Not Yet

"Those who read fast reap no more advantage than a bee would by only skimming over the surface of the flower, instead of waiting to penetrate into it, and extract its sweets."
~ Madame Jeanne Guyon ~

I'm going off a little on the quote this week, because instead of reaping advantage through "reading" I've been penetrating into God's goodness through "writing." Let me explain...

Through the writing of my last book, The Mom Complex, I was inspired by advice from Stephanie Fries who said, "Never be happy with a story until you are in love with every word of it." Stephanie spent countless hours going over the book word by word with me, tweaking each line, until it was just right.

This new book I'm writing is quite a departure from my usual humor writing. But with this book, I can't help but feel that the hand of God is moving my pen, opening doors, and guiding me to places unearthed. Until last week happened. I felt like I hit a brick wall. Still feeling the call upon my life to write this book, I felt discouraged that I was being turned in a different direction.

After explaining my frustrations to Stephanie, she wrote me this letter, and I knew that I wanted to share it this week:

Remember when I told you, that your writing shouldn't be done, until you are
in love with every word of it?

It's interesting to see, how much God has his hands in what you are doing.
It has inspired me in so many ways--to love myself more, to treat Luke
better and do those little things that make his day, to take better care of
myself, my house, my life. Its you--but it's God using your gift of writing,
your creativity, your talent--holding your pen as if it were a paintbrush on
a canvas, marking each word beautifully, with your colors, but with His
brushstroke. Your writing is such a blessing. Every time you call and ask to
read another chapter or paragraph to me, I'm excited because it's like
getting to watch the pages fill up right before my eyes. God's fingerprints
are all over the pages of your book, and just when you think you've got all
ideas in place, He stops you, and whispers softly, "Not yet my child... This
time, its not done until I'm in love with every word of it."

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Laurel Wreath is hosting "In 'Other' Words" today. Make sure you check out her post too!