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write

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Give all, give now

“Writing is its own reward.” – Henry Miller

I love to write. I’ve been writing since I was a child. In junior high school, I wrote in my diary about the “dreamy” blue-eyed boy, Gary, who I had a crush on or the kind of “modern” house I wanted to have when I grew up, how I loved my cat Tabby and how much I wanted a horse.

My dresser

My dresser where I wrote and hid my stories

I’d write fiction short stories, then hide them in my dresser drawer. My sister Maria would sneak into my bedroom, read them, and we’d fight, even though it should have been a compliment. I’d throw her Barbie doll, she’d scratch me with her long fingernails, and we’d both get into trouble by our parents. Today she is one of my biggest fans, for which I’m grateful. 

Today I’m the author of eight books, and am writing three more. The one I’m working on currently is my first fiction book, Storm Tossed.

Storm Tossed ecover Copyright 2015 Beth Jones www.BethJones.net

Storm Tossed ecover
Copyright 2015 Beth Jones www.BethJones.net

My husband Ray has been encouraging me a long time to write fiction. Since I’ve never written one before, it’s treading new water and a little scary. But he feels it will “stretch” me as a writer. 

I believe I’ll be writing books, articles, and blogs for the rest of my life. Annie Dillard wrote, “Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now.”

No, I don’t want to hoard words. I couldn’t anyway. I have to write; it’s innate, an obsession and a compulsion.

Yeah, I can break up with writing, tell it that I’m just done and so over it, but eventually I come back. It’s like word crack.

fire

fire

I believe writing is a gift God has given me, a treasure, and it’s not for me or about me. As the prophet Jeremiah said, “his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! I can’t do it!”

Yes, a fire. At times the embers die, but when I fan them into flame, they ignite.

Words are a force and contain great power, like rocket fuel taking astronauts into an unexplored part of space like Mars-or like a 100-foot-wave tsunami that slams into a village, killing thousands. 

Sometimes the writing is powerful, stark, slices right through someone’s heart, making a deep but needed wound to impart truth that you don’t really want to hear. 

Other times, it bounces off the heart, like a neon-yellow, Wilson tennis ball. Flat. Boring. Inefficacious as wilted iceberg lettuce for a lunch salad. 

But still, I can’t imagine a life without writing. Writing is life. 

art-woman writing

art-woman writing

I’m participating in the writing contest: How Writing Has Positively Influenced My Life, hosted by Positive Writer.

Writing means freedom for me.

As I write, I learn about myself more. What I think, what I feel. What has happened in my life. And I heal more. Sometimes sharing my pain and struggles heals others, God’s grace droplets.

woman in rain

woman in rain

Writing gives me a brave, if shaking, voice when I feel so small and afraid. It empowers me to share my story. And others’ powerful stories.

Ultimately, writing is telling God’s story, through my hands. 

Use me

Use me

Hands open to receive and give life,encouragement, inspiration~and truth. Including what hurts, what angers, what violates, what seems just senseless.

Life is beautiful and sacred, but often very messy and gut-wrenching painful at times. We don’t understand it all. We can’t figure it out. 

Nor should we. That’s God’s job. Ultimately He’s in control in the driver’s seat. We have to trust Him, and know that no matter what has happened or will happen, He is good and has good plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11). 

woman writing on laptop in ocean

woman writing on laptop in ocean

But we as writers can write.

Writing helps us to get through life. Crying. Laughing. Coping. Overcoming. Inspiring.

Writing heals. Writing empowers.

Writing sets free. 

Writing is beautiful.

Writing is a precious gift, to be unwrapped, opened, and enjoyed by you, me, others, like a sweet red wine and a thick, juicy prime rib steak. Or like a newborn, innocent baby, whose smile just melts us. 

Don’t hoard your words. They matter too much. Give, give all, give now, as Annie Dillard wrote. 

Never stop. Keep writing. 

Blog, Faith, prayer, Writing

Ultimate Blog Challenge: National Make A Mistake Day

Ultimate Blog Challenge

Ultimate Blog Challenge

Yesterday I joined Paul B. Taubman II’s and Danni Ackerman’s October 2014 Ultimate Blog Challenge. You post 31 blog posts for the month of October to grow your blog, increase traffic, build your list, and give your business a boostI joined it primarily for the discipline of writing each day and to join a blogging community.

You can make connections with amazing people, set examples for your clients, be accountable, and read other interesting blog posts.

It’s free and fun! Want to join too? Just click here.

Each day you receive ideas which you can blog about in your email inbox, so you aren’t at a loss for what to post. One idea today was that it’s National Make a Mistake Day.

Mistake. Its origin is likely from the Old Norse word mistaka, which means to “take in error, miscarry,” or to “misunderstand, misinterpret.”

I thought that was interesting. Miscarry.

Jesus on cross

Jesus on cross

Jesus Christ carried all our shame and guilt at the Cross over 2,000 years ago so that we wouldn’t have to carry around our mistakes. He took it all.

A substitute for our sins so that God would forgive us. When Jesus died, He said, “It is finished,” and breathed His last as Son of God here on earth. His mission complete.

Then He rose again and ascended into Heaven. He’s coming again soon.

Have you accepted what He did for you – carrying your mistakes, your sins, so that you wouldn’t have to? Received Him as Savior?

The woman caught in adultery who was going to  be stoned The Passion movie

The woman caught in adultery who was going to be stoned
The Passion movie

I’ve made so many mistakes in my life.

Done more things wrong than right. Royally messed up. I share about a lot of this in my newest book, Promises In The Dark: One Woman’s Search for Authentic Love.

But Jesus offers such hope. We fall, we get up. He offers us His hand to walk with us. Sometimes we let go, like a toddler child letting go of her parent’s protective hand and running off, carelessly. And she falls on the sidewalk, scrapes her knee and cries. But she’ll be okay.

Each morning offers a fresh plate of God’s mercy.  I’m thankful for His mercy and grace to me.

As our daughter Leah told me recently when a friend questioned if I should write this new book because it might hurt my daughter to know about my past (she already knew; I’ve been very open and transparent with my husband and our children about my past), “Everyone makes mistakes, mom.”

I think it’s a good thing to have a National Make a Mistake Day. Because we all do. Let’s offer each other that sweet grace. 

Only Jesus was perfect. He offers His perfection to us when we receive Him as Lord and Savior. His perfection in exchange for our sins.

Redemption. Salvation. Deliverance. Freedom. God glorified. Jesus magnified. Our hearts satisfied, in solely Him.

Despite our mistakes, God loves us so much. Unconditionally. Even with the mess of our lives we create, and the mess we are sometimes.

 He knows and loves you and me through and through, because He made us. And He carries us…until the day we come home.