For a writer, a blank mind is a scary place. Monday is looming, and I have nothing to blog about. I’ve been reading through the prophets in the Bible over the last several weeks, but we get enough doom and gloom in the present without me sharing my take on Jeremiah and Ezekiel. How the Israelites sinning against God sounds a lot like our world today. China could be our Babylon. But let’s not go there.
I could tell you about the book I’m reading right now—recommended by my daughter. It’s called Counted With the Stars (Out From Egypt Book #1) by Connilyn Cossette. Except I’m only on page 74, so it’s too early to review. But so far, it’s very good. Main character Kiya is an Egyptian woman sold into slavery who escapes along with the Hebrews during the Exodus and learns about this amazing God named Yahweh.
After I shared the gist of the book with Chris, he asked me if it was Christian fiction. Uh, yeah. He cracks me up. We were in church a few months ago listening to the message. Our pastor brought up Charles Spurgeon—now here’s a caveat to the story: If you don’t know anything about Charles Spurgeon (like he was a Baptist preacher who died in 1892 at the age of 57) you won’t know why this is funny.
Anyway, Pastor Tom commented that Spurgeon had the words to the hymn “There is a Fountain Filled with Blood” on his tombstone. Chris, who has tinnitus and doesn’t always hear well, leaned toward me and whispered, “Did he say that song was Spurgeon’s ringtone?” I couldn’t help it, I snickered and said, “I don’t think he had a cell phone,” about the time Chris realized his mistake and both of us had to duck behind the pew until we could get our laughter under control. I have a lot of Chris stories like that, but you kind of have to know the man to see the real humor in them.
I could share how my WIP (work in progress) has been a frustrating challenge. It’s not due until November, but we leave for a ten-day trip to Israel at the end of this month, and I’d really like to have it done by then. It doesn’t seem likely at this point. It took me longer than normal to get into the head of my main characters, Amelia and Rayce. I’ve also noticed that if I’m determined to get something done in my timeline, the Lord always intervenes. It’s like He’s reminding me Who’s really in charge—and it’s not me.
Plus, there have been a few distractions. We’re building a new house, which is exciting, but there are a lot of details to tend to. The framing crew has been amazing. It doesn’t seem to matter how late in the day we go to look over everything, they’re still there. I think they work from sunup to sundown—and finished the framing in almost half the expected time. Because they’ve been so great, I felt the need to make them a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Which reminds me, these were hands-down the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. It requires just a little more planning time because you have to chill the dough, but they were well worth it. What’s nice about that is you can make the dough even three days ahead and keep it in the fridge until you have time to bake them (but you really only have to chill for 2-3 hours). Here’s the recipe for you to try. If you make them, let me know what you think.
Do you know Sean Dietrich. He goes by the title “Sean of the South.” When I first started following him about five years ago, I thought he was just a blogger. The man puts out a post every day. EVERY DAY! I struggle with once a week.
Anyway, it turns out he’s an author, too. And a performer. We went down to Alabama to see him perform at a library (of all places) right after his first book came out about four years ago. He was incredible. And big surprise, he’s now performing regularly at the Grand Ol’ Opry. In fact, he will be there on September 22nd, in case you’re interested.
The reason I brought up Sean was because of his prolific blogging. I’m not sure when he finds time to write books or practice his performances, because he travels around the country meeting people. His wife, Jamie, drives while he writes, so I guess that helps. He’s a humble man whose father committed suicide when he was a boy and it hugely impacted him, so he has a lot to blog about.
My life isn’t quite as exciting as his. Maybe I need to get out more. Or maybe I need to gather the stories of all you out there and write about them. It’s what Sean does. So, if you have an interesting story you’d like to share—maybe a miracle or fun adventure—I’d love to hear about it. I’m no Sean Dietrich, but I could sure use some new material.
Comments 2
What you were able to describe so far about Counted with the Stars makes it sound good!
Author
I’m sure you would enjoy it.