From Deserts to Green Pastures

I recently celebrated my 41^st birthday, and as I reflect over a year that began with me stumbling into a writer’s desert, it looks like I might finish it out emerging onto fertile grasses. All glory to God, who never left my side through the dry and barren wasteland.

Here are some of the things I’ve learned…and pray I don’t forget anytime soon:

1. God loves me. Even when (especially when) I throw an adult tantrum and tell Him I hate Him.
2. While I’m quick to thank God when something good happens in my life, I shouldn’t be as quick to blame Him when something bad happens. At times, it’s just Life…and at other times, the devil’s trying to thwart the greater good God is working on in the background.
3. Just because something is difficult for me doesn’t mean God doesn’t want me to pursue it. Specifically, just because it takes me more effort and time to finish a manuscript than another writer doesn’t mean I’m on the wrong path. Just because my head doesn’t swim with as many story ideas as other writers doesn’t mean I’m not a writer.
4. No matter how many more books I write, no matter how Tinsel does, I’m a success simply because I fought against myself (and the devil) and won. Despite the depression and debilitating negative thinking, despite the dozens of rejections from agents and publishers, I slogged forward one step at a time and, with the Lord’s favor, I saw a childhood dream come true this fall with Tinsel’s release.
5. Thanks to Priscilla Shirer’s Discerning the Voice of God, it finally sank into my thick skull that the Lord will never speak to me in a condemning voice. Ever. Thus, if my head is drowning in words of condemnation, I now know they stem from either my negative self-talk or the devil—and I’m encouraged to ignore both.

As Christmas approaches and a new calendar year creeps into view on the horizon, I look forward to enjoying more green pastures and less sandy dunes in 2018. I anticipate more words on the page, as well as a spirit of patience and peace on those days when the page stays blank. I pray for more of Jesus and less of the world, and the ability to discern between the two. 🙂

Thank you to everyone who bought an ebook and/or print copy of Tinsel in a Tangle over the last two months. I found out a few days ago it’s now available in audio format through Amazon, so I’m passing along that information in case you’re one of those people who get more reading done when you’re listening to, rather than looking at, the words. 😉

Tinsel and Niklas, at long last adorned with shoes and coats to keep them warm this time of year, want to wish you a blessed, Merry Christmas and an amazing New Year. I’ll “see” you again in 2018!