End of Week Links- Writing, Love and Peru

If you have been reading my blog the last few weeks, you may have picked up that my words feel dry. No. That’s not quite it. More of an uncertainty in what direction my words want to pick up and travel to.

Today is also the first day of being in the mountains. Patches of snow on the ground. Just me and my husband. Two laptops. One thousand books. And my journal. A few days to dream. To rest.

And then. Just at the moment where I’m wondering where and how I’ll unpack my words, the words of two women are brought to my attention. And they put it all in perspective.

My focus shifts. From me. To Him. From my inadequacy. To His abundance. From my doubts. To His gifts bestowed. From my short sightedness. To His perspective.

The first was a post from Beth Moore entitled To New Writers, With Love. A friend sent me the link. I had seen it referred to in the social media world. But there was something about a friend saying, read this, that got my attention.

Here are a few words from it that grabbed me:

“Writing can be a hard, grueling profession. It has moments of beauty, mystery, and emotion so strong that you can’t see the screen but, nipping at their very heels are harassing fears that you might not have another”

“Perfectionism will snuff the flame. Period. Give it up. It’s cheating us out of hearing your genuine voice.

These are a few reasons why we may never read books by some of the greatest writers on the planet. Some are too narcissistic to take the criticism, too undisciplined to see it through the dry spells, or too committed to greatness to settle for publishing something good.”

In reading this I realized my writing is not about me. It is about Him. It is about showing places of beauty. Pointing others, joining others, to the place where gladness and joy will overtake us and sorrow and sighing will flee away.

The second article was written by Angie Smith. She, along with two of her daughters, has been in Peru this week with Compassion International. Her post Love Moves is….Well, I don’t know if I have words for it. It is beyond beautiful of what this life with Him is all about. It is about Love showing up and bringing us to worship. You must go read it.

So while I’m here, in the mountains, sorting out my words. Wanted to share two gifts of words to end your week with. And words that are shaping, reminding me of why I’ve answered the call of Jesus to follow him.