Today, Becca writes about what it means to be a writer.  I thought that it might be a good place for me to do some reflection, and to answer the 5 important questions about writing.

Write on Wednesday – A Writer’s Roundtable  talks about the following 5 W’s of writing.

Who —-> How do you identify yourself as a writer?  Is it something you do for self-fulfillment, do you have a message to impart, do you write to make a living and is that different from other writing you do?

Most of my writing is on our Christ and Family oriented blog here.  Yes, I do it for self fulfillment.  I do it to make a connection with other people who are of like mind and spirit.  In the past, I have written some articles and stories that were published and I got paid for them.  To me though, that takes most of the fun out of writing. 

What—> What is your line?  What subjects or themes do you return to again and again?  What do you  want to explore  and impart to others in your writing?

My tag line comes from a quote I read in a book on compassion by Chuck Swindol.  People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.  Most of the time I write about our faith in Christ, family living, technology and personal self defense.  I want to share my life experiences with others in the hope that they will be encouraged. 

Where—>  Nuts and bolts, here.  Do you  write at home, in an office cubicle, the library or neighborhood coffee shop?  or all of the above!

I write at home at my desk or at a local coffee shop.  I have been known to take a lunch break at the office and write about something that I am passionate about during that moment. 

When—>  Do you write on a regular schedule?   Do you find it necessary  or important to sit down  at the same time every day?  Or does your life dictate that you write whenever and wherever you can find the time and inspiration?

I write when I have the time to write.  I would love to write more but my busy schedule does not allow me to do this.  Between church, family, work and school I do not have much time for recreational writing.  I love to write when I feel inspired or passionate about a subject. 

Why—>  Why write?  The answer comes from the “who” you are as a writer, but also asks you to consider the importance of the written word in our world today and for the world tomorrow.

My writing really took off for me back when my daughter Jessica was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and two aggressive forms of cancer.  My pastor at that time told me that writing through my grief experience was good therapy.  I guess some folks talk about grief, I chose to write about it. 

I believe that the written word is powerful and has the power to either build people up or tear them down.  I believe that it has the power to encourage people and to give them hope.  I want to be the type of writer that encourages people to make it through the tough times in life.  I want to encourage people to lean on God who loves them more than they will ever know. 

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We are going to have a drawing at 3 pm to see who the winner is.  I must say they were all VERY yummy.  It was difficult to find ONE winner out of the four. 

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I’m so sore right now I can barely sit down. The workout is about 25 minutes long and progresses in intensity over a 4-week-period. After I completed the first workout, I felt good. All sweaty and accomplished. And then it hit me: I have to do this again tomorrow.

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I want to increase the readership on my blog, and I believe that one of the ways to do that, is to tell you about some of the other blogs that I follow.  I read Becca’s post this morning, and it resonated with me.  One of the quotes in her blog post this morning got my attention. 

“Dorothea Brande writes that “If you are unwilling to write from the honest, though perhaps far from final, point of view that represents your present state, you may come to your deathbed with your contribution to the world still unmade…”

I love Becca’s blog because of the many insightful thoughts that I find there, like the one  above.  These types of thoughts make me pause and think.  It makes me wonder if I really am making a valuable contribution to this world?  Life is all about making mistakes and learning and growing from them.  As we learn and grow hopefully we are becoming better people who are more equipped to help those around us. 

One of the things that Becca mentioned in her blog is that she writes more posts than she publishes.  Becca illuminated the tendency of bloggers, to be hesitant to share some of the deeper thoughts and feelings that they might be experiencing.  We do not want to be viewed as someone who abuses the blogosphere by over sharing.  We struggle with finding the right balance when we write and I can relate to that. 

If you are a blogger, tell me about your blog in the comments below.   Do you  feel that you struggle with finding a balance with what you share on your blog?  How do you handle that?  If you have a favorite blog please tell me about them as well.

Thanks

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I carry a smartphone with me everywhere I go.  If I am dressed, it is located on my belt.  When I go to the restroom I take it off my belt and put it in a convenient place near by.  Don’t ask me why I do this, it is just something I have grown accustomed to doing.  Every single day I do this at work.  I do it without fail.  How many times do I forget to put the stupid thing back on my belt when I am finished?  I have lost count.  Luckily for me my Bluetooth headset chirps when it gets out of range.  That is my signal to go fetch my electronic ball and chain. 

Today, in the midst of my routine I decide to be smart and put the phone in my shirt pocket.  That way I would not walk out of the restroom without my Android.  I was being smart.  I was being proactive.  Do you think that worked?  Of course not.  I walked out of the restroom and into the Reservations office.  I felt along my belt line to make sure that I had not forgotten my phone.  I did not find the phone, so off to the restroom I go looking for my phone.  As I am standing in the restroom I realized that I had put it in my pocket to prevent my having to go search for it.  Face palm…..  

Have you ever gotten out of your chair, taken a couple of steps and wondered where you were headed?  How about going into a room and wondering what you were there for?  What about thinking about something that you need to do or check on and then about 90 seconds later you realize you were supposed to do something but now you can not remember what it was? 

Ahhhh the joys of getting more mature.  Sniff….

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There are a LOT of nice gems in the Bod4God book.  One of them that I love is how we are to bring our faith and behavior together.  We confess Lord Jesus with our mouths.  We confess that we desire to be obedient to his word.  We confess that we want to die to ourselves and carry our cross daily.  There are days when the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.  Those are the moments when we need to cry out to God and ask him for his power and strength to bring our behavior into submission to our faith and his will for our lives.  

We know that eating garbage is turning our temple of God into garbage.  We know that it grieves the holy spiriit within us, when we do that.  God gave us our bodies so that we can be his glorious children.  We are to serve him and use the gifts within us to bring glory and honor to his kingdom.  

My prayer today for all of us that struggle with bringing our faith and behavior into perfect alignment is this.  

Dear Jesus, please forgive us for being slothful stewards of the temple you have given us.  I ask that you will put a burning desire within each of us to take small steps each day to live out our faith in obedience to your word.  Help us to love one another and not to judge one another.  Help us to encourage each other and to be examples one to another.  Help us to lift each other up when one of us is weak or struggling.  We believe that your word is true.  We believe that we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.  Help us to be the kingdom kids that you want us to be.  We ask you these things in your most precious and holy name.  Amen 

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Coastal Community has what they call life groups.  These life groups are designed for smaller groups of people to get together and focus on a specific topic and to live life together.  The groups promote focusing on Christ and living a more Christ like life and working towards serving each other.  The church believes that one of its primary functions is to equip the saints for ministry.  Ministry is doing whatever it takes to be more Christ like ourselves and to reach the community that we live in for Christ. 

With that in mind, I looked at the list of scheduled life groups and I joined the Bod4God group and the Mens fellowship group.  I have enjoyed both of these groups thus far and I am still getting to know the people in the groups.  The Bod4God life group is helping me to get more focused with regards to losing weight and getting healthier.  Over the last year and a half I have been getting more exercise and I saw myself lose 45 lbs and three inches in my waist.  I also watched myself go on a roller coaster ride of losing weight and gaining it back.  I have gained 30 of the 45 lbs I lost back.  Before I joined the Bod4God life group I was looking at what I was doing as just maintaining my current weight. 

One of the things that I like about the Bod4God life group is that it is helping me to focus on some important aspects of healthy living.  I am receiving good information about what I need to eat and what I need to stay way from.  I am learning about portion control and not to be an emotional eater.  I am learning that I need to drink a LOT more water than I am used to.  I am learning that I should reduce the amount of diet sodas I drink.  I am learning that I need to eat more fruits and vegetables and less processed foods. 

Week four has us focusing on the “members” of our body and how we are to dedicate those members to God.  I am learning that there is nothing accidental about living healthier.  You have to break old habits and replace them with new and healthier habits.  I am learning to take baby steps each week.  I am being told what to do and to pick a couple of things to change and then do it.  I think that my biggest struggles are listed below.

Staying out of fast food restaurants as much as possible

I need to drink more water.  I am doing some better in this area.

I need to eat smaller portions

I need to stop snacking and eating bad things late at night.

I need to think about what I am about to eat  BEFORE I stick it in my mouth

Katy and I need to buy healthier foods at the store and not have unhealthy things in our home. 

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AF2011-A1 “Second Century” – Double barrel pistol – YouTube.

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Once you have heard the same story told over and over again, you find that it becomes harder and harder to pay attention to the details.  Once you hear the first sentence or two your mind goes “oh yeah, that story about Noah again, I have that memorized”  and you start day dreaming. 

Katy and I recently joined Coastal Community Church in West Ashley.  Doing this was difficult for me because my heart has been committed to Grace Fellowship Church in Goose Creek for the last 10+ years.  I finally got to the point where I realized that a season had come and gone, and it was time to move on.  We have been in West Ashley now for 2+ years, and Katy gently and methodically nudged me to try out some local churches, that were right around the corner from us.  Fast forward to today, and we are now members at Coastal Community off Arlington Drive. 

Pastor Chris is teaching a series titled “The Real Housewives of the Bible”.   This series will highlight women of faith that are found in the many stories in the Bible.  

Tonight Pastor Chris spoke about the story of Esther found in Esther 4:13-16. In this story, you will find that Esther was courageous, and went to bat for her father Mordecai, and the rest of the Jewish people, who were in danger of being exterminated.

Here is the scripture reference  “he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”

At this time Esther was the queen to King Xerxes who had passed a law allowing for all of the Jewish people to be killed.  Esther was in a position of influence and importance in the Kings court.  Esther was encouraged by her father to use her influence with the King to implore him not to kill him , his family and the rest of the Jewish people. 

Esther had to chose between being fearful of the consequences of being faithful to God and remaining silent, or to be courageous and stand firm in her faith. As the story goes Esther was courageous, and faithful to God. and God used Esther to save the Jewish people.  Here are a couple of truths that were brought out in this story that are relevant to us today. 

A. God has a plan, and He is faithful and just to keep His promises to us. 

B. We are not where we are by accident.  God has placed us in a community of people, where we have direct influence with others. 

C. If we are not obedient to the calling of God in our lives, where we are, God will use someone else to further his purpose and plan. 

D. “for such as a time as this” is a key phrase of importance.  God has a plan for our lives and has uniquely equipped us with spiritual gifts and skills that should be used to bless others and lead them to a relationship with Christ.

E.  We may be the only Jesus that the people in our community may ever see. 

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http://beccasbyline.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/well-trodden-paths/

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