Each Day is a Surprise

‘Treat each day as a surprise’ is advice from a friend of mine.

If you ask me it is good advice because we never know exactly what the day will bring.

The other day while my husband and I were walking along a beach near our home we were surprised by two pods of dolphins swimming so close to shore we could have practically walked out to meet them. Sadly, we didn’t have the camera to capture them but it certainly brightened our day.

Earlier this week on another beach walk, my husband found this shell which has been added to my collection.

It is lovely to find one so full of colour and perfectly intact washed up.

When it comes to surprises and writing, one morning I received an email from someone about Homes Kid, one of my poems she had read.  I’m not sure where the woman who is a senior lecturer in social sciences at one of our universities found it. Probably it was in the literary magazine where it was originally published, way back in 1995.  Being a person who lectures at university and who was researching about children placed into foster care and care situations, she emailed me about the poem’s origin. We emailed back and forth a bit about the inspiration of and the content of the poem. The result was she ended up buying a copy of Kaleidoscope to read my other poems. 

Just recently I was given Echoes of Memory - poems by John O’ Donohue. Apparently I had mentioned it once in passing and my son had picked up on it, even though I had forgotten all about it. Once I started to read I was immediately transported by the simplicity and beauty of the language. You can be sure it is one of those poetry books I will be pulling out and reading again and again.

As writers, whether we write fiction, poetry or some other form of nonfiction one of the most important things we can do as well as write, is to read and keep on reading. We need to read to see what is out on the market place already. Not that we want to copy the style or ideas of someone else, far from it! But as we read and read widely we see what works and what doesn’t. We begin to see faults that may show up in our own writing and find ways to overcome them. Since I have been writing I have found I have become a more critical reader. Has anyone else found this? So longs as it helps me weed out the unnecessary words, dialogue or whatever it might be in my own writing that is not working, then it is a useful tool to have.

Often it is not only reading the good books with fully fleshed characters or beautiful prose we learn from. We can learn from those with cardboard cut out characters, false sounding dialogue and clunky sentences because we learn what to avoid. Anything that rings false has the capacity to pull the reader out of a story, a poem or piece of writing. That’s something we definitely don’t want to happen to those reading our work.

When you read are you conscious of looking out for specific things or do you just get so caught up in the story or the beauty of the language that you find yourself unable to distance yourself and view it objectively? Love to hear your thoughts on this.

 

Dale writes fiction and poetry. Her latest novel is Streets on a Map is currently available as an E book. She has also written children’s books, bible studies, Sunday school material, devotionals, and articles about marriage, home and Christian living. She is currently at work on a new novel, tentatively titled Sandstone Madonna.

Have Words Lost Their Power?

Living near the water is something I never dreamed would be on my husband’s and my horizon. Yet that is exactly what has happened. The reality is we spend quite a bit of time walking the beach.

 

 

 

 

Even on a grey morning around dawn, as it was when these photos were taken, I stand in awe and amazement. Not for creation itself, but in awe of the God who has made it all for us to enjoy. He is indeed an awesome creator God and that’s using awesome in the way it was meant to be used.
According to the dictionary awesome means ‘inspiring awe’ and awe, of course, has according to the dictionary again that element of ‘reverential fear or wonder.’  But that’s not the way I hear it used today. It seems to have passed into our common language and is used  a lot, but not exclusively, by young people, These days anything which is great or interesting is declared  'awesome.' The result is people end up describing anything from a pizza, a night out, a song, an artist, or a footballer as awesome. Every time I hear it I feel like cringing.

In Taking a Chance a novel  by Deborah Burrows, I am reading at present, one of characters says, ‘It’s words that can save the world Nellie, words that can make a real difference.’  I  agree.  But today is seems too often like words have lost that power and been devalued. Actually there seems to have been a lot of discussion lately in various places about the way words are being used.

I also started a book by an author I usually like, general fiction. The woman in the story asked what anniversary they were celebrating and the man replied. Not with, 'the first time we made love,' which would have sounded romantic and sensual.  He could even have said the first time they had sex but the author put the other crude f word in the character’s mouth.  I sounded crass and entirely unnecessary. It stopped me in my tracks. I eventually persisted for while longer but ended up not reading the book , not only for that reason but because it felt confused and I felt like I was wading my way through thick sludge.

Some words like that dreaded f word seem to be used these days prolifically. The words of Cole Porter’s song Anything Goes written well before I was born, around 1934 were prophetic saying,' ‘Authors that once knew better words now only use four letter words writing prose. Anything Goes.’ We are certainly seeing that these days.

On the other hand, I am currently reading a book God’s Panoply by Anne Hamilton and it deals a lot with words, not just English words but Hebrew and Greek words among others. I'm learning a lot. At times it even sends me looking up English words and one my dictionary didn’t even bother to include. I’d heard of subliminal but not liminal. Hands up any who can tell me the meaning of the word liminal?  Sad when the dictionary didn’t have it, though trusty Google came to the rescue and enlightened me.

It’s not always a bad thing to encounter unfamiliar words while reading. I would rather that than words which get used incorrectly are overused or that have lost their meaning.

As Christian writers, it is important that we think seriously about the words we use and how we use them. They have the power to change the world. Or they can just blend in so that we appear no different to the non Christian. It was something our guest speaker challenged us about at church this Sunday. Do our words reveal as us as children of the King? Are our words salt and light in a conversation? I might add, or on the page? Or do we just blend in with the world around us? It’s something for each of us to consider and with God’s help work through.

Dale writes fiction and poetry. Her latest novel Streets on a Map is currently available as an E book. She has also written children’s books, bible studies, Sunday school material, devotionals, and articles about marriage, home and Christian living. She is currently at work on a new novel, tentatively titled Sandstone Madonna.

 

Learning to say ‘No’

One of the most valuable pieces of advice I was given as a new Christian was the importance of learning to say ‘no.’ My mentor went on to explain there will always be jobs that need doing and usually more jobs than people willing to do them. But.... if it is something God is not calling you to do and you take it on, firstly you won’t do as good a job as you ought and secondly you could be depriving the person who would be excellent in that position from doing it. While ever someone is doing a job, others can be often hesitant to volunteer.

Sometimes after prayer I have felt God calling me to a task I may feel ill equipped for. When this happens, I’ve found if I trust Him, He enables. Other times after prayer, I‘ve said ‘No’ to those things I don’t feel God is calling me to. But it is not always easy. People seem to have a problem with the word ‘no’ and want reasons why we don’t want take on a task or do something. We should be able to be honest with friends and acquaintances but it seem to me some people don’t handle honesty well.

My husband is a great one for no excuses, no apologies. He simply says ‘no.’ As he reminds me and as writer Anne Lamott also says in one of her books ‘No is a full sentence.’

But then people look at you and wait for explanations as to why, or worse still try and change your mind and tell you why you’d be so good at it, or why you’d enjoy that activity. Sometimes they may even pressure you by telling you ‘there is no-one else.’ I don’t believe that. If God has a task that needs doing, He will raise up the right person to do it.

Years ago my husband were involved in Sunday school and had been for many years. After our daughter was born and was around twelve months old, it became quite hard to get to church in the evening when she was tired. We were both teaching Sunday school in the morning. Rather than one go and one stay home with her, we decided the time had come to take a break from Sunday school teaching. We came in for a lot of criticism from one person.  However, our attitude was God was calling us out for a time and He would raise up others to do the job. And He did. After we stepped down, they ended up with more teachers in our section than they had ever had before.  You see, what this critical person forgot was, it is God’s work and God provides. But sometimes it means other people need to get out of the way and leave a vacancy for Him to fill.

Even in everyday situations that don’t involve ministry, saying 'no' can present problems.  A writing group I was involved in planned a day long craft day. While everyone sounded excited, I declined whereupon people insisted on telling me how I would love it etc. And anyone could do it.  I still said ‘no.’

Craft and me, do not belong in the same sentence. A day of craft related activity to me is a not relaxing but torture. Writing yes but, not things like any form of visual art, needlework, knitting and crochet, etc.  I admire those who do them and produce beautiful works. But they are not for me.

When younger, I spent a lot of time trying to make myself do such things because people expected it.  Now I no longer bother trying to make myself something I am not, but concentrate on those things I can do.

Should I make excuses as to why I can’t or don’t want to participate? To me that is dishonest. I’d rather be upfront and say 'while I realise it appeals to others, it is not my thing.' In that I am like Abby in Streets on a Map. But where her life revolved around singing, mine revolves around serving God in the ways I can, and yes that includes singing but only at church and bible study, husband and family, and writing. When it comes to relaxing, activities include, reading, crosswords, live theatre and watching footy. Have you noticed something? Apart from the footy they are all word related activities.

 So how do you handle it when people ask you to take on some ministry you don’t feel called to? Or they invite you to participate in an activity you don’t enjoy? Do you make excuses?  Do you suddenly invent another engagement on that day, if it’s something you want no part of? Or do you honestly tell them it is not your thing but you’d be happy to spend time together doing something you both enjoy? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

Streets on a Map, Dale’s latest novel was published by Ark House Press. Prior to that, Dale has had seven children’s books and Kaleidoscope a collection of poetry published. Many poems in Kaleidoscope have been previously published in Australia’s literary magazines. She has also written bible studies and Sunday school lessons.More information about Dale can be found at www.daleharcombe.com or on her Write and Read with Dale blog http://www.livejournal.com/users/orangedale

 

Waiting on God

by Dale Harcombe

Waiting is not my strong point. Too often I find I want God to act and I want it when I want it. Maybe some of you can relate to that. Perhaps that is why Psalm 37 is one of my favourite psalms, especially the first few verses. They remind me of several things. First is that my delight should be in the Lord. When my delight is in God then God promises to give me the desires of my heart. This is not an all encompassing idea like granting every wish. It has more to do with the fact that if I delight in the Lord, my desires will be more likely to be in tune with God and so he can easily give me the desires of my heart, because they are in line with his own.

The next verse that speaks to me from this psalm is about committing my way to the Lord. That means not making up my own mind what I will do or not do, but checking in with God first and seeing what he wants for me to do. As a writer, it is imperative that I am constantly in touch with God, finding his will for me and for my writing.

Verse 7 of Psalm 37 tells me to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him - easier said than done sometimes. For some of us, resting does not come naturally. We're all about getting in and doing things. But since God tells me to rest in him, then I need to take notice. Similarly waiting for the Lord is not always easy. My timing is often not God's timing. This was never more evident than in my writing career.

When Chasing After the Wind, my first children's book, was published I thought it would be a natural progression from there to further books with the same publisher. It didn't work out that way. Although I have had seven children's books plus a book of poetry published, it hasn't been an easy road and the books have been with several different publishers.

Even so, I longed to have a novel for adults published. For a time it never looked like it was going to happen. At that stage I was trying to get it accepted by secular publishers because I wanted it to go into secular bookshops where it would be picked up and read by non Christians. I hoped it would challenge them to think more about God. The manuscript kept coming back to me. I put it aside and kept working on other writing, namely children's fiction and poetry. But I still wanted that manuscript to see the light of day and believed God did too.

Then God convinced me to submit it again to Ark House Press. God made it clear this was his time and way for it to be published. Streets on a Map was published in December 2010 and has received excellent reviews. You can find some of those reviews here.

Even when the book was almost at the stage of being published there were delays from the anticipated date. So it was back to waiting. By that time it was too close to Christmas so I didn't hold my book launch till mid February. Initially, trying to organise a venue and catering and all the details proved to be difficult. I was tempted to wonder if it was ever going to happen. But the Lord kept reassuring me from his word. He had a plan.

Of course, as always happens when I stop and listen to God instead of charging in trying to do it on my own, it all worked out beautifully. It was without doubt the best book launch I have ever had. Included in the launch were a couple of musical items by a singer. Unaccompanied except for a soft drum beat, she sang two of the songs Abby, the main character from Streets on a Map would have sung. Some photos from the launch are up on my website http://www.daleharcombe.com/ under News.

I came to see when left to God, His ways are perfect. When we wait on him and trust him to act and leave things in his more than capable hands, things work out in his time and way. What's more, they work out better than we could ever imagine. We can be sure of this because God's Word promises this. The steps of a man (or woman) are established by the Lord and he delights in his (or her way) Psalm 37:23. What a beautiful promise and assurance to cling to!