Monday to Monday

Going to take a break until November 30th. Happy Thanksgiving and may God be present this week!

Love,

Angie

What I've Discovered on my Writer Sabbatical...so far

If you checked out my post on Monday at the Writer's Alley (click below), you'll understand a bit
more about my self-proclaimed writer sabbatical. It's been about a week now since I put my characters on hold. And I've had two rejections in that time, which funny enough, hardly affected my emotions like they used to...my writer's brain has literally checked out for the time being.

There are three descriptives that might best illustrate my break so far:

Lately, I have gone to sleep around 10pm. That is CRAZY for me. I am usually striving into the wee

hours, trying to get word count or build my social media presence. But since I've "checked out" I've heard my body more clearly, it's tired and ready for sleep. And I let it. This is the greatest word I will attribute to my writer's break: REST.

...Not that being a writer causes me to not live abundantly. Actually, I have found great joy in living and writing and enjoying the blessing of story. But, my own self-destruct of unbalanced effort between writing and living made the writing a drain. I have actually enjoyed investing my whole attention to my kids, my friends, my free time. There is no nagging of the story in the back of my mind telling me I really need to get to work. I can't believe what a slave driver I was. LOL. I really did chain myself to publication, and would not allow myself to enjoy the simple leisures of life like a board game, a T.V. series, a song. Can I even say... cleaning my house? Yeah, weird. But seriously, when I let something consume me so thoroughly, I turn my back on so much living. I didn't realize how much I neglected my desire to LIVE ABUNDANTLY. 

The other day, I considered my next step once this break is over. And, if I had considered it before, it would have driven my itch, my anxiousness to get it done, my hurry to press "send". But now, in this state of rest, it seems like a good goal for a time in the near future. Not something to waste mental energy on right now. Just something to ponder until my writer's heart is back in full beat, and my mental energy is restored. This break is most definitely feeding my need to RESTORE.

I have no idea what my segment will be on Fridays since NaNoWriMo is out the window. If you have any suggests, I'd love to hear. I might just do something different each time. For now, I am going to get ready to host a neighborhood girl's night. Have a great weekend!

Here's my Writer's Alley post: What if I Am The Faint of Heart?

The Evil in The Deep: Psalm 23 challenge

How easy it would be to cling to evil in the deep darkness of a valley. To cling to anything that might

satisfy or relieve?

How easy it would be to cower in fear of all the evil that surrounds, to crumble and crawl and live in the pit.

The valley is a black gloom, a deep darkness, a seemingly godless path.

Sometimes, I wonder if He can even see me and guide me in such a dark place. And I see others who have gone astray, and allowed the darkness to consume them, to break them, to force them to relinquish their hearts.

I will stay the path in my blindness, because, I know,  that He is with me, He is my Shepherd, and guides me.

And I am safe.

Open your arms, America

I have seen a person grown on American soil, with good roots, good family, and loving environment, and end up turning against every American ideal, every moral concept, and cling to an extreme that kills, destroys, and alienates.

And, I have seen a non-American come to this country, and discover Freedom, Liberty, and Hope, when they used to cling to the SAME extreme of the person above.

Let's not group a whole country of people into an extreme when all they seek is Freedom, Liberty, and Hope.

And the ones who do not seek that...perhaps, just perhaps, our God is big enough to change their hearts...and our government is strong enough to find the bad seeds.

It is a complete hypocrisy to turn them away because of fear. We are called to embrace because of Love. Are we so quick to forget history? To see what happened to the Japanese in this country when fear ran the American people?

The refugee crisis is truly a crisis if we turn our backs on women and children and men who just want to survive. There are plenty who live within our borders that think in "extremes", and every day, a potential new "extremist" is born. There are careful, intelligence measures that must take place, of course. And that should be the question to debate. What steps can we take...not what doors can we shut.

How can we live in the "what ifs"and fear? It will only put blood on our own hands if we let news networks and politicians scare us out of compassion.

Shame on America for trying to close its arms. We cannot live in fear. And we cannot surrender Christ's compassion because of it.

^{Matthew 25:35-40
35} For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. ³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Faint of Heart...Mama-Writer Drama

Check out my post over at the Alley today. Maybe I am too transparent, but that's just me. But, it might be something you can relate to, whether you are a writer or not.