.jpg)
Just when I thought we were the next victims in this villanous toddler's murder plot, a bigger, stronger hand reached out and took control of the wheel. The toy four-wheeler's trajectory shifted in the nick of time to avoid our untimely demise.
As the potential murder weapon chugged past, we saw a grown version of the little red-headed girl holding the toddler securely in her lap, scolding in her ear. Mom's right hand poised over her daughter's, lest the little imp try to mow us down again. She mouthed a profuse series of apologies, but we waved her off and laughed. David asked to see a driver's license.
I've felt rather like a ship adrift for the past year as we waited out the delayed launch of our new mystery book club. Now that I'm refocusing my fulltime attentions on mystery work again, it's good to be reminded that I'm not the one in charge here. I'm not steering this craft. . .HE is! I received an e-mail from one of our mystery authors this past week that reinforces this foundational truth. I thought you might like a peek into my e-mail Inbox. . .Nancy Mehl writes: "I am beginning to get pretty excited. This relationship with Barbour means a great deal to me because 'I know that I know that I know' it is a 'God thing.' My previous efforts were more of a 'Nancy thing.' About a month before my agent told me about the book club, I had put my entire career on the altar. I told God that I would write anything He wanted. I had no more personal agenda. (You see, I wanted to be the next Frank Peretti!) Then came the Barbour proposal--for a 'cozy mystery'--something I'd never written before. I stepped out because I was waiting for God to move--and He did. I had no idea that my writing career would go this way--but God has a plan, and I am thrilled to go along for the ride. It's no longer 'me,' it's Him. I feel like I've boarded a train that God is driving. I have no idea where we're going - and I don't care. All I care about is going along for the ride--wherever He takes me."
Amen, Nancy! Thanks for the reminder. I'm happy to leave the driving to Him.
3 comments:
I think I'll cut Nancy's email out and save it for myself. You know it should be a relief to have someone else in the driver's seat but we always want to grab that steering wheel, don't we?
What a wonderful email from Nancy. Thanks for sharing it. I blogged about His plan for my writing today and my first ACFW conference in Houston--sort of along the same lines. He had plans for me before He turned me over to fiction. :-) Don't you just love it when He speaks loud enough for us to hear? Or maybe I should say, don't you just love it when we actually pay attention to Him--it's then we're blessed.
Your post gave me a Holy-Spirit tingly feeling. While waiting for the right time to get the new mystery club off the ground, you've been holding a cozy proposal of mine. Last week I pulled out my hardcopy, dusted it off and re-read it. It felt like the right time to finish writing the book. Later, I mentioned it to my wife.
"Why? Why work on it now?" she asked. I didn't have an answer for her.
I still don't, except to say that today's post reminds me the project is ultimately in God's hands and there's no better place for it!
Thanks for sharing.
Post a Comment