Writing: Allowing Growth

When writing I will often have an idea of the character I want to write about. But a funny thing will happen...as I write that character will sometimes change. The more I learn about them and the more the story comes together a different character will emerge than I had originally intended.

The same can be said for plots and story-lines. You'll start with and idea of how it will all play out; but then as the story unfolds it all changes. You come to the proverbial fork in the road. Where depending on what you do, it could change the whole outcome of the story or end result.

Don't be afraid to allow your characters to grow. It's perfectly okay to go back and re-write a section that will make your writing so much better! It's also okay to take a chance and take a different route.

It can be a lot of work and challenging to keep everything lining up the way you want to see your story turn out. But remember, just as you will grow during your writing, you will also get to learn a lot about your characters or topic you're writing about.

When the plot changes or story-line shifts, be okay with it. Obviously it's changing for a reason and that could be because you're growing as your write your story.

Now there could be the time where the story has so many changes you have to sit back and determine what is really happening. What do you want to happen? And how can you make it happen?

Taking the time to evaluate can be a good thing and sometimes taking a break is all that is needed to get a clearer picture. Just don't take too long!

Remember, you are a writer and writers while they work hard are rewarded with wonderful adventures and the ability to share that with someone is priceless!

Rejoice And Again I Say Rejoice

There are many variables in life that make us wonder: does God know what he's doing? Does he actually have a plan? Or are we just moseying along hoping for the best?

There is a song, I'm sure many of you have heard of it, entitled: "Rejoice In The Lord" By: Ron and Shelly Hamilton. (If you haven't heard the song my mom, sister and I sing it on our CD.)

The words to the song are this:

God never moves without purpose or plan
When trying His servant and molding a man.
Give thanks to the LORD though your testing seems long;
In darkness He giveth a song.

I could not see through the shadows ahead;
So I looked at the cross of my Savior instead.
I bowed to the will of the Master that day;
Then peace came and tears fled away.

Now I can see testing comes from above;
God strengthens His children and purges in love.
My Father knows best, and I trust in His care;
Through purging more fruit I will bear.

O Rejoice in the LORD
He makes no mistake,
He knoweth the end of each path that I take,
For when I am tried
And purified,
I shall come forth as gold.

I often find myself challenged with believing that God is working in my life, especially when a challenge I am facing gets me down so far that I can't see any hope. Lately, my health has been acting up and giving me trouble.

I have dreams and goals that I want to do, but am hindered by these physical challenges. I talk to the Lord about them and I speak scriptures and healing into my body, but often I wonder: where is all this leading? 

Philippians 4:4- "Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice."

We'd sing that verse in Sunday school as a child, often those Sunday schools songs come back to me and I realize that they are much more important for us "adults" to sing than for children. Why? Because as adults we often forget the simple aspects related to our walk with the Lord.

It can be hard to rejoice when struggles come and all you can see is the struggle, but we can find hope in the knowledge that God is working- even when we can't see him working on our behalf!

God knows how our life will play out and we can trust in that. He will always bring us through the trial- we must just have the faith to believe and rejoice in the victory that will come!

Writing: Editing and Re-writes

One of the hardest parts for me of writing a book is the editing and re-writes. I don't mind it when I'm on a roll and have a clear idea of where I'm going, but when I know something needs to change and can't figure out what it is...then I'm stumped.

When that happens don't be afraid to ask for help! I will tell the truth...while I don't fear asking for help...I do sometime fear what will be said!

I will usually go to one of the following people:

1. My family: my mom thinks everything I do is amazing...so that can be good for morale, but not so good if I want to push myself. She is however, the best spellchecker and grammar queen I know! Now when I share my work with my sister, that's another story. She is the most critical, nit-pick every detail to a fault. This also has it's good and downside. The good is that she pushes me to do and be better with my writing. The downside....well, morale isn't usually good. I have to have super thick skin when I get thoughts from her. However, she has told me she thinks I'm a good writer, so she must think there is some good! And my brother, he doesn't care for spelling, grammar or the finer points, he just likes listening to me talk about my stories and that in itself helps me to iron out details I'm struggling with!
2. I will often post something on Writing.com. It's free to join and you can ask people to review your work. I just did this a few weeks ago with a chapter I was having trouble on. A few of the people didn't respond with a review, but one person did (remember all you need is one person to make a difference, so don't get discouraged if the results you seek aren't what you're looking for). That one person gave me just what I needed to get what I wanted, but for some reason had trouble getting.
3. http://nanowrimo.org/ They do a challenge every year in November: write a 60,000 word novel. I participated in it this this, but as I was moving my mom to FL and then had a over-due vacation (where I did nothing!) I was only able to accomplish 20,000 words before the end of the month. But they also have forms where you can submit some of your work for review. I have done this and received some help with the first 200 words of a chapter I did.
4. Close friends-this can be a great way to get reviews and ask them questions you may have, such as: "Was the book easily understood?" "Did it grab your attention?" "Did you catch any mistakes?" They may even be able to review your book on Amazon when you get it published! Which is something you would want as the more reviews you get the more people will be interested in reading your book! 

Those are just a few ways I use to help me with edits and re-writes. Getting opinions from others can be difficult to hear as they tear down something you've sweated and put your hard work into, but the best thing you can do is get tough skin and eat the meat and spit out the bones!

There is a fine line that must be traveled here. Editing and re-writing is and can be good, but don't overdue it. You may never reach that "perfection" you want to see. Be okay with that. Just do the best job you can do.

Years from now you may look back and see how you could have improved, but that would be a good thing! It means you'd have grown in your writing. And besides, what's the important thing? The important thing is that you are writing!

Keep up the great work!

A Follower

Follow me on:

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Blogger

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YouTube

Today we are inundated with so many requests to follow people. I have to admit that at times I have difficulty saying "No" to everything as some 'follow me' pleas catch my attention.

But are we so caught up in following people that we have forgotten the most important 'follow me' plea?

Seventeen times Jesus used the phrase "Follow Me". His command was given to those who eventually became his disciples, given to the rich man who wanted to know what more he should do to enter heaven, given to us:

"Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
Mark 8:34b

With the technology of today the temptation to get caught up in our daily social world on the web sometimes takes time away from the One we should be following. 

If we truly desire God to work in our life we must be a follower of him- just as we check our phones or computers every time it blings that there is a new notification- we should be just as hooked on Jesus.

This brings up another thought...do you have followers on your social media accounts? What do they see in you? Do they see that you are a follower of Christ? 

Or do you constantly complain about your life and circumstances? (I  understand the need to ask a prayer request or seek some support- I'm talking about those who every day must share everything that goes wrong....may I say, "Blah")

Do you post and share Godly pictures or are you sharing things that aren't Christlike? Or are you choosing to uplift your followers with good thoughts, words and pictures?

We are all followers of someone, just as in this day and age, we all have followers. We must always endeavor to use wisdom in whom we chose to follow and not lose sight of the most important One we should be following: our Saviour- Jesus.

Speaking of following....did you know you can follow me on twitter, Facebook, YouTube and of course this blog?

Follow Me: 

Twitter- @rebgres

Facebook- A Song of Deliverance

YouTube Channel- A Song of Deliverance

This blog- You can subscribe through the email link to receive updates whenever a new post goes up!

Nacho...nacho....pork?

I made a pork shoulder roast the other day (see this post for that recipe) and needed a to find a good recipe to use up all the leftovers I had. I looked at ideas and decided to try on: Pork Nachos.

From the many pictures I found online, the recipe looked both appealing and unappealing. I wasn't sure if it was a wise recipe to try. I asked my siblings and they weren't so sure they wanted to try it either! But I was determined to try a new recipe!

I poured over the many recipes online and took notes on what I liked and didn't. I then created my own recipe.

Pork Nachos

2 cups Pork-shredded

1-1 1/2 cups Barbecue sauce-I used Sweet Baby Rays

Nacho Con Queso Cheese Sauce-click to see my recipe

Olives-sliced

Tomatoes-chopped

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Chives

Tortilla chips

Re-heat pork with barbecue sauce until warm. Heat nacho cheese. 

Place chips on a cookie sheet or oven safe serving tray. Layer pork mixture over chips, then nacho cheese, olives, tomatoes, shredded cheese and chives.

Place in pre-heated 400*F oven until cheese is melted and nachos are warm. Serve immediately.

There are many other things you could add to these nachos to give them your own flair: jalapeno peppers, refried beans- or other kinds of beans, sour cream, onions, salsa

Side ideas: salad

My notes:

Don't layer your nachos until you are ready to eat...this will keep the chips from becoming too soggy.

This recipe would be great for a dinner or an appetizer

I used the leftover pork for pork barbecue side sandwiches-which most of use ate without the bread.

Overall, despite our misgivings, this recipe turned out AMAZING! I would make it again...I even had the leftovers, of what little we didn't finish, today...it was delicious!

What do you think?

Whose fault is it?

I suffer with pain or health issues on a daily basis. It gets very difficult to watch others live life while I feel confined to my sickbed. It often leaves me feeling very down and it's a minute by minute fight to keep my head above water and try and stay positive!

I've prayed for healing, eat right, tried all sorts of health regimens and continued to pray for more and more healing. But while I may have an occasional relief, it never lasts long and I'm back to the sickbed.

Ugh....I hate my bed, the couch and every other thing that holds me back. Sometimes I can remain strong through the weak health moments...or more accurately days or sometimes the weeks they last, but many more times I tend to wonder: When will it end? 

I beg God to take me home so I no longer suffer; but while I don't want to live anymore I also don't want to die. Why? Isn't my future secure in Christ? Why then do I fear death? 

It's quite simple and maybe even a little silly: I don't want to miss anything! Funny- even when I was a little girl I remember my dad and mom talking about how hard it was to pull me away from a tv show or movie we were watching to do some small task or help my mom with dinner. 

It was simple... just that I HAD to see what was going to happen next! Not much has changed...sometimes I get a book or movie just because the little teaser I'll read makes me want to know what will happen. I've been given the reputation for picking boring features, but, hey....at least I know how the story ended!

It's the same reason why dying scares me. There have been a few deaths around me lately and the one thing that saddens me the most about death is that everyone else lives on. They continue to laugh, cry and live life. But the person that has died will no longer see the accomplishments their loved ones make. They will no longer hold the people they love in a tender embrace.No longer have another chance to do that one thing the never got around to doing.

They've gone on. Yes, to a better place, but the chances they had in life are no more. All the suffering they went through, no longer makes a difference to them. Their favorite foods....why should they care about food anymore? Their hopes and dreams...all gone. Never to be fulfilled, completed or enjoyed.

But heaven is so wonderful...why would those things make any difference? Shouldn't you desire to be with Jesus so much that life down here no longer matters?

Perhaps what hits me the most, of all my fears and questions, is that when you die you no longer have a chance to do anything more for Christ. What you've done is all you will ever do. Will it make a difference? When you stand before God and his judgement will all you did be enough?

I know, no matter what I do it will never be enough. I am so weak and small...sickly beyond ridiculous! I so desire to do more for Christ, but yet I so often feel stuck.

I then start to think back to when it all happened. What was the turning point for my health? When was the moment that I found myself so befuddled by my own circumstances that my daily life became a constant fight from morning through the whole night to keep my sanity while enduring the discomfort and pain.

I asked this question of my sister as she listened for perhaps the thousandth time to my wailing's. Why? Why do I suffer so? Why is it so hard for me to keep joy in my life? Why do I feel like my prayers aret just words I'm saying and not me and Jesus communing together. I have a life to live, so when and whose fault is it that I'm this way? Have I ruined my life somehow?

She then said something profound. It was so profound I didn't know how to respond. She told me how she was talking with our youngest brother about things in her life and how she was wondering why and who was to blame for it. 

He responded with the story of the blind man in John 9:1-3.

"And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 

And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?"

Who's to blame for this man being blind? Obviously, someone did something wrong here....

I love Jesus' response. I imagine that he looked up in shock at the question and then gently shook his head as he looked at the man he was about to heal.

 "Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him."

Jesus answer basically said, "No one is to blame. There is no one at fault. This happened so God could be glorified."

As my sister shared what our brother had told her I was left breathless in awe of the wisdom that was shared.

I wanted to blame someone, something, myself even for everything that was happening in my life. True circumstances in life lead you to difficulties at times; and you can find and know the root cause if it. But sometimes there is nothing and no one to blame or be at fault. It just happens and is apart of the journey you are on.

However, what happens next is up to you. You can choose to use it for God's glory or drown yourself in the wallowing pit of despair, grief and depression.

I admit, it's not easy pulling yourself up each day to face a life you didn't ever think you'd have to live, but isn't that why God is there for us? To help us carry those burdens? Isn't that why he gives praying friends and family? To support you in prayer and give you an understanding shoulder to cry on and then help you move forward?

I don't know how some of the people I look up to, who also suffer with health afflictions, do it. They always have joy, peace and are so in love with Jesus! Perhaps it's because they are older and have been through much more of the physical challenges and now they've reached a point where their faith has grown enough for them to be at peace and just rest in the grace God has given them.

I still struggle on a daily basis, and for that I ask that you pray for me. Just because you may think I look okay and may be feeling fine doesn't mean I'm not having a rough day. I learned years ago-even before my dad died- how to smile even while in some pretty nasty pain. I suppose I always figure that if I can hide it then people won't know how broken I am! ;)

But truth be told, I am broken right now, and I'm always trying to move forward and out of it! Everyday I seek God's grace as I step into a day where I never know how it will end: in unbearable pain, pain I'm trying to to stave off from getting worse or the comfort of a good day-usually it's not the last one....yet- still working on that! 

Sometimes that little understanding from others can go a long way to helping me feel encouraged enough to make in through the next hour. It's exhausting to always feel like I'm fighting all time. Never knowing if what I'm eating will cause me to feel sicker, fighting to keep my head in the game and not give up, not knowing if when I go to sleep I'll wake in the middle of the night in pain and discomfort and be miserable...so much uncertainty and most of it leading to a less than desirable outcome.

But I keep believing that God has a purpose and will use me in His timing to accomplish that purpose. I still believe that he is working on my body and making me whole again. I believe that He is going to bring about a better ending to my story than the last few chapters have led me to believe. I only hope I can do everything he has for me to do! And of course I keep reminding myself:

God's Got This!

There Is Victory

Life is filled with ups and downs galore, but one thing is promised to the child of God: Victory.

We have the victory because Christ gave it to us through his death on the cross. In our daily struggles we don't always see the victory. Sometimes we do, but it is often swallowed up in the next struggle.

Tidbits about this song:

The first verse was written on February 25, 2013.

The second verse and chorus on May 18, 2013.

And lastly the third verse was written on May 22, 2013.

(It never ceases to amaze me at how often a verse of chorus comes and then months, sometimes years, down the road the rest of the songs comes about.

The first verse was written from the view of Mary Magdalene. She watched Jesus die on the cross and then went to his grave after the sabbath was over, only to find him gone. She had loved the Lord so much as he had set her free from her own demons. It was through him she found peace in her life.

The second and third verse of course could be anyone of us. We travel this life without hope or peace and it isn't until we find the Jesus that we find what we are seeking. Only then can we have the victory over this world!

I hope you enjoy this new song!