So little time and so much to share! I guess I just need to write more! :)
Thanks to one of my dear friends, I'm excited to be able to go on a writer's retreat this coming weekend where the main goal of the weekend will be to write and share what we write! I haven't been in that kind of environment since college, and what's even more exciting is that I will get to see at least one of my creative writing professor friends from Virginia Tech! I didn't ever have her as a professor for a class, but I did get to know her a bit and helped her and some other instructors with a Creative Writing Camp for youth one summer. It's supposed to be a lovely weekend for weather, which I'm sure will make me want to be outdoors, so being on a retreat at a beautiful location will be perfect! The only things that I will miss are my hubby and puppies, and church on Sunday. But what a fun opportunity, and it doesn't happen often.
I'm proud of myself because I finally finished one of my stories that I started in 2002! Although it needs editing, illustrations, and perhaps a few loose ends tied together, it is one of the most complete stories I've written since college.
God has certainly been teaching me a lot lately - sometimes gently, and sometimes sternly. Obviously, I prefer the gentle ways, but I realize that my stubbornness is not always conducive to being taught in a gentle manner. One of the things I've always struggled with that God continues to teach
me repeatedly is "less of me, more of Him," and in many cases, this
means "less of me, more of others." Or, as He showed me through my devotion this morning: you are not your own. You are His.
Since it's late and I don't have time to expound upon all of this now, I'll just post a couple of my notes I've taken from sermons at our church:
* God sometimes uses the ungodly to chasten the godly.
* Among your Christian brothers and sisters, be of one mind, Paul says. You can't be of one mind if you don't have the same mindset based on doctrinal truths. People, Christians and non, shy away from the words doctrine or fundamentals, but these are just words that refer to a common foundation of beliefs. If Christians don't have the common ground of the Gospel rooted in Jesus Christ in the context of the authority of the entire Bible, then they'll never be of one mind. You become of the same mindset by reading and studying the Bible and believing in the authority of Scripture. There is no unity without the foundational beliefs being rooted in Christ and the Word of God.
