by Sharon O | Jun 8, 2012 | Uncategorized
On day four the new word for our writers challenge is practice.
If you want to be good at something it takes practice.
The definition in dictionary.com is: repeated performance or systematic exercise
for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency.
He said it won’t make you perfect but it will create discipline.
To have discipline we have to show up.
It has to be a mindset to prioritize your writing.
It is easy to make excuses.
We all have homes that need attention.
We all need to walk, weed, dust or vacuum but even in saying all that to have a nice home it takes effort and energy to get it done.
Writing is the same.
He challenged us to sit down and do it.
In all honesty a year or so ago I did initiate contact with a few others and did guest posts for them and also did a small writing on 5 minutes for faith sharing my testimony.
It takes effort even if you don’t fully believe in yourself.
It was hard for me to reach out and be challenged to write only 500 words or less with a deadline for submitting the writing.
Then hoping and praying it will be good enough for at least one nice comment.
When an occasional good comment would come in my hope increased and my vision became more clear for the purpose of this blog.
He challenged us to submit an article for a magazine.
It is practicing what you desire to become.
If someone wants to become a good runner they do not sit on the couch and watch other runners on a dvd.
They purchase shoes and good running pants and they discipline themselves to go to the track or path and start running. They begin small and slowly stretch and they loosen up and then they are able to run with great abandon so long as they are trained properly first.
Writing is just like that.
If we want to accomplish our goal we have to be active and show up at the key board.
He challenged us to make the time to get it done.
He said we might fail in the effort but at least the effort was made and we learned something in the failed process.
If we don’t try we won’t know if it is good or not.
He says writing is an active process and we need an engaged mind to present our thoughts and feelings to the reader.
So learn to write when you are able to think clearly and form thoughts easier.
For some that might be early in the morning.
For others might be in the dark of the night.
Whenever it is let us be challenged to practice more and begin a new habit of writing.
by Sharon O | Jun 7, 2012 | Uncategorized
On day three of the writers challenge our word is initiate.
The definition in dictionary.com: to begin. to introduce into the knowledge of a subject. teach. instruct. indoctrinate. train.
He said our challenge is to ‘choose ourselves’.
Sharing the story of when we were in school and others were picking people for teams.
They would say “I pick you and you and you.”
Just as they were picking for their teams we must pick for our ‘team’ too.
He said to look in the mirror and say “you…I pick you.”
If you have favorite writers add your name to the list.
We need to build confidence and also build belief in ourselves.
Then he challenged us to place in a secret place the words
“I am a ____”.
That might mean for some of us an ‘author’ or a ‘novelist’ or a ‘storyteller’… whatever we think we want to become we are to write it down and keep it in a safe place to come back to later on in this writers challenge.
He said we are to continue to practice writing.
To make it a priority.
To make the time to do it and do it well.
Any writing is better than none.
He ended by saying “Give yourself grace, but also hold yourself accountable”.
Begin today the journey of who you are becoming.
No one gets where they want to be without practice and discipline.
Begin today.
by Sharon O | Jun 6, 2012 | Uncategorized
Day two of the challenge we are supposed to write about how we believe in ourselves as a writer.
How we believe in the gift given to us to put words on paper so that a story can be told.
He says to courageously embrace your gift of writing and begin strong not doubting yourself.
When we embrace something that is a strong statement and a close intimate action.
Usually we embrace what matters to us.
So our writing should matter too.
He says to meditate on the gift of writing.
We are to take the time to do what needs to be done for us to write from deep within our spirit.
He says to not let anything distract us.
He even suggested that we get up two hours earlier in the morning for the purpose of writing.
It is encouraging to try to write with a purpose and to learn to write well.
I find my confidence is not as strong as it should be or perhaps could be on this topic.
This challenge is going to push me into a new place and purpose.
I wait for the final lesson.
by Sharon O | Jun 6, 2012 | Uncategorized
This week the blogging community has been challenged by a man who writes and encourages and teaches others to pursue their gifts and abilities.
I don’t know this person and I am not familiar with anything about him but I do appreciate his challenge.
It is hard.
He shared the 15 habits of great writers and challenged us to ‘write about them’.
The first one was to declare that you ‘are a writer’.
I will see if I can stay disciplined enough to write something for this challenge every day.
Writing has been a journey for me and to actually say or even to believe that I am a writer takes a lot of ‘strength’ from inside.
On my new business cards part of the title says creative writer and blog author but do I really believe that in my heart?
It feels like pride to me, as if I am saying ‘look at me… notice what I am writing’.
The flip side of that feeling is the bigger issue:
I read this the other day and put it on my facebook because it was such a wonderful reminder.
“The most fundamental thing is not how we think of God, but what God thinks of us.” ~ CS Lewis~
I know God loves me and has given me gifts to share for others.
Could writing be one of those gifts?
Perhaps.
Do I need to trust more or deeper in order for me to believe the gift he has given is good enough for others to receive?
Perhaps I do.
I am a writer.
I think I can say that but what is the next step I need to do to believe that my words can help others?
A few things for me to think about today as this challenge begins.
by Sharon O | Jun 3, 2012 | Uncategorized
“But the Lord said to Samuel,
“Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.
The Lord does not look at the things people look at.
People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
~ 1 Samuel 16:7 ~
Joining Deidra on jumping tandem ~ The Sunday community ~
by Sharon O | May 31, 2012 | Uncategorized
Two days ago we received a call from my son in law telling us our daughter and her three daughters were in a serious car accident and our daughter was being transported to the hospital in an ambulance.
I couldn’t really process that news.
My heart felt like it was sinking.
We had a 45 minute drive and the whole time I was praying and hoping and wondering what was going on.
It is one of those times when you say an arrow prayer right up to God asking Him for protection.
It felt surreal for me to have half my family in one crumpled car.
The angels were working overtime and did their job very well.
The little girls were not visibly hurt at least for that day.
Sarah our daughter had neck and back trauma but not enough to create serious issues.
She could move her legs and feet and even though she was slammed hard it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
Many things could have been worse.
The lady who rear ended her going over fifty five miles per hour said ‘it was her fault’ as she was trying to light a cigarette and she apparently didn’t see our daughters car stopped with her left signal on. Sarah had three cars heading towards her and one full speed car coming behind her and the only thing she could do was try to get away from the full impact.
When she was hit from the rear it spun her car and pushed it into a fenced field missing a telephone pole by less than a few feet.
I believe the angels worked quickly to keep them all safe.
They will have residual headaches and soreness but they are alive and even though the car is crumpled our family was protected and safe.
I believe in Angels.
I believe that nothing is by accident.
Even this kind of experience has a purpose.
I just feel so relieved that it all turned out as good as it did.
Have you ever had a time of feeling so incredibly thankful?
It would be good for us all to say ‘thank you’.
by Sharon O | May 27, 2012 | Uncategorized
The most important thing in life to remember!
You are unique… individual… and created by God for a purpose!
Psalm 139:
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
(joining Deidra on jumping tandem on Sundays)
{Photo by Larry O from Oregon}
by Sharon O | May 24, 2012 | Uncategorized
If you are reading this on the 24th it is important for you to go back and read the last four ‘posts’ I did on the 23rd. They are in order telling a story…beginning with the title “13 years ago.”
by Sharon O | May 24, 2012 | Uncategorized
As the night continued our daughter was not out of recovery and as a concerned mom I could not leave and go home until I knew she was going to be stable and settled in her room.
It was close to 1:30am when she finally was out of recovery and I could head home for some much needed sleep for myself.
Since it was a work day this mom and new grandma had been awake almost 24 hours.
I headed home and at the same time I was leaving my husband was heading to the hospital to see our daughter and our new grand daughter.
We were grandparents for the first time.
We were on a new journey together and it would be a change for us.
I believe God knew it would be a good change.
One of my favorite pictures of grandpa and our new ‘little one’ is this one.
She had been in nicu a few days as her IV was gone and it looks like she was resting peacefully.
As a first time grandpa to lay your hand on a soft ‘tiny’ person and pray over them is an honor.
She stayed in nicu for 3 weeks needing different levels of care.
Then they released her to go home at 3 weeks and 3 days old weighing only 3 pounds 9 ounces.
When our daughter called me at work I was surprised she could go home that soon.
After 6 weeks of being home the time came for Sarah ‘our daughter’ to go back to work and someone just had to be with this little tiny bundle so ‘grandma’ quit her job and stayed home with her for three years giving her a good start at life.
We both needed this time for nurture, growth and renewed hope.
I believe God knew my heart needed a purpose to give and nurture and
learn to love again perhaps even for the first time on a new and different level.
Faith Elizabeth was our miracle baby ~
here she is at age 5 months weighing only 8pds with dimples and beautiful blue eyes.
Our joy had come and our lives were changed.
I was a stay at home grandma and loving it.
God was restoring my heart and giving me peace.
Home became a ‘safe’ place for me.
Our marriage was restored with a lot of work and we knew we were beginning a life together as grandparents.
Our story is her story.
She was our miracle.
So many things could have happened with her and didn’t.
God saw her and formed and completed her beauty way before she was even born.
Psalm 13913-16
Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day.
by Sharon O | May 24, 2012 | Uncategorized
As my husband shared his story later with us.
He was called by our son and was told that the baby was coming early and he needed to come home as soon as he could. He had great grandpa with him and they were driving down the road as fast as they could without breaking the speed limit. Our son was a policeman at the time and alerted the state troopers in that area that his dad needed to be found.
It was dark by then and a police man pulled him over just to tell him that ‘his grand child was coming soon’ and to drive safely home.
While he continued to drive home in the dark of the night we waited at the hospital with great anticipation.
Worry crept in and sat down beside me and of course all the ‘what if’s joined too’ emotionally I was a mess but had to stay strong in the midst of the crisis that was taking place.
The doctor came out about 10:50pm and said to us:
“Mom is stable and in recovery and baby girl weighed in at 2pds 11oz she is NICU (which is a neonatal intensive care unit) and she will stay there until she is strong enough to leave for home”.
This was our first experience with a neonatal setting and very scary.
This is where tiny babies are placed to ‘grow’ in an incubator setting.
My only experience was one of watching little baby chicks in a warming unit not little tiny babies trying to grow. With anticipation and fear I walked in and met her for the first time.
She was precious. She was bright eyed. She was so very tiny.
She was beautiful. She was serious with dark eyes staring at me as if to say ‘will you always love me and be my grand mother’.
She was everything I could ever imagine only tinier.
I was instantly in love and I promised her at that time to do everything in my power to keep her safe and protected and be her grandma for as long as God allowed me to live.
I determined in my heart to be there for my daughter and her daughter.
They named her Faith Elizabeth…
she was a gift to us when we needed something very special.
When we needed change and purpose and a new reason to love.
God knew it would take a baby to change our hearts.
