Write His Answer

It’s true! An elk really did fall on my head. He lost two legs and his left antler.  And me?  I could have lost my eye if he had fallen just an inch or two lower on my head. Instead Rob Cook’s son had the opportunity to play doctor and use an ace bandage to hold a bag of ice on my head. And my husband has had to look at the growing black and blue mark on my forehead and around my eye this past week.

How did it happen? The same as so many events in our lives.  It was not something I saw coming. It was an accident. I sat down in a dining room chair and shoved it back against my hutch where Mr. Elk had safely resided out of the reach of my grandkids for the past 3-1/2 years. The hutch moved and he fell – onto my head. 

Father, thank You that I was not seriously injured. Thank You that he did not fall on Cindy Watkins and Margie Vawter who spent a lot of time in that same chair pre and post conference. And thank You that my laptop was not on the table when it happened.

It would be all too easy to view this as a conference battle scar and to allow the evil one to steal my joy. But I am choosing to “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you [for me] in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess. 5:16-18 NIV).

Directing the conference(s) has not gotten any easier through 30 years of ministry, but the joys have certainly multiplied beyond what I could have ever asked or expected in the beginning (Eph. 3:20).

What about you and your ministry of written words and spoken words as Yolanda Powell reminded us in her powerful keynote at GPCWC? Do you view rejection as an “injury,” or do you choose to “keep your eyes on Jesus” realizing that He never promised it would be easy to serve Him? Do you learn from your experiences submitting your work to editors or, ideally, first to your critique group? Are you teachable and willing to rewrite your manuscript until it is the best it can be? Or will you keep making the same mistakes because you refuse to listen to advice?  Hopefully my husband can repair my elk, but I’ve learned my lesson. Mr. Elk is never again going to sit up high where he can fall on me or anyone else.

As you continue on your journey to publication, I want to encourage you to check out the Write His Answer bookstore and to order CDs from both the Colorado and Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference. The entire Greater Philly conference (over 100 hours of workshops, continuing classes, keynotes, and panels) are available as MP3 files on two DVDs for only $159, postage paid.

If you live in New England, I want to encourage you to come to the “Write His Answer” Seminar I’ll be teaching in Cheshire, CT, September 27-28.

Most of all I want to encourage you to keep on “writing His answer” for men and women, boys and girls who need to know Him.