Moving forward with the Novel

I've written 976 words today bringing the total to 1,623. I started this new Novel about JVR the first of November with the Write a Novel in a Month bit. Well, I didn't write a Novel in a month, but it did inspire me to go a different direction with JVR. I'm excited because this Novel will bring life to JVR. It will show what JVR looks like from a clients prospective, while giving detail on how to start a JVR in any community. So cool, I'm having fun with it. Unfortunatley I only get small bits of time, but that's okay. I wrote my fist Novel like that, it took me two years. Speaking of that, I'll need to do some editing of my first Novel and try to get it published again. Have some ideas, just need to put it on paper. Need to go, need to do housewife work...:)

Christmas is over for 2011

Christmas is over for 2011 but looking out my kitchen window large snowflakes fall fromt he sky covering everything with a thick white blanket. So beautiful! It reminds me that Christmas is only one day, but the miracle of that wonderful day is the reason I'm here today, at this moment, writing this blog. And becouse of that I know that I can't give up on JVR. Everyday I'm closer to this minsitry God put on my heart so many years ago. Every moment of every day I wait and observe what goes on around me, waiting for any opportunity, any hint, any window or door to move forward at an instance. So my responsibility is to be ready, be prepared, be in God's word and to grow in my relationship with our almighty Father through Jesus our Savior and the Holy Spirit. this means spiritually, mentally, and physically. So, I must go and start my excercise program for life, for Christ!

Waiting on you Lord!

What's next Lord? I'm afraid to move forward, to go out of my comfort zone. So much work to be completed here at home, at work, so much to do. How can I take on anything else? I'm frozen in my steps. I'm reminded of the time in grade school. It was recess and everybody played on the monkey bars. They would climb to the top and crawl over to the other side then slip down through the bars swinging to the ground. It looked like so much fun. I wanted to do it so badly. Finally one day at recess I took a deep breath and climbed all the way to the top. I made it all the way, sitting on top of the monkey bars, high above the playground. I looked down, BIG mistake. I froze. I started crying. I couldn't move a muscle. One of the teachers came over and had to help me down, so carefully and gently. Yes, that's how it is with JVR. I'm so excited, I want to move ahead and get my hands involved in this ministry. This God directed ministry. But I'm frozen. I don't know what to do next. I can't move a muscle. So, Holy Father in Heaven, pry my hands off the bars and help me down...oh so ever gently. Show me my next step.

To Courtney in Oki...comment on It's the Holidays

So sorry about your scrapbooking paper! But so glad you found some replacements. Kids are such a wonderful blessing, but sometimes they get a bit challenging. That's okay, they're worth it...and something my mom says is so true...what goes around comes around...lol. Glad your Thanksgiving dinner went so well. And you all looked so happy and good the other day! Tell the babies I gave them each a kiss today. (Our cave picture is on my computer and I kissed each one! :)) Keep blogging! I love it!

I just posted this blog because for some reason I can't comment on your blogs. What am I doing wrong?

Thanksgiving this week.

Thanksgiving is around the corner! This week to be exact. It's also my hubby's birthday. Then just 6 days later, it's my daughters birthday.  I'm so excited because Christmas is only a month away, I just love Christmas, in fact I'm listening to Christmas music right now. But as excited that I get I'm reminded that this time of year is not happy for eveybody. There are people like my sister-in-law who dread this time of year. This Thanksgiving marks the day my sister-in-law lost her son to a hunting accident. I have two sons who we won't get to see this season, one with his wife and children, the other by himself somewhere out at sea while his lovely bride is home alone. But I must say...God is Good! :) God is in Control! :) and God Loves us all! :) My heart goes out to the homeless, sick, lonely, but most of all, those who don't know God! Jesus! the Holy Spirit!

JVR...The Story: I am so excited! I just finished a full weekend of...

JVR...The Story: I am so excited! I just finished a full weekend of...: I am so excited! I just finished a full weekend of Mission Fairs. I went to four different churches. My booth’s purpose was to educate peopl...

I am so excited! I just finished a full weekend of Mission Fairs. I went to four different churches. My booth’s purpose was to educate people about the Cooperative Program, teamwork among Southern Baptists to fund Missionaries around the world and share God's truth to everybody. But my booth was the least exciting. There were missionaries representing other countries, states, ministries, including local ministries. To see all the people walk by and to experience the excitement in the air was at the least, an exhilarating experience. The experience inspired me to write an additional 1300 words for the book, JVR...the Novel. And that was only during an hour of free time. The rest of the words are sweltering inside of me just yearning to get out. In fact, so much so, my hands can’t' write fast enough. One of the things I learned this weekend was that I was definitely out of my comfort zone, but I loved every moment of the Mission Fair. Everybody did so much work; each church was unique yet equally wonderful. No doubt in my mind that God's word did not go out in vain. My continued prayer is that God will use my passion of writing to share His truth to people and generations, that I can’t even imagine possible.

November "Write a Novel Month"

It's three days in now and all I have is just under 800 words. The challenge is to write 50,000 words by the end of November, over 1600 a day. Well, I'm not going to win that challenge, but it's okay. I'm excited about what God is doing in my life. Every day in the little things, big things, life around me, so much to glean from. It seems as though life is getting louder. Like my ears are picking up more sounds, words, feelings, than ever before. When I hear sirens my heart always skips a beat. But now it just doesn't make my brain race to locate a mental picture of where all of my children and husband are, but then my heart goes out to the families, people involved. God puts a prayer in my spirit for whoever it may be that may be hurting. The prayer requests seem to be coming in quicker than I can process. When somebody mearly says 'okay' when asked how they are my antenna goes up to what they might be grieving over. How I get overwhelmed at the needs. I love to write encouragement cards and letters. My intentions are good, but not good enough. I guess my thinking is if I can write books that can encourage thousands of people, what better way to use my passion than that? Back to the challenge, it will definitely take me longer than a month to write JVR...the Novel, but write it I will! All to the Honor and Glory of God! Because without that, it has no meaning at all.

Inspired

So I just wrote an email to the author Karen Kingsbury. I realize that I probably won’t get an answer. If I do, it’s probably from her assistant or someone similar. That’s okay, because I was being obedient to God. Just the act of writing it has inspired me. I was also able to look on her website. She has all kinds of helpful information for new writers like me. My daughter-in-law gave me the best tip. November is Novel writing month, a link for this challenge. Am I up for it? I don’t know, but I’m pumped! J The book, JVR I’ve been working on is in a non-fiction form. I have over 10,000 words so far. But an idea came across my mind. What if, I write the book JVR as a fiction novel? I can actually have characters interacting with the ministry JVR and show what it’s capable of. This makes more sense doesn’t it? I mean who do I think I am writing a how to book on something I haven’t done myself? But if I put the ministry in detail to work with fictional characters…what genius! How exciting! So revolutional! God thank you! You are so good! You are so…so…so…God!!! J Is it okay to put smiley faces in a blog? Hey, I was using smiley faces before blogs, face book, texting…before technology. So, I was going to start my second novel, the senior year of the Teen Age Dyslexic for the November Novel challenge. But, now I think I’ll change it to a novel about JVR. I’ve got the back ground, now I just need to build my characters and build the story. The fun part.

Something Needs to be Done!

I listened to a coworker today, spilling out her soul. She’s struggling with her elderly parents, her father who has Alzheimer’s and her mom who’s overwhelmed with it all. If that’s not enough, she’s a mother of a nine year old and legal guardian of her older sister, 58 who has a mind of a simple 8 year old. While struggling to get her parents in a supportive home, she’s interrupted by an urgent situation that needs her immediate attention. Her sister needs to be moved to a more secure home immediately. While searching for a home she finds that there are no such things any longer. The funding for such homes has been used up. Some counties still have some funding for now, and her county happens to be one of them. So for now, her sister has a place to stay.

While searching for this home she found out that if a person is mentally handicapped and is not able to live by their self or with a family member; they end up homeless or in prison. After a while the homeless will do something illegal so they’ll get caught and go to prison. There they have a warm dry place to sleep and three meals a day. And yet, many are living off the system, misusing it.

I get so worked up when I hear these things. My mind automatically goes to trying to think of ways to fix the system. As I’m listening to the pain in my coworkers voice, my mind races through thoughts of how can this be corrected, how can this be turned around? I know that the government should not be expected to take care of our problems. In fact I’m a firm believer that our government helps way too much. If the government pulled out of all financial help, food stamps, unemployment, Medicare, everything…we would have to step in and help pick up the pieces. Our churches would have to step up to the plate. But is that a bad thing? Really?

If our government gets back to what a government does and lets the churches and people do what they do, I think our national debt would be something of the past. And I think the only people that would be complaining would be the ones who misused the system in the first place. I’m not saying it would be easy. Everybody would feel the pain. But in the long run, in the end, wouldn’t we depend on each other more (and most importantly…God?) and wouldn’t that help bring families and churches together? I wonder?

All I know for sure is that the government system is not working! And the government has been out of money for a long time. It’s not getting any better. Not only is the government getting deeper and deeper into debt, but the American dollar is losing value as you read this. If this keeps up, America will be homeless! This is what JVR is all about! Helping the people! Sharing the truth!

Haha! Have to laugh at yourself sometimes!

I was browsing the internet for scholarships. I came across this really cool writing contest, Writers of the Future. I read the guidelines very carefully to make sure I qualified. Yes, I qualified. After entering my name and information requested, I polished up one of my short stories, very careful to follow all the rules. One more time making sure all the rules were followed correctly, I attached the story. Then, after submitting the application and writing sample, a subtitle materialized. ‘Science Fiction and Fantasy’ Yes that’s right, all I read was Fiction, not Science Fiction. The short story I submitted was fiction, not science fiction. I guess I won’t win that contest! :/

But, while searching I found several blogs. There sure are tons of reading material out there. Speaking of reading material, I know I’ve seen magazines on writing before. We went to the bookstore to find a good magazine, thought I might find one on writing, specifically creative writing. Found magazines on everything imaginable, but not one on writing. I know there are writing magazines out there, I’ve subscribed to them before. But it made me think, I wonder…What if I came up with a really cool writer’s magazine? Something unique? Something fun? There I go again, thinking of more things to do. I need to finish what I’ve started, and then work on all the other ideas I have in my little brain. But I wonder?

Publishing

I probably should title this blog...too many projects in the frying pan! Of course that's my nature, always has been. No matter what I'm into, I'm into too many things at once. Take my writing...I've always wanted to write, ever since I could remember. I wrote a children's book in grade school. Wish I still had it. In High school, I was afraid to admit I liked writing. I was afraid to pursue writing as a career, hobby, or even an interest. Why? English was only my favorite class when we were studying creative writing. Otherwise it was one of my worse. My grammar...spelling...well, can't you tell? But what I know now and didn't know then, that spelling and grammar can be learned. My writing, well, that's a passion. I'm still afraid to admit to people that I've written a Novel, working on three others, and a book, and a private personal testimonial book. I've started and left hanging, several blogs, written tons of journals, and notes here there and everywhere. I've enjoyed two Creative writing courses, some articles (and have had couple of them published in magazines.) I know this sounds nerdish, but I actually love to write bookkeeping, government, and customer service offices about my needs, complaints, and appeals. It actually works though. I've solved problems and saved money over the years with those letters. Not to mentioned how I made my way to passing grades answering essay questions. I must say I am good at writing about something I know absolutely nothing about. Either my teachers thought I knew what I was talking about, or didn't want to take the time to read my essays and graded it with a high score just because I took the time to write. haha!

I have toughened up a bit though and am telling people, family. I'm letting people read my stuff, even though I figure they hate it and just don't want to hurt my feelings. Well, even though nobody may like it, or my writing may never get published, I do enjoy writing and it seems to be an outlet for me. Sort of like my own personal therapist! :)

I've been saying for the last 30 years that I will go back to school and get my degree. Now I'm trying to figure out when and what do I want my degree in? It used to be teaching, and as much as I love to teach, I'm thinking now more like writing. After all, if I can learn how to write correctly, with my passion, maybe...just maybe...I can polish up my books and novels and publish a book or two.

Fruit of the Spirit

I had to write this down before I forgot it. It works perfect for the JVR ministry, and I want to write it in the book. This morning while listening to KLOVE in the car on the way to a seminar I was to teach, God spoke this illustration to me. KLOVE was talking about the fruit of the spirit and the bible verses Galatians 5:22-23. The only way to get the fruit of the spirit is from the Holy Spirit. Because we are human, the fruit of the spirit needs to be used often and restocked. In other words, fresh fruit is very good, but if not used right away rots and is no good. It also has to be purchased often to keep fresh fruit available. Same with the fruit of the spirit, we need to share the fruit with others around us, use it. And we need to renew often by staying in prayer and in the word, and staying in constant relationship with Jesus, our savior. This concept works well with JVR. The JVR volunteers and staff need to have a positive Christ like attitude. But because we are all human, we need constant reminders, encouragers, and to be constantly 'filled with the spirit.' Well, in a ministry/work place this can only be accomplished by meetings, pep rallies, or in JVR's case devotions/bible studies. Well, you'll just have to read the book when I'm finished to see what I'm rattling on about. Need to get to bed, it's getting pretty late.

Still Inspired

 So it’s been a month since my last blog. I get discouraged easily. This morning in my quiet time I felt inspired. (Inspired by God Himself.) I know that God wants me to write and share JVR, even though I still have so much to learn about writing, the use of the English language, grammar, spelling, words themselves. But what a better way to learn than by doing? The more I write, the more I want to write, the more I learn what I need to correct. If I never write, I never learn. I sometimes have so much in my mind that I get overwhelmed and don’t even know where to start. Tonight I was able to write quite a bit for my book JVR. I’m very encouraged and excited. As I went to close down, I skimmed over what I already wrote and found this link. It says a link to my blog while I’m writing my book. Well, how can I or you, or anyone else follow my journey of self doubt, brain freezes, or brain explosions if I don’t write the journey? So my commitment to you who read this, to you who read the book JVR is to continue to blog, through feast and famine! Enjoy and together we’ll learn! All comments welcome! I plan to take an online English course or two within the next year. But until then, feel free to correct, comment, teach. J I’ll try not to take it too personally! J

Rejection Letters

So, I know rejection letters are suppose to be helpful. I’ve heard of writers keeping every rejection letter and using them for encouragement. Publishers don’t send out rejection letters often like they use to. And those that do don’t give tips or suggestions. I’ve sent my first book out to 13 publishers and have received about 4 rejection letters. (This is my second time around. The first time I sent it to 4 publishers and didn’t get a letter from any of them.) They’re all nice and encouraging. (As encouraging as a rejection letter can be.) I know they’re all being nice, politically correct. I figure I probably won’t hear from the other 9 publishers. I have to keep telling myself that I did get a $1000 scholarship to a Highlights Writing Seminar. I wasn’t able to use it, but I did get it. That says I’m not a total lost cause, right? I sent the book to some family members and friends. Most had very helpful suggestions and pointed out some errors. Some didn’t say anything at all. I take that as a way for them not to hurt my feelings. I did have one who recently gave me some very hard but useful advice. She suggested I change the title and rework the first few chapters to help the story interest the reader better. One of my goals is to write books that the reader can’t put down once they read the first sentence. So this is very important for me to realize I need to revise. It’s my first book. I hope to be able to attend some writer’s conferences in the future. I’ve always wanted to go back to college and finish my degree. Maybe I should take some classes in writing. I need all the help I can get with my spelling and grammar.

Some may not like this program

JVR isn't for everybody. In fact, many people will more than likely complain. This ministry will help those who want to be helped, the ones who will work hard to get out of the deep pit and stay out. This ministry is the one way bridge with no return. It'll take a lot of stamina, faith in God, and strength of the Holy Spirit to make this ministry work. We were made to work and work hard. In today's economy, days get tough and sometimes, people need a hand to help cross the bridge. That's what JVR is.

Gleaning

It's so cool how God reveals himself at the most unexpected times. During a business meeting at work God spoke to me on how to finance the JVR Ministry. Once I complete the book and start making royalties, I can set up a trust until there's enough to start a non-profit business. I can speak at churches about the book and ministry, having any honorariums sent directly to the trust. Once the non-profit status is set up people and companies can give to JVR as a tax deduction.When God first spoke to me about this ministry I was (and still am actually) ready to drop everything and start JVR . Then God very clearly spoke to me, even though I didn't understand. It's only now that I'm understanding what He meant little by little. He said...I don't want you to do it, I want you to write a book about it. Well, that's what I'm doing and as I'm obeying Him, He's showing me glimpses of what the future holds. So exciting!

JVR…The Story…Set Up

Hello all fellow bloggers! Please be patient and gentle with me, I'm new at this blogging. Although I love to write, my grammar and spelling needs mega help. Though the spell and grammar check really help, I still tend to trick the computer at times with some good ones. I welcome all the advice and direction I can get on this blogging thing. It's supposed to be a helpful writing exercise, and I need all the exercise I can get! (Physical too! Lol)

I'm working on my second book, JVR. My first book isn't published yet, but it's only been completed for a year now. I hear it's really hard to get books published these days. For the book I'm writing at the present, I have the chapter outline, the title and about 10,000 words written. I actually just spent the last couple of hours learning how to set up the table of contents in Word. It's really cool though. I've cleaned up what I have so far by making all the chapter headings as Heading 1, the title as Book Title, and fixing the headers and footers to show differently on the first page. Inserting the table of contents is really fun, once I figured it out. Now the numbers change as I write and I can just click on the chapter I want and I get right to the page without having to scroll down. It'll make my life a lot simpler. I'm writing this book in, what I call sandwich minutes. Sometimes I get an hour or two like tonight, but most of the time I get a few minutes here and there. (A break at work, in the car, during lunch, while waiting for an appointment, while cooking dinner, wherever and whenever I can type a few words.)

Well, it's getting late, and while I'm a boomerang empty nester, I still have to get my sleep and take care of my husband. (Boomerang Empty Nester: An empty nester whose grown children keep coming back. J ) Until the next Blog…God Bless All You Readers!