Our Better Selves

For the past week and a half the news in Canada has been dominated by the wild fire in Fort McMurray.  Fort Mac is a fabled city in our country, it is the capital of the oil sands development.  The place that shows as a huge scar on the earth from space.  

The place that powers a large segment of our economy.  The place that produces 8% of the greenhouse gas of our nation.  The place that provides high-paid employment for Canadians from all regions of the country.  Love it or hate it, Fort McMurray matters to Canada.

   On Tues. May 3, 2016 a wildfire shifted direction, the wind whipped up and the entire city of Fort McMurray came under threat.  Within hours an evacuation order went out.  88,000 residents fled their homes.  Some went north to the oil camps.  Those who could went south toward Edmonton.  There is only one road in and out of the city.  It was a nightmare scenario.  Yet in the midst of it all came the good news stories.
   A good Samaritan drove his ATV up and down the shoulder of the packed highway offering free gas to those who had run out.

 Another generous soul walked the line of cars handing out coffee, muffins and water.  With only a few hours notice, the tiny town of Lac La Biche, pop. 2500 took in over 10,000 evacuees, providing showers, food, clothing, toiletries and a place to sleep.

 Firefighters, police and paramedics went beyond the call of duty to see that everyone was safe.  They even went door to door when they could rescuing pets.  Pet rescue groups set up shelters, provided food and helped reunite hundreds of pets with distraught owners.  Airlines waived their rules and let dogs and cats ride in the cabin as thousands of residents were air lifted to larger centres.
    People from across the country united in sending aid to their stricken fellow-citizens.  The Canadian red cross has collected an unprecedented $86 million dollars in ten days, donations from ordinary citizens, sports teams, institutions, service clubs, and corporations.  One heart warming story concerns a five year old boy who set up a lemonade stand at the mall.  He collected $2500.00, all of it for Fort Mac.  Even Syrian refugees, in this country for only a few weeks themselves, pitched in, giving what they could, wanting to help.  The good news stories go on and on.  In the midst of disaster

people across the country showed compassion, generosity, hospitality, kindness, patience.  In fact, you could make a list of the fruits of the Spirit and find a story to go with each one.  No doubt, when the smoke clears, we'll go back to complaining about this government decision or that one, sniping that one region, or one interest group got unfair advantage, but I hope that our collective sense of ourselves lingers and, as a nation, we exhibit more kindness and understanding with each other.

   It strikes me that our personal growth follows the same pattern as this national disaster.  When we are at our most desperate, we call out to God and He hears us.  For a little while, broken, needy, despairing, we put our trust in God.  Our faith is strengthened.  For a little while we "know" that Jesus loves us.  Then, life gets back on track, we become self-absorbed again, we believe we've rescued ourselves.  God becomes a benign Being we mostly ignore.  
    I heard a story once of a clergyman late for a meeting in a big city.  He couldn't find a parking place and the clock was ticking.  In desperation he prayed.  "Please God, give me a parking space and I'll double my weekly offering."  Immediately a car pulled away from the curb.  The clergyman shouted "Never mind, God.  I found one."
    I don't wish disaster on anyone, personally or collectively.  I'm one who wishes to avoid tears and rain.  I much prefer joy and sunshine.  Yet I know that hardship calls forth our better selves.  It seems we don't grow, physically, emotionally or in faith, without pain.  There is a reason God gave us all the emotions, not just the happy ones.

   As I pray for the people of Fort McMurray, I give thanks for the courage and perseverance of the fire fighters, the police, and

paramedics.  I give thanks for the kindness of strangers.  I give thanks that no lives were lost to the fire, although two people died in a car crash during the evacuation.  Like Elijah, I ask God to send the rain. I ask for courage, strength and hope for all those displaced by the fire.  
    And I pray that we remember our better selves when the crisis is passed.

Alice Valdal lives in Beautiful British Columbia, Canada where she looks out at the ocean, green trees and rose bushes in bloom, while trying to wrap her mind around the tragedy that has befallen her fellow citizens.  

Visit her at www.alice valdal.com or at facebook.com/#!/alice.valdal.5 

Published Books.

Her One and Only

The Man for Her

Love and Lilacs

 The Man Who Loved Christmas

Waiting is Good for You. No, really!

Way back at the start of my writing journey, I naively thought it would take a month or two to sell my novel once I’d finished writing it (which I did mid-year 2005).  I scoffed at writers who only managed to sell the third or fourth book they’d penned thinking that would never be me. I laugh now when I look back – I pushed hard to finish my first book thinking that would be our source of grocery money in a month or two’s time. I know, right?! Writer friends – pick yourself up off the floor, stop sniggering and keep reading please.

The transition from that level of bright-eyed faith in my calling to the impossible hope sober reality of getting a book published broke my heart many times over. I argued with God – how can He tell me to do something, then make it impossible for me to do? I fought, pleaded, declared in faith, got my friends to agree with me, still Heaven wouldn’t budge. In those early days, the one thing He did say consistently was that I was going to have to trust Him beyond what I’d ever trusted Him before. Ouch.

Did I ever want to give up? I’d be lying if I said no, and bad things happen to people who lie so… heck yeah. And I did, many times over. And yet, here I am still writing. And the strangest part of it all? I’m grateful that my first book wasn’t published the month after I’d finished writing it. Sounds crazy, but I am grateful to the very marrow in my bones and here’s why:

1) I’ve developed a writing work ethic that doesn’t depend on the acceptance / approval of others. Its a sneaky trap for a writer – there is nothing quite like the charge we get when someone ooo’s and aaah’s over our work, or we get a request for more, or we land that freelance job – it buoys us to keep the words flowing. But I found the energy from each positive would only carry me so far and I’d be needing my next fix of approval. I need to know what is in my gut to say to the world, and be true to put my bottom in the chair and my fingers on the keyboard. Regardless of the feedback I do or do not get.

2)  My skill as a writer has grown. I’ve had time to glean and absorb, to apply and work my writing muscles.

3) I appreciate any writing gaps that I get in my busy days. I don’t scoff at a stolen 10 minutes or a forward push of 500 words. It all adds up, builds and brings your book that tiny bit closer to being finished.

4) I’m getting to know myself as a writer – who my key audience is, what I should avoid writing, where my sweet spot is, the most effective way for me to tackle a project.

5) I’ve let go of the need to manipulate God’s timing and am able to let Him help me wait graciously and productively without the tantrums and crises of faith. He gave me the gift, He will use it best in His good timing. As much as I still get the odd day of throwing toys, I know I can trust Him to help me manage my heart in the meantime.

The process of waiting is a beautiful thing. It causes our roots to dig deeper into our Source, making us less likely to wither at the first blast of a hot wind or drought. It makes us tough yet, strangely, more flexible. It prepares us for the work that is written into our DNA to do.

And so I’ve learnt to trust the process, not only for the process itself, but because I know the Author of the process.

How do you cope with waiting? I’d love to hear from you.

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters.

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

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Smashwords.

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

Ignoring the Source By Marcia Lee Laycock

The twinge of pain shot through my hip and down my left leg. “Hmm,” I thought, “Where did that come from?” It went away fairly quickly, so I forgot about it. A while later it happened again. Again, I ignored it. Within a few days the pain had become regular. Still, I kept thinking it would go away. Then I felt a twinge in my right knee. A few days later, the twinge stayed there. I told myself it would go away. One day, after walking only a short distance, my knee swelled up so much I was limping. A friend noticed and I admitted I wasn’t sure what I’d done, but that knee wasn’t working properly. She mentioned that when her knee swelled it was because her hip was out of joint. I acknowledged I was having some pain in my hip, but it was on the other side. “Exactly,” she said. “Hmm,” I thought, and finally made an appointment to have it checked. Sure enough, the problem with the left hip caused my body to try to compensate, damaging the right knee. The pain was obvious, but I had ignored the source of the problem.

Our bodies function like machines. As long as all the parts are in the right place, doing what they should be doing, everything is fine. But when one part malfunctions, the whole body suffers. Everything is connected and meant to function in tandem. When we ignore the danger signals, the twinges of pain and swelling joints, we can end up with severe problems.

We tend to ignore danger signals in our spiritual lives too. We tell ourselves the cynicism and doubts are normal. We refuse to recognize the pain in our hearts when relationships aren’t the way they should be. We coast through life, ignoring the gnawing emptiness we feel and wondering why we get so angry over little things. We ignore the lack of love in our lives and wonder where the bitterness comes from. We know there is something wrong but we fail to connect it with the source of the problem.

When the soul is malnourished, the whole life is affected. The apostle John, in his letter to his friend, Gaius, said – “I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” (3John:2) John knew that you can’t have one without the other. A sickness of the soul leads to a sickness in the life. Ignoring the spiritual danger signals will lead to not just spiritual problems, but spiritual death.

But there is a cure. Jesus said –“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (John 6:27) Our souls are nourished by our connection to Him. The closer we are to Him, the healthier we will be, not just in spirit, but in body and mind.

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Marcia Lee Laycock lives and writes in Central Alberta Canada where she lives with her husband and two golden retrievers. Her work has appeared in print in both Canada and the U.S. and in many places on the world wide web. Visit her website to learn more about her writing and speaking ministy. 

Download Abundant Rain, a devotional for writers of faith at Smashwords.