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Baby Annabelle
Today I want to share another blog with you. This is written by another author, Krista Phillips, and has focused on her youngest daughter. Baby Annabelle is waiting for a heart transplant. Please take time to read about this little girl and pray for her.
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What Do I Write Next?
Here’s a new problem. What do I write next? I’m not saying that I don’t have any ideas. That’s far from the issue. There are actually too many. I’m accustom to a variety of stories jumping around in my brain, but I usually know which one is next to be written. This time I’m not sure, but I think I have it narrowed down to two.
So what do you think?
The story of five mothers and how one teen pregnancy changes their lives.
or
The story of a granddaughter that discovers her grandmother was a Hollywood movie star as a reporter closes in on their home in the desert and some well-hidden family secrets.
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Happy New Year!
?
Happy 2011! I love new years. Actually, it’s the week before the new year that I really love. That seems to be the only time I can relax and plan. Each year I come up with new goal. Some are long term with no real guess as to when they will be accomplished. Being a Genesis finalist was one of those goals. I’m thrilled to have doubly met that mark in 2010. Other goals are just for that year. I’ll share a few with you and we’ll see how I did at the end of 2011.
Professional goals:
1. Sign with an agent.
2. Submit two magazine articles.
3. Finish edits for Counting on Callie.
4. Complete the first drafts of two more manuscripts.
5. Attend the ACFW conference.
6. Attend the summer OCW conference.
Personal goals:
1. Lose 40 pounds by my 40th birthday (November 8, 2011).
2. Clear out some of the clutter that has started to attack our home. Get rid of at least 40 items per month.
3. Retile the kitchen and bathroom floors and the bay window.
4. Paint the hall a color that I love.
Family goals:
1. Spend at least five days somewhere else, just relaxing.
These are just a few of my goals. I’m so excited to have the opportunity to jump into another year of adventure. This year promises to be busy and fun with basketball for three of the kids, horse stuff for two of them, 4H for all four, soccer, volleyball, birthdays, vacations, youth group, friends and many things I can’t even imagine.
What’s on your list for 2011?
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Rejection!
We all have to deal with rejection. If you’ve chosen a career in publishing, rejection becomes a frequent visitor. Professional rejections sting, but they only get me down for a day or two. That’s when I pick myself up and see what I can learn from the experience. My writing has grown stronger out of rejection. For this, I must say I’m thankful.
But what about personal rejection. This kind doesn’t have the same way of transitioning into motivation after a cool down period. When someone close to you, a mother, father, sister…you fill in the blank, turns their back or essentially says that you are not worthy of their love, that kind of rejection clings.
Last week I was studying from Beth Moore’s, Jesus the One and Only, Bible study. The topic, rejection. I’d been waiting for a response from a proposal that’s pretty important to me, so I thought, “Oh, no. God’s preparing me.” Well, I did get news on the proposal that day, and it wasn’t a rejection. God’s humor never fails to amaze me. But I still felt like that little section of the study had something important in it that I needed to grasp. As it turns out, the rejection I’d need to face was a much more personal rejection. Even with years of experience in this area, I’m still trying to find a way to see myself as lovable in situations that say I’m not. So I return to the verse from the study.
This is what David had to say:
Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me.
Take up shield and buckler;
arise and come to my aid.
Brandish spear and javelin
against those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”
Psalm 35:1-3
I think the point here is something I try to remind myself of often. God’s got this! He’ll handle my rejections much better than I ever could. He’ll deal with those that wish to hurt me and he’ll provide all that I need to survive.
Christmas is suppose to be a time when families draw together. For many people, loving extended family is only an image from a Hallmark movie. Christmastime can be a reminder of what could have been or should have been. As I’ve struggled through some thoughts of self-pity this week, something came to me. I’m so blessed. I have a life full of people who love me, not because they have to, and not because we’re tied together by biology. They love me just for who I am. How could anyone have it better than that?
I hope your Christmas is sprinkled with love!
Christina
