Victoria Advocate/A Different Perspective

I had the honor of doing a business spotlight for VPEN (Victoria Professional Express Network). It’s the local chapter of ABWA (American Business Women’s Association). Acronyms make life easier.

I set up the designated table with books, business cards, bookmarks, and chocolate kisses. At a certain point in the program, I gave a brief speech about the writer’s life and talked about my books. Giveaways are always fun, so it was a pleasure to give a copy of Countin’ On Jesse, Book One of my series, to a sweet lady named Hope.  

My other highlight of the week was house-sitting for my daughter while she and her family traveled to Glorieta, New Mexico, for a week of family camp. Most of the home responsibilities she’d divvied out but was still quite relieved when I said I’d come for a couple of days. She had peace of mind knowing I was there, and I got plenty of writing time in. I even crested the sixty-thousand-word count in my latest manuscript. Still about twenty thousand to go, but now I know what to change and where to add layers.  

While I was at her house, I took care of two dogs, one whiny cat, two parakeets, three lizards, and a hamster that I never saw. She’d made other arrangements for the chickens, but I checked for eggs twice a day. I watered plants in between rain showers and retrieved Amazon packages from the porch. Other than those taxing chores, I sat in a chair and typed. On Thursday night, I watched the RNC (Republican National Convention). Whatever your political affiliation, it was a well-organized and entertaining evening. My prayer is that our nation gets behind the call for unity.

Once I returned, the line edits for Glitter and the Grouch appeared in my inbox. Since I’d worked very hard on the content edits, there weren’t as many changes to make, but it’s kept me busy this past week.

Line editors are the grammar police. If I miss a comma or have an extra period at the end of a sentence, the software program allows me to accept or reject her correction. My line editor also catches euphemisms. Cliches are taboo, along with any substitute word for God or a bad word. Examples would be “gosh,” “Holy Moses,” and “darn.” The list is endless, and it’s surprising how often they slip in. On a spiritual level, I’m glad God cares more about my heart than a list of rules.   

In between line editing, I’m also tackling a new mail server. When the techno aspects of it go over my head, I’m thankful for a computer guru. He knows how to sequence the free download people receive when they sign up for my newsletter, and how to automate my welcome letter.

My passion centers on writing, so it’s frustrating to spend a lot of time on non-writing tasks, but I’m not alone. In our fast-paced society, it’s a common issue for most small business owners.  

I read a quote this week that helps encapsulate my feelings about writing. The author riffed off of “Chariots of Fire” when Eric Liddell said, “I feel God’s pleasure when I run.” She substituted a word and said, “I feel God’s pleasure when I write.”

What makes you feel God’s pleasure? What’s your passion? Each one of us has our own God-given tasks to do. Our lives are not to be compared with others. That will only produce the bad-tasting fruit of envy.  

Are you content? If not, what’s causing the discontent? Clinging to the way you wish things were is a prescription for a restless, unhappy life. It’s a line edit that won’t accept the needed change.  

When we surrender every area of our lives to God, He is more than able to do what we can’t.