So lately, God's been hitting me over the head with a two by four. Repeatedly. I will be the first to admit that I'm not the brightest crayon in the box but mostly it's because I'm stubborn. Like really stubborn. So last night's message at BSU really hit home for me.
Jody, our BSU director, talked about Psalm 50 and how so often, we get caught up in WHO is talking that we don't focus on WHAT is being said. We spend so much time trying to figure out if it is really God who is speaking to us that we don't listen to what He is saying to us.
I've been struggling with this lately because I'm doing my best to obey WHAT is being said. I'm hoping to be a summer missionary with NAMB next summer and I'm open to full-time missions. I'm not focused on the audible Voice but rather on trying to discern what is being said. That's hard but I recommend the book Radical as a tool to help. It's very, very good.
The following song lyrics are from a song that emphasizes what I wrote about. It is called "Follow You" by Leeland, featuring Brandon Heath. It is amazing.
You live among the least of these:
The weary and the weak.
And it would be a tragedy
For me to turn away.
All my needs You have supplied,
When I was dead You gave me life.
How could I not give it away so freely?
And I'll...
I'll follow You into the homes of the broken,
I'll follow You into the world.
I'll meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God,
I'll follow You into the world.
Use my hands, use my feet,
To make Your kingdom come.
To the corners of the earth
Until Your work is done.
'Cause faith without works is dead,
And on the cross, Your blood was shed,
So how could we not give it away so freely?
And I'll...
I'll follow You into the homes of the broken,
I'll follow You into the world.
Oh, meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God,
I'll follow You into the world.
Yeah,
I'll follow You into the homes of the broken,
I'll follow You into the world.
Oh, I'll meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God,
I'll follow You into the world.
And I give all myself,
I give all myself,
And I give all myself to You.
Oh, and I give all myself, (I give myself)
Yes I give all myself, (Lord, I give myself)
And I give all myself to You. (I give it all to You)
(Lord I give it all to You)
I'll follow You into the homes of the broken, (All to your name)
I'll follow You into the world. (I'll follow You)
I'll meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God, (Poor and needy, God)
I'll follow You into the world.
I will follow...
I'll follow You into the homes of the broken,
I'll follow You into the world.
I'll meet the needs for the poor and the needy, God.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Let the Good Times Roll!
Was it just yesterday that I heard all about how I needed to establish a name for myself, get something going so that I could have writing to back me up when I pitch? And not just, oh, yeah I'm working on two novels now, but something in publication. Wasn't that yesterday?
Oh, yes. It was. Shows how things can change in just one day.
Today I went to work - nothing new. Came back to school and headed to my 3 hour Recent America class - fun, fun. Anyway, we took notes on The Korean War and McCarthyism. Fun stuff. Could be worse. Anyway, then Dr. Cook starts talking about how he's asking some of his upper level students to write biographies for a book he's writing that will be PUBLISHED internationally. The biographies will be small but they will get your name in print. Should there be any pay at all, it will be minuscule. But, the plus side is that when I go to query agents, I can say I have been published in an internationally acclaimed and read book. So yay!
Ok, other piece of good news. I got a BRILLIANT idea for a new book today, and with the help of Rachel, Carrie Anne, Joanna and Audrey, it is going to be awesome!! I can't wait. It's a romance and it should be pretty stinkin' awesome. I am going to set a goal of 5 pages a day - we shall see how long that will last. Haha. Ok, I'm gonna go get started. Bye!
Michelle
Oh, yes. It was. Shows how things can change in just one day.
Today I went to work - nothing new. Came back to school and headed to my 3 hour Recent America class - fun, fun. Anyway, we took notes on The Korean War and McCarthyism. Fun stuff. Could be worse. Anyway, then Dr. Cook starts talking about how he's asking some of his upper level students to write biographies for a book he's writing that will be PUBLISHED internationally. The biographies will be small but they will get your name in print. Should there be any pay at all, it will be minuscule. But, the plus side is that when I go to query agents, I can say I have been published in an internationally acclaimed and read book. So yay!
Ok, other piece of good news. I got a BRILLIANT idea for a new book today, and with the help of Rachel, Carrie Anne, Joanna and Audrey, it is going to be awesome!! I can't wait. It's a romance and it should be pretty stinkin' awesome. I am going to set a goal of 5 pages a day - we shall see how long that will last. Haha. Ok, I'm gonna go get started. Bye!
Michelle
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Depression 411
I figure I'm about an expert in this. Depression, bitterness, chucking all things pertinent at the farthest wall and hoping they hit with a bang - after all, my hopes and dreams have just crashed and burned.
Today, in my Fiction Writing class, we had a guest speaker - a published author - come and speak to us. My desire is to be published. Like, no lie, I want to go into a bookstore and see my book on the "Featured Author" table. I wanna do book signings and get movie deals and become a household name. But, for now, I'd settle for just getting published. I know I don't have the next Animorphs or Harry Potter. I'm not deluded. I think my book is good, I think it has potential. But the problem is that I don't know if it has ENOUGH.
We were told today that 1 in 10,000 people get published. That's a LOT of people. Who am I to think that I can be that one? Who am I to think I am good enough? But then I got to thinking.
Let's figure that half of those 10,000 are terrible writers. This is assuming that perhaps I am slightly above average.
That leaves 5,000. Out of that five grand, let's assume that half are average writers.
That leaves 2,500. Out of that twenty-five hundred, let's assume that half will give up before finishing a manuscript.
That leaves 1,250. Out of that twelve hundred and fifty, let's assume that half will give up after the first rejection. I'm being optimistic here.
That leaves 625 who will persevere.
Now the odds are 1 out of 625 that I could get published. Why?
Because I will not give up. My novel is above average. I've completed the manuscript and am well into the sequel. I've been rejected - I'm still going.
I will be that one. I will be the one who perseveres. I will be the one who gets to see her dream come through.
How about you?
Today, in my Fiction Writing class, we had a guest speaker - a published author - come and speak to us. My desire is to be published. Like, no lie, I want to go into a bookstore and see my book on the "Featured Author" table. I wanna do book signings and get movie deals and become a household name. But, for now, I'd settle for just getting published. I know I don't have the next Animorphs or Harry Potter. I'm not deluded. I think my book is good, I think it has potential. But the problem is that I don't know if it has ENOUGH.
We were told today that 1 in 10,000 people get published. That's a LOT of people. Who am I to think that I can be that one? Who am I to think I am good enough? But then I got to thinking.
Let's figure that half of those 10,000 are terrible writers. This is assuming that perhaps I am slightly above average.
That leaves 5,000. Out of that five grand, let's assume that half are average writers.
That leaves 2,500. Out of that twenty-five hundred, let's assume that half will give up before finishing a manuscript.
That leaves 1,250. Out of that twelve hundred and fifty, let's assume that half will give up after the first rejection. I'm being optimistic here.
That leaves 625 who will persevere.
Now the odds are 1 out of 625 that I could get published. Why?
Because I will not give up. My novel is above average. I've completed the manuscript and am well into the sequel. I've been rejected - I'm still going.
I will be that one. I will be the one who perseveres. I will be the one who gets to see her dream come through.
How about you?
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Rising Hope...Good or Bad?
I usually damp down the hope. Keep it buried and then I can't get hurt. Let it out, let it rise and there's a chance I can get hurt. And I'm one to take hurt and turn it into something drastic. So usually I don't hold my breath for anything. Can you blame me?
This time, though, I let my hopes take off and soar. I met this guy who seemed almost too good to be true (shouldn't that be a sign to me?) and so I let myself hope that maybe he was the real deal. He likes Animorphs, science fiction and being sarcastic. He's not had a "real" girlfriend. He's a Christian and he likes to travel and would be open to living in Canada. Match made in Heaven, right? I allowed myself to get my hopes up, he seemed to be "the one." Or at least, there seemed to be a good chance that he could become "the one."
Bad idea.
I should never have gotten my hopes up. It's been over 2 weeks since I last talked to him and so now my hopes have crashed and burned. When am I going to understand that getting my hopes up regarding boys is ALWAYS a bad idea? I hate being bitter and I'd finally gotten into the rut of "I'm gonna be single forever, better get used to it" and then Mike came along. Maybe there was a chance for someone like me. Well, turns out I was probably wrong.
I'm going back to being my weird self. No hope, no dreams. Just me and God.
Well when you put it that way...I'll take me and God over me and a guy any day of the year.
Maybe it's not so bad after all.
This time, though, I let my hopes take off and soar. I met this guy who seemed almost too good to be true (shouldn't that be a sign to me?) and so I let myself hope that maybe he was the real deal. He likes Animorphs, science fiction and being sarcastic. He's not had a "real" girlfriend. He's a Christian and he likes to travel and would be open to living in Canada. Match made in Heaven, right? I allowed myself to get my hopes up, he seemed to be "the one." Or at least, there seemed to be a good chance that he could become "the one."
Bad idea.
I should never have gotten my hopes up. It's been over 2 weeks since I last talked to him and so now my hopes have crashed and burned. When am I going to understand that getting my hopes up regarding boys is ALWAYS a bad idea? I hate being bitter and I'd finally gotten into the rut of "I'm gonna be single forever, better get used to it" and then Mike came along. Maybe there was a chance for someone like me. Well, turns out I was probably wrong.
I'm going back to being my weird self. No hope, no dreams. Just me and God.
Well when you put it that way...I'll take me and God over me and a guy any day of the year.
Maybe it's not so bad after all.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Get it? Got it? Good!
This past weekend was Focus '10. It was a youth group retreat put on by Real Life Ministries, which is run by Camp Marietta's camp pastor, Jason Patterson. I was blessed enough to be able to be a college leader for the weekend. So today's blog post is going to be about the 20/20 session I was a part of for the weekend.
The 20/20 session was about Discovering God's Will. It was led by Matt on Saturday and Kari on Sunday with myself and Will Howard chiming in every now and then. I learned a lot from both Matt and Kari and a lot from Will that I am now going to share with you.
We talked about Jeremiah. Do you know how old Jeremiah was when he was called to ministry? He was 13. Yeah. In today's society, a thirteen-year-old would probably still be in middle school, watching Wizards of Waverly Place and eating peanut butter sandwiches. Not preaching against corrupt nations. But Jeremiah didn't complain, he didn't talk back. He went and he did as he was told.
How awesome is that? The fact that God can use you no matter your age, your status in life, all of that. He can use you! God is using you now; He's using me.
Will brought up a very interesting point in that God doesn't always speak audibly to you. He might use other people or experiences to shape you for the life he wants you to lead. He might use His Word to get your attention but, just because you don't ever hear His voice audibly in your head, that doesn't mean you shouldn't go.
Kari also pointed out that you have to be discerning in the people you listen to. Pretty much everything you want to do in your life can be mutated to be what "God wants me to do." I want to be a nurse so that must be what God wants me to be. Don't become so wrapped up in what you're wanting to do that you ignore what God wants you to do.
This was a really good 20/20 session and I really enjoyed learning from Will, Kari and Matt. They are all really smart and cool kids!
Hope maybe you learned something from this post!
The 20/20 session was about Discovering God's Will. It was led by Matt on Saturday and Kari on Sunday with myself and Will Howard chiming in every now and then. I learned a lot from both Matt and Kari and a lot from Will that I am now going to share with you.
We talked about Jeremiah. Do you know how old Jeremiah was when he was called to ministry? He was 13. Yeah. In today's society, a thirteen-year-old would probably still be in middle school, watching Wizards of Waverly Place and eating peanut butter sandwiches. Not preaching against corrupt nations. But Jeremiah didn't complain, he didn't talk back. He went and he did as he was told.
How awesome is that? The fact that God can use you no matter your age, your status in life, all of that. He can use you! God is using you now; He's using me.
Will brought up a very interesting point in that God doesn't always speak audibly to you. He might use other people or experiences to shape you for the life he wants you to lead. He might use His Word to get your attention but, just because you don't ever hear His voice audibly in your head, that doesn't mean you shouldn't go.
Kari also pointed out that you have to be discerning in the people you listen to. Pretty much everything you want to do in your life can be mutated to be what "God wants me to do." I want to be a nurse so that must be what God wants me to be. Don't become so wrapped up in what you're wanting to do that you ignore what God wants you to do.
This was a really good 20/20 session and I really enjoyed learning from Will, Kari and Matt. They are all really smart and cool kids!
Hope maybe you learned something from this post!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Busy Schedules
Have you ever heard the phrase, bitten off more than you can chew? I have. In fact, I use it quite often. It works for me. Cause, I have bitten off more than I can chew countless times and, recently, have done just that. Let me tell you all the things I'm doing just this week and you tell me if I'm crazy.
Monday.
I had class at 8 and 9 and chapel. Luckily, there wasn't any work due for the classes so that was good but I still had to get up and go. I hate getting up at eight o'clock. Anyway. I went to Writer's Group at 6 on Haywood Rd - a good 30, 40 minutes from NGU. Good time there, though, everyone liked my chapter. So yay! Spent the night at my Grandmother's house, got too engrossed in the book I was reading and didn't go to bed till 11. Bad, Michelle!
Tuesday
Got up and went to work at PDO at 8:30. I was in Room 11 (or 43) all day. I love those little kids, especially Noah. And then I went and finished out Late Stay and saw some of my friends from two years ago. Then, after I got off at 2, I went up to the offices and worked my college ministry job for about 45 minutes, getting freshman letters ready to mail. Back to college by 3:40 and got prepped to go to class at 4:30. I got to class early to ask if I could slip out early to go to bonus chapel but instead got a 5 minute lecture that I assume meant no. Class till 6:45 (bout clawed my eyes out, so boring) and then grabbed dinner and went back to my room. Dealt with bedbug issues in the dorm and my friends' rooms till about 11. Finally went to bed by about 11:30.
Wednesday
This is today so I haven't done a lot but I'll tell you what I have to do. I've gone to my 8 o'clock class and got my test back (which I studied 5 hours for) and I got a 77. That thing was hard! Now I'm in my 9 o'clock class, learning about Rome. Next I'll go to chapel in half an hour and then I have class at 2:30. Fiction Writing Class so I had to have my Chapter 2 ready. I think it's good but I don't know. We'll see. That'll wrap up about 5:15 if we end on time and I'll run to the stud to get food before rushing to church for preschool choir. Hopefully, I'll be able to go to bed early tonight - hopefully.
Thursday
I'll go to work for Brooks probably from 9 - 11. Then get back to school in time to go to class at 12:15 till 3. BSU and Impact Team meeting. Don't know how long the meeting will go...hopefully not too long.
Friday
8 o'clock and 9 o'clock class. Luckily, no test in Western Civ, it got moved. Then I have an Impact Team Leader meeting at 10. Did I mention I'm the leader of my Impact Team? Yeah. I am.
Saturday
Maybe nothing? Haha, there's always something. Homework, getting ready for Focus. Who knows?
Sunday.
Be at church at 8 o'clock to teach 4-year-old sunday school. Then go to the Loft, the modern service and back to school to study for Western Civ. And the week starts all over again.
Do you envy me? No? Well, you should. I have a FULL life. Hahaha! I'll be keeping this updated more often so check back for updates!!
Michelle
Monday.
I had class at 8 and 9 and chapel. Luckily, there wasn't any work due for the classes so that was good but I still had to get up and go. I hate getting up at eight o'clock. Anyway. I went to Writer's Group at 6 on Haywood Rd - a good 30, 40 minutes from NGU. Good time there, though, everyone liked my chapter. So yay! Spent the night at my Grandmother's house, got too engrossed in the book I was reading and didn't go to bed till 11. Bad, Michelle!
Tuesday
Got up and went to work at PDO at 8:30. I was in Room 11 (or 43) all day. I love those little kids, especially Noah. And then I went and finished out Late Stay and saw some of my friends from two years ago. Then, after I got off at 2, I went up to the offices and worked my college ministry job for about 45 minutes, getting freshman letters ready to mail. Back to college by 3:40 and got prepped to go to class at 4:30. I got to class early to ask if I could slip out early to go to bonus chapel but instead got a 5 minute lecture that I assume meant no. Class till 6:45 (bout clawed my eyes out, so boring) and then grabbed dinner and went back to my room. Dealt with bedbug issues in the dorm and my friends' rooms till about 11. Finally went to bed by about 11:30.
Wednesday
This is today so I haven't done a lot but I'll tell you what I have to do. I've gone to my 8 o'clock class and got my test back (which I studied 5 hours for) and I got a 77. That thing was hard! Now I'm in my 9 o'clock class, learning about Rome. Next I'll go to chapel in half an hour and then I have class at 2:30. Fiction Writing Class so I had to have my Chapter 2 ready. I think it's good but I don't know. We'll see. That'll wrap up about 5:15 if we end on time and I'll run to the stud to get food before rushing to church for preschool choir. Hopefully, I'll be able to go to bed early tonight - hopefully.
Thursday
I'll go to work for Brooks probably from 9 - 11. Then get back to school in time to go to class at 12:15 till 3. BSU and Impact Team meeting. Don't know how long the meeting will go...hopefully not too long.
Friday
8 o'clock and 9 o'clock class. Luckily, no test in Western Civ, it got moved. Then I have an Impact Team Leader meeting at 10. Did I mention I'm the leader of my Impact Team? Yeah. I am.
Saturday
Maybe nothing? Haha, there's always something. Homework, getting ready for Focus. Who knows?
Sunday.
Be at church at 8 o'clock to teach 4-year-old sunday school. Then go to the Loft, the modern service and back to school to study for Western Civ. And the week starts all over again.
Do you envy me? No? Well, you should. I have a FULL life. Hahaha! I'll be keeping this updated more often so check back for updates!!
Michelle
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Well, go figure.
So it's been a while. So what? I don't have the best track record with blogging, ya know. I tend to forget about them. I know, I know, you don't care. Anyway, just a quick post today.
I'm working on the sequel to Willing to Die called Second Chances. This one features Nic as the main character, with a subplot involving Lily and Andrew. I'm also looking ahead to book 3 which will be called Come What May. I'm pretty excited.
Anyway. Starting tomorrow I'm going to make myself write at least 5 pages a day. That won't be much but it's a starting place. I gotta work in the morning too and then class and BSU. Fun stuff. Then I'm babysitting on Friday and Saturday. Yeah, I know. I'm crazy, right? Don't answer that.
Anyway I'm going to try and blog at least once a week so check back more often! Bye!
I'm working on the sequel to Willing to Die called Second Chances. This one features Nic as the main character, with a subplot involving Lily and Andrew. I'm also looking ahead to book 3 which will be called Come What May. I'm pretty excited.
Anyway. Starting tomorrow I'm going to make myself write at least 5 pages a day. That won't be much but it's a starting place. I gotta work in the morning too and then class and BSU. Fun stuff. Then I'm babysitting on Friday and Saturday. Yeah, I know. I'm crazy, right? Don't answer that.
Anyway I'm going to try and blog at least once a week so check back more often! Bye!
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