My Favorite Playground
When I’m with my granddaughters, one of our favorite things to do is to go to a playground. Their imagination goes wild! Swings let them fly like birds. Slides let them soar like a dolphin in the blue ocean. Monkey bars let them be monkeys swinging in trees. Rings and balance beams let them be acrobats in the circus. It’s great to watch them have fun, use their amazing imaginations, and be creative in their play.
My very favorite playground is my imagination. For me, there’s nothing more exciting than dreaming up a lovely setting or a compelling dialogue or discovering a character’s new perspective that changes her life. When I write, I’m definitely in one of my favorite play places, and when I’m done “playing”, I feel like I’ve had a fun afternoon at the playground.
I’m tired but happy. I’m satisfied and energized. I’m content.
When we use our imagination—and have a creative calling—creating makes us feel so fully alive, and when we fully access the possibilities of it, it’s a blast. We hear sounds and see details that we might not ever see otherwise. We smell the rain coming and taste flavors we might never taste with our tongue. We feel the leather or the rough homespun cotton. We hear conversations that make a difference in the lives of others.
Our mind’s eye becomes electric with the details and scenes and characters and plots that challenge our fingers to virtually fly over the keys, trying to keep up with our mach-speed creativity. We’re enjoying the journey so much that it doesn’t matter if our stomach is growling or sweat forms on our brow or our girlfriends are e-mailing. We are in the zone. We are playing in God’s playground.
We’re giving birth to a story, and we know it’s God leading us to write it down.
For those of us who are not writers or haven’t yet experienced such elation, don’t worry. We writers are not crazy. You’re not crazy. We’re all just unique. And that’s okay.
Whether you’re a four year old on the playground, a fourteen year old in English class, a forty-year-old beginning writer, or an eighty-four year old seasoned author— allowing the imagination to play and creativity to grow will open your world to an exciting new life. And even if you’re not a writer, creating a new recipe or building a new wood project can give you that creative excitement and play.
So no matter where you are in life, go and play in the playground of creativity. Let your imagination soar and let inspiration and creativity flourish. Make time for it. Develop the skills to grow in your creativity. Let the childish play begin, and see what God might do.
How do you enjoy using your creativity and imagination? I’d love to know!
Blessings
So much of our Christian walk has to do with “…knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us,” Romans 5:3-5. But how can all the hard things of life be counted as blessings?
Laura Story’s husband was diagnosed with a brain tumor shortly after they were married. After surgeries, vision loss, and memory loss, their lives have changed dramatically—and he still isn’t completely healed. But Laura has redefined what “blessings” really are, and she continues to trust and worship God through it all.
So should we. As believers and as writers, “God loves us way too much to give us lesser things,” and sometimes our prayers for success or a contract or a muse or a bestseller simply aren’t answered in the way we want them to. Sometimes “blessings come through raindrops” or failures or tears. And sometimes “the trials of this life are His mercies in disguise.”
So for all of you who are frustrated or discouraged or lonely or weary, hear the words of this song and know that He hears your prayers and He loves you way too much to give us lesser things. Thanks, Laura, for this important reminder.
“Blessings” by Laura Story
We pray for blessings, we pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while You hear each spoken need
Yet He loves us way too much to give us lesser things
‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
What if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe
‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
And what if trials of this life
Are Your mercies in disguise?
When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win
We know that pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home
It’s not our home
‘Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears?
And what if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near?
What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst
This world can’t satisfy?
And what if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are Your mercies in disguise?
What kinds of trials have you endured that you’ve found to be His mercies in disguise? I’d love to know!
Leaving Home
The more I researched and wrote about young adults of the 19th century, the more I realized how different they were from our young adults today. Yes, they did have similar dreams of marriage, family, success, and the like. But they launched into adulthood very differently.
Back then, parents often chose a spouse for their child, flirting and dating was frowned upon, and sex outside of marriage was rare and scandalous. Long engagements and simple church or at-home weddings were common, and divorce was nearly non-existent.
Once the young adult left home, usually still a teen, he or she was considered to be fully an adult and was expected to be responsible, independent, and mature—even if he or she lived in the family’s home or on their land, and regardless of whether they struggled financially or relationally. There was no safety net, and when they immigrated, moved west, or left their hometown to make a new life, as they often did back then, they might never see their family for the rest of their lives! With technology and transportation, I’m glad it’s different today.
In today’s world, whether because of economic situations, school debt, or career changes (to name just a few) young adults often return home for a season or stay at home well into their 20s. We call them the boomerang generation, and it’s become a part of our culture.
Unfortunately, some young adults get too comfortable with such convenience, and they stay “children” under their parent’s roof way too long. They get stuck in a kind of Peter Pan syndrome, and they fail to launch and become healthy, responsible, and independent adults.
Though it’s not easy to require young adults to act their age and become responsible human beings, it’s really an act of love and benefits not only the parent and child but also helps society as a whole. We help to create a society of independent, confident, productive, and capable people who impact their generation and the generations to come.
As I researched the mid-1800s family dynamics of launching adult children, I have come to think that, although difficult, their way might have been the better way, hard though it was. And though I don’t envy the difficulties they endured and things they suffered, I do appreciate their intentional decision to raise responsible adults who left us a legacy of hope and promise.
What do you think? If you could live in any decade of history, what span of time would you like to live in? I’d like to know!
Speak Life
Recently I was listening to the radio and heard a song that brought me up short—“Speak Life” by TobyMac. The song talks about changing people’s lives by the words you say.
I know that’s true, of course, and I try to speak—and write—life into people’s lives whenever I can. But the words of this song struck me with the reality that “we can turn a heart with the words we say. Mountains crumble with every syllable? Hope can live or die.”
That’s quite a responsibility, but the Bible says, “a soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit,” (Proverb 15:4), among many others. Do a word search, and you’ll likely find some sobering counsel.
Our words matter. And in this rough and tumble world of the 21st-century, there’s not a lot of wholesome and holy words going around. There are so many broken-hearted people, and with our words we can “watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope, you speak love, you speak life.”
So whether I am writing a novel, a Facebook post, or a blog, or whether I’m having lunch with a friend, texting, or emailing, I want to “use my words to inspire, spread love like fire, and rain down hope” in all I say and write. Thanks, TobyMac, for the wise reminder.
“Speak Life”
by TobyMac
Some days, life feels perfect.
Other days it just ain’t workin.
The good, the bad, the right, the wrong
And everything in between.
Though it’s crazy, amazing
We can turn a heart with the words we say.
Mountains crumble with every syllable.
Hope can live or die
(chorus)
So speak Life, speak Life.
To the deadest darkest night.
Speak life, speak Life.
When the sun won’t shine and you don’t know why.
Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted;
Watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope,
You speak love, you speak…
You speak Life
Some days the tongue gets twisted;
Other days my thoughts just fall apart.
I do, I don’t, I will, I won’t,
It’s like I’m drowning in the deep.
Well it’s crazy to imagine,
Words from our lips as the arms of compassion,
Mountains crumble with every syllable.
Hope can live or die.
(repeat chorus)
Lift your head a little higher,
Spread the love like fire,
Hope will fall like rain,
When you speak life with the words you say.
Raise your thoughts a little higher,
Use your words to inspire,
Joy will fall like rain,
When you speak life with the things you say.
Lift your head a little higher,
Spread the love like fire,
Hope will fall like rain,
When you speak life with the words you say.
(repeat chorus)
Some days life feels perfect.
Why Life, Love, and Legacy?
As many of you have noticed, and commented, I’ve revised my blog to talk about topics around life, love, and leaving a legacy. But why have I made this change? Because all three matter to me.
Life? Yes, that’s a broad category, but for me, life is about spiritual things—growing closer to God, touching others’ lives with His love, and becoming more like Him. It entails speaking and writing to bring life to others, and it’s a primary calling for me. When I write, I want life to come out of the words I put on paper. And when I speak, I want to bless people with my words.
Love? As you know, Tyndale Publisher has published two of our premarital books, and my husband and I are passionate about helping couples prepare for the adventure of marriage and remarriage. But I also deal with marriage, divorce, arranged marriages, and loving your spouse well in my novels—and in life. So love will be an ongoing topic you’ll read about regularly.
And Legacy? Ah, blame it on my three beautiful granddaughters! I had no idea that becoming a grandma would cause me to consider the importance of leaving a lasting legacy, making a mark on the next generation, and proactively pouring into their lives as it’s done. Yet it’s also caused me to look back at the past and see what kind of legacy came before me—whether good or bad. And then, when I began to write historical fiction, well, that cast a whole new light on how people lived, what kind of legacy they left, and why we need to intentionally leave a legacy of love, peace, hope, and faith for our loved ones.
So there you have it, and while these are my plans, I’d like to know what you would like to hear about. I don’t write these blogs for me—they are for YOU! So talk to me. What would you like to hear about? I’d love to know!
Kindred Spirits
Anne of Green Gables is one of my favorite books—and movies. The book was a bestseller in 1908 and has been made into movies, cartoons, stage plays, and more. It’s a literary classic that tells about the adventures of an orphan girl named Anne Shirley who ends up living with—and becoming family with—an old maid and bachelor siblings, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, who live on a farm on Prince Edward Island, Canada.
It’s a simple story about the journey of a girl finding her way in a small town, in school, and in relationships. Anne is always looking for “kindred spirits”—people whom she can relate to and love—whether it’s a best friend, a caregiver, or her future husband.
As a novelist, my job is to create characters who become kindred spirits with the reader. Characters who come alive, inspire the reader, and provide life lessons along the way. As readers, we want to relate to the characters, whether they are contemporary, historical, or fantasy.
Just like us, these characters are on a journey of change, and the reader gets to go on a journey with them. They evolve and grow, have successes and make mistakes, just like us. And we become kindred spirits with them as we learn from their story.
In my novel, readers experience the journey of two women—one, an 1850s Irish immigrant and the other, her great-great-granddaughter. Both face many challenges and changes, just like us. And both experience growth, successes, and failures, like us. And, I hope, become kindred spirits to the readers.
The book characters who become a part of our lives are ones who live real lives, face real sorrow and heartache, experience love and loss. And, I believe, draw closer to God in the process—ideally, just like us. How all that happens is as unique in our own individual lives as it is in the hundreds of thousands of book characters’ lives. That’s what makes reading fun, exciting, and inspiring. And that’s why we love to read.
Who are your favorite book characters, and why? I’d love to know!