Delivering cookies and good news.
Were counting down the days ’till Christmas, the season of giving. For the next 6 weeks, I am giving away 1 dozen of my specially iced, cut-out cookies. Entering is easy! All you have to do is SHARE this blog post with your Facebook friends and family. Viola! Your entered to win these cookies.
But hurry! The drawing for a cookie winner is held at 8am Wednesday.
A few weeks ago I posted about my big announcement. I’m writing my first book.
The day has finally arrived. A day to let your voice be heard and make your mark. It’s about decisions and freedom of choice.
I have an idea and I need your help. I need your VOTE! For the next 8 weeks leading up to Christmas I want to give away, thats right GIVE AWAY one dozen cookies per week. ‘Tis the season of giving and I want you to be a part of it. So here’s the scoop,
1) On each Tuesday (beginning today) I will randomly select a winner to receive that weeks cookies.
2) In order to be included in the drawing all you have to do is SHARE that weeks blog post on Facebook. I’ll gather the ‘shares’ and choose a winner (announced on Wednesday morning). Don’t live near me? No worries- I ship direct!
But I still can’t decide if I should rally a Great Cookie Campaign or not. Will you help me to decide?
By “LIKING” this post you are voting “YES” to the Great Cookie Campaign! If I get 30+ likes then I’m in…and you could be this or next week’s winner!
Happy Voting!
Have you ever wondered why some things happen the way they do? I am specifically talking about those annoying, time-wasting, meaningless things. For example, loosing your car keys when your already 10 minutes late or being stuck in traffic. Such a waste.
In September, I attended a monthly writers group in the Twin Cities. During that I time I discovered that I had won 2nd place in their summer writing contest. I was pretty excited, seeing as how I have never submitted my writing into any sort of a contest before. It was after this meeting that I was approached by a few gals who wanted to invite me to another group. This one specifically for fiction writers.
 |
| 12 Seeds Writing Contest Winners |
I took down all the information and excitedly agreed to checking out their group. After a few brief email exchanges I set my calendar for this next meeting date. When the date came I made arrangements and traveled the 90 minute commute to the events location.
Except when I arrived I discovered a room full of boy scouts instead of studious writers. Baffled, I checked and rechecked my notes and calendar. There had been some sort of miscommunication. So I turned around and drove 90 minutes home. Frustrated and perplexed, I wondered to myself why this had to happen. How annoying.
It turned out, I messed up. The meeting was not for another week. Fast forward 7 days and I repeated my trek to the same location in that northern suburb. This time success! The group and its speaker were great. I left feeling filled.
Except on my way home I missed my exit, causing me to dance around the metro in order to get back on coarse. In the process I bumped into a detour which again expanded my drive home. Frustrated and perplexed, I wondered to myself why this had to happen.
And then it hit me. Didn’t I just have this same conversation with myself last week. I decided to press into this idea, the one that causes us to question why certain (seemingly meaningless) things have to happen.
Its always interesting to me the things God will do to get our attention. He is such a creative. Usually though, if your paying attention, you will find that He speaks in themes. Reoccurring messages over a multitude of mediums.
The message this past week is all about planning. Gods plan. In my world it might look a bit like this: I have a hope or a dream, I make a plan, I set the coarse. But then God steps in, knowing my true heart and the longing of my desires, and he redirects. From His worldview, He takes my mixups and my miscommunications and uses them to further guide me. Oh, I’m not saying that this is ever easy but its true. Sometimes He sends me down a path that feels like I’ve totally missed my chance or other times He puts a ton of road blocks in my path. Ever wonder why would He do such a thing?
” For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11
Because He has my very best in the palm of His hand. He has a dream and vision for me, plans to help my life flourish. I just need to accept it as truth and receive it as a blessing. Then thank God for the long way home!
I can’t believe I’m actually going to tell you what I’ve been doing for the past 5 weeks! I’ve been holding out for a lot of reasons but, truth-be-told the biggest reason is that I fear I’m going to make the biggest, fattest mess. Then, you will all be in on my secret and I’ll have no where to hide.
Okay, now that I have that off my chest I feel better.
The scoop is this; I’m Writing My First Novel.
There, I said it! The idea came to me about 4 years ago and since then I’ve done a ridiculous amount of research, immersed myself in the craft of writing (and publishing), and joined a few groups. I even wrote a few chapters.
But then… life happened. The book idea got pushed aside as other pressing and realistic matters took front and center. Then came this summer. A season where I stepped away from my official office duties so that I could step into doing life with my kids. It was awesome! During that time, I was really able to focus and press-in through prayer to what God would have for me this year.
I heard nothing and felt nothing for a long time. Until one day in church, singing a worship song among some of my favorite peeps, I heard that whisper. The faint one that your sure to miss if you blink too hard.
“Finish the Story.” He said.
And that was it. I just knew, that I knew, that I knew, finishing this book was what my next chapter in life would entail.
Here we go…