January poem #2

Another day of trying

Another day with lots of sighing

Another day to end up crying

Another day you feel like dying

You wonder when it all will end

You wonder how you can help this mend

That’s when you fall and stumble

When you feel lost and humble

There’s only one place left to go

That’s into the arms of your God and Lord.

A couple nights ago I woke up with someone singing the above lyrics in my head. Does anybody recognize these words? I really hate to steal them, but I thought I better check. I think that whoever that is who lives inside of my head wrote this and felt the urge to wake me at three am so that I could jot down the words. Too bad I don’t know how to write music or I would’ve written that down too, but the tune is lost forever. Or at least I hope it is because if I wake up another night with this in my head I will be seeking psychiatric help.

I think that most writers have been awakened in the night with a great scene from their book in their head, and they have to get up to write it down. Does anyone know if song writers wake up with new songs in their heads? Just wondering. 

Hopevale

This poem was written by Jennie Adams, a nurse and Baptist missionary to the Phillipines.  At the Green Lake Conference Center there is a trail through the woods along which there is a series of such signs with the entire poem she had written. At the end of that path sits Hopevale Cathedral in the Glen, a replica of the chapel where Jennie worshiped as a refuge at Paney in the Phillipines. In December 1943, she and ten other missionaries were martyred by the Japanese.
 
Wow, I would love to write up this whole story for you here, but please check out this website, for the whole story. Some day, when I have time (like that will happen any time soon), I would like to learn more about this courageous woman and those who were with her that day.

the grain of sand in my shoe

"It isn't the mountains ahead that wear you out, it is the grain of sand in your shoe." author unknown

Judson Tower on the grounds of the Green Lake Conference Center. My goal this particular day was to climb to the top.
 

But first I had to climb these 70 steps. Wouldn't have been bad except that they were not spaced evenly. I was panting by the time I got to the top.

Here I am at the top of the hill of the Tower. Now I only have 120 stairs more to go.

When I got inside the Tower, it took me a minute to find the stairs. I was expecting wide cement steps.
















But instead there was a spiral staircase encased in a cement. I realized that if I made it to the top I would be hyperventilating from claustrophobia and not from exertion.





Would it be worth it?

 

I think so. The view was fantastic, but it was still the satisfaction of having climbed to the top that made it worthwhile. Then I just had to survive the trip back down.  

Green Lake Writers Conference Recap

Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 1 John 2:7



Here I am sharing my devotion Wednesday night. I will probably post that here next week.









Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. 1 John 2:8 


The members of my workshop. Myself, Jean, Mary, Jean and Rita in the back row. Eleanor (who turns 88 next month), Darlene and Barb in the front row.

I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. 1 John 2:12 



Our instructor Mary Pierce really liked the gift we got her. Mary is a wonderful teacher, writer, counselor and friend.

 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 2 John 1:5

This is a view just outside of our hotel at the conference center. That's Judson Tower, which I climbed one day. It wasn't the 120 stairs that got to me, it was the circular staircase within a cement tomb which almost shattered this claustrophobic's resolve. 

John seemed to do a lot of writing. He was called from God. I'd like to think that I am too.  


This log cabin was built in 1840 and is the oldest structure on the grounds of Green Lake Conference Center.

And now I suppose I have started something.
The Writers Feet.
I don't know sometimes what is in my head, but I guess you can at least see what's on my feet.

Taking a week off. Not really

As we pray to our God and Father about you, we think of your faithful work, your loving deeds, and the enduring hope you have because of our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 1:3 New Living Translation

Today I head off to my third annual Christian Writers Conference at Green Lake. I’m so excited to reunite with the friends I have made thanks to the last two conferences, as well as looking forward to learning lots about the elusive craft of writing. The beautiful grounds of Green Lake Conference Center are also calling to me. I can’t stress enough to anyone living anywhere nearby that you need to go spend some time there for exploration and in quiet reflection. And don’t forget your camera.

While at the Conference Center I won’t have a regular internet connection. I know, really? Yes, really. So I won’t be checking my e-mail or social networks as frequently as usual, and won’t be blogging til next weekend. It’s time for me to seriously write.

Have a good week and may God bless your every breath.  

I call this picture "Writer's Feet", taken at the conference last year. Don't look too close for toe-jam. 

Priceless

It was Kathy Steffen's first time at the Green Lake Christian Writers Conference and here she is showing her board full of sticky-notes to keep her on task while writing.

So, here I am home and all fired up! I picked up a lot of tips and inspiration. Unfortunately, the more stuff like that I pick up, the more activities I also pick up that keep me from writing. It is all good-intentioned, but really? Maybe I should just write more and more often.

But no, instead I had to stop at Wal-mart so I could make a board like Kathy's.

Hmm? display board - $2.97, post it notes - $5.24, becoming a published author - priceless? or more like hopeless?

I write down a lot quotes whenever I am at a conference like this. Here's the one I need to put on the top of my display board - "Never give up, never surrender."

Thank you so much for your support.

Where am I off to next?

They will never be hungry or thirsty. Sun and desert heat will not hurt them, for they will be led by one who loves them. He will lead them to springs of water. I will make a highway across the mountains and prepare a road for my people to travel. Isaiah 49:10-11 Good News Translation

Hmm? Sounds like God was the original travel guide, doesn’t it?

If you have been reading my blog the last few weeks, you have read about my volunteer trip to Ayacucho, Peru, in 2009. Now that I have wrapped that up, I only have a few more trips to tell you about and then I will be all caught up, and since I can’t begin travelling fulltime, I will have to write about other adventures I have had or other crazy thoughts that come into my head. But that is yet to come.

In the meantime, I am going to take a break from blogging this week. I am going to be at the Green Lake Christian Writers Conference and hope to be very busy working on one of my books. I also plan to sit down and formulate a website. Don’t have a clue what to put on it, but hopefully I will find inspiration and direction at the Conference.

Look for me back online on August 28. See if I am indeed inspired.