Devotion: How's Your Sense of Direction?

by Sherma Webbe Clarke | @sdwc8181 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5, 6 (NKJV) 

My daughter is blessed with a keen sense of direction. She remembers landmarks and learns her way around new places quickly. Even if she is a stranger to an area, she maneuvers on foot or on public transportation as if she lived there all her life. I was amazed that, on her first trip to London, she was able to guide me from place to place using the Underground and bus system after only a matter of hours. On several occasions during our time together in London, I relied on her to get us to our destinations without getting lost.

I am the opposite.

I arm myself with detailed, written instructions or a map to find my way around in unfamiliar places. Before starting any trip, I pour over the directions several times to create a mental map. Online maps are great for virtually “walking” the streets of an unfamiliar destination. When driving, I use GPS to guide me, although I have been known to argue with the mechanical voice. “Are you sure?” I ask.

Even with ample preparation, there is no guarantee I won’t lose my way while trying to find a hotel, locate a particular store, or drive to a certain town or city as a first-time visitor. I have a talent for getting lost. A street sign could be missing. Or I might get sidetracked by an unexpected event (or a bookstore). More than once, a detour has caused me to take a different route than anticipated, sending my anxiety level through the roof of my rental car. The airport of one particular city--that shall remain nameless--is constantly involved in or surrounded by construction. Construction means detours. Detours mean. . . well, let's just say I'd rather have someone pick me up than attempt to drive from that airport.

Sometimes self-doubt is the culprit. At the last minute, I turn right when I should have turned left at the grocery store on the corner or at the second intersection. These mistakes can result in frustration, not to mention in a loss of time and energy. Doubting clear directions can be particularly costly when making life choices. Some can be life changing.

Peer pressure may lead to addictive habits such as drug or alcohol abuse or lifelong struggles with nicotine. Hasty purchases can result in long-term financial debt. Life is full of detours and side roads. It provides more than anyone’s fair share of doubtful moments. As writers, we stare at the page and make no progress in finding the words we need. We compare the first draft of our WIP to another writer’s new release and question our talent. We think it would be wonderful if we could make all our plans work out according to our timing and desires. But when self-reliance or self-doubt creeps into our thinking, plans go awry.

God’s word reminds me that the most essential sense of direction I need comes from following Jesus. I can have confidence in Him because He already knows what is best for me (Jeremiah 29:11). He sets up divine appointments. If I follow and obey, I don’t need to depend on my own instructions, a carefully drawn map, or even the skill of others when traveling in unfamiliar territory. All I need to do is put my hand in His and allow Him to lead.

Do you have a testimony about claiming Proverbs 3:5-6? Please share in the comment section. It might encourage someone else.

About Sherma... 

Sherma Webbe Clarke is a contemporary fiction writer and a 2017 ACFW First Impressions Finalist. Her inspirational writing has been included in Christian devotional books: Grace Notes and Blessed. She loves to take her husband by the hand to explore nearby and far-flung areas of the globe. This wanderlust has its perks. She credits many of her story ideas to these adventures. Quiet, early-morning walks along the railroad trails on her home island of Bermuda provide inspiration when she is homebound.

Too nice to be a writer?

I’m a nice person. I’m kind to older people. Babies and children have a soft spot in my heart and I regularly sneak into pet shops to ooo and aaaah over puppies and kittens. So when it comes to being mean to my characters? I find it hard.

And yet, sweet and kind, a bestseller does not make! 

So what do we writers do? We weave a giant character flaw into the make-up of our protagonist. Then we line up the challenges… each more wicked than the one before... all aimed at that tender spot. Stack up the odds, make the goal more than impossible. We pluck their heartstrings like a mournful violin because that is what keeps our book glued into the reader’s hands and carves our words onto their hearts.

Have you ever wondered why that formula works?

I think…

• We as humans take courage in the courage of others. It feeds that place in us that says – get up, keep moving, you can do this! Whatever your 'this' may be… proposing to your beloved, picking up dog poo on the lawn, facing another round of chemo.

• Seeing someone overcome their fears makes us brave.

• A well-constructed fictional character comes alive inside the reader. Who wouldn’t want to see your friend overcome?

So nice writers dig deep and get mean because in our heart of hearts we know that our protagonist has it inside to rise to the challenge, to overcome, to grow! Why? Because we made them that way. Much like God made us.

How about you? Do your character’s troubles get you in a knot, or do you rub your hands gleefully with every added landmine?

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.

The Challenge Authors Face

I've noticed that fiction authors face a disadvantage to our craft which other creative folk don't share. My husband is a saxophone player and my twelve-year-old daughter is a budding artist. Here is an observation I've made. It's harder for fiction authors to share with others what we've created.

An artist may paint a gorgeous landscape or mold a sculpture, and people take one glance and say, "Wow, look at that. You have such a lovely talent."

A musician may play a few bars of a song, and they say, "That's wonderful. You have the power to really move people."

But when a novelist completes a longstanding project and it's finally published and delivered, people say, "Hopefully I'll find enough time to read it one day but my life's pretty hectic at the moment. The blurb sounds interesting. Good on you for giving it a go."

They might go so far as to tell others, "My friend here writes novels," but when we ask down the track, "Have you read any yet?" they pull sheepish faces and say, "The last one you gave me is still in the pile on my shelf."

Unlike the artist or musician, we can't just present our work in front of peoples' eyes or ears. A little effort is required from their end too. They need to choose to set aside a block of time to actually open up our books and read them. A good two thirds of well-wishers may find this difficult to do. This is the problem which makes authors unique from other creative types.

Apart from the tremendous achievement of writing our books, we need to come up with catchy one-liners to convince people that they may like to read our work. And sometimes we find ourselves thanking friends or acquaintances profusely when they've done us the favor of reading our books and giving us feedback, forgetting that we've also done them a favor, by providing them a heart-touching, potentially life-changing story to whisk them away from their mundane duties for awhile.

How do we handle the frustration of this aspect of our work? By frequently reminding ourselves to focus on the larger picture. We need to zoom out our vision to consider places and hearts our books may have penetrated which we have no idea about. Sometimes God gives us a glimpse, like a wink from heaven. My niece saw somebody reading my novel, "Best Forgotten" in the lunch room at work. They told her they'd bought it from a Christian bookshop and it was a really great story.

We think of the future and how the work we do is still making fresh impact on others years after we've finished a project. I love receiving the occasional email telling me how an older book such as, "A Design of Gold" or "The Risky Way Home" or one my fantasy adventures has impacted somebody's heart as they've related to a character they've found similar. I love to know that the work my novels were designed to do is still taking place, and may be fifty, eighty, even one hundred years down the track.

Let's not focus on short term lack of feedback, as if this is all our work is designed for. We won't ever know the full impact it has made, or even the impact it may be having now, until we get to heaven.

Paula Vince is a homeschooling mother and award winning fiction author who lives in South Australia's beautiful Adelaide Hills with her husband and three children. She likes to work at her computer with the sound of the washing machine and dishwasher in the background, as it gives her the illusion she is multi-tasking.