Being lonely and being alone aren't the same. I often like being alone, but being lonely--not so much. Writing takes me both places. Sometimes when I write, the inner dialogue and thought process rejuvenates me. Other times it isolates me. Like Joanna in Grit for the Oyster, I often ask myself: "Why on earth am I chaining myself to a computer when it all seems so futile?" [p. 97] My answer: "I love to write. I can't write. I need to write."
My next big project involves finishing a book started in the fall of 2005 originally written in 30-45 segments focusing on John 3:16. When Max Lucado released Numbers That Count the following summer, I was deflated. That was my idea. But Max's readership and platform exceeds mine by about one trillion. So I did what any discouraged writer does. I quit.
But God has a way of shaking us up even when we'd rather sulk. A few years later during a day of solitude arranged by our church staff, I decided to read Paul's letters to the churches. Then Ephesians 5:1-2 re-stoked the writing flame.
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma." NAS
A new book was born. Walk in Love will be finished this fall barring no unforeseen disruptions and with lots of encouragement and suggestions from my friends. I need that. I don't write well lonely.
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