Victoria Advocate, A Different Perspective

We voted! My husband and I arrived at the Pattie Dodson Center about 7:15 a.m. on a foggy Saturday morning. The line was long, looping through the hallway, but it moved quickly. I hadn’t had coffee yet, but my husband chatted with like-minded strangers. When we left and picked up an “I Voted” sticker, I saw where the entire process had taken forty minutes. However, a friend arrived minutes later and there was no line. Lots of variation on the time it takes.

Monday morning, I texted both our children and reminded them to do their civic duty too. Voting should be a priority. Our country is in dire straits because people are too busy to pay attention. We assume someone else is taking care of it, but “We, the people,” doesn’t mean someone else. At this writing, one child has sent a picture of the “I Voted” sticker.  

At long last, I’m on the last run-through of my current manuscript. I’ll have it completed by the end of the week, though there’s never an end to the rearranging of sentences and words. Once I turn it in, professional editors do their own round of edits. Then I’ll get it back and make more changes. Their edits make the book better. My writing is smoother, and they find repetitive phrases I read but no longer see. In the course of three books published, only twice have I asked to keep a sentence or brief passage the way I wrote it. In both cases, the editors allowed it. Note: When you don’t fuss over every little change, they’ll work with you on what matters most.  

Once I’ve turned this MS in, for the first time in two years, I won’t have a contract. While it’s nice to have breathing room, it’s always scary to not know what comes next. I loved writing the novella so much, I’d like to be part of a novella collection—a book that includes three or four stories by different authors. I’m praying for the right team. A short word count is just the ticket while brainstorming a possible next series. The setting for my first series, Romance in Valiant, is Texas. I’d like to write a novella with an out-of-state setting to stretch my creative wings. In the meantime, it will be heavenly to enjoy a holiday season without a January writing deadline looming.   

I took my daughter-in-law and shopped the downtown area one morning last week. We started with Mother Cluckers. I had promised her we’d do that before their return to Brazil. We enjoyed poking around the myriad of products, and I officially began my Christmas shopping. We visited several other boutiques and ate at Fossati’s. Then I remembered Twice Blessed, a consignment shop a short distance from the square. I navigated the one-way streets until I saw the sign. The store was all decked out for Christmas, and we thoroughly enjoyed browsing through the selections. I purchased a marvelously soft blanket with autumn colors, and Carolina couldn’t resist a loaf of pumpkin bread.

A look at the big picture this fall reveals that our country is in a battle. Bad news abounds. It’s easy to get discouraged and do nothing, or default to “I don’t do politics,” but we do so at our peril. Good choices require wisdom. We can listen/read the news, but that’s not the source of wisdom. Neither is it a mechanical formula to apply. When we’re in a right relationship with God, then we acquire wisdom. “The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning and the principal and choice part of knowledge (wisdom)—that is, its starting point and its essence.” (Proverbs 1:7, Amplified Bible)    

If we seek wisdom as individuals and as a nation, God will intervene on our behalf. He is the solution to the problems we face.