Feeling Stuck? Read on... Devotion by Dianne J. Wilson

I watched a bee try to get out of my house yesterday. He buzzed up a storm up and down the glass. He was trying to find a hole, I guess? Up and down, left, right. He pushed hard to get through every millimeter of that glass pane. He was dedicated. Committed. Probably a bit desperate. At the end of the day? Still stuck.

Before you think I’m heartless for watching the poor thing struggle without helping it, hear me out.

The window was open.

At any moment, he could have flown free.  I did eventually help the little guy, but it got me thinking about how we live sometimes.

We can see the vision, the goal, the dream. We push towards it with every scrap of our energy. We keep pushing and trying, we change tactics and try again – because surely a God-given dream should work, right? And yet sometimes, there is simply no breakthrough. We try until our all our energy and passion is depleted and then a small sliver of disappointment lodges deep inside. If nothing changes, this sliver grows to a wedge that can drive us away from trusting God and what He’s called us to do.

Friends, if God has placed a dream in your heart – the window is open.

If I spoke bee, I would have said to that little chap buzzing in my window, “Hey, take a step back. Stop the frantic buzzing and breathe a little. Find the scent of fresh air and follow it.”

God is saying the same to us. “Step back. Stop the frantic buzzing and breathe. Find the fresh wind of the Holy Spirit and follow it.”

‘Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.’ Zechariah 4:6

‘I know that everything God does will endure forever; 

nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.’ Ecclesiastes 3:14

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She is writing the third book in YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed. Book 1, Affinity is releasing on the 8th of June 2018.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Writing in a Vacuum

I still remember the moment it first dawned on me that all I really wanted was to string words together for a living. Suddenly everything made sense. Why my English teacher loved me, but my history teacher didn’t… why the library was the closest thing to heaven on earth for me… why song lyrics made me cry. Words. It was all about words.

Armed with this revelation, I expected life to rearrange itself so that I could do what I’d been created to do – write. To my horror, the dishes didn’t wash themselves, laundry continued to pile up and my family kept eyeing me hopefully at mealtimes. Then there was the small matter of earning enough to do my bit to support our growing brood.

I’ll admit I threw some spectacular tantrums. Why me? was a common theme. I knew many stay-at-home moms who didn’t have a thimble-full of the vision and passion that I had, yet they had time on their hands – the one thing I didn’t seem to have enough of.

So I did life. I raised my babies, with all the wiping and washing that comes with them. I went to work and reconciled accounts, laughed and cried with colleagues. I danced and dug in the garden. I ironed through mountains of laundry that would crush small countries if piled in a heap. I wrote in stolen pockets of time, cherished moments of word-weaving made all the more precious for their rarity.

Years down the line I can see a truth that I couldn’t before – my writing is richer because my life has been full. 

Nothing thrives in a vacuum, but word-seeds germinated in the rich soil of life experience grow tall and strong, effortlessly bearing the message intending for the reader’s heart.

So if you are facing the frustration of not being able to write full-time, take heart! The real life you live will seep into your words packing them with oomph and gusto to transport your reader. As you embrace your life you will see your writing come to life!

Where are you at? Fitting in bits of writing in between, or able to spend as much time as you want? How do you manage when real life gets a bit too busy?

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She is neck-deep in a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

4 days into 2017... How are those resolutions going?

There is something about the start of a new year that gives us courage to say this time will be different. All of us go there at some stage. If you don't believe me, just read your Facebook / Twitter feed on Old Years Eve.

This year I going to ...

get into shape

get out of debt

finish that novel

spend more time with my kids

get organised 

quit being negative

be happy

bath the dog at least twice a month

Sound familiar? So we leap from one year to the next, hoping for change. Some manage to stick to it and if you're one of those, you have my undying admiration! For me, none of it has ever stuck and I think I've figured out why.

Resolutions (goals, if you will) are decisions we make and attempt to see through in our own strength. This can be a set up for failure. Consider this:

• Most new years resolutions are made during the December holidays. You're on holiday. You're going to bed when you feel like it and waking up without your alarm clock. You have time to think and reassess. The pace of life is different, less rushed. The demands of normal life have been shoved into a cupboard with duct tape over their mouths.

• We make resolutions and stick to them by the sheer force of our will. For some of us, this backfires spectacularly. I've discovered that my won't power, is far stronger than my will power. The moment I eyeball myself in the mirror and declare I will stop eating chocolate this year, without fail, the rebel in me rises up with a smirk and says Oh, really? 

• We don't live in a vacuum. We are surrounded by family and circumstances who aren't bothered in the slightest about our resolutions and for the most part won't help us keep them. Trust me, I have two teenagers and one pre-teen. Seldom are my tidy plans and their social lives in sync.

But there is hope for those of us who long for change, and it's to be found at the feet of Jesus. We don't need another set of resolutions, those impossible lines that one can neither limbo under or vault over. 

What we need is vision. God-inspired, God-breathed, God-empowered vision. 

When you sit with Him and He says... Okay girl, how about we tackle this debt?. You're in a good place to start working on it because you are doing it hand-in-hand with the One who is able to do what you alone cannot.

Vision is seeing your life through His eyes and walking it into reality holding His hand. Not relying on yourself, but fully trusting Him and His ability to help you.

So I guess you could say I do have a new years resolution - no more resolutions!

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She has just signed a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Dream Seeds & Vision

Do you have a dream inside of you that you want so badly that it hurts? A vision for your life that will not let up? Maybe you've tried letting it die after yet another disappointment, but all it takes is a piece of music or words falling into place, and the desire rises Phoenix-like - consuming you in its fresh flames.

I've tried to give up writing sometimes. The emotional rollercoaster - yay! they like me... despair! they hate me - seemed like too much to put up with. Ha! Might as well try to saw off my right hand with a butter knife - it can't be done.

I've come to realize that the dream inside of me has been planted there for a purpose and I've been carefully created to achieve that purpose.

Here's a thought:

Seeds are amazing little things. They are the product of intimacy and a re-mixing of genetic material.

So when God built us, He took a tiny part of His dream - carefully packaged it inside of each one of us, tucked away together with all the right giftings and talents to see that dream fulfilled.  God's dream inside of us is a remix of genetic material - part Him, part you. Only you can do that bit of what is on His heart. Be it writing, making movies, baking cookies, growing lillies...

The mind-blowing thing is that the dream seed inside you carries God's DNA too. His Life, His creative power, His freedom, His enabling - amazing stuff.

Talk to me. What are your dreams?

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She has just signed a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon& Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

DEVOTION: What do you see for tomorrow?

I’ve been reflecting on my life over the last few days, as people are sometimes wont to do at the start of a new the year. There were so many things that I started last year: a Personal Performance Coaching diploma, learning how to swim and how to ride a bike. I realise that I am very good at starting projects but not that good at finishing what I start. I want to be a published author (obviously); I need to lose weight (at the time of writing I am on Day 11 of a 28 day juice fast and I can tell you some days I really crave a hot meal especially as winter is here with a vengeance and I’m focusing my all on reaching the finish line)! I realise that a lot of the struggles I have has to do with my mind-set. Anyway last night I read a Chinese proverb sentence on a website that really spoke to me.

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now.

I confess I do have a tendency to procrastinate but I have reached a point in my life, where I realise that if I am going to achieve what I want out of life; what I believe the Lord has placed in my heart to do, I have to take action. So I went to Him about it and the Holy Spirit gave me this scripture:

Without a divinely inspired mental picture, the people cast of all restraint. Proverbs 29:18

Jesus is our example. He came to reveal the Father to man and to destroy the works of the devil. His earthly life teaches us how we are supposed to live and what we should aspire to. Thank God that everything we need is provided to us on the basis of the cross. And thank God that we are saved by His grace and not by any works that we can do, but we are expected to use the gifts He has given us to further His purposes on the earth and to bring Him glory.

So I thought about Jesus in light of Proverbs 29:18 and realised that everything He did had purpose. He knew who He was and what He came to earth to do so all His choices were deliberate. He made choices, went places and did things that moved Him in a specific direction. I will probably meditate on this for the next month or so. I am looking at my life and choices with a very critical eye and noticing that while I do work long hours and don’t feel like doing much at the end of the day, I do find the time to do the things that I like to do. Time is fleeting and as we get older we may not be presented with as many opportunities or have the strength to do the things we may now take for granted. As January draws to a close, let’s take stock of our lives and how we spend our time, and maybe ask ourselves some difficult questions.

Almighty Father, give me a divinely inspired mental picture for my life. Give me the wisdom and grace to make the right choices that will move me closer each day to fulfilling Your purpose for my life. In Jesus Name. Amen.