Thanksgiving and Giving Thanks

One of my pet peeves is hearing Thanksgiving referred to as "Turkey Day." That's worse than "Happy Holidays" and almost as bad as "X-mas."

Such terms seem to be efforts to avoid acknowledging God as the reason for celebrating these holidays. I've heard arguments that the "X" in "X-mas" represents Christ; however, even though some people may use the term from that perspective, it just seems like a blatant effort to remove Christ from the equation. "Happy Holidays" is a generic term of inclusivity that fails to acknowledge the significance of the incarnation. And "Turkey Day" focuses on gluttony while ignoring the Creator who provides everything for which to give thanks.

Thanksgiving is a great opportunity to remember that we are to live lives of thankful gratitude to God, the giver of every good and perfect gift. Thanksgiving is far more than one day of remembering our Creator God; it's the culmination of each year's efforts to live a full-orbed worldview that is rooted in a perspective of giving thanks.

This year we were blessed to celebrate Thanksgiving with our children and grandchildren sharing a special meal. Each of us (except Wes, who is only seven months old) shared something for which we are thankful. And we had the opportunity to take some family pictures.

Everyone posed patiently while we tried repeatedly to get everyone facing the camera with their eyes open:

And then we let them get a little crazy:

We enjoyed that day of good food and fellowship with our family, but we are most thankful that our children love the Lord and live every day in thankfulness to God.

Another NaNoWriMo Win

On Tuesday, I wrote 5,424 words in my November novel, which put me over the 50,000 word goal and made me a NaNoWriMo winner for the third year in a row.

For those readers who missed my earlier post, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a program in which participants write, from scratch, a novel of at least 50,000 words during the month of November.

It doesn't have to be a great novel (it's pretty much guaranteed that it won't be at this output rate), but it's a way of putting thumbscrews into the "I want to write a novel some day" dream. Writing with thousands of other people toward a definite goal is a way of moving the act of writing a novel from the "some day" back burner to the "today" front burner. The important thing isn't quality at this stage; it's getting a rough draft of significant size on paper.

I've always wanted to write a novel; now I have three very rough first drafts.

This year's novel is about a commercial artist who wants to try to make a name for himself in the fine arts world. But his problems with anxiety, his wife's infertility, and issues he doesn't even recognize are making this difficult. Even though I've reached 50,000 words and have a pretty good idea where this novel is going, it isn't finished yet.

Last year's novel was a young adult novel about a boy named Matthew who is the middle child in a pastor's family. Matthew is not only in the middle of his family, but he is also in the middle of trouble at school and church. He is concerned about his mom's health and the book he "borrowed" from his dad's study that has disappeared into the black hole of his school principal's desk drawer. This novel is fairly complete, but requires revision.

My novel from two years ago is about a middle-aged woman who discovers that she has an older sister, given up for adoption before her mother was married. The older sister has been experiencing some health problems and contacts the birth mother to obtain a medical history. The protagonist grows through conflict, personal tragedy, and a surprising revelation. This novel isn't nearly ready to seek publication and will have to have a new title. I began it with a working title of Sisters, but changed that to This Side of Heaven after I discovered the novel's direction and main themes during the writing process. But I recently saw that Karen Kingsbury has a novel scheduled for publication in January with that very same title! I will have to come up with something else, which is a shame because it was the perfect title for this novel.

At my recent writers' conference, I learned that most novels published for adults are in the 100,000-150,000 word range. I'm pretty sure young adult novels are generally less, so my Matthew novel is the one closest to a book proposal. But the other two have possibilities that I'd like to develop into book proposals "some day."

Maybe I should start NaBoProMo (National Book Proposal Month)!

Ascribing Glory

The title of this blog, Ascribelog, is based on the biblical concept of ascribing glory to God. But the title has the double meaning of "a scribe log," which is a journal of someone who writes. And it has a pleasant sound that effectively blends the final "b" sound of "ascribe" with the initial "b" sound of "blog."

I chose the name because of that sound and the double meaning, but primarily because the word "ascribe" properly puts the focus on giving God glory.

I was reminded of all this by yesterday morning's sermon at Covenant Reformed Church, which was called "A Magnificent Call to Worship" and was based on Psalm 29.

That Psalm begins with the command:
Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness (verses 1-2, ESV).

Pastor Edouard explained that the Psalm opens by entering the very realm of heaven where the angels (and we, by implication) are commanded to give glory to God.

It isn't as if God is lacking in something that the angels, or we, need to supply. The command is to confess or proclaim. God is not the beneficiary, but He is the source of all glory and strength and energy and beauty and holiness.

The Psalm then leads the reader through the storm of God's thundering voice. His powerful voice in creation can be seen in thunderstorms, hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, volcanoes, and animals. These "acts of nature" are actually acts of God and demonstrate His majesty so vividly that the only proper response from God's people is to shout: "Glory!" (verses 3-9).

The Psalm ends with a beautiful vision of God enthroned above the flood as eternal King and with this beautiful promise:
The LORD will give strength to His people;
The LORD will bless His people with peace (verse 11, NKJV).

I intentionally chose the title "Ascribelog" to convey the purpose of this scribe's feeble efforts to give glory to God. Through all the turmoil on this terrestrial ball, may God equip His people to give all glory and all honor to Him.

Let us shout: "Glory!"

Persons with Skin

I know that God is always with me and Jesus is all I need, but sometimes it's nice to have someone with skin on.

Writing is a fairly solitary activity and, although I love uninterrupted times when I'm free to work without distractions, I sometimes feel very isolated. That's why it was such a great experience to attend a writers' conference and spend two full days hobnobbing with fellow writers.

I have some very good friends that write. Angela and I have been friends for the fourteen years since we met in a creative writing class. During the class, we met to critique each other's work and have met regularly ever since. Although she lived in Minnesota for a time and there was once a space of about a year between our meetings, we try to get together once a month. For the third year in a row, we are participating together in the crazy challenge that is NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), in which we attempt to write from scratch a novel of 50,000 words or more during the month of November.

I also some very good new friends that write. I met Lynn only a few months ago, but felt an immediate connection with her. She is a professional writer who spends all day, every day except Sunday, writing. She's been a great encouragement to me in my writing life.

But there are few writers among my everyday acquaintances, and it was a blessing to spend time with like-minded men and women at the writers' conference. Since it was a Christian writers' conference, the fellowship had a foundation and the camaraderie edified the faith.

Christ has promised never to leave us or forsake us. And for two days, I felt His presence in fellow writers who were His children with skin on.

Blogging Along

One of the seminars at the recent writers conference I attended was Jeff Edmondson's class on "Blogging for Christian Writers." It's been more than three years since I gingerly entered the blogosphere, and it was good to finally hear a real live person speak about the benefits of blogging.

I have to admit, I already knew a lot of what he said, but he reminded me of some important things and taught me some new things.

Jeff reminded me that effective blogging means regular posting. He believes once a week is the minimum and suggests three times per week. So I'm going on record here to state that I will try to blog every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Of course, that won't happen when I'm traveling for business, or during a holiday week, or when my grandson visits, or when I'm scheduled to appear on Oprah.

Jeff also reminded me that a blog entry ought to contain worthwhile information, which I've always known is more effective than mere ramblings or sheer rants. But it can be difficult to produce something worthy on a frequent basis. I will attempt to maintain the stellar character of postings that my many faithful readers have come to know and appreciate; however, if I'm going to be posting more often, I would appreciate my many faithful readers cutting me some slack.

Some of the new things I learned in Jeff's seminar were tips for publicizing a blog and making it more visible to search engines. I haven't yet figured out how to implement all of these, but I'm working on it. If any of my many faithful readers are so moved, please feel free to link my blog to your blogs, to your websites, or to your bank accounts.

Thinking about my blog and how I use it has made me re-evaluate why I forced myself to overcome my initial reluctance and enter the blogging realm. That reluctance was based on intimidation as well as presumption.

I was intimidated by the many existing blogs written by extremely intelligent and articulate writers. I also felt that creating a blog was incredibly presumptuous; it presumed that someone, somewhere, would be interested enough in what I had to say to bother visiting my blog and actually reading it.

I was able to overcome my blogging reluctance because I wanted to put thumbscrews into my commitment to write regularly. And I hoped that writing for an audience would give my regular writing more value than private journaling that often tends to degenerate into self-pitying litanies. I try to journal daily, and that journaling often generates a blog entry.

Thanks to Jeff's reminders and instruction, I will be trying to generate blog entries a little more often. I will be more aggressive in promoting my blog. Since people don't spend much time reading blogs, I will keep my entries short.

Thanks to the many faithful readers for sticking with Ascribelog these three years and welcome to the many new readers. Please feel free to introduce yourself in a comment!

Heart and Home

Crossing the state line, I rejoiced as the Iowa sign welcomed me home and my heart was suddenly pierced by a personal application of my state’s motto: “Fields of Opportunities.”

I was returning from my first writer’s conference. In the dark warmth of my van, engine whine and tire hum became a distant hypnotic song. But within my mind and heart, a cacophony of reflections and emotions clamored.

The conference had been sponsored by the Heart of America Christian Writers Network (HACWN) and had been held in the Kansas City metropolitan area, about three and a half hours from my home in Iowa.

Only a few days before the November 1 deadline for contest entries, I had discovered the conference during an online search. I quickly filled out my registration form, submitted some entries, and made hotel reservations. And I prayed. I prayed for physical and emotional strength to enable me to attend. I prayed that I would meet the people of God’s choosing. Most of all, I prayed for God’s guidance and direction in my writing life.

At the conference, I immediately met helpful people from the HACWN Board and connected with friendly writers who shared my interests and perspectives. I attended a variety of seminars and learned something in every one. But while I was attending some about writing articles and others about writing books, I didn’t feel as if I was receiving any clear direction. Should I continue on my present course of writing articles and editing newsletters, while trying to carve out time for fiction and poetry? Or should I give up some current commitments and devote more time to writing fiction?

I had also signed up for a professional critique and was prepared for constructive criticism, but still found it a bit painful. By the time I phoned my husband on Friday evening, I was experiencing significant chronic pain and fatigue and I was a little discouraged.

But when I woke on Saturday, I realized that I had heard exactly what I needed to hear during my critique. I was learning something worthwhile in every seminar. I was making great connections and wonderful new friends.

I had an encouraging appointment first thing on Saturday morning and then slipped into Carmen Leal’s coaching class on marketing in time to hear her say, “You think you are writing a book, but you are creating a product.”

From the very start of the conference, I had been hearing more and more about “building platform,” and Carmen’s class was the icing on the marketing cake. When she spoke about continuing to write articles while writing a book, it was a personal epiphany. It wasn’t a matter of choosing to write only articles or only books, I could and should continue to do both.

As the conference wound down, my encouragement cranked up.

I watched from a darkened back pew as others won first place awards in adult fiction and short story. Then I heard my name announced as the winner of children’s writing! My heart overflowed with gratitude to God. It was one of those rare moments when I felt as if He had reached down and wrapped His arms around me.

But He wasn’t finished. He continued to cradle me when my name was announced a second time as the winner for rhymed poetry. My new friends hugged and congratulated me. My heart overflowed with blessing.

All the emotions and lessons of the previous days vied for attention as I drove home that Saturday night. I was still sifting through them when the Iowa sign welcomed me with its message that fertile “Fields of Opportunities” lay before me.

My heart had been touched by God and by the hearts of other writers in the Heart of America Christian Writers Network. As I neared home, I realized that my opportunities were not limited to one field; multiple fields were ready to be tilled and planted. God would provide each harvest in His perfect timing.

Canning

A couple of weeks ago, Dave brought two garbage bags full of pears into the house. We have a pear tree that we planted at least twenty--maybe more like thirty--years ago. The most pears we had ever gotten off it previously was one year when it bore three measley pears.

When Dave brought the pears to the house, they were green and rock hard. We spread them out on newspapers in the attic. Later I brought down a few to put on a plate on the kitchen counter so I could keep an eye on their progress.

We ate those pears and I knew I should check on the ones upstairs. Last Saturday afternoon, I went up and realized they needed to be canned. And they needed to canned immediately.

I had already done some dusting and vacuuming, so my back was extemely achy. But I carried down the pears and washed them. I brought up quart jars from the basement and washed them. I had new lids, but I realized that my ancient bands were all so rusty they probably wouldn't seal. I made a trip to town and purchased two packages of lids with bands. Then I came home, carried in my groceries, and began peeling pears.

Dave came in from building his shed about 4:30 and he helped me peel. Then he stood by the stove for a very long time, stirring the pears so they wouldn't scorch. When they finally began to boil, I put them in the hot jars and Dave tightened the bands over the lids. The lids began to ping before we finished filling the jars. We got seven quarts.

I asked Ariel to come out on Monday morning and she helped me peel for a hour or so before she had to go to work. I was concerned that I wouldn't be able to stir the pears or tighten the bands (I have atrophied muscles, chronic pain, and fatigue), but I managed to slowly get the job done. I put pears into ten quart jars.

Canning is so much work that every time a lid pings, I audibly thank God. Every single jar sealed and we now have seventeen quarts of pears. We have also eaten several of them fresh and they are delicious--sweet and juicy--the best Iowa grown pears I've ever tasted.

This winter, when the snow is on the ground and it's difficult to get out to grocery shop, I can open a jar of pears and we can have a taste of fall, remembering God's wonderful provision in the bountiful harvest, the necessary strength, and the sealing pings!