"Matthew" gaining weight

Work progresses on Book One in my juvenille fiction series about Matthew, a middle child who is in the middle of conflict in his home, school, and church.

Writing the story as a series of four books allows me to develop and expand several plot elements.

Like a mother concerned about a sickly son, I'm excited to see every extra pound put on the bare bones skeleton of the original "Matthew" as the story is fleshed out.

Invocation

We had a wonderful time with three of our four children and our son-in-law yesterday, witnessing our daughter receive four scholarship awards!

Today I face a manuscript mountain.

In this morning's votive silence, I've been praying this prayer (a poem I wrote some time ago):


Invocation


O Lord, if only You might pour on me
Abundant grace of Milton's heavenly muse!
That this gray mind would empty shadows flee
And into golden praise itself would lose.

But Lord, I'm paralyzed with Barak's fear
and blinded by my Pharasaic sight.
My hearing's grown as hard as Pharoah's ear,
While empty echoes rise to Babel's height.

You, Lord, gave Milton songs of worthy praise
And You alone can cause me to grow bold—
Explode in reminiscent rhythmic phrase—
That I, like him, might sing a song of gold,

No deathly talent hid or Lord denied,
But God in every line be glorified!



© Glenda Mathes

Nighttime Poetry

Nighttime Poetry

that sings
in the brain
looks so banal
on day lit paper.



© Glenda Mathes

Delighting in the Lord

At the recent mentoring retreat I attended, author Mark Littleton (who recently published Big Bad God of the Bible and appeared on Fox & Friends) read and applied scripture related to the writing life.

His devotional about the necessity for remaining in God's Word was personally convicting. And I'm still unpacking the implications of his meditation on Psalm 37.

The Psalm begins:

Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Isn't it interesting that we are called to "delight" ourselves in the Lord? The text doesn't say obey, submit, or serve--although we are certainly called to do all those things--but it says, "delight" in the Lord.

That reminds me of John Piper's concept of "Christian hedonism," and of the first question and answer in the Westminster Catechism, which states that man's chief end is to "love God and enjoy him forever."

It is when we delight ourselves in the Lord that he delights in giving us the desires of our hearts.

I continually need to be reminded of this perspective. I don't believe in works righteousness, but my tendency is toward living as if I do. I need to spend more time enjoying, loving, and delighting in God.

Mark aptly pointed out that when we love God, the desires of our hearts will conform to his will.

It's not as if we can manipulate God by forcing ourselves to delight in him so that we can be blessed with material things. But when we love God, our desires grow less toward things of this world and more toward things of the Word.

"Matthew" seeing light

There are many things I could write about the HACWN Writers' Mentoring Retreat that I attended from Thursday through Saturday in Excelsior Springs, MO. And there are many things I must write as a result of it. But the biggest news is that an acquisitions editor at a major Christian publishing house is interested in my juvenile fiction manuscript!

Fifth-grader Matthew worries about losing his mom's book, which has been sucked in the "Black Hole" bottom drawer of his principal's desk. He worries that he might not be old enough to attend Camporee, which only happens every three years. Matt is overshadowed by his older brother, who gets all the attention and all the girls. He's annoyed by his younger brother, who hogs the bed covers and hits in his sleep. Matt's intimidated by a science teacher who targets creationists and a PE teacher who runs a boot camp class. The boys in Matt's Cadet Club are packed into the church basement and his catechism class meets in the parsonage, which happens to be Matt's home. But Matt worries most about his mom's mysterious illness.

Matthew's story will be told in a series of four novels. Stay tuned for details!

On Completion, Vulnerability, and True Fiction

Yesterday I completed a manuscript.

I use the term "completed" very loosely here, meaning that I finally got the manuscript to a point where there were no significant text gaps and major plot threads were incorporated. In other words, I got it into a form that I felt comfortable having someone else read. And I use the term "comfortable" very loosely here.

Allowing someone else to read your writing is opening yourself to vulnerability. I do not particularly enjoy being vulnerable.

But I need to become vulnerable if I'm to seek help with this manuscript. There are things I really like about this manuscript, and I need to know if other people like anything about it.

These characters have become real to me and I feel compelled to tell their story. I've worked hard at making their story true.

Which is to say this is fiction.

Bedtime 2

It's been too long since I posted to this blog and my last entry leaves the wrong impression about Libby and "bedtime."

Since that first night Libby spent in her new wire kennel, when she whimpered a few times and barked once (which in all fairness was only natural after being "spoiled" by someone I know and love, but who shall remain nameless), Libby has been amazing.

Since then, all we have to do is say, "Bedtime, Libby," and she dashes from wherever she happens to be in the house and goes directly into her kennel. That first Sunday, she saw us putting on our coats and walked into her kennel. When she gets tired at night, she goes into her kennel.

Her kennel is tucked in the opening under the kitchen desk and Dave putters around in the kitchen early every morning before he goes to work, but she stays there without complaint until sometime between 7:00-8:00. Then she'll give a couple of short, polite barks to remind me that she's still there and she's really quite a small dog with a very small bladder and she'd like to get out now.

Her wonderful attitude about "bedtime" in her new kennel saves me time and makes my afternoons and evenings less stressful. Her "sleeping in" every morning gives me a few precious hours of uninterrupted work when my mind is most creative.

It amazes me that she loves the kennel as much as she does and adjusted to it so well, especially since she was introduced to it immediately on the heels of some serious spoiling.

One more small thing in life for which I am truly thankful.