Encouragement for a Discouraged Author

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Lynn

As an author, I have certainseal of approvally experienced my ups and downs, disappointments and joys.  From five-star reviews to a one star scathing review a year ago from a Satanist who read my book and “hated it”.  I know, I know…it’s a “duh moment”; of course a Satanist would hate my books that are Christ-centred but still it’s tough to have someone trash a book that I’ve spent so much time and energy on.  Every author, no matter how famous and well-known you are, will experience a bad review.  It’s inescapable.

But this week has been an unforgettable week for me personally as an author, and I can honestly say I had nothing to do with it, it was all God. 

It started out with an email from Literary Classics saying my book, Love the Wounded, had received a five-star review and the “Seal of Approval” from them. Literary Classics is “an organization dedicated to furthering excellence in  children’s and young adult literature, takes great pride in its role to help promote classic literature which appeals to youth, while educating and encouraging positive values in the impressionable young minds of future generations.”   To learn more about Literary Classics, you may visit their website at www.clcawards.org or www.childrensliteraryclassics.com

This recognition came right out of the blue for me.  I was shocked, humbled and honoured and immediately I praised God because it was only last week I had begged God to give me some kind of “sign” that He still wanted me to write because I was so discouraged about it all that I was seriously considering giving up writing entirely and getting a “real” job.

I received another email that very same day, from a man in Saudi Arabia.  He had read my story, “Do Angels Wear Glasses?” in the Chicken Soup for the Soul book: Parenthood.  He said the story, “touched my heart and soothed my soul in a very positive way” and just wanted to write to me and tell me that.  How cool is that?

But I have found that God always speaks to me in threes.  Don’t ask me why.  I’m like Peter, I guess.  (John 21:1-25)

I received an email yesterday from a blog writer whom I had never met, who said he thought my writing was “great” and he wanted to feature my books on his Facebook page.  I was flattered, I’ve had my books featured on lots of Facebook pages before, but I had no idea the exposure THIS page would give them.  What Christians Want to Know is wildly popular and has a HUGE fan audience with 146 K followers.  Within minutes of my books being posted on the page there were a hundred “likes” and shares.

Things like this don’t just happen by accident or coincidence…

So today, I am praising God for encouraging a discouraged author.

 

 

 

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Empty Nest Lessons – First Week

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Lynn

imagesMy husband and I have been empty nesters now for one week.

Unlike other empty nesters we’ve talked to over the past week, we have not been jumping for joy, nor have we been immediately renovating bedrooms to make spaces that are suited to our new lifestyle (and to discourage children from moving home)…no, we’ve been quietly contemplative about this new “season” in our life.  We haven’t quite embraced it yet, but we haven’t been depressed either.

Now don’t get me wrong…I LOVE each and every one of my children, even the son and son-in-law, who spend more time in my fridge than they do talking to me 🙂  I adore my two girls, even though the youngest one still has what I would call a condemned bedroom and bathroom that still needs her attention before I will call her officially moved out; and the oldest one still sneaks snacks from my cupboard after each visit.  She gets away with it because she is only weeks away from delivering our second grandbaby 🙂

Still, it is decidedly pleasant to have the house to ourselves, my husband and I, and to enjoy the peace and quiet that comes with having an empty nest (house).

Here are a few things my husband and I have discovered over this past week:

* We are no longer confined to a set schedule each day.  (We can eat when we want to, and we can eat what we want to.)  My menu was always catering to children’s likes and dislikes, now we can eat foods we like that they would have turned their noses up at.

* We can watch T.V. shows that we like rather than watch their shows all the time.

* We can have uninterrupted conversations and lately we’ve even had conversations that were NOT about the children!

* We can keep a neater house without clothes, and shoes littering the entranceway and unwashed dishes piled up in the sink.

* We reminisce about all the ways our children bring us joy rather than focus on rebelliousness and past activities that may have brought us grief.  Selective memories I guess, and they’re all good!

* When the children call or text or show up unexpectedly, it’s like a special event.  I enjoy every precious moment with them and look forward to the next time I hear from them.

But the biggest thing we’ve learned this past week, is that we wish we could have figured all of this out when the kids were growing up…

After all:

We made the schedules not the kids.

The T.V. shows we watched together were not as important as spending precious time with them.

Interrupted conversations meant there were always teachable moments.

A cluttered house meant a house that was well-lived in.

We spent an inordinate amount of time fretting over rebelliousness rather than focussing on pure joy.

And lastly, our children were then, and always will be our gifts from God to enjoy and cherish for a lifetime!

 

 

 

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Empty Nest Syndrome

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Lynn

Empty NestIf you will indulge me…

It’s been a very topsy-turvy summer.  My “baby” turns eighteen in a few days, and I am feeling the throes of “letting go” once again and letting the last of my children fly from the safety and confinement of the nest into the world.  You know what that means, don’t you?…

Empty Nest Syndrome

Well, not sure it’s appropriate to be called a syndrome yet, but I am certainly feeling the emptiness of the house with just my husband and I rattling around in it.  We moved our youngest into seminary residence last night and even though she only lives minutes from our home, every time I walk by her room, I feel a pang of loss.

We bought this acreage and house, just north of Cochrane, Alberta, when my son was only a toddler, and my oldest daughter was just a child.  Our baby was born a year after and this house has, for close to twenty years, been filled with birthday party celebrations, pool parties, and youth activities.  It seems so silent all of a sudden.

Someone said to me that once the kids move out I’ll have plenty of time to write.  Wow.  I wish I could feel some comfort from that statement, but I haven’t been able to write all summer.  Oh, I blog a bit but my heart hasn’t been into sitting down and completing that manuscript that beckons to me every once in a while, taunting me with its incompleteness.

And amazingly to say…I’m okay with it.

As a Christian, and a writer, but mostly a Mom, I  know that there is a “season for everything”.  I have to adapt to this next season of life for me now without kids in the house everyday.  I plan on taking a couple of months to establish a new routine, a new normality if you will, for my days.  Certainly that manuscript may be added onto in the months ahead but right now the focus is connecting with my husband like I did “BC” (Before Children), and settling into my new empty nest role gracefully.

Thankfully my kids know that they are just a text message away from their Mama, and my baby even has my permission to bring over her laundry weekly and I’ll even wash it all for her; I won’t even grumble about it.

Wow, things really HAVE changed!

 

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