The Real World

Red Eye flights can mess with you! The fact that I'm still feeling sleepy is my fault I know. I wanted to make the most of being at the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference so I stayed up late, got up early, and never took naps (though it was tempting!)

One day I may look back at this particular conference and say that it changed everything. Since I tend towards the dramatic, I suppose I appreciate it when God does something amazing.

I doubt many would be interested in the whole story - which begins with humiliation and ends with a generous dose of favor - but let me assure you that it was the kind of thing only God could do. Lots of things could still happen and it may not work out as I hope - that's always possible. But I feel like the money, the time, the sacrifice of going - it was all worth it no matter what happens.

It's also hard to come back to the real world after being in a place you can have long discussions about character conflict and being a career author. I'm finding it difficult to coax up the motivation to clean my house (the clutter apparently took over while I was gone). I feel like I need a few days to simply think - decompress -pray - praise.

Along with everything else, I learned two important things about myself.

1 - I need to interact with writers occasionally. Other than my husband, no one in my every day life understands what I do or the unique pressures that being a writer brings. It helped so much to be around others who are in the "limbo stage" of being without a contract. It was wonderful to know that I wasn't the only one who was uncertain about where God was leading me.

2 - I pack entirely too much junk! Granted, I didn't know whether it would be warm or cold. But I brought twice as much as I needed. Next time I go I'm going to have to figure that out because it was no fun dragging two suitcases straight up a hill and then carrying them down a trail that wasn't made for suitcases. There is such a thing as being overprepared.

I pray that as we celebrate this Easter weekend that we will remember the sacrfice of Christ. Back when I first saw "The Passion of the Christ" (which BTW I haven't been able to watch again), the thought that stuck with me was that He could have stopped it all at any moment. But He chose not to. He chose to sacrifice everything - for us. Blessings to you all this Holy Easter.