Keeping Vigil and Carrying the Load

Life is full of pain, yet God's goodness still shines through. This day has felt strangely holy, as I hold three people before the Lord in my thoughts.

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My friend Katie, whose police officer husband accidentally struck and killed a local 14 year old kid yesterday morning. What a shocking event in this small community, well connected to the families on both sides of the situation.

My friend Rhys, whose daughter Lia I am convinced shared time with Lulu in God's waiting room a couple years ago, sitting in a Boise hospital with Lia as she recovers from major internal surgery yesterday. Lia's road has been so unique and challenging already in this life, and it just doesn't appear that "normal" is something that will ever materialize for this family. Normal is overrated, but it does tend to come with more sleep and a greater sense of stability than this family has had for almost three years now.

And an amazing blogger, Sara, whose words I have been reading for three years now. She has been housebound for many years with an autoimmune disease, and has used the situation as a chance to be a voice of encouragement and beauty on the internet. We read this week that her earthly journey is almost at an end, and she is poised to make her entrance into the presence of Jesus. Go, Gitzen Girl!

I also have a friend trying to finalize adoption papers before a crazy deadline next week, another celebrating her dad's first birthday in heaven this week, and a new acquaintance whose divorce just finalized a couple days ago.

Life is full of pain. And difficult moments. I have no easy answers for the pain I am helping carry today. But I have hope. Today, as I have held this vigil in my heart, I have been reminded of Psalm 46:

God is our refuge and strength,a very present help in etrouble.2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,3 though its waters roar and foam,though the mountains tremble at its swelling. 

10 “Be still, and know that I am God.I will be exalted among the nations,I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;the God of Jacob is our fortress.

The mountains seem about to fall into the sea today, but even if everything crashes around me I know that God is here, and he is still God. 

Word Love Wednesday :: RUE Your Words

What’s your art?

Once a week, we gather here to discuss the art of writing. Not publishing--that’s a big world that involves marketing and business. Not the message itself--you already know in your heart what you want to say. Rather, we discuss the nuts and bolts that contribute to powerful delivery of your message--for the love of the written word.

Today’s tip: Resist the Urge to Explain. You have read over-explanations; you have probably written some of them. In my case, it usually comes from a sincere intention to help the reader feel invited into the moment, but sometimes it leads to too much backstory.

Backstory weighs a story down; if that weight comes right at the beginning of a story, before a reader is hooked, you might actually be able to see the reader’s eyes glaze over as she moves her mouse to click on to the next story. You have 5 seconds (50 words) to persuade your reader to stick with you--make the most of that time.

So how can you lighten up a little? Try any of these three tricks:

1. Start with a bang--jump right into the middle of the action. "Ring! Ring! The telephone's insistent call sucked her out of reverie. She tucked her thoughts away and turned her attention to Valerie's shrill voice on the other end of the line."
2. Start by declaring the topic sentence of your piece. "Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day, yet more than 25% of moms neglect to train their children to eat it." A quotation, Scripture reference, or statistic can work well to encapsulate the point you are about to make.
3. Start with an unusual thought that grabs the reader’s attention. "We learned more from the egg that didn't fry on the sidewalk than we ever did in school."

One strategy I use to lighten up my piece is to simply cut out the first paragraph of the first draft. Often I only end up needing a few words from those opening sentences to set the stage just as effectively in much less space.

It boils down to this silly acronym: RUE your words. Resist the Urge to Explain.

As you write this week, be aware of your backstory. Practice starting in the middle of the story. Practice finding quotes or Bible references to place at the beginning. Practice phrasing a thought in such a way that makes the reader say, “I want to read more!” Practice cutting your first paragraph, and see if the story really loses anything.

Now, let’s think about last week’s assignment: set yourself a goal to write so much a week. What was your goal? How did you do? I am still writing a lot more than I did earlier in the summer; but I found I need to write a lot on the weekend in order to focus on my other responsibilities during the week. My new goal for this week is to get four blog posts in the hopper by the end of the weekend, so I can use weeknight free time on other writing projects.

Join the conversation! Remember, you can comment something as simple as, "I am a writer!" The more you say it, the more your confidence grows. Tell us your writing goals; tell us your experience cutting out the backstory as you try to chisel out the best presentation of your message.


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Homeschool Report :: 2011 Week 1

I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

We got a small taste last week of what homeschool can look like. It definitely does not look like traditional school. I still feel a little crazy to think I can be the kids' teacher, but I hope that with every successful day (defined very loosely of course), my confidence will grow.

On Monday, homeschool looked like wallowing in a new bucket of geometric shapes. The kids didn't come up for air for nearly an hour.

I wrote a nice "Why I want a clean house" mission statement (more like a prayer): Lord, bless all who enter my home, and fill them with your peace. Release me from chaos, so I can focus on the needs of others.

On Tuesday, homeschool looked like creating a new animal out of clay, and naming it. Adam had a tough job naming all the animals, you know! Miss Boo's creation received the title of doliphant (part dolphin, part elephant), although I see more resemblance to jet plane, hummingbird, and aardvark.

For my project, I cleaned out the fridge and freezer. Only took 15 minutes due to it having been cleaned three months ago. Love that!

On Wednesday, homeschool looked like building a musical instrument, to celebrate that music has been around almost since the beginning. Lots of hammering in the garage happened on this day. We also visited the library.

I started out trying to get my kitchen counters cleared off, but got mired in the details. We accidentally paid the mortgage twice, resulting in some administrative distractions including a lengthy visit to the bank.

On Thursday, homeschool looked like buildling a puzzle map of Africa while we made cards to send a girl we sponsor in Malawi, through World Vision. We also made beads for the baby to string, and baked cookies.

Also on Thursday, we did that egg-on-the-sidewalk thing you may have heard me talking about. What a fiasco! First it didn't cook as fast as I expected, even in 106 degree temps on a black asphalt street. But I couldn't wait around because it was dinner time. I carried the baby back inside, set her down--and slipped a disk in my back.

After crawling into the living room and laying on the floor for ten minutes, I finished making dinner and dragged myself to my writers' group meeting, forgetting all about the egg. By the time I checked it at 10pm, it had cooked after all.

Never did clean out the stove and microwave, but they were pretty neat so I'm still okay.

By Friday, my back hurt, my intentions were melted in the heat, and it was time for a pool party and some grocery shopping. We did zero school, and ended the week with a house in its usual state of slight disarray. Ah, well.  It was a week, and I will count it as such. I met several new friends, both online and in person, that encourage me.

I have no idea what Friday's cleaning assignment was. Doesn't matter, I didn't do it. Weekends are for catching up, so that's why I built only 5 projects into each week. Unfortunately, we also spent the entire weekend getting out of the house, so my Monday morning is looking pretty scary already. Guess I'll just back up to day 3, on top of the neverending laundry mountain, and aim to finish goals 3-7 this week.

Not feeling especially victorious after one week, but not yet beaten down and discouraged, either. I suppose if you ask, "How's it going?" I would have to say, "About what I would expect after the first lap of 36. Anything can still happen!"

This week, we will work toward a getting-started routine that includes breakfast, getting dressed, and a little Bible time; then we will do math first, followed by our Mystery of History lessons. As time permits, we will set up a roly-poly observation station and start asking questions.

We will also be working in a visit to Discount Tire; a trip to the chiropractor for me; and 8-10 hours of writing time as I work on a workshop class, an interactive discipleship "party" for a half dozen pre-tweens, and a Bible study lesson.

What does your homeschool week look like?

This post is linked up with the Hip Homeschool Hop.
Because I'm chill like that.