What If I Don't Want To?

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I am doing what God has told me to do, but I don't want to, and I am grumbling. The editing process is atrocious and tedious, and why does it matter anyway? Out of the millions of books currently in publication, mine will not make any difference.

 God, however, has a different opinion on that subject. This came from an email this week by Pastor Greg Laurie, James 4:17. "Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it."

Ouch.

The next morning, the meditation from Living Faith talked about St. Paul’s conversion. After being knocked off his horse and blinded by bright light, St. Paul asked, “What shall I do, sir?” Acts 22:10.

I would not like God to get my attention in the same way.

So, what would you have me do, Lord?

The answer came the following morning in My Living Faith devotional. Saint Angela Merici, the founder of the Sisters of Saint Ursula, said, “We must unceasingly believe, hope, and act.”

I do believe. I do hope, but exactly how does God want me to act? Did he really mean he wanted me to sit hour after hour at the computer searching out repetitive, misspelled words in a manuscript? Why?  

Do Whatever He Tells You

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"... the mother of Jesus said to him. 'They have no wine.' … His mother said to the servers, 'Do whatever he tells you.'" John 2:3,5

Throughout the Bible, prophets and Apostles, as well as Mary admonished people to, “Do whatever he tells you.” This often preceded a miracle.

Some spiritual exercises encourage us to imagine we are in the biblical scene, seeing, touching, hearing. How would we react? What would we say? Would we be among those clamoring for attention, or one of the skeptics shouting for everyone to just be quiet?

There is a third possibility, being the one who waits patiently, praying silently, believing God knows our need and will come at the appropriate time.

I want to be this third kind of believer, but it’s hard. Patience is difficult if my circumstances seem critical. Another difficulty, is whatever I desire what God wills? That one is tough. If it is, it will happen, if not…

Are You Listening?

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I don't always listen. Even in my more advanced age, I still act like a willful child and try my way first. Sometimes that’s a good idea, other times I pay a painful price for not heeding the advice of those more experienced.

One of those painful lessons happened recently. Writing pros suggest one of the best methods of self-editing and proofreading is to read the text aloud. I tried, but found the chore tedious, not to mention tough on the voice, and in my infinite wisdom decided to skip that part. Oh, I did submit the manuscript to my critique partner and to Beta Readers, but after implementing their suggestions and corrections, I took it upon myself to make some further changes. Not wrong, by any means, until I did the proofreading myself, without showing it to anyone else, or following the pros advice to read the new text aloud.

The result? I am now hanging my head in shame over simple mistakes that could have been avoided, if only I had listened to those who tried to advise me. I am going through each book and correcting the errors, but I cringe thinking about how many flawed copies are now floating around out there in cyberspace — forever — because of my laziness, not to mention stubbornness. 

It's That Time of Year Again

This is sunrise from my office window, dawning a new day, a new month, and a new year. Was it a good year? Did I do what I had hoped, what I had planned?

I have to say it was a good year in terms of memorable events. Two more grand babies were born, one in June and one in September. Then in August the biggest life change, retirement.