Easy to say.
Hard to do.
We see what we want. We see what we don't want. We worry. We fret. We try to guard against our fears.
We plan. We fortify. We scheme. We try to work it all out.
And then it goes a whole different way than we expected. And we're knocked off the path we thought was right.
"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven." Ecclesiastes 3:1
Ah man, I look back on my life, the last ten years or so, and boy, I've made mistakes. I saw what I hoped for -- freelancing and working from home. And those are good things. There's nothing wrong with them. But a lot of what I tried was done out of fear or worry -- trying to figure out how to pay the bills.
And that isn't the way to go about anything -- out of fear or worry (same thing really).
We gotta approach life with faith and courage and strength and joy.
About 18 months ago I began a middle grade novel which I now call The Marvelous and Amazing Adventures of Ruthie and Marcie. My three kids -- Maggie, Pete and Megan -- would come home from school and want to hear the next chapter. So I'd oblige (plus it kept me writing. If I didn't have a chapter to read to them they weren't happy). We did this for a few months. They saw it completed too.
I began to think about submitting it to literary agents or publishers. I got it in the right format.
And then suddenly, Maggie died. And life changed. Big time.
Since then I've written different things, draw and painted. My youngest child, Megan, would ask about Ruthie and Marcie, and I'd tell her they were put away for a while. I did submit it to a few literary agents in the month or so after Maggie died, and I even got a bite, but my heart wasn't in it.
A few weeks ago Ruthie and Marcie popped their heads back up, asked me if I was ready to hang out with them again. Here they are:
So, I got them out again and reread their story.
It is good, really good. Whimsical and funny.
And I realized I didn't agree with what the literary agent said.
So, I'm submitting again. I changed a bit on it but not too much.
And I will keep submitting until the right publisher says yes.
It is the right time now.
Will it get published?
I believe so.
When?
I have no idea.
But I'm submitting it because I know whoever finally picks it up will love it. And the kids who read it will be blessed big time.
We might have a bunch of things in our lives we want to happen. And that's great. But if that stuff we want to happen is keeping us from enjoying this moment we ought to look at it a bit closer. We can't get this moment back.
"'do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.'" Matthew 6:34a
"He who watches the wind will not sow and he who looks at the clouds will not reap." Ecclesiastes 11:4