Clipped Wings

Some pet owners clip the wings of their birds. This is done for many different reasons, but the end result is the same. A clipped bird can only fly a very short distance before it has to land. It is incapable once clipped of doing what it was created to do. Fly.

In a sense, we were created to fly as well. Jesus wants us to have life more abundantly (John 10:10). We shouldn't clip our wings, but we should fly every opportunity we get.

What do I mean by that? If there's a contest you'd like to enter, but just don't think your work is good enough, enter it anyway. Always wanted to query an editor of a particular magazine but you left your courage somewhere along the yellow brick road beside the cowardly lion? Do it shaking like a leaf, but do it.

Too many times, we are the greatest hindrance to our achievements. God says we can do ALL things through Christ. Oh...wait...all things EXCEPT sell an article. A novel. A play. A poem...well, you get the picture. The bottom line is you can't sell what you don't submit.

I have a favorite quote that I'm going to paraphrase into a quote for writers-have no idea who said it, wish I did so I could give credit to the speaker- anyway, it's "She went out on a limb, had it break off behind her, and discovered she could fly."

If you never climb on the limb (submit the writing) to start with and it breaks (an editor would have asked for your work) then you'll never know if you can fly (reach your dreams).

So fly. If you have a bumpy landing, get back up and try again. You're bound to soar some day, but if you never spread your wings, it could lead to a whole bunch of 'if only' regrets.

Secrets Revealed: I Am Wonder Woman

Well...I was when I was a kid. Episode after edpisode I watched her round up the bad guys and make the world safe for kids all over America. I decided that when I grew up, I would become Wonder Woman and fight for justice (after I married Bo Duke, but that's a different post)...

Then of course, I grew up, reality hit and I realized there were no such things as super heroes-male or female. Life went on. I couldn't become a superheroine, so I became the next best thing. A writer.

The most fascinating thing about writing fiction? I get to create worlds and characters-yes even superheroines-who fight for justice and make the world a better place. Writers can live so many fascinating lives through their characters. What other profession allows you to become so many different people (without getting slapped with a multiple personality label and earning a stay in a padded room?) where you can live out your daydreams between the pages of a book?

Last night, while out shopping, I checked out the aisle filled with notebooks and pens (an aisle most writers are drawn to like the mothership calling her little alien babies home) and guess what I found? A Wonder Woman notebook. It was meant to belong to me. I am Wonder Woman after all.

The Meaning of Ministry for Writers

When I was in college (a Christian Bible college), I would often hear the word ministry. As in 'he's in the ministry' and it was a word reserved to only describe those who worked at a church in some capacity. Usually in leadership.

Is that what ministry is? Working in a church? Let's look at it from Jesus' life. Jesus healed. He fed. He rebuked. He taught. He preached. All of that was ministry. He spent His life helping others.

In a nutshell, a writing ministry is what occurs when your writing helps someone else. Maybe what you wrote gives a weary person a much needed laugh. Or your words brought peace to a troubled soul. Write. Even if it's letters or e-mail to someone who's lonely. Afraid. Sick. Lost. Burdened.

If God has given you a writing talent, don't hide it under a bushel.

The Expiration Date of a Dream

I was lamenting to my oldest daughter today about that fact that I have yet to sell one of my manuscripts. Even though I've sold nonfiction work, it's not the same because my heart is in fiction.

In her profound words of wisdom she said, "There are no expiration dates on dreams."

Wow. Out of the mouth of babes....

It made me stop and think that all too often, we're the ones who give our dreams expiration dates. I want to make it happen (it being whatever goal or dream you have) by this date. Or that. When those self imposed expiration dates come (and go) we end up discouraged. Or feel like failures.

As writers, we just need to remember that it's our job to write. God's job to open doors.

Don't give up.

The Voices of Your Future

With graduation for many students right around the corner, kids all over America are making plans to go to college as soon as their high school years are through. My advice? WAIT. I know...gasp...shock...faint. Why do I say wait? Because many young adults rush right off to college for the sake of tradition. It's the accepted 'norm' just like not wearing white after a certain time of year. The herd mentality. Go to college in order to get the good job. Like God can't provide a good job without a college degree? Don't try to put fences around what God can and cannot do with a life that's surrendered to Him.

I used to be of the 'finish high school, go to straight to college' mindset. I wanted to be a writer, I felt like God had given me that talent. My parents thought a stint in the military would be a better idea. After I left the military, my then pastor said I needed to go off to college (the ONLY college acceptable for Christian young ladies in his opinion). I still wanted to be a writer. But didn't good Christian young ladies obey their pastor? Off to college I went where I studied education. zzzzzzzz....

Twenty years later, guess what I'm doing with my life? I'm a writer. Yes, a published writer. It took fourteen years to get back on the right path and a year of learning about freelance writing after that before I sold my first work. What went wrong?

I listened to everyone's voices except the One that mattered the most. God's voice. Too many times we run full speed ahead into the future without God's guidance as our road map.

As a young person, you'll hear plenty of voices giving you advice about your future, but remember, only One voice matters the most and that's the Lord's. It's okay if no one understands but you and God.

My advice to every Christian young person is to take a year off after high school. Spend that year praying about your future and seeking what it is He wants you to do. College is not for everyone.