“What I need is a sense that God accepts me, owns me, holds me, affirms me, and will never let me go even if he is not too impressed with what he has on his hands.”
Lewis B. Smedes, Shame and Grace, page 80
* Even though this is from that book I just cited, I found it on page 74 of Justin and Lindsey Holcomb’s Rid of My Disgrace.
Monthly Archives: June 2012
You Thought I Was Going to Forget the Fourth Post This Week!
Wait, is this a pyramid scheme?
Hello, dear readers.
I’ve obviously run out of pre-written posts, which means that you get something a little less polished today. However, I think I’m about to uncover something completely ground breaking.
Are you ready?
I recently started reading Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel because all of us writer-types have to read it, or so the internets tell me.
So I’m reading, and I come to a particularly interesting section about the weird, mysterious magic that causes people to spend money buying a book so that it eventually becomes super-huge and important, and so that action figures must be made.
What is that magic? In the business, it is called “word of mouth.” In the real world, it is what happens when your friend who reads too much grabs you by the arm, drags you across the bookstore aisle, snatches a novel from the shelf and thrusts it into your hands, urging, “You have got to read this. It’s fantastic.” You sample the first page and, persuaded, get in line to pay.
Word of mouth. When a bookstore clerk who reads too much does it, it is termed “hand-selling.” Whatever the label, it is the power of personal recommendation, the persuasiveness of everyday salesmanship. Word of mouth is the secret grease of publishing. It is the engine that drives breakouts. It must be. What else can explain why breakouts frequently catch publishers by surprise?
What I get out of this is that, to be a successful author, I will need to recruit you and another guy to purchase my book. Then you will get three people each. The more people that get involved, the more money we’re all going to make the more $ I’M going to make. 
Did I miss anything?
A Ton of Pictures!
I’ve intended for quite a long time to create a post full of the bunches of pictures I’ve taken but been too lazy to post. So… here it is.
I’ve left out some of my other pics, so stay tuned for part 2.
Fearful/Anxious Concerns of Late…
What if a snake bites me and I’m all alone up here in the wilderness? At least I’ll make the news, right?
This dress is going to make them think I’m immodest.
I’m sleeping too much! The summer is making me into a lump of laziness!
Maybe I’m incapable of trusting the way that other people trust.
I’m going to get there late and it’s going to ruin everything!
I should probably tell them everything… but what if I don’t? What if I do? (In the words of a wise, fictional stripper: “Secrets, secrets are no fun; Secrets, secrets hurt someone”).
I’m going to eat too much and get fat again, and no amount of running will fix it. None of my clothes will fit anymore.
What if I don’t live up to my reputation? What if he/she/they expect more than what I am?
Pastor Pete is going to hate my painting, isn’t he? But then, he’s going to hang it in the church anyways, because he won’t want to hurt my feelings, and it’s just going to be a reminder to him that he should never agree to anything before he’s seen the final product. He’ll look at me differently, and I’ll know that he hates it, which will make me look at him differently, and I’ll have to switch churches just to get away from the stupid obligation painting I should never have asked to paint!
What if I can’t cry? What if I can’t keep myself from it?
I might hate teaching freshmen.
Maybe my manuscript isn’t something I want my name attached to… but maybe it’s exactly the thing I want my name attached to. Maybe I’ll get it published… oooh, scary. Maybe I won’t ever get published.
He might totally be interested in me. What if I’m disqualified from romance, at least for now? Then, I’m going to miss out! He’s going to find someone else!
I’m going to get addicted to caffeine again, aren’t I?
My car is going to break down, isn’t it? I’m going to get stuck in between Tucson and Phoenix, and I’m totally not ready to buy a new car yet. When does a person even buy a new car? Should I drive the thing into the ground first? Maybe I should not do that, so I don’t get stuck on the road somewhere with no one to rescue me. How long do cars even last?
Deserving to be Damned
Heads up: The following quote is pretty offensive, but not all offensive things are untrue. I agree with Dawson, but I totally get it if you don’t.
“Humanity does not deserve the love of God any more than you or I do. We should never be Christian humanists, taking Jesus to poor, sinful people, reducing Jesus to come kind of product that will better their lot. People deserve to be damned, but Jesus, the suffering Lamb of God, deserves the reward of His suffering.”
John Dawson Taking Our Cities for God (208-209)
I’d never thought of salvation this way… that Jesus deserves for us to be saved. Enlightening, eh?
