The woman in the picture staring down the path is metaphorically me.  There is a path before me.  I have been on it for two years and I am rather comfortable there.  See how the path beckons the eye to see as far down it as possible?  The scene is lovely…there is a green, grassy field to the right, tall trees to the left and if you look way into the distance, there is a quaint wooden gate.  If I am “reading” the picture correctly, one can go straight through the gate however the main path curves to the right. 

It’s easy to keep standing on the path.  Maybe the path isn’t as pretty after it curves.  Maybe it’s uphill or rocky or maybe I will fall down.  Maybe I can’t do it.  Maybe, maybe, maybe.  But really…has God ever called us to just stand still?  Aren’t we called to keep going, to trust with all our heart but also to keep putting one foot in front of the other?

As I alluded to above, I have been writing my book now for two years.  In this past year, there have been some hard times with the business, and I have let months go by without working on it.  As you know, there were months when I didn’t blog either.  This past January, after a 3 month hiatus, I finally realized that I couldn’t wait for my life to just hand me time on a silver platter; I needed to pick up my pen (laptop) and start writing when I could.  I have been doing that for both my blog and the book.

Fast forward to now.  We are in a full-blown COVID-19 pandemic.  I have been reading that authorities are moving to the mindset of just trying to keep from overwhelming the hospitals; just minimize the fatalities from COVID-19 through flattening the curve, thus having enough beds and ventilators for those most sick.  Though none of us can individually stop the pandemic, each of us can individually do our part to help stop the spread by responsible social distancing.

I have felt the weight this week of the subject matter of my book with what is going on in the world.  Is it just coincidence that the setting of the book begins with the 1918 flu pandemic in which the main character has lost people that she loved?  That in grief and loss she becomes bitter; that through the story she learns to recognize that God is still there with her in her life?  Maybe I am supposed to have written this book for such a time as this. 

I have to move down the path no matter what is there.  I think about standing before God.  I want to be able to say that I did everything I could with what God gave me here on earth; that I did the work that He gave me.  I don’t want to stop on the path that I was given just because I’m afraid that my book might not be “good enough”.  If I do everything I can to finish and put the book out there, then I have done what I can individually do to help. From there, it’s up to God.  Maybe there is a young woman out there, like my heroine, that is going to lose someone special to the pandemic and my words can minister to her heart.  That is what is driving me right now.

I’m setting a goal of a certain number of words a day until I finish, and I want to be finished 40 days from now.  I’m going to start getting up at 5am every day to write instead of just writing on the weekend.  I intensely dislike getting up that early, so I need your help.  Would you pray for me when I come to your mind? 

Two things:

  • That I will actually get up.  Praying for insomnia past 5am would be fine.
  • That I would be given the words to round out the story.  The storyline is done but need to add depth to certain places.

Thank you…all 4 of you as I joke to my husband.