Writers' Conference

I just got back from the Writing for the Soul conference in Denver, Colorado this week. It was a blast! For those of you that went, a little reminder, don't forget to send out your thank you's to all the editors, agents, mentors etc. that you met with. Even the ones who said, "No thank you."

For those who did not go, see link above to find out when the next CWGC is next year. max Lucado was there and inspired us to keep writing. Or start writing in your church bulletin if you have to. That's how Max started, and people's lives were touched.

Phil Vischer reminded us that "When God gives you a dream and the dream dies, He's just trying to see who's more important to you." He also asked us if we carried the ambitions of what we wanted to do for God in our hearts. He said if we did then let them die on the alter. "When you do this, you will finally be fit for Him to use."

Phil also talked about fruits of the Spirit. That they are not an obligation but things that come out of a Christian naturally as they walk with God.

The last thing Phil reminded us about was that Noah actually walked with God for 500 years before God ever called him to build the ark. Hear that? Noah walked with God for 500 years. Walked. 500 years. Then God called him. Got it?



Jim Watkins talked about "I have a dream." He gave Joseph as a reference to those that have dreams.
1. The dream is received-Write a mission statement. Write your dream.
Joseph ran around talking about the dream he had of his brothers and parents bowing to him.

2. The dreamer is refined--Joseph was a tattler and braggart, wearing his nice coat all over the place, even to the dirty sheep fields. But God stripped Joseph of his coat...the symbol of his dream. See that? The symbol of his dream, not the dream.

3.The dream needs to be re-sized--Joseph's brothers did bow down but the bowing was not the final end of that dream. It was the saving of a nation and the line of the Messiah.

4. The Dream is revealed--Imagine an unknown multitude bowing before Christ and thousands of people are there because of your dream.

Kendra Smiley reminded us to make our "Next right choice." She also said, "Worry consumes priceless energy. Worry is a lack of faith. Preparation can eliminate worry."

Kendra talked to us about the song that God has placed in each of our hearts. She said, "When you sing the song that God placed inside of you, you are in fact glorifying God."

Nice huh?

Let me leave you with this scripture today:

Colosians 1:29 To this end I (Paul) labor, struggling with all His (God's) energy, which so powerfully works in me.

Tell me, what are you laboring in or worrying about?

God Didn't Move

I had this amazing experience not long ago that took me completely off guard. I really wanted to share it with you.

I had been praying for months for God to help me in an area of my life I could never seem to get victory over.

I remember telling one of my dear friends that if I could take a knife and open myself up and find the thing, I would dig it out no matter how painful. The only problem? It was not a physical place and I didn't know it's name.

One Friday I sat down with a woman I had previously not liked. I knew that as my sister-in-the-Lord, I had to work on my feelings. After all, God put us in the same Church and that meant a fellow worker.

I had been working on a relationship with this lady and had just gotten to the place where I liked her. We got on the subject of my problem then she proceeded to relay a story about her life that sounded eerily like my own.

I never knew these things about her. Mostly because I never wanted to know.

In the midst of this, she told me about a dream she had and how the lady in her dream prayed over her, putting a name to this thing inside her...I got it. I knew it was the same thing that was inside of me.

Through the process of prayer with this now dear friend, I felt God do surgery on me. I knew I was healed.

Later when I reflected on this incident, I noticed two things that were key. First, this woman that I didn't even like before, held the key to my healing. Secondly, God was the only one who could do it. Then when He did, He stayed with me. He didn't move. He didn't walk away.


So here are two things I'd like you to take home from this.

1. Be careful who you reject, they may hold the key to your healing.

2. When God was done with healing me, He didn't move. God never walks away from us. He is ALWAYS there and He is NEVER too busy.


How about you? Do you see yourself in any of these circumstances? Tell me about it.

My Pain, My Teacher

Someone said recently, "you stub your little toe and the whole body responds to it's cry." That's something we all know to be true. Did you also know that if you did not have pain, you could die? Pain tells us when something is wrong. Perhaps that's why people look at it in such a negative light.

Pain--something wrong, comfort--something good, but that's not always true. Let's look at this just a bit.

Have you ever touched something hot, completely unaware and burned yourself? Of course we all have done that. The pain told you to remove your hand or other body part before you incurred serious injury. Pain sets boundaries for our body and tells us when something is wrong.

Now let's relate that to our spiritual walk. I remember one year when my sister and her husband had come up for Christmas. We were all sitting around having breakfast when I made a humorous yet biting remark toward my husband. I was far more sarcastic in those days than I am now. Well my husband didn't really take notice of it, having been married to me for years. My sister, on the other hand, called me out on that and told me that it wasn't right to treat my husband with such lack of respect even in jest. It cut straight to my heart to have her do that and I vanished into another room...another closet to be precise, to cry.

I remember standing in that closet crying and praying that God would make me feel better...would take away the pain of what my sister had just done. In the middle of my whining for relief, God broke in a made me very much aware that He was not interested in me feeling better, He was interested in me changing.

I have never forgotten that moment and each time the correction of the Lord comes either by Him directly or through another person, I remind myself. "He's not interested in me feeling better, He's interested in me changing."

Now don't get me wrong, of course God is interested in our feelings, but not at the expense of us remaining in our sins. Jesus brought stern corrections many times. Not because he wanted to hurt the feelings of the person, but to affect change in the individual.

Take some time and think about it. What painful things are going on in your life right now? Is God trying to use that painful situation to show you where He wants you to change? Go take a moment and ask Him. Chances are He is.

God will not waste our pain...it's far too precious and costly to waste.