Victoria Advocate, A Different Perspective

Interesting happenings at the Johns’s house this past week. Early one morning, my husband and I were upstairs having our prayer and Bible reading time, then Dave went downstairs. He came back shortly and said, “We have a problem.” It turned out half the house was dark. He poked around, checking what he could, then called an electrician friend. Meanwhile, I drove to The Texan to pick up breakfast. The first electrician that came scratched his head and went to find a new breaker for the box. When he didn’t return, Dave called his friend again. He came and found the issue. A new requirement caused a glitch that started a negative chain of events.  

The recessed kitchen lights and the lights on the front porch shorted out. The refrigerator was spared, thank You Lord, but the dishwasher motherboard was toast. We’ve been handwashing dishes while wrapping our brains around the purchase of a new one. Yeah, it’s the consumer who pays the price. Gotta love it when government regulations do more harm than good.

On a much happier note, we attended Grandparent Day at Faith Academy. Emmitt, our almost nine-year-old grandson, was excited to see us and his other grandma. We had a fun time observing a special student performance, visiting the photo booth, meeting his teacher and seeing the classroom. When Papa offered to let Emmitt wear his hat, it made his day. It also made the photo shoot memorable. The Scholastic book fair wasn’t quite his thing, but he showed us how fast he could do a Word Search puzzle. His teacher mentioned that it keeps him busy when he’s finished with his assignments.   

I’m steadily working on edits to get my fourth manuscript turned in by the end of the month. And while I’d love to forget the comments I wrote in the sidebar, I’m addressing them now. For example, I had one scene that wasn’t “grounded.” That means there were no details about where it took place or what was happening around the character’s action. If you’ve read anything like that, you probably put the book down. Often, we don’t know why we don’t finish a book, except to say it’s boring. Not grounding the setting with sensory details is one reason. Keeping the reader engaged is crucial. It sells more books too. I know firsthand how disappointing it is when an author gets in a hurry and rushes the story line. Sigh. Writing a book is a long process. The up side is I finally got the ending right. I think so, anyway. It’s kind of troubling how much depends on the whims and vagaries of readers.

I’ve also been judging a contest that my publisher does every year. I volunteered to do the second round of judging, which entails reading the first twenty-five pages of a manuscript and filling out a scoresheet. The errors that hide from me in my writing are easy to find in someone else’s. Can you say blind spots? Chuckle. We all have them.     

At long last, I received a paycheck from my publisher. It was a paltry sum by any standard, and I had trouble concentrating on story edits for the next couple of hours. It’s tempting to give up. However, the Scripture that came to mind couldn’t be clearer. “Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…” (Zechariah 4:10a, NLT) It’s a confirmation of what I’ve been hearing the Lord speak to my heart the last several months. Few people have fantastic starts; it’s how we finish that matters. As long as God wants me to continue this writing journey, I will work to improve my craft, do what He says, and leave the results in His capable hands.  

 I choose to trust Him even when the doubts come.