WFTJ

Lifelines asked me to talk about my writing group.  Words for the Journey was started by Sharen Watson down in Texas, I forgot how long ago.  Then, three years ago she moved to the Denver area and started our group.  She has since moved back down yonder.  Our new fearless leader is Michele Cushatt.  So, for even more info, I recommend visiting their blogs and asking them.  

But, I will tell you what I know.

It is a Christian group and we have forty-six names on the roster.  But, I don't recognize some of those names.  In our weekly meeting we will have anywhere from eight to thirty people, I suppose.

The group welcomes all type of writers and we have a good mix of fiction and non-fiction.  Article writers and book writers.  We applaud each others successes and failures.  If someone gets a rejection, we cheer because at least they are submitting and that takes guts.

We have weekly meetings, except during December and the summer.  Usually there is a lesson of some sort.  Someone teaches something that has to do with writing.  Anything from grammar to how to talk to an agent.  People are also encouraged to bring in some work for critique.

Once a month we meet at a different location in the evening.  At this meeting special speakers are brought in to talk about writing.

It is a fun and supportive group.  I don't know what I would have done without them when we moved here.  And I probably would have given up on writing by now without them.

Any other members of the group are welcome to add to this in the comments.

true or false

Anonymous wanted me to talk about why people have trouble with the truth and facts and why people who are supposedly Christian lie.

Well... I wish I knew.

I'm not perfect by any  means and I know that I have lied or been dishonest by omission many times.  But in general, I strive for honesty.  And I greatly admire honesty in others.  And I will have a hard time trusting someone that has deceived me.  I value honestly greatly.

I think the truth is always the best.  Even when it hurts.  If my clothes look terrible on me and make me look like a Weeble, then I want someone to tell me.  That's far less hurtful than letting me walk around like that.  If someone has wronged me, I would rather them admit it so we can work through things than for them to lie to cover it up.

But sometimes a lie can be so much easier.  Or so it seems.  I think lies always end up very complicated.  But in that moment... everything inside can scream "The only way out is a lie!"

Sometimes we lie to spare somebody's feelings.  We lie to save our skin.  Save our job.  Save our family.  I know people who lie for absolutely no reason at all.  And they don't even seem to care too much about sounding credible.  

And why do Christians lie?  Because we aren't perfect.  How I wish that the minute I gave my life to Christ that I automatically achieved perfection!  How cool would that be?!  But no.  We still struggle with, and give in to, temptation.  We should be giving in less than we did before becoming a Christian.  We should be able to see progress in our lives.  But perfection isn't going to happen in this body or on this earth.

I have no defense, though, for someone who lies.  It is sin.  The same is true when I lie.  It is wrong.  But we are supposed to forgive. Forgiving deceit can be very difficult, but it isn't impossible.  And forgiving doesn't mean that we have to give that person our full trust.  That is a consequence that must be faced and the person who lied will have to earn back that trust.

w x 10

My new friend Linda at Mocha With Linda tagged me with a new meme!  Here is the link to her contribution - the letter N.

She assigned me the letter W.  So if you want to play, leave a comment saying so and I will give you a letter.  No fair picking your own letter.

Well....

Ten things I like that start with W.  Whatever...

1. Winter.  I LOVE winter.  It is never too long in my book.

2. Warmth.  While I love winter, I also love to be cozy warm.  Not hot, mind you, just warm.

3. Watermelon.  One of the things that makes summer bearable.

4. Westerns.  Love old John Wayne movies and the Magnificent Seven and Two Mules for Sister Sarah, etc.

5. Who Done Its.  Cozy mysteries are my favorite and I love Agatha Christie.

6. Wishes.  I wish upon stars and candles and other silly things, because, why not?

7. Wax.  As in candles.  But also, wax museums are cool.

8. Willy Nelson.  Not so much him personally, but I like his music.  I don't know him personally.

9. WFTJ.  My writing group, Words for the Journey.  Awesome group.   LOVE them.

10. Wondering.  I am a questioner.  And for a bonus, I also like wandering.  As long as it is intentional.

And just for the record, even though it isn't cool and all that, I like W.  As in George.

help

Give me a topic.  Any topic.

Come on... just throw one out there.

love vs death?

I don't know a lot about Obama; just what I've heard.  I've heard he claims to be a Christian.  Maybe.  I don't know and it's not my place to make that judgement.  He may do some wonderful things for us over the next few years.  

All I know is what I've seen his priorities to be so far, and I can see that he has been deeply deceived, whether he's a Christian or not.  He may believe the lie and think that abortion is a good thing, or he may have a murderous heart.  Either way it is evil that leads him to lift these bans, condoning the killing of millions of human beings.

Our nation is sacrificing babies to the spirit of Molech.  Demons don't die.  They are thirsty for life and blood and destruction.  The spirits that moved the Israelites to sacrifice their babies in a burning oven are still here.  And our tax dollars will now pay to feed them.

In my imagination, I see a dark cloud closing in over our country.  But today as we were singing about the Glory of God spreading throughout the earth, I thought of the movie Horton Hears a Who.

My daughter loves that movie and so I have seen it several times.  I should do a post on all of the cool themes in that movie but for now, I want to talk about the barrier.  The Whos were shouting and trying to be heard but there was a thick covering that insulated the sound.  Finally the sound waves forced their way through as the smallest Who joined his voice with the others.

I thought of that this morning.  There may be a shadow settling in on us.  But we, God's people,  can make ourselves heard.  We can sing praise.  Speak truth.  And the thing that makes the most noise?  Love the Lord with all I am and love my neighbor as myself.

There may be a shadow, I feel it.  But we are the light of the world.  It's time to get out from under the bushels and let the world see a difference in us.  

I just read a book called Every Hidden Thing by Athol Dickson, (go to my book blog for a review) and the key thing I got from it is that we cannot fight a spiritual problem with physical weapons.  We must fight on the spiritual plain and the biggest weapon we have, aside from prayer and the Word of God, is love.

So, how does that play out?  

don't read if you despise inanity

If I'm out of whack, does that mean sometimes I am in whack?

The other day we were watching Planet Earth and the narrator said that the chimp barely escaped with her life.  Pause... my son says, "How do you escape without your life?"  I like that kid.

I have asymmetry problems.  Monk, (my favorite TV show) would not be able to stand being me.

My left foot is considerably more ticklish than my right.

My right side is nearly always in pain.  I mean from my neck to my hip.  Tight muscles.  Knots.  Pain.  The left side isn't too bad.

My right side is somewhat weaker, I've come to notice.

So, I know that much of this can be attributed to the mild stroke that I had once upon a time.  But what about this?

My right eyebrow can be downright riotous, but the left scarcely ever sprouts an extra hair.  What's up with that?

not so great expectations

I have come to realize that a lot of my woes come from unrealistic expectations.  And I am the queen of unrealistic expectations.  My personality type is that of an idealist.  So, obviously, I tend to think of things as they should be, rather than as they are.

Marriage is not like romance novels would have you think it is.  

Being a mother is not all about trips to the zoo and sweet conversations while brushing a child's hair.

Owning a dog is not just love and laughs and undying loyalty.

Life is not perfect!

And even though I have learned that reality doesn't meet my expectations, I continue to have expectations.  I don't know how to not have expectations.  I set myself up every time.

I do specifically remember when I went to a writers' conference and on the way there I asked God to remove all expectations.  I wanted to  just enjoy whatever it turned out to be...  and I did!  I went with an open mind and attitude and wasn't disappointed in the slightest.  But only because I thought to ask God to help me.

Otherwise, I will be disappointed every time.  Nothing ever meets my expectations.

So, here I am trying to write a book.  And I have expectations.  And for me, success and failure are measured by whether or not I meet my own expectations.  How often do you think I feel like I succeed?

A friend and I were talking about effort and how that our kids are so bright that they don't really have to give 100% in order to do well enough.  My friend mentioned that she loves the feeling of having done her absolute best on something.   I said I didn't know what that felt like.  At first I thought that was because I've never had given my best but then I realized that it was because my best is never good enough.  I can give 100%, but not be satisfied with the result.  Because of my expectations.  And what do I expect from myself?  Perfection apparently.

So, what do I do?  How do I learn that my best is all I can do and to find satisfaction in that?  How do I learn to habitually set aside expectations?  I know that one key is to ask God to remove them from me.  So I guess that's the habit I need to get into.

I would love for life to be one joyous surprise after another, rather than let down after let down.

Any other ideas, thoughts, suggestions?  Do you struggle with this?  Have you overcome this?  Or are you one of those blessed folks who takes life as it comes?