first. Show up. Nothing ever gets done if you don’t first begin. This builds habits. Things you can improve upon. You cannot improve if you don’t have a foundation.

Those big clouds you see in the sky above you. The ones you’ve imagined into dragons and castles and mushroom houses; they are your spark. They are the reason you want to write their stories. Don’t let fear stop you. Don’t let your doubts get the better of you. They are your past, not your present you. You woke up this morning as a blank canvas. Don’t let the negativity of yesterday paint the opportunities of today.

Today is day zero of my 75 Day Challenge. For the most part, I accomplished a lot. I will admit, the ten pages became a little too overwhelming - exhaustion and a heavy non fiction book do not mix well - and I didn’t continue with this aspect of the challenge. But I’ve now built up a few good habits and who knows what the next seventy five days bring. Even if the clock is about to chime - today, tomorrow, one year form now, ten years, twenty … I have an opportunity to learn more, see more, do more and it doesn’t matter how much I accomplish,  as long as I show up in the moments that matter and know God has everything in control.

Kirsten Hart (aka A.T. Richmond) is a born and bred Territorian who moved to Queensland and had no choice but to stay after her assimilation into the Toowoomba's infamous, collective known as Quirky Quills. Since then, A.T. Richmond has had two stories published. Stone Bearer, appears in Glimpses of Light and Tedious Tresses, in the As Time Goes By Mixed Blessings anthology. She is currently writing a fantasy trilogy.

Magnify the Creator

Number 10 book has arrived! It is always exciting to receive the long awaited box of books, whether it’s the first novel or the tenth. I’m definitely planning to celebrate, and am grateful to my readers, publisher and editors, as well as to my ancestors and the historians who have recorded so much interesting and important Australian history, all of whom have been crucial to my writing.

However, I’ve been reminded recently in my quiet time, that the greatest glory must always go to God. 

Max Lucardo puts this so well:

“God endows us with gifts so we can make Him known. Period. God endues the Olympian with speed, the salesman with savvy, the surgeon with skill. Why? For gold medals, closed sales, or healed bodies? Only partially. The big answer is to make a big to-do out of God. Brandish Him. Herald Him. “Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others. Be good servants of God’s various gifts of grace … so that in everything God will be praised through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 4:10-11). Live so that power and glory belong to Him forever and ever. Exhibit God with your uniqueness. When you magnify your Maker with your strengths, when your contribution enriches God’s reputation, your days grow suddenly sweet. (From Cure for the Common Life).

So, as sweet as it is to see the finished product after months of writing and all that goes into a published book, the sweetest thing of all is to trust that in this story and all my others, I have in some way magnified my Creator, the One who enables and inspires me to write. I pray there has been a character, a phrase, an event, a choice, that has turned my readers’ minds to God. Have I heralded 

Him, brandished Him? Does my story magnify God, enrich His reputation? This is my greatest hope and my deepest joy.

This has been a timely reminder as my mind turns to further writing. If there’s to be another novel, then I want to ponder not only the plot, the personality of the main characters, the intrigue I might devise, the romance I can develop, the suspense I could create, or the perfect ending. I want to think very carefully and prayerfully about the character I will weave into my story, who is the Father figure, the Godly figure, the disciple figure; the one who points the way to God, whose choices are based on faith in God, whose life is guided by God’s spirit. However subtle or overt this is, it needs to be present, like yeast in bread, like a seed planted which will bring forth fruit in the right season.

I think I’m describing a parable. Do we use our gift as writers to create parables? Should we? Jesus’s parables were so clever. The message was often hidden from the hearer, at least for a time. It took a searching heart, He said, to understand the real meaning. When the time was right for the hearer, their spiritual eyes would be open to the truth contained in the stories He told. And yet for those who were ready, the message was clear, cutting, life changing.

I want any future stories I write to be such parables.  The prospect excites me.

So after the celebration of Beyond the Fight, I hope I can look forward to more sweet days where I can give glory to the One who enables me to serve Him, where I can magnify my Creator, enrich His reputation in whatever aspect of my life He calls me to do so.

May your days also be sweeter for the same reason.

It does not belong to us, Lord. The glory belongs to you because of your love and loyalty.            Psalm 115:1

Carol

Carol writes historical novels based on her family ancestry in Australia from the First Fleet. They include the Turning the Tide series; Mary’s Guardian, Charlotte’s Angel, Tangled Secrets and Truly Free. Her earlier novels Suzannah’s Gold and Rebecca’s Dream have been re-released by EBP. Next of Kin, was released last year by Rhiza Press and her latest novel, Beyond the Fight, has just been released. You can see more about Carol and her novels on her website, her Amazon author page or FB author page .

www.carolpreston.com.au

www.amazon.com/author/carolpreston

www.facebook.com/writingtoreach

Who plants the seed?

   At this stage of history Mary must have been feeling pretty uncomfortable.  She was nine months pregnant, or near enough. It was likely summer and she had to travel to Bethlehem. The destination was about 130 kilometres from Nazareth. If she wasn't already on the donkey, she would have been preparing for the trip. How do you prepare to spend five or six days on the back of a donkey when 'heavy with child'?
   Who could blame her if she now questioned her ready obedience to obey the angelic request. Not to mention God's timing. If He planned this child, couldn't he have organised it a little better so it didn't coincide with a census?
   However, she had replied to the angel, 'Be it to me as you have said.' So I'm sure she pushed ahead with little complaint.
   Producing a book has been likened to have a baby. It starts with a seed of an idea which quickly multiplies, grows and develops. There is the realisation that we have a book in the womb. We develop characters, themes, word pictures, plots, emotions. As each week passes, the concept develops. Details become clearer. Images are refined. Pushing ahead, we work hard, ignoring the cost and discomfort until we are ready to bring forth our literary masterpiece.
   And like babies, books are born everyday. But occasionally one, like Jesus, rises out of the crowd. There is something different about it. People start talking, maybe arguing and criticising. 
   Do you, like me long to have your writing noticed? Would you like your book to engender passionate discussion on Twitter causing everyone to talk about it. Of course, we would have to accept some low rankings and scathing reviews on Amazon. Maybe we would even have to field inflammatory emails. Would it be worth it?
   Take, for example, The Shack. It has 4,801 reviews on Amazon. One of them begins this way. 'A poorly written, philosophically bankrupt, theologically challenged airport novel.' Ouch! Some love the book. Others hate it. But millions have read it and, in the process, their thinking about God has been reignited.
   What made Jesus stand out of the crowd? It was all because of his Father! He was the Son of God, born for a purpose. 
  This raises a question. If we are the mother of our books, who is the Father? Who plants the seed in the womb of our thinking, that begins the creative process? Do we accept any old seed or are we more discerning? 
   Is there a possibility that God is looking for a womb where he can safely deposit a seed that will produce writings carrying his DNA. I believe our Father has fresh concepts to plant within us. He wants some of us to bring forth ideas previously unheard of. Some of these ideas will engender gossip and will be misunderstood. They will be radical and emotive. These books won't satisfy the established religious system, but will reflect the True God and His character. They will travel far beyond the Christian book market.
   Only the discerning recognised baby Jesus as God's son. Most passed Him off as Mary's illegitimate kid. They liked Him but didn't recognise who he was. 
   Some of you have written such books, seemingly passed off as unsuccessful. Maybe it is a case of timing. Or maybe, like John the Baptist, they are making way for the book that God is yet to deposit within you.
   Lets open our creativity to our amazing God. As we go into a new year, let us say with Mary,  'I am the Lord's servant. Let it be to me as you have said.'
   Lord, as you move across this Great Southland of the Holy Spirit, use us to spread your message of love and hope.' 


Jo Wanmer, lives in Brisbane with her patient husband, Steve. She is the author of 'Though the Bud be Bruised', and is nurturing the embryo of her next book deep within her mind.