The Moral of the Story Is...

Easter April 1st, 2018 - Snow - Lots of it

Isa. 55:9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

The Moral of the Story... 

All week I was undecided whether I was going to make it to the family’s Easter gathering. Since I haven’t been able to walk really well for a month now I cried out and said if I can’t walk I’m not going. It isn’t as if his family hasn’t seen me in this weakened state. Remember I’ve spoken many of time how their eyes speak of pity, dripping of poor Joni looks. It hurts me to see that look on their faces. It’s not my fault I can read people, but their eyes being the window of their soul, their pity pours from their eyes.

All month I’ve struggled to get better. His mom came out last week for my birthday and brought me an enormous fruit tray! She asked if we’d be coming on Easter and defensively I said, “I don’t even know how I’ll feel tomorrow nevertheless in a week.” I left it at that because each new day is a challenge and I feel different every day.

This week I almost forced myself to feel better. One day I would walk well and I kept myself busy and the next day the cane was back in my hand. Each day that I feel better I find myself trying to do too much in a day and am in pain the very next day. It’s the new game of what will I feel today. Friday I washed clothes, scrubbed up the tub and bathroom, vacuumed the floor as if I was preparing for guests to arrive! Saturday I woke and didn’t feel bad at all and went on with my chore for the day and that was going to be to make my mother’s classic macaroni salad to take with me on our Easter outing. With determination in hand, I was intent on going to a family get-together.

All week long the weather was predicting a cold spell for Easter Sunday. Cold as in twenty to thirty degrees after a mixture of the fifties and sixties on the clickity-clanking roller coaster ride of the transitional winter-spring event. I don’t know what day it was when I checked the weather and the word snow popped up but I paid it no mind and went on to healing, physically and emotionally.

Friday came and I checked the weather and it said more than just snow, it said Winter Weather Advisory! For some reason, I thought it was a nasty unethical April Fools joke but I knew deep down the professionals in the field wouldn’t do something of that magnitude. They were now calling for three to five inches of snow, eight if you were under the heavy band that was attached to the storm.

I trudged ahead with my plans; it took my whole day Saturday to make the macaroni salad with every intention of going to see the family on Easter Sunday. A whole day to make macaroni salad you ask? Well, when it comes to steaming the shrimp, cutting up the stuff that goes in it, hard-boiling eggs and mixing the sauce, yes, it takes about four to five hours to make it perfect, the classic way I remember it being made from childhood.

Everything seemed to be going wrong! I made this dish for years now but this time everything was going wonky on me from the noodles to the eggs, step by step it just kept getting worse and worse! The two-pounds of macaroni noodles were not the right ones. I usually use just the simple generic elbows but these were name brand and apparently, two pounds of simple elbow macaroni to generic brands is different than the name brands. I had enough fancier ridged noodles than I knew what to do with! 

From what felt like overcooked noodles to the undercooked eggs, and my dog circling my feet wondering if anything would drop for her, to my back in wrenching pain, this wasn’t going well. I persisted and went on winding up with making a meal for the guys with the excess noodles I had, making me something to eat and having more than enough macaroni salad for all. The optimist in me reigns!

For the entire week of Holy Week, I stayed focused on my faith and winding down the Lenten season with all that I’ve learned. My mornings and writings, as usual, were scripture, my movies at night were God related; winding down at a nice pace, pain in check but persistence won out very easily.

I didn’t even think of the snow until Sunday morning came. I woke and as I peeked out the window I could see a blanket of cotton covering the darkness. As the sun, or lack thereof, began shedding light on the horizon, I could see what I couldn’t see an hour ago, a little more snow than I thought. My son was due to drive home in the wintry white slippery stuff, yet again, after his two nights a week graveyard shift ended. He came home sore because of the shoveling he had to do and the lugging of salt. 

As the blustery temps remained below freezing, the snow kept falling and falling rendering us homebound for the day. I wasn’t willing to drive in the stuff since my back cannot handle the swerves a slick icy/muddy road causes and my husband, being blind in one eye, has trouble differentiating the ditch and the road when it is all uniformly white. We played it safe and stayed home. His mom was disappointed but she wanted us all safe too. Other family members couldn’t make it either, so I didn’t feel too bad about not being able to attend. Maybe she should set the time later than twelve noon from now on. Nope, tradition is tradition and one thing I’ve learned from this family is that they are steeped in routine and tradition.

I didn’t plan on being home for the day so now I had to figure out a meal. Plans are made to be broken I get, but I was certainly not ready for it to be seven inches of snow on April first to be what kept us home. Yes, we could’ve trudged through the snow, after all that is another thing I learned about Nebraskan’s, they don’t let snow stop them from anything. I live in a 4x4 red, white, and black state, Husker nation through and through.

By two o’clock the sun had pierced through the heavy blanket of clouds and the snow had finally stopped. I had shoveled a path for my dog earlier and the path was all but gone, filled in with snow, except for a sliver of brown peeking through. The roads looked very passable and finally cars were passing on the now slushy mess. The warming of the ground from many fifty and sixty degree days helped alleviate the plowing of the snow. The eight inches of snow I brushed from the truck was now sliding off the roof that I couldn’t reach, but the grass was still thick in the middle of the white stuff that defined the majority of the ‘Winter from Hell’! Temperatures stayed in the twenties the entire day of April 1st, 2018.

Then the words came through the tunnel…I have to go to the emergency room. * thud * I nearly fainted at the sight of blood and was rendered useless. Wrapped in gauze my husband drove off as I nurtured my near-fainting, dizzying spell and vomiting. Four stitches later and two hours passed (I was still woozy) my husband made it back home. Unless you want me to pass out, please don’t ask me what happened in my hubby’s new ‘workshop’. Use your imagination, DO NOT ASK! 

All in all the ending of the Lenten season’s highlight was the moral of the entire season; our plans are not God’s plans! Our ways are not His ways! He can and WILL do whatever He sets in motion to do! No one else is in control but Him! Let loose of the ego in you and be reminded, God is good all the time, ALL THE TIME GOD IS GOOD! 

Pss. 118: 5  “I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.

[6] The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?”

[8] It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.

4 1 18 - Chrismas Pointsettias covered in snow! 

We couldn't have Easter without Christmas now, can we? 

Food, Glorious Food!

Pss. 51:10 “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” 

Food Glorious Food!

Over the past four months, I’ve groaned, I’ve grumbled, I whined and complained all about… food!!! This week I went food shopping and hit a welcome relief to my shopping excursion; I left feeling good and not wanting to cry my eyes out over what I couldn’t eat or the unhealthy food choices available to me.

I think I’m finally coming to terms with this new healthy lifestyle! I challenge myself every day building my strength by cooking (unhealthy to ME) meals for my hubby and son. It doesn’t bother me and never has so why should food shopping, right? I think because, with food shopping, you’re smothered in opportunities of choices, good or bad.

I’m all about God working in mysterious ways and throw nothing, and I mean nothing to coincidence, I’ve never believed in coincidence and never will. I believe God has plans for each and ever little thing in our life and when ‘things’ happen that others call coincidence, I believe it was really God’s planning the seasons of our life.

Like the stationary bike I wrote about yesterday, God was planning all of those years ago for my hubby and me to benefit from that little piece of equipment. He was also in the planning stages for something else when my husband lost his job over a year ago. 

You see after my husband got his sight back, he had to get back into the workforce. I wrote about how, because of his blindness in one eye put him on the disabled list, his driving limitations were set on his license and he had to take a job that would work with those limitations, hence the minimum wage part time job at WalMart where he was a cart pusher for four years. Just a note: WalMart works with people with disabilities and gives them the opportunity to work, so before making fun of WalMart employees remember, that person just might have a disability you can neither see or hear.

After WalMart, he took a job at HyVee supermarket. This was a newly constructed high-end supermarket that apparently this small town needed even though there are numerous nostalgic, long time food markets in the area. HyVee is a food chain and even hubby’s aunt said they had one in South Dakota. HyVee would hire hubby as an online food shopper. I’ve mentioned before that my sweetheart is a shopaholic, so God placed him in a store where he could shop his heart out, for other people mind you, but still he’s an online food shopper.

HyVee is home to a coffee shop, a diner, a quick-stop gas station and an enormous array of good food; more expensive, as all healthy food is but the store is remarkable at catering to the health conscious of America. You wouldn’t think there was a need for online shoppers but HyVee is an employer to at least twelve online shoppers. How does online shopping work? You place your order online and people shop for you. You get it delivered to your house or pick your order up at the store. 

What I’m getting at here is, not a commercial for HyVee, but to show you how God was making plans all along for this illness of mine. You see, had hubby been working at WalMart, we would have never known the opportunities of healthy food sitting right across the road at HyVee! From fake noodles, grass fed chicken to cheese made from coconut milk, no dairy! That store caters to my needs at this very time.

With him being an online shopper, he knows where everything is in the store, what they sell, what’s on sale (they have GREAT sales BTW) what’s healthy and what’s not. As opposed to WalMart, this store actually has a host of organic fruits and vegetables! They have an entire corner of the store dedicated to the Health Market where there are gluten free, healthy organic processed foods! How awesome is that?!?!

You see, God had this alternative treatment route planned for me all along! The money we save on the unhealthy food I’m not eating goes toward the healthy, non-toxic food I CAN eat. So when I walk into the food store now, I no longer think of what I can’t have (I do still have small tweaks) I am getting better at accepting and enjoying all that I can eat and that is food, glorious healthy food!

Ephesians 4:22-24, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (NIV)

Moving Forward

Matt. 8:7 "And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him."

Moving Forward

Every day I think of posts to write and when I rise from a well rested eight-hour sleep, read my morning devotional, I begin to write, usually not what I had intended but something entirely different. I try to squeeze in what I intended to write and it usually works out pretty good for me and becomes an inspirational read for you. 

Today I intended to write of my new Healing Diet but when I woke the words Moving Forward kept playing and replaying so let's see how this mind works as we weave the two topics together. 

Today is the day we are forced to move our clocks forward in the wee hours of a Sunday morning. Yes, I say forced because if we don’t oblige we will be out of sync with the rest of the world. We can’t have that now, can we? This is another one of those instances where the government likes to be in CONTROL and the people are left submitting to another of their demands.

But it is also a day I move forward in my Healing Diet and continue to treat my body as this high and mighty temple that God built for me and I’m just here trying to maintain the spirit and the flesh that houses the body.

My birthday is coming in a little less than two weeks and my mother sent me money ‘to buy myself’ something. I never like to buy myself something because there is so much more that is needed but this year I BOUGHT myself something! 

We went to the mall the other day (yes me!) and I browsed and shopped! I dislike shopping on so many levels but this day was a me day. You know what the hardest part of going out into the world to shop is? Seeing all of the billboards with advertisements on liposuction, and others that blare of the new restaurant in the area. Do they want to suck off all the fat that you get from those unhealthy restaurants? 

Driving by the fast food restaurants is hard too as I think of all the bubbling grease coming to life waiting to toxify the unaware customers. I see Buffalo Wild Wings with what I’m almost 100% certain that those chickens are shot up with growth hormones and preservatives. I see the Burger Palaces, Donut shops all enticing people to come in, let us fatten you up so you can be one more day closer to death. 

Yeah, that’s what goes through my mind now. While I miss all of the unhealthy eating myself, I’m sad to think that I was so naïve and easily misled. Why would I think that restaurants, even the most well-intentioned Chinese Food restaurants, would think of my health and me? 

I really look hard to see one sign that says, WE SELL ALL ORGANIC! WE use the best and safest oils, free range meats, and non-toxic foods because WE care about YOU! That’s almost funny because there’d be no money in that, eh? 

As we the people move forward maybe one day there will be MANY restaurants that will go the healthy route over the dollar making industry. I can bet if there was such a franchise the people who could afford the food offered would keep that business alive. Why? Because we are all really seeking to be our healthiest we can be. 

As I move forward in healing, the very first thing I changed was my diet. No carbohydrates, no sugar, no dairy, no meat. Wow! Two weeks and four pounds lighter I had to add something to this all fruit and vegetable health change. I searched and researched, the common bond was change and healthy eating. 

There are many diets out there to fight and HEAL the BigC (I won’t name it, I won’t own it) like the Gerson Diet, The Budwig Plan, and ChrisBeatCancer, just to name a few. Please don't tell me that this one says this and the other says that, I KNOW, and thus the very reason I am working what works for ME! 

The Budwig Plan says: “Toxins are one of the main factors that contribute to various diseases, so controlling them is essential. A regular intake of fruits and vegetables helps you to actively detoxify your body, which is a fundamental part of our diet plan.”

While the Gerson Diet doesn’t allow what the Budwig diet allows and Chris’ diet doesn’t allow stuff either. Dr. Morse was another man I listened to and as you can imagine, as a newly diagnosed patient, this all can be overwhelming. There was one common thread that tied them all together, healthy eating. As I searched and researched, I had to come up with a plan that worked for me and MY body, including the supplements that will carry me through the healing process. 

I’ve decided to write a book titled Beating Cancer on a Budget! But here’s the catch, unlike all of the other places that are marketing their systems, Chris, TTAC, Budwig, Gerson, Dr. Morse. I plan on giving my book away for FREE! (they pay S&H) or in eBook format and I will only take donations if they wish to do so.

I don’t know how all of this is going to be pulled together but I have faith that God will take control and have me help the needy. I’m poor, I’m as poor as they get. I have a roof over my head, food on my plate (healthy food, I might add) and clothes on my back! The very least I can do is pay-it-forward! Then all of your donations will not only be to help me, it will be to help others who are less fortunate as we all move forward to heal one person at a time!

Quote from the movie Zootopia.  
Bunny Judy Hopps: “I thought this city would be a perfect place where everyone got along and anyone could be anything. Turns out, life's a little bit more complicated than a slogan on a bumper sticker. Real life is messy. We all have limitations. We all make mistakes. Which means, hey, glass half full, we all have a lot in common. And the more we try to understand one another, the more exceptional each of us will be. But we have to try. So no matter what kind of person you are, I implore you: Try. Try to make the world a better place. Look inside yourself and recognize that change starts with you.”

Try Everything! Listen to this song and think of ME! God Bless! 

Doctor Appointment: Take Two

out my front door before the meltdown

Luke 1:30 “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.”

Doctor Appt.: Take Two

Well, I’ve been in kind of a funk this week, not a negative hate-the-world kind of funk an ‘oh well, deep sigh’ kind of funk. It kind of has had my days in a cloud and I can attest to the fact that this morning, the heavy veiled visible fog has my mood affecting my outside physical world.

You see, I was really looking forward to a much-needed Doctor’s appointment on Monday. I slept a good nine hours on Sunday evening so I was raring and ready to go come Monday morning to go and see the doctor.

I can also attest to the FACT of God’s timing never being OUR timing. We make plans and expect them to go off without a hitch because for some odd reason the majority of folks feel like they are in control of their own lives. I imagine in non-Christian households when plans don’t go their way, they chalk it up to coincidence or just bad timing. Whatever the case may be, I’m on the God Plan so…I sort of expected Monday to turn out the exact way it did.

Let me start by saying hubby had a scheduled eye doctor appointment and that is the reason I made Monday’s breast check-up appointment for myself. He was off of work, and I was ready in every way to see what path the Lord had set for me with the much-needed exam but it was not meant to be.

The winter weather advisories started streaming in well in advance of the storm. I made an appointment on the 11th I believe and on the 12th, four full days before my scheduled appointment, the murmurs were rippling through the airwaves “Ice Storm Jupiter could wreak havoc on motorists come Monday.” 

Great, another named storm ruining my plans. Weathermen have been totally wrong before so here goes optimistic Joni, holding on to hope and wishing to breathe the storm AWAY! Didn’t happen. My plans are not His plans. Instead, I woke to evidence of Jupiter (the storm) playing mental anguish with my mind. 

On Sunday, (yes Sunday) my husband’s doctor had canceled his Monday visit to our area; the doctor and all of his assistants come in from Omaha, heard the severe storm reports and canceled. They called on Sunday to inform us!

I have to admit, I was holding out hope for my visit but one look out the door basically shattered any hopes of making it into town. This was my view of the storm that day:

“The petrified tree branches are creaking with the slightest breath of wind. Weakened limbs snap and fall missing the electric wires and the beloved truck. Littered is the lawn with limbs gone by. The darkened sky speaks to my heavy heart and the tears from the clouds erupt into ice pellets that are attacking everything in its path. Blessed be His name, the Protector of all.” ~ Joni’s thoughts

More had fallen after this pic was taken

The ice storm was mesmerizing, to say the least, and opening the doors to the tomb outside awaited me. The ice had clung to the road like a wet napkin, the branches small and large were breaking in the slightest wisp of wind, and the silence of no human life was eerie. I felt I was opening the door on a graveyard where the dead were resting but the icy atmosphere was tapping out a Morse code telling me to beware, stay home, and be safe.

The call came shortly before noon that the office was going to remain closed as the treacherous roadways were impassable. I had read story after story of 18-wheelers toppling, and one caught fire after it slid into a ditch and tipped over on the highways out there. I was safe, I was inside and didn’t have to break my neck and already pained back. God protected me! 

The next day came and my mind was blinded by the sunshine and hugged by a new day, a new chance to reschedule my much-needed appointment. 

My thoughts on the 17th were something like this: “Like an ocean of diamonds, the trees are lit by the sunshine’s glare. Ice is meeting the warmth in a creaking display of sound. Ringing out through the trees are resounding sounds of hail beating a tin roof echoing with the lightest wisp of wind. Will the weighted ice give way and topple more limbs or will a subtle melt leave intact the beauty of the days brightness?” Joni is a darned good writer! I wax poetic OFTEN.

I called the doctor’s office and started to get anxious when the day I wanted wasn’t available and after a good cry and a shower I listened to what God had whispered in my ear, “Just call and take what they have!” and so I did, making hubby’s work schedule work around ME. Tuesday the 24th! Yes! It’s going to happen! The positive influx of emotions filled me once again!

And so here is where I am today, I checked the weather and lo and behold, guess what Tuesday looks like? Snow and ice, AGAIN! After the big meltdown from ol’ Jupiter with the teasing of spring-like temps (yes the upper forties is spring-like after our lovely 28 below zero windchills left us bitter.) (pun intended)

So here I am (and shouldn’t be) questioning what God is up to now! With a lighthearted spirit, I walk hand in hand with God knowing full well He will carry me through this juncture of my journey. 

The journey to continue…

Mark 6:8 “And commanded them that they should take nothing for their journey, save a staff only; no scrip, no bread, no money in their purse:”

Do Readers Write?

In yesterdays post, I stated that writers read. We flip through the leaves of a book, go sailing on an ocean, climb into a characters head, and enjoy the journey we’re taken on. What is also true is that not all readers write. My dad was an avid reader. He could always be seen, sitting in his recliner, blanket over his legs, and a book in his hand. Lots of people in my family liked to read, educate themselves, drink from the fountain of knowledge, but none of them aspired to be an actual writer.
 
That’s not saying that they couldn’t write, but none ever went the distance of pursuing a writing career. I sometimes thought that with the proper support, they might have journeyed out into the unknown world of writing, but as it was in my family, support was not to be had. We were lost kids seeking approval of something, anything, and it was not to be. Just as I had to find my way to Christ (or He found me) I had to lead the way down my own path in life.
 
I’ve seen people who’ve read all their lives who never ever wanted to write. “That is just not for me.” they say, but then after retirement sets in, and they want something different to do, they try out their hand at writing. And I’ve seen some success from that leap in life. They’ve gone on to be published writers!
 
What is the difference in a reader and a writer? A writer WRITES!
 
A story is told of a famous writer who was invited to address a group of aspiring authors. He arrived at the venue, walked onto the stage, and looked down at the upturned faces of his admiring audience. "Ya wanna be a writer?" he said. "Then go home and write."
 
With that, he pocketed his check, and left.
 
So you wanna be a writer? Here’s some interesting tidbits for you:
 
1. Do you write almost every day? Journal, snippets, 500 words or less. Or more?
 
Then you’re not a writer
 
2.  Do you allow yourself to think of YOU?
 
Writing requires that you spend a fair bit of time in your own, totally isolated zone, oblivious to the demands of others, no matter how reasonable their demands might be.
 
3. Do you know WHY you want to be a writer?
 
The urge to share is a primary driving force for writing. Whether it is to share an idea, a story, just a simple piece of information, you feel that people have a need to know. The main thing is, that what you write should matter to YOU and to your readers.
 
4. Do you think you’re a good writer?
Well there’s a problem. No one THINKS themselves a good writer! We ALL think we can use some work!

5. Do you read as many books, as much as you write?
Then you have a persistent road that needs grading, get to it!

Tidbits over, now a few thoughts to leave you with.
 
If you wanna be a writer, plan on reading A LOT!
Plan on WRITING a lot!
Plan on harsh criticism, mostly from yourself!
Plan on getting published!

Out with the Old...

Pss. 33: 3 Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise.
***

Wow, can you believe another year has gone by? I just looked at the calendar and it is the 15 th of December already. The new year will be beginning in a little more than two weeks and have I gotten anything done this year that I had set out to do? No.

I have never been one to make plans. It always seems that you make them, something comes up and the plans that you had planned on for weeks or days falls apart and then you need to shift gears and make new plans.

I have been writing my blog almost religiously. I like to keep my posts current and active. I like to teach new things or share with you, so THAT plan worked out well. And as we wind down the year, I must wonder if everyone is ready for this holiday? Are you eager to begin the new year and shuffle this one behind you and scoot it nicely under the bed? I sure am!

I know one of the major things that worked out this year was growth in my faith. I had always assumed I was nicely content with my faith, but one should never get  too content with ones faith. Whether you’re Christian, Buddhist, Catholic, or Muslim, there is always room to grow and journey with your God.

You can say, “No, I’ve learned all that I can.” But I have to disagree, with every single day of your learning/living, there is always something new where you scratch your head and say, “Well, I didn’t know that.” Ever have one of those days? Well geez, in my case every day is like that.

The new year started off on a high note but by July, it all started having a domino effect and tumbled downward day after day. What-with doctor visits and preparing my son for his first day of school, taking beau to Omaha on a few occasions, hopes rising and falling, then God putting a halt to all the toppling of the outcomes by saying, “Wait, did you run all this by ME first?”

Since it is Him who has complete control, we all stopped and said, “What will you have us do Father?” And that is when beau decided to wait on the Lord, Adam decided to pray for his enemy, and I, I continued writing like a news reporter gleaning all the days/weeks news.

So as you head into the new year, look behind at the old one and ask yourself, “Have I learned anything this year that I never knew before?” I bet nine out of ten of you will all shake your head in agreement and give a resounding, “Yes!”

Move forward into the new year with joyful anticipation knowing there is something new waiting for you next year! You don’t have to make plans, just know in your heart that it is waiting for you around the corner!

Ten Tips to Keep on Writing

Prov.1:5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:
***

1. Free-write without stopping
This is where you pick a word, picture, idea, and start writing about the subject without stopping. You can write about your day, your mother or sister, your dog or pet, anything, just to write something. Give yourself thirty minutes and if the keys are tapping so much you can’t stop, then DON’T!

2.Don’t make plans ahead of time
Just write the first thing that comes into your mind. Don’t debate whether it is a good topic or whether you’ll have enough to say, just keep writing.

3. Always keep tapping the keys on the keyboard. (Or keep the pen moving on the paper)
Don’t glance up to see if you’re making mistakes. (Or stop writing when you catch a mistake on paper.) Turn the internal editor OFF. There will be plenty of time for editing when you’ve written a few thousand words.

4.Sometimes it is helpful to have classical (or what ever you prefer) music to help you along.
If it becomes a distraction, turn it off and find whatever puts YOU in the mood. Is it complete silence? Is it background noise that helps? Maybe its rock & roll? Lit candles?
The ambiance setting is up to you.

5.Make your workspace fun and enlightening.
Having yourself surrounded in tranquility can help those stressful days of no-writing and turn them into productive days of key tapping.

6. Write with confidence.
If you are a writer, then having the confidence of a writer means that you will accomplish something on any given day. We, as writer’s, can not say, “I’m not good enough.” That shows lack of confidence in your writing. When you sit down in front of the keyboard, repeat after me, “I AM a WRITER!” Then write your heart out!

7. Study the craft
Make sure you have studied long and hard the craft that you are about to embark on. Roads have been paved for you, sure you can make your own paths, but if you lack the confidence of ever becoming a writer, it is for certain that you will NEVER become a published writer.

8. Step out of the box
You need to find a place where you fit in comfortably. Maybe you like non-fiction, spiritual tales, horror tales or sci-fi. Whatever the case may be. Don’t be afraid of stepping out of that comfort zone and trying on new clothes. Sometimes you might find a comfortable fit in sweats and a tee, but never be afraid of trying on that little black dress.
But as much as I say this, I won’t write or read outside of what my faith calls for.

9. Show determination
If you are not determined to be a writer, how will you expect to ever become a published writer? Writing for family can be rewarding, but are they hearing what editor’s are reading? No, editors expect professionalism from you and it is your determination to strive for the best that will make the editor stand up and say, “Now THIS shows promise!” Give them your best!

10.NEVER GIVE UP!
I say this because there will come a time when you just feel like throwing your work in the trash, times when you wish you could curl up in a ball and wish this talent away. But I’m afraid to tell you, that if it is a true talent, it will haunt your days and nights like the ghost of Christmas past, present and future all rolled into one!

Confusion~ Conflict

Ps.71:1 In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.
***

What a roller coaster of a ride. I have my ups and downs, my twists and turns, my corkscrew of a loop and then I live life like a straight and narrow path has been set before me as I walk along the road of life.

Sounds like a writers life, doesn’t it? Sounds like a novel. Ironically, this week in F2K, (the free writing workshop that I mentor) we’ve been working on conflict. Conflict in a story is essential, I guess, just like in life.

If we had no conflict in our story they would be boring beyond belief, no one would read a word of it, or at least they’d get so far into the story, realize there is nothing happening and decide to put the book down.

So I’m wondering, without conflict and controversy in our lives, would our lives then be boring? Sometimes which bread to buy can be a conflict on my weekly shopping trip. Although not really bread but the decision of what meals to make for seven days can stir in me a conflict.

And now I’ve come upon a fork in the road. Which do I take? The easy one that leads me to where *I* want to be, to achieve the things that *I* want. Is it all about me, me, me? No, it’s not and never is about me and what I want, it’s about a decision, made by God, and do I listen to him in his offering of settling the conflict, or do I go against what he is telling me and follow the path that I want?

A yo-yo, that is what I feel like, dangling by a string bouncing up and down wondering when the worn out string is going to snap. We in class like to use the inverted check mark.
Should be a yo-yo but really it wouldn’t define the uphill battle that the inverted check mark provides.

You start out slow going up the hill, conflict arises, you move onward and upward,  /\ , pace it nice and slow, throw in more conflict, reach a peak upheaval, then slowly resolve the conflict to give a to-die-for ending. This can be used in short stories also. You don’t want your story all cozy as a laz-e boy recliner, you want the lumpy sofa with no added pillows for cushion.

That’s my life, a lumpy sofa that needs refreshing. I like to have a plan in place, you know an outline, but when someone comes in and erases the entire central part of my outline, I need to try and figure out the outline all over again. Have a plan and stick to it. Sure, upon revision you can edit out or add to, but stick to the plan, or scrap the whole thing!

Do we go to Omaha or do we not? Does he listen to God and his heart or that of people? Does he buckle to man or rise in the Spirit. His choice. I’m just a yo-yo.

Confused? Join the crowd.

~Write Right~

Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
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Emotionally Write Right

I thought that Write Right was a creative blog name but it must not be, because I found one with an extremely familiar name. And wow, this person actually has the same topics for posts that I did over a year ago!

Is it plagiarism or is it a non-creative mind that sinks their teeth into my blog and repost theirs, just flipping the words around adding and taking away a few words here and there. That person has three posts so far and I will surely keep my eye on the blog, of the same title, minus my One Voice!

I used One Voice because I am only one voice among thousands of writers wanting to help writers along in their growth. I try to come up with creative posts, so that you the reader will find learning, interesting. We writers are part of a collective conscience that interestingly enough, thinks alike. We write the same things, feel the same motion of words, create pieces of art out of shapeless clay.

I write poetry to relieve stress and in the process I inspire others to write or feel something they knew was inside them, they just needed a boost to trigger the memory of what it was. My poetry is a trigger of those emotions. Some people get triggered and some people read without a hint of emotion, leaving them sagging throughout their life. If emotions don’t make you sit up and take stock of your life, then how on earth are you going to write?

No matter what type of characters you have in mind when you're writing, your emotional state is going to feed those characters. It will give them either an unfeeling straw kind of character, or you will create one with a rainbow of words shaping your character in many colors, with many hidden aspects. You can’t just have a cardboard cutout of a character, one without any shape, just the same old thing used over and over again. Your writing will get nowhere with this kind of character.

Our emotions will shape our characters in every way. I read Stephen Kings “On Writing” and in the book, although it it is more of a memoir, he states he was a heavy drinker and basically, the drinking shaped his characters into these weird, all out crazy maniacal people. The alcohol had an affect. Now since he has quit drinking, he has written some of his best work, Lisey’s Story is a spellbinding tale, with a rainbow of characters each having their own personality. You can tell his mind is clear.

Emotions are what drives our characters and our state of mind spits them out onto the paper. I’m hoping you don’t spit on the paper and that you spill words, dredged up from the pit of your being and state of mental health bringing forth a delicious character. Remember, pieces of our characters are all bits of us. Give the world a great character and we see little crumbs of you, the writer. Become One Voice to YOUR reader.

Setting Goals

Setting Goals, the most important thing a writer can do (besides writing of course.)

If you’re like me, you sometimes place goals as second or third on your list. I can’t help it, I have a son to tend to first and foremost and making him set goals is as important as me setting goals.

Okay maybe I need to be more clear here. Setting WRITING goals is front and center in a Writer’s life. You need to be clear as to where you are going and what you want to accomplish.

If writing a story is your goal, then set out to make it the best story possible. Day one, you will free write. Allow the keyboard to take on a ghostlike feature and just type away until your fingers hurt. Remember turn the internal editor off first, then type.

Day two of your writing goal will be to peek in on what you wrote. (This is where we usually begin talking to the screen and saying, "EGADS, did I make THAT many mistakes?") You may go over your work and fix all the red squiggly lines. Try not to edit too much at this point.

Day three, peek in again at what you wrote. (This is where you might say, "Sheesh did I write that?") If that’s the case let it settle a little longer. But while it is settling, think of markets that you’d like to send it to. Get a clear vision of what you wrote in your mind and think markets!

Have you gotten a market in mind? Well now you need to revise the piece! Revise it three to five times, hopefully with a workshop (like the great ones in WVU) or a yahoo group, of course. And make the piece shine. If it is 1,000 words or less this will be easier. If it is a short story, then you’ll obviously need more time. If it is a novel, it is still a good idea to have a clear marketable place in mind.

Goals are important in life. It is like a highway that is placed in our journey. We ride with the flow of traffic but if we didn’t have an occasional red light or off-ramp, we would keep driving aimlessly into the blazing sun. The road will then take on the mirage of melting wax, and you may get lost along the way, swimming in a pool of the unknown.

In writing we need to know where we are headed. Setting goals is the perfect way to absorb the clear idea you have in mind. "Where do I want to go with my writing?" After you know where it is that you want to go, make plans to get there. Whenever you are headed out on a long journey, what is it you do first? PLAN the trip first, setting a direct goal and the finishing outcome in mind, then you leave, hopefully not forgetting anything or you’ll have to start all over again on the journey.

Is your goal to become published? Do what is necessary to get you from point A to point B. Point C is reaping the rewards of all your hard work. It’s the relaxing part where you sit back in the luxury of a deserted island drinking Mai Tai’s and basking in all the glory.

Okay, that’s a fantasy for Mr. King. For us realistic souls, we go back to the writing board and begin the journey all over again!

Happy Writing! ~ joni