Lessons from Horton by Heidi Chiavaroli

Sighed Mayzie, a lazy bird hatching an egg:
"I'm tired and I'm bored
And I've kinks in my leg
From sitting, just sitting here day after day.
It's work! How I hate it!
I'd much rather play!
I'd take a vacation, fly off for a rest
If I could find someone to stay on my nest!
If I could find someone, I'd fly away—free...."

Then Horton, the Elephant, passed by her tree.

And so Horton's journey begins. In this Dr. Seuss classic, Horton Hatches the Egg, Mayzie leaves the care of her only egg to a one-ton elephant, Horton. She then flies off on a never-ending vacation. Despite many obstacles, Horton proves "faithful, one hundred per cent."

The message packed in this book isn't just for children.

I constantly find myself drifting toward Mayzie's mindset. I'm tired of the work I've given myself, frustrated at the writing that just isn't flowing from my mind to my laptop, or impatient with the waiting that comes with every writer’s journey. And my oh my, do I have more than a few kinks in my legs from that twenty-five-mile bike ride with the kids the other day. Mayzie, I hear you, girl. I could use a vacation, too.

Yet when I read this story with my kids, it's not Mayzie I long to be like—it's the big old elephant. Horton stands firm in the promise he's made to Mayzie. If Horton is this faithful to an irresponsible bird, how much more should I be faithful to God, my family, and the desires He has placed on my heart?

The root word of faithful is 'aman, meaning believe. Believe in what? I suppose that depends. Horton believed in his promise. I choose to believe in God's promises and His blessing upon my life. But blessing doesn't always pour out unimpeded. It sometimes requires work and prayer, and maybe a little wrestling. That's right, wrestling.

When Jacob wrestles with God in the book of Genesis, God bestows a token of blessing upon him in the form of a name change. He renames Jacob, Israel, roughly translated "you never give up and always believe God's promises." The blessing didn't just come, Jacob had to stubbornly cling to his Lord. He had to persevere.

Wrestling is not a sport for wimps, and surely not a sport for birds like Mayzie. Like Jacob, I think many of us find ourselves wrestling a blessing from God when it comes to our writing. But as we wrestle, let’s keep in mind that Christ has already won the ultimate battle for us. With that as our motivation, let us persevere in this race of faith and in our writing journeys, straining forward to cling to Jesus even as we wrestle that blessing from Him.

What was Horton's reward? I won't give it away in case you haven’t read the story, but I will tell you that something very surprising was in that egg!

****

Heidi Chiavaroli

Heidi Chiavaroli is a writer, runner, wife, mother, and grace-clinger—not necessarily in that order. Ever since taking her first trip to Plimoth Plantation with her sister, mother, and grandmother at the age of nine, she has been fascinated with history and its significance to today’s people and culture. Heidi is the winner of ACFW’s 2014 Genesis Contest, Historical Category. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, two sons, and Howie, her standard poodle.

Believe by Susan Tuttle

Susan Tuttle

Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished! ~Luke 1:45

This verse has been near to me for some time, but it was only recently that I really began to look at the context of it. I began to think of Mary. How at some point God spoke to her through an angel who delivered some pretty big news: she was going to become pregnant even though she’d never been with a man. Oh, and the child she would carry was going to be the Son of God.

Not exactly your normal day.

Yet immediately she believed it.

You don’t see Mary question the impossibility. Rather she springs into action and heads to Elizabeth’s house. Here’s what got me. First Mary believed she’d heard from God. Then she believed he could do the impossible. And then she took action through that belief.

Without her belly growing.

Without feeling the baby move.

Without knowing when the promise would birth and she could hold him in her hands.

No visible change occurred. She simply acted on faith.

She believed what the Lord had said to her he would accomplish, letting her doubts slip away in place of faith and action.

Oh, that we can do the same with our writing! For many of us God placed a calling on our lives and in that first moment we sprang into action, our belief heady with anticipation. Yet we haven’t seen growth occur. Or maybe we’ve watched our area expand slightly but we are still waiting for our promise to be birthed. We don’t have anything to hold in our hands and suddenly we don’t simply wonder if our due date will ever arrive, but we begin to wonder if God truly spoke to us.

But let us be like Mary! May we believe that what he promised he will accomplish! God doesn’t look at time the same as we do. I know, it’s so hard to be okay with that, but he doesn’t. Yet just like a mother prepares for the birth of her child—without knowing the time or date—we must continue to prepare for the day he’ll fully blow his breath into that which he’s already creating through us.

Because he will accomplish it.

Our job is to keep believing it through our faith and actions.

He’ll deliver the rest.

****

About Susan:

Susan Tuttle is a homeschooling mom of three who is crazy about coffee, dark chocolate, and words—both reading and writing them. Combine that love of words with her passion for leading women to a life-changing encounter with Christ, and you’ll find her crafting Inspirational Contemporary Romance stories laced with humor, love, and healing transformations. When not cheering on her Ironman hubby, chasing the family dog, or tackling complex math problems to teach her kids (yes, even the third grader), you can catch Susan at her blog, Steps.

The Best Writing Advice I’ve Learned So Far by Michele Poydence

Michele Poydence

My illustrious writing career began in second grade. I won a tri-state poetry contest on “What My Flag Means to Me” for a $50 savings bond. Rich! Rich! I was rich! I was on Easy Street and would surely be a famous, millionaire writer some day soon. Maybe even before puberty at this rate.

Let’s fast-forward through the years on what ended up being more like Real Life Street, shall we?

Although I could ace written assignments through my school years, I learned that talking was much easier than writing. So I decided instead to stake my career in public speaking. Then, in my final semester at Duquesne University, I began losing much of my ability to speak because of an illness called spastic dysphonia.

So back to that simple process of sweating blood over a blank page – what we fondly call writing. I became a “hired gun” for a wide variety of venues - from inspirational television to advertising to writing jokes for AT&T’s educational video scripts. On the side, I started a theater company called We Quit Our Day Jobs, although I didn’t quit my day job, since I had grown oddly attached to eating and having a roof over my head.

I wrote movies and landed a couple agents. Then I decided to write my first book, I Want a New Life, a humorous inspirational novel that immediately shot to #1 on the New York Times Best Seller List.

Oh, wait. That’s still a visualization/dream/affirmation I’m trying to bring into reality. But you have to admire my belief.

Which brings us to the deep key of writing and my novel’s theme, actually:

Believe.

You must believe in yourself and your writing. God gave you this gift. It’s for a reason. Use it with everything in you.

And here’s some of the best advice I’ve learned so far on how…

Write what you’d love to read yourself.

Stick your pantaloons to the chair in front of your computer and put in the time every day with few exceptions.

Go with your heart as the final vote in what you write and then write your heart out.

Try to work on one main thing to completion.

Make sure you are moved over something you’ve written or no one else will be.

Get honest, sensitive input from others, preferably writers or editors who are encouraging but frank.

Rewrite until you’re sick to near-death of it and then rewrite some more.

Reward yourself for work accomplished and goals met.

Write something that could change the world.

Believe.

Click to Tweet
Rewrite until you’re sick to near-death of it and then rewrite some more. Click to Tweet
Write what you’d love to read yourself. Click to Tweet
God gave you this gift. It’s for a reason. Use it with everything in you. Click to Tweet

About the Author

Michele Poydence wrote and produced the inspirational television magazine program, A New Beginning, which has spanned the globe in over 130 countries and U.S. territories. Along with Bill Cosby, Randy Travis and other notables, her television program won the Angel Award for outstanding positive-value entertainment. She has worked with CBS Television, and with film and TV studios as a writer, producer and director, and has been published in a variety of inspirational magazines. Michele has produced, directed and written comedic plays. Her feature film, Anything’s Possible, has been optioned by a William Morris Agency director. She resides in Oakmont, PA.

I Want a New Life

I Want A New Life
by Michele Poydence

Three women at turning points.

One week to get a new life.

Are all things really possible with God?

Can we have some fun along the way?

Housewife and mom Casey Swanson hears an inner voice for the first time in her life: This is the day. Is this the day she leaves? Amana Anne Moore gets one last chance to become the
inspirational speaker she’s always dreamed of becoming. Is the disarming Jake Sandstone a key to her dreams, and to unlocking her heart to love again? Eliz “Wild Thing” Wilding loses her job, her fiancée - and almost her life - in a day. Can she turn it around in a week and get a fabulous new life?

I Want a New Life is available on Amazon and barnesandnoble.com.

Connect with Michele:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IWantANewLife
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17376899-i-want-a-new-life

Believe

Believe
Net's Notations Tuesdays
New Commitment Series

If I could find one, I’d put a scroll-work decoration above our fireplace which would read: Believe. And I may just leave it up all year. Believing is a theme in my life as a Christian.

I’ve been challenged in my writing life where believing is concerned. If I didn’t believe I’d make it as a writer, I’d have ditched the whole thing by now. If I didn’t believe in my God-given dreams, I’d have bailed out of this boat by now. Writers don’t tend to make a good hourly wage, ya know? *grin*

But I can’t help it. I love writing! From that first spark in junior high ‘til now, I’m committed.

‘Tis the season for believing. Here’s how we can apply the word believe to our writing:

Believe you’re going somewhere. God has you on your own individualized writing and publishing path. Don’t compare yourself to others, just trust His work as you move forward. And if there are days when all you can do is face forward in hope—do it!

Believe He’ll use you. God has a plan for you and your writing. If He’s called you to this, He means to use you. Follow Him. Wait on Him. Believe in His goodness through all the rejections and trials. There’s no greater joy than being used by God.

Believe He’ll reward you in time. Hours and hours and years and years at the computer keyboard. Loads of words. Pages of manuscripts. Piles of empty ink cartridges. He sees your sacrifices and calls you to persevere. He will reward you. Laboring for the Lord is never in vain.

Believe good things will happen. You will have your breakthrough. You will see your dreams come true if you don’t give up. Hang in there. God-given dreams buried in a heart sold out to God are powerful.

This Christmas season . . . Believe.