My local library has authors come on a pretty regular basis and I have enjoyed the ones I attended. Initially I was going as a research project. If I could figure out what a good writer is like, maybe I could emulate that in my own life. It is amazing to sit in that library room with fellow book lovers around me listening to an amazing author talk. Yet, time and time again they express how hard it is to write and even harder to find someone who thinks you are a good author (even yourself). Some of them have known that they wanted write from an early age and others, like James Rollins, have pursued other careers for years before deciding to write. I am not sure why, but it surprised me that they all feel insecure about writing. That they doubted their own ability to do it well. These authors have sold millions of books all over the world and have made it onto the New York Times best seller list. So I guess I should just accept that insecurity and doubt are just part of the process. It is getting over those emotions and forcing yourself to write, edit, or whatever your current writing need is that makes a difference. There really is a wealth of knowledge from those who have paved the way before you and I have gained some insight on what a good writer does....they write, no matter what, even if they don't feel like it.
I am ashamed to say that I have been letting the doubt get the better of me. My life is busy and I have blamed my lack of writing on that, but in doing so I have not been very honest with myself. I have been avoiding it because it is hard to sit there and pick apart something you did (ie edit). To change and correct and possibly even take something out that you absolutely love because it does not help the story flow. Talk about having a reason for feeling insecure, going in to find faults and correct them is a doubt filled process. So that is where I am and why I must stop blogging about it and get back to it. Yep, I am once again still avoiding what I need to do to get better at writing. The actual book that is calling my name...."Dear Eva" hear I come. Someday you will see some excerpts from it.
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Those Moments
Every Thursday I have the privilege of attending a group called PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel). It is a group of military wives who get together for a weekly spiritual meeting and bible study. You may wonder why a mormon is attending a protestant meeting and you would not be the first. Honestly, I go because some friends go and I really felt like the Lord wanted me to. Also, mormon chaplains are considered protestant by the military.
Anyways, the bible study I am in is currently using the study guide One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I am a little behind on my reading because of physical therapy, but this morning the guide asked me to write down three moments of loss, pain, and struggle in my life. Then note how each one impacted my past and influenced my present. Now I was only able to write down two before being interrupted by my kids, but I feel like I need to share the first one and a children's story I wrote this summer. Before I do, think about those moments of hard times in your life and how the changed your past and present. Hopefully, you will find some positive changes from them. If not, stop and say a quiet prayer and ask the Lord to show you the good. He will, he always answers prayers like that.
When I was 17 and just 2 days from starting my Senior year of high school my family got into a car accident. We started out in Utah and were about half way back to Georgia when the accident occurred in Texas. Our family van hit a concrete pillar of a freeway overpass and rolled numerous times before landing upside down. Here we were in Shamrock, Texas with no one that we know anywhere close by and facing some of the most challenging days of our lives. My parents injuries were too extensive to be handled by the local hospital and so they transported the three of us kids and our parents by ambulance to Amarillo, Texas.
(This is our Van)
(My very meager injuries compared to the rest of us in the van.)
My older siblings had been notified of the accident and prayers were being sent up to heaven, but more than that a few phone calls were made. By the time my family finished our 2 hour drive back to Amarillo we had new friends waiting for us at the hospital. You see a local bishop had been called and had gotten some faithful priesthood members to go to the hospital and spend their Saturday morning giving blessings to a family that they had never met. Not only that, but a wonderful older couple took in three beat up teenage kids for the weekend that they had also never met. They fed us, cared for us, took my sister to get our stuff from the broken van, and made that hellish weekend a lot more bearable. So many angels seen and not seen were felt during this experience. Each was following Christ's example and serving us.
It was the beginning of a hard year for my entire family, but especially for my parents and sister. We are all forever changed by the experience. I know Heavenly Father allowed this to occur because of all the lessons we could learn. I know my church is an international church and I also know for a fact that help is literally just a phone call away. Don't believe me, try it out when you are most in need. Go to the website www.lds.org and find a local church building or number to wherever you are. Call them and you will see help come from some of the most amazing people.
It is a miracle that each and every one of us in that van survived and there were many miracles that happened during this time. My home ward (our local church we usually attended in Georgia) paid for all three of us kids to fly home and my parents followed shortly by medical transport. The influence of these wonderful people can be felt by me still when I think of the experience.
This and a lot of experiences I have had as a military wife led me to write a children's novel this summer. I submitted it to a church publisher and was rejected. Then I donated it to a church magazine and it was accepted. Someday it may be in print.
Anyways, the bible study I am in is currently using the study guide One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I am a little behind on my reading because of physical therapy, but this morning the guide asked me to write down three moments of loss, pain, and struggle in my life. Then note how each one impacted my past and influenced my present. Now I was only able to write down two before being interrupted by my kids, but I feel like I need to share the first one and a children's story I wrote this summer. Before I do, think about those moments of hard times in your life and how the changed your past and present. Hopefully, you will find some positive changes from them. If not, stop and say a quiet prayer and ask the Lord to show you the good. He will, he always answers prayers like that.
When I was 17 and just 2 days from starting my Senior year of high school my family got into a car accident. We started out in Utah and were about half way back to Georgia when the accident occurred in Texas. Our family van hit a concrete pillar of a freeway overpass and rolled numerous times before landing upside down. Here we were in Shamrock, Texas with no one that we know anywhere close by and facing some of the most challenging days of our lives. My parents injuries were too extensive to be handled by the local hospital and so they transported the three of us kids and our parents by ambulance to Amarillo, Texas.
(My very meager injuries compared to the rest of us in the van.)
My older siblings had been notified of the accident and prayers were being sent up to heaven, but more than that a few phone calls were made. By the time my family finished our 2 hour drive back to Amarillo we had new friends waiting for us at the hospital. You see a local bishop had been called and had gotten some faithful priesthood members to go to the hospital and spend their Saturday morning giving blessings to a family that they had never met. Not only that, but a wonderful older couple took in three beat up teenage kids for the weekend that they had also never met. They fed us, cared for us, took my sister to get our stuff from the broken van, and made that hellish weekend a lot more bearable. So many angels seen and not seen were felt during this experience. Each was following Christ's example and serving us.
It was the beginning of a hard year for my entire family, but especially for my parents and sister. We are all forever changed by the experience. I know Heavenly Father allowed this to occur because of all the lessons we could learn. I know my church is an international church and I also know for a fact that help is literally just a phone call away. Don't believe me, try it out when you are most in need. Go to the website www.lds.org and find a local church building or number to wherever you are. Call them and you will see help come from some of the most amazing people.
It is a miracle that each and every one of us in that van survived and there were many miracles that happened during this time. My home ward (our local church we usually attended in Georgia) paid for all three of us kids to fly home and my parents followed shortly by medical transport. The influence of these wonderful people can be felt by me still when I think of the experience.
This and a lot of experiences I have had as a military wife led me to write a children's novel this summer. I submitted it to a church publisher and was rejected. Then I donated it to a church magazine and it was accepted. Someday it may be in print.
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