A Bag of Goodies!

 by Anusha Atukorala

In Jan 2019, I flew to Sri Lanka for a family reunion. My Mum was a well known journalist for almost 70 years, so we put together a book that comprised some her articles. We her seven children came from the corners of the globe to celebrate Mum’s life and work at her book launch. It was precious time, filled with love and laughter, family and friends, food and fellowship.

 

Before I returned home to Australia, my sister Sal gave me a generous gift—a voucher from a clothing store. The blouses and skirts in the shop didn’t catch my eye, but I did find something I loved—a spacious canvas bag! The eloquent black and white pattern on it called out to me like a kookaburra’s laugh and the bag fit snugly on my shoulder. I knew I’d find good use for it back home. However, as the months rolled on, I found I didn’t have much reason to reach for it. The thing is, that I had numerous other handbags that were more useful because they, unlike this one, contained numerous separate sections that helped carry the innumerable small items I usually take with me. Did I choose the wrong gift, I wondered!

 

Last year, when winter’s icy chill had waned, when birds began to twitter and colour-splashed flowers danced in the light of day, God wooed me to my backyard. I have been spending hours there with Him every day, enjoying the beauty and solitude. I use an interesting assortment of items for my Quiet Time—a folder containing worship songs, one with lyrics of songs I’ve composed while a third is crammed with spiritual tools that nurture my walk with God—prayers, pictures, reminders, blessings.

 

And of course I take my well-worn bible, a notebook and pen, my reading glasses, sunglasses and even my phone, in case I need to take pictures. I’ve a few tissues for when tears drench my blouse—as they often do in God’s presence. I take a book I’ve created, crammed with evidence of God’s love for me and thoughts I reflect on daily. There’s a book on prayer by Richard Foster and another on healing by Agnes Sandford, both which have been a help in my journey with God this past year.

 

One day, as I collected my Quiet Time Treasures to take to my garden, I dropped my packet of tissues and my reading glasses. Clumsy me! Like a feather falling from a bird in flight, an idea dropped into my mind then … soft and sure. I went to my bedroom at once and found my new but unused bag. I placed my folders, Bible, pen, tissues, books, folders, phone, notebook, sunglasses and reading glasses inside it, slung it on my shoulder and with a steaming cup of English breakfast tea in hand, went out to my favourite spot in our backyard. Why hadn’t I thought of it before?

 

I had a bag of Treasures and oh how it enhanced my morning routine! No dropping items on the way anymore! Since then, I’ve kept my bag filled—I don’t waste time any more, gathering my belongings each morning for my time with the King of kings and Lord of lords.

 

Did you know that you also have a bag of goodies which you can dip into daily, on order to enhance your life as a Christian writer? Let me warn you though. There could be unfortunate scraps inside our bags which should not be in there. Things like …

Procrastination.

Negative thinking.

Self-put-downs.

Comparison.

Rejection.

Past mistakes … and more. Lots more.

They get in the way of doing God’s work, so let’s discard them.

 

Here are some of what you might need in your Writer’s bag of Treasures:

1.     Jesus

2.     God’s love

3.     Your calling

4.     The Holy Spirit

5.     Books on writing

6.     An uncluttered self

7.     Faith, hope and love

8.     The Word planted in you

9.     Writing ability. Writing ideas

10.  Christian  Writers Downunder

11.  Life lessons learnt from the past

12.  Family. An anchor and a catalyst

13.  Friends. To help us on our journey  

14.  Courage to write. Clarity of thinking

15.  Perseverance. Hope. Wisdom. Knowledge.

16.  Good books that teach us as we enjoy them

17.  Writer friends who walk the journey with us

18.  God’s forgiveness and mercy for past failures

19.  2020. A year with many experiences to write about

20.  The realisation that you have something important to share

You are rich in the things that matter. Did you know that? Which of these have eluded you of late? Which of them you do need to put back into your bag before you go out to your writing space today?

 Let’s walk together into the rest of 2021 with a song in our hearts.

Jesus has called you. He has called me. He has called us.

Let’s join hands and change the world, one word at a time.

We have our bag of treasures. We have Jesus. We have each other.

What more do we need?

  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 second

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' and was released in March

 2020 and comprises of more God stories to bring connection

 and hope as we share the journey of life together during

 Covid's challenging season.

 

Do stop by at her two websites to say G'day! She'd love to see you.

 Dancing in the Rain 

Light in the Darkness

Dancing in the Rain: https://www.booktopia.com.au/dancing-in-the-rain-anusha-atukorala/book/9781925380118.html

Sharing the Journey: https://www.booktopia.com.au/sharing-the-journey-anusha-atukorala/book/9780648713869.html

 

Writing with Passion - Jo Wanmer

It’s a good idea to give yourself time to think.” 

F T Heywood 1966.

Old writings hold much wisdom. The above quote is stored in my memorabilia under the heading of ‘Quotable Quotes from the Letters of a Great Man’. A great man in my eyes, for he was my father and his letters became treasure after he died.  At the time I attended Rockhampton Girls Grammar as a boarder, enabling me to complete years 11 and 12. My mother wrote to me twice a week without fail. Everyone's letters were distributed after our evening meal. They were our only contact with our parents. A black  phone languished on the wall in the entry but we girls never dreamt of touching it. Letters were our connection and daily highlight.

My dad on the other hand only wrote occasionally. His short letters were eagerly awaited, even if his spider scrawl was hard to read.  He died half way through year 12….and the letters stopped. The few I still had I kept for about forty years, and then I reduced them to a few quotes.

Mum’s letters detailed her daily life. Dad’s letters taught me how to live my life.

“If you have 40 men in a hut you have to be extra careful with money and other easily stolen things. But you can usually narrow the field down in a few weeks and in due course you know who it is.”

I can’t remember what I wrote to elicit this response but he used the occasion to teach me.  As I recalled his writings after his death, I realized he was trying to prepare me. Did he know his time was limited?

The other author I honor today diid know his time was limited. He wrote with passion to his ‘family’, teaching and exhorting them, cajoling and rebuking them, loving them and discipling them.

But he didn’t write as I do from the comfort of an airconditioned room, office chair and keyboard. Or as my dad wrote from his messy office desk shoved in a tiny room, using the few minutes he could find in his busy life as a pastoralist and farmer.

Paul wrote from prison, shackled in chains. The only contact he had from his beloved people was by messengers bringing reports and letters. His eye sight was so bad that when he wrote in his own hand the letters were huge. He relied on a scribe. I’ve often tried to imagine what drove a man, who had lost his freedom, to write passionately about freedom that's available to everyone. How did he keep his mind on things above when chains and mud shackled his feet? ( image from adobe.com)

He dictated and his scribe wrote one copy. Paul didn’t safely file the original and send a copy. He sent the only copy and told his family to share his letters around. The first group couldn’t photocopy it so they either released it or someone sat down and copied it, maybe once, maybe twice. Somehow, nearly two thousand years later, there are millions of copies of those letters. they are important to our faith to this day. 

Why did Paul persevere under such heavy difficulty? Did he know his letter would be read for centuries? I don’t think so, but still he was used by God in an impossible situation to write words that minister to me today. What inspired him to rise above his circumstances and write?

Some say he was instructed by the Holy Spirit and I’m sure that's correct. But how did that instruction happen? Was it a still small voice in the middle of the prison clamour? A Dream? An angelic visitation? I don't think so. 

His writings make it clear he was a man like you and I. Often he was led by circumstances. In this case, he was bodily confined but his spirit was fired by his passion. The same fire that drove him to persecute early Christians, now drove him to call Christians to higher heights. The anger that killed Jesus' followers was now being used to destroy the religious spirit that wanted to remain, mixing and perverting the new way. A man that writes, ‘I wish you’d go all the way and castrate yourselves!’ is still a passionate man of zeal.

Passion.

I devoured my Dad’s letters for the same reason. He was a quiet man but passionate about pushing me to my best. I have just finished reading Pauls letters again for the same reason. This author calls me ever higher. His passion is contagious.

And I suddenly realise that passion for my message pushed my first book to publication standard and into print. I wanted the world to know what God did for me. It also explains why my other books languish, waiting. The passion isn’t strong enough to push me past the obstacles of publication. Or is it a fear of judgement of beliefs I hold passionately?

In a few blogs in the last weeks, some of our writers talk of the struggle to write this year - even though in a way we, like Paul, have been confined. Maybe we are in the hush before the storm, the rest before the race, the preparation before production? I believe God is working in each of our lives and He will bring forth a flurry of words in His time.

What about you? What makes you write and persist until the words are good enough to engage and delight a reader? What pushes you past the endless obstacles to get a book in print?

 

       Jo and Steve Wanmer live just north of Brisbane where they do   business, ministry and life together. They share their home with          Barclay, a lively toy poodle, who demands much love and many   walks.  Jo's award winning book, Though the Bud be Bruised, was published six years ago. Other manuscripts are either in rough draft, edited draft, on scraps of paper or in her head. It has been a quieter year for her, as for many - a time to reflect as she enters her seventh decade.

                                                       

Treasure in Unlikely Places

How thankful I am for my grocery deliveries—they have changed my life. In days past, I’d spend a few hours at a shopping centre on Monday, then spend the rest of the week recovering. But now—my online shopping is only a few simple computer clicks, and my ever-flagging energy levels remain topped up. Perfect! One cold wet Monday recently, I opened my front door to a lean, lanky young man. “Come in” I said with a smile. He walked inside, his arms laden with shopping bags.

As he strode past my bookcase, he turned, glancing at its contents with hungry eyes.

“What an interesting house!” He placed the shopping on my kitchen bench top.

“Could I have a look at your books?”

“Sure”

It was the first time a delivery man had been fascinated by my books. Come to think of it, it was the first time anyone had looked so rapt at the sight of my precious bookcase, containing my writerly world. He pulled out a couple of books and read their blurbs in deep concentration. Yes, he was a reader. I asked him what he’d been reading lately. His answer surprised me—he’d  been reading Buddhist teachings.

“So you’re interested in spirituality?”

He nodded.

“That’s great!” I felt the tug of the Holy Spirit in my heart. Give him one of your books Anusha. I ran inside and brought a copy of ‘Enjoying the Journey’. Jake (let’s call him ‘Jake’) took it, surprised and grateful. After he left, I prayed fervently for Jake. Strangely enough, just before he’d  arrived, I’d been mulling over the fact that some Christians might share Jesus with their delivery men, sure I wasn’t one of them. But here was a God-breathed opportunity. I prayed that this lovely young man would return so we could have a God conversation. I prayed that he would read my book. I prayed he would and seek and find the Light of the world.

Sometimes we find treasure in unexpected places, don’t we? If I didn’t suffer from chronic illness, I would not have needed Jake to deliver my groceries—and he, a seeker would not have got a copy of a Christian book in his hands.

What are the treasures we Christian writers discover in unexpected places?

Here are a few possibilities:

1.      Did something unpleasant happen to you this year? You've got some interesting writing material!

2.      Did a relationship break down?  Perhaps your new knowledge could be used to enhance your fictional characters?

3.      Did you face a rejection in your writing? You may have learnt to better your craft?

4.      Has your health failed you this year? Could it lead to more times of reading… which would in turn fuel your writing?

5.      Did the Enemy whisper negative words to you? Aha—perhaps he knows you are a writer to be reckoned with? Keep writing

6.      Did life throw curve balls at you? Perhaps it’s made you grow into a more mature writer?

7.      Has finding sufficient time to write been a challenge? Perhaps it’s time to order your life anew? Maybe it's time to discover a different set of priorities for this present season?

8.      Have there been more failures than successes in your writing journey? You know what they say … it can only get better from here!

9.      Do you feel a failure? The perfect soil for a writer's tree to flourish are roots of deep humility. So put on your on writerly gloves and keep gardening.

10. Has your walk with God been on shaky ground? It just might be an invitation from God Himself, to seek Him all over again? Who knows where that would lead.

You and I know too well how hard the battle. Writing is not for the fainthearted; that’s for sure. Rarely has either my life or my writing life gone according to plan. But you know what? God’s used those hard times to help me dig out riches—like a deep pit which yields its sparkling gems, glimmering under the sun, but mined with difficulty, through blood, sweat and tears.

·               Let's throw off the discouragement that often clings to our writerly dreams. Let's embrace our calling and ask God to lead us. Let our hearts, lives and our pens create pages of beauty, truth and goodness, words which will make a difference to our world and resound to His glory.  

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 find 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. Please stop by at her website to say G’day to her. She’d love to see you there. Dancing in the Rain. Her first book "Enjoying the Journey" is a collection of little God stories that will bring you closer to your Creator. 

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Searching for Treasure

I dig around – it must be in here somewhere. I’m sure it’s here…

I keep searching – going deeper – getting to the bottom and finding fluff and broken bits and things that haven’t seen the light of day for a while.

I strain my eyes – sometimes when looking for something, my eyes pass right over it. I’m sure you’ve done the same. So I look at each item and name it, just so I can’t miss what I’m looking for.

There’s a lot of stuff in here: treasures, junk, forgotten things, insights, incomplete thoughts, words from other people, words that belong to other people, half-started piece of writing…

Surely amidst all the experiences of my life, I can find something to write about. I have friends for whom there simply are not enough hours in the day to get it all on paper. But I rarely write like that. I have to discipline myself to stop and listen; to chew over experiences and insights; and to listen to what God is asking me to put on paper. It’s all too easy not to be a writer! I even struggle with calling myself a writer – more than 20 short pieces and a booklet in print and I hesitate with the epithet ‘author’. An author? Are you sure? I don’t write much really. In fact not at all sometimes.

And I realize, I’m letting my thoughts undermine my ‘work’ as a writer. And that leaves me wide open to the enemy undermining who I am and who I can become: ‘A testimony? You? With your safe little life? Ha, ha, you’re so ordinary.’
I’ve started two new jobs recently – it’s pretty busy. There’s not a lot of time to write, (or market my booklet!), and I’ve been wondering how to go about meeting my writing commitments. However, my new jobs provide me with plenty of driving time, mostly alone, and I try to discipline my mind to prayer and meditating on Bible verses.

I think over books I read last year – books that talk about who we are and who we can become with the power of God in our lives. Our application of faith to our lives is often so small – we see our lives empowered within the context of who we are and what we do with each day. Our Heavenly Father sees our lives empowered by His Spirit within the context of the world with all the resources of Heaven at our disposal.

So I refute the arguments that try to destroy my identity and my inheritance.
I have the Spirit of the Living God dwelling in me
I have all the resources of Heaven at my disposal and for the glory of God
I am being changed into the perfect image of Christ
I have a strong testimony about the work of God in me and in my life
And there is a whole world out there needing to hear about the saving grace, goodness and love of God through the written word

I am…a writer.