God’s Still Working in Your Writing by Susan Tuttle

It’s Christmas time, which means the Christmas story is playing on televisions, homes, and churches all around the nation. I love the Christmas story, and each year I read it like I’m hearing it for the first time all over again. In the past Mary is the character to captivate me, but as I sat in church this past Sunday it was Elizabeth who caused me to stop.

See, Elizabeth had been waiting a long time for God to show up with her dream in His hand. In fact, in practically every way it looked as if her dream to become a mom had died. She was barren, empty, and by all accounts she and Zechariah were past their primes. The idea of her becoming pregnant ranked right up there with her ability to fly—it wouldn’t, couldn’t, happen.

Yet God.

Aren’t those two beautiful words?

Yet God had a different plan. Sometimes for His plan to gleam brightest everything around us must die. See, God will allow His glory to shine through us, but he will never—never—share it, and if the only way that can happen is to let our dream become a virtual impossibility, he will do just that. Not to discourage us. Not to make us lose faith. And not to harm us. Only so that everything points to Him when our dream becomes solid reality.

Isn’t this like our writing world? Maybe it’s the idea of finding time to finish your story. Perhaps you’re too dry to come up with new words. Possibly you’re waiting for a “yes” from a publishing industry that seems stuck on “no”. Whatever it is, could it be that God is allowing the parts of your dream to die that may point to you rather than Him when that dream finally materializes?

Dear friend, whatever you do, don’t lose grip on your faith. If God has made a promise to you about this writing ministry, cling to it. He is ever faithful—you only need to look at the many facets of the Christmas story to see that faithfulness repeated over and over again.

Merry Christmas friends!

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Susan Tuttle

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.

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!

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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.