God Works Upstream On Our Behalf by Sandy Kirby Quandt

Writers spend a lot of time waiting. We wait for manuscripts to come together just right after multiple critiques, edits, and more edits. We wait to hear back from agents, editors, and publishers. We wait on God’s perfect timing to open doors previously shut. Some of us may even need to wait following a manuscript’s rejection before tackling it again. I know I do.

The Israelites did a lot of waiting before they crossed the Jordan River and entered the Promised Land. When they reached the river, they camped four days beside its banks. As Joshua went through the camp, he told the people to prepare. The Lord was about to do a great miracle. God would lead them across the river.

The people waited beside the water’s edge. What they saw was a river at flood stage, overflowing its banks, standing between them and the Promised Land. How would they cross it?

What they couldn’t see was God working upstream on their behalf. They didn’t know the moment the priests stepped into the water, the river would pile up as though blocked by a dam, and drain to the Dead Sea. The only thing the people knew was what they saw in front of them at that moment in time. They didn't know all they had to do was wait for the river to flow by. Once it did, they would walk across a dry riverbed to the Promised Land.

As writers, oftentimes we stand on the riverbank and wait while God works further upstream on our behalf. We wait for him to intervene, to hold back the river, and lead us safely across on dry land. When we can’t see God's hand working, we might wonder why he delays. We might doubt we heard him correctly. Is this the river he intends for us to cross? And if so, has he heard our cries for help? And if he heard our cries, is he going to step in and save us from the rising waters that block our way?

Although it may take longer than we would like, we can trust God is working on our behalf. What rivers are you waiting to cross while God works further upstream?

Sandy Kirby Quandt is a freelance writer and follower of Jesus with a passion for history and travel. Passions that often weave their way into her stories and articles. She writes numerous articles, devotions, and stories for adult and children publications both print and online including Christian Devotions and Inspire a Fire. Her devotions appear in two Worthy Publishing compilation books; So God Made a Dog and Let the Earth Rejoice. Sandy won several awards for writing including the 85th and 86th Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition in the Young Adult category, First Place in the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference Children’s Literature 2016 Foundation Awards, First Place in the 2017 Foundation Awards in the Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Flash Fiction categories. Looking for words of encouragement or gluten-free recipes? Then check out her blog, Woven and Spun.
twitter.com/SandyKQuandt

Making Space by Taylor Bennett

Taylor Bennett

It's exciting to welcome another Mountain Brook Ink author as a return visitor to Seriously Write today! Taylor Bennett is here with advice about writing preparation. Read on! ~ Annette



Where do you write? Is it a well-appointed office with plenty of desk space, a cozy armchair in your living room, or a squeaky seat at your dining room table?

Most of us have our own “place” that we, as writers, have found to be “just right” for sparking our inspiration. Maybe this means every bit of research is alphabetized, color coded, and organized to the nth degree, or maybe our space is a complete mess, pseudo-organized in a way that only we understand.

Whatever our space looks like, it’s ours. And, most likely, it needs to be in tip-top shape before we settle down to write.

But do we do the same thing with our hearts?

Many times, I sit down to write without organizing my heart and mind…and things don’t always go so well. I find that, when I’m in a hurry or preoccupied with “real life” worries, my writing often comes off as forced; the words feel flimsy.

It’s a stark contrast to the days when I remember to seek God’s counsel—when I come to Him in prayer before I start and “organize” my own thoughts and emotions. Offering our work up before the Lord, asking Him to bless it and guide us as we work, we can completely revolutionize our writing sessions.

The next time I sit down to write, I’m not just going to make sure that I have a cozy blanket and warm mug of tea (two of my must-haves for an ideal writing environment); I’m going to spend some time with the Lord, asking him to place His hand over my words as I tell the stories that He has put on my heart.

Making the most of your writing time by Taylor Bennett @writer__taylor

~~~~~

Barefoot Memories

What if the biggest decision of your life wasn’t yours to make?

With the New Year upon her, Olive Galloway is determined to put the past behind her and uncover the new future waiting for her in her island home. However, her best friend Jazz seems dangerously close to giving up on her alcoholic mom—as well as her own dreams. Together with an unlikely ally, Olive helps Jazz regain her confidence and enter a high-stakes race, but there’s still trouble on the horizon. Their friend Brander is due to come home from a whirlwind music tour on the mainland, but he’s holding tight to a secret that could change their friendship forever.

Offered the chance to fulfill all of her wildest dreams with a single word, Olive realizes that she could be headed back to the mainland sooner than she’d imagined. Caught up in a whirl of possibility, Olive struggles to decide between returning home to fulfill her childhood wish or building a new life in Hawaii. The choice could change her life forever.

~~~~~

Taylor Bennett is a dandelion-wishing, world-traveling lover of books, words, and stories. Based in the PNW, she dreams of seeing the world and writing stories set in unique locations. Although she dreams of traveling to many different places, her favorite destination thus far (aside from her charming hometown in Oregon) is Lahaina, Hawaii. Her love for this tropical hamlet led her to write about it, hence her debut YA novel, Porch Swing Girl, the first in a series of books set in Hawaii.

Connect with Taylor here:
Website: http://taylor--bennett.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TaylorBennettAuthor/
Twitter: @writer__taylor

"Testing, Testing." by Zoe M. McCarthy

Picture, if you will, a speaker testing a microphone to see if it works. The speaker taps it and says, “Testing, testing.” Have you ever thought of tough moments as God testing us to find if we’re working well so we can shout out to the world?

Zoe M. McCarthy

God may test us to grow our faith, confidence, courage, and boldness. He wants us ready to do tasks, such as:

• Teach a Bible study.
• Write a Bible study.
• Write a book that depicts a hero or heroine who handles conflict, testing, and challenges in a godly manner.
• Minster to someone who is confused or hurting.
• Give beyond tithing to charities that help others and share the gospel.
• Discipline our children so they can handle the challenges of life when they become adults.
• Do what's right when doing so will cause us hardships us.

I’ve noticed often when I’m tested, when God taps me, I take a leap in understanding a principle, changing my ways, or receiving the courage to do something God is calling me to do.

Here’s a simple example when testing changed my ways.

Years ago, I had a habit in grocery stores. If I saw someone I recognized in an aisle, I’d zip past that lane and come back to it later. After one shopping trip and I’d avoided a woman I knew, I received a heavy conviction that what I’d done was wrong. I realized the person I avoided might have needed to talk to someone that day. God put her before me, but I had refused to approach her. 

I confessed my habit to my small prayer breakfast group. I told them I couldn’t shake off how awful I felt that I had refused to speak to the woman. One lady captured my attention and spoke with kindness. She said my failure to speak to the woman and my resulting guilt may have been God’s way of preparing me for the future. In an upcoming outing, God wanted me to speak and listen to someone He placed before me. I received an epiphany. In His mercy, God was helping me to give up a habit which put up roadblocks for me to minister to the people He set before me. 

The next time I was in a grocery store, I spotted a friend. I marched over to her and listened to her story. 

What are other tasks might God test us on to prepare us for His future work?

About the Author

A full-time writer and speaker, Zoe M. McCarthy, author of The Putting Green Whisperer, The Invisible Woman in a Red Dress, Gift of the Magpie, and Calculated Risk, writes contemporary Christian romances involving tenderness and humor. Believing opposites distract, Zoe creates heroes and heroines who learn to embrace their differences. When she’s not writing, Zoe enjoys her five grandchildren, teaching Bible studies, leading workshops on writing, knitting and crocheting shawls for a prayer shawl ministry, and canoeing. She lives with her husband in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Zoe blogs regularly at www.zoemmccarthy.com.


The Putting Green Whisperer

The Putting Gree Whisperer
by Zoe M. McCarthy

Suddenly unemployed, Allie Masterson returns home to Cary, North Carolina where she caddies for the father on the PGA Seniors Tour. There, she encounters a man who possesses an alluring gift of reading the contours of the green. Fascinated with his uncanny ability, Allie is excited to meet the Green Whisperer—until she discovers that the easygoing caddy is actually Shoo Leonard, the boy who teased her relentlessly when they were kids. Despite Allie's reservations, when Shoo is faced with having to overcome a hand injury, she agrees to use her sports science degree to become his trainer...and then she falls for him.



Shoo Leonard is grateful to Allie for her singular determination to get him ready for the PGA tour, but he isn't ready for anything more. Still raw from a broken engagement and focused on his career, he's content to be her fist-bumping buddy...but then he falls for her.



What seems like a happily-ever-after on the horizon takes a turn when Allie decides she's become a distraction to Shoo's career. Is it time for her to step away or can The Putting Green Whisperer find the right words to make her stay?