Today was a good day that kind of flew by. I slept pretty late, but I always figure that my body needs a lot of sleep, so that's fine, if a bit annoying. My sister slept even later, though, so I felt all up-and-at-'em.
I had to finish up some homework today, so I had to read a chapter from a book on prayer, and it really gave me some mixed feelings. It was talking about tearful prayer, and that a surfeit of tears is necessary for repentance and closeness to God. It didn't exactly say that you couldn't be close to God without tears, but that's the impression I got, and I call that a bunch of hooey.
Not to say that I don't think brokenness is necessary in our lives, but this author went so far as to say that if, after asking God for this tearful spirit, it doesn't come, you should keep knocking and asking for it, because it is just that important.
I think that if you ask God for a broken and contrite heart, and you mean it, and the weeping just doesn't come, than that is God saying, "That's okay." Sure, examine your heart and make sure you're not being hard and trying to block out things, but move on in joy, already! Sheesh. That author ticked me off and I told my professor so in my reaction.
I also swung by the library to return a few things and see if a book I'm waiting for was in, but it is not yet, so I just grabbed an Entertainment Weekly. I've subscribed to EW on and off for years and years, and every time I cancel I end up subscribing again, because I'm just so sad without it. I'm going to try to keep grabbing it from the library, for now, because I shouldn't need to have it delivered to me to enjoy it. I read them very quickly anyway. I'm already done with the one I got today, thanks to my hour on the elliptical and a few articles I didn't care about (24, Katy Perry, Shrek (double ugh)).
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer. Show all posts
Friday, June 11, 2010
Monday, November 16, 2009
You know that old saying, "When you assume..."
you make an ass out of yourself and just make God more godly and clear.
I've been working on a novel for NaNoWriMo, and I've written over 15,000 words so far. I really like it a lot. The purpose of NaNoWriMo is just to get those words out of you. They don't have to be good, and you shouldn't edit. Just WRITE. The goal is 50,000 words by midnight on November 30th. I was nervous to start, but the book has just been pouring out of me and I'm really having fun and mostly like what I've written.
Here's the rub: it's not necessarily a Christian novel. (GASP!) And I, dear reader, am planning on being some sort of pastor. It's not like that alone is a problem. Sheesh, I'm not a complete shut-in and don't cater to those who would get their panties in a knot about that. The thing is, there's s-e-x in the book. Um, not "within the bounds of marriage" s-e-x. The aforementioned activity is considered a mistake and is dealt with- it's sort of the premise of the book- but when it happens, it's also kind of fun. I think I'm being real in the book by not pretending that all sin absolutely sucks when you're engaging in it, but there are consequences.
To recap: Adultery: it's fun! Oh, wait, it sucks. There are consequences, repentance, and God is mentioned, but I'm not shooting for a Christian novel vibe. I really don't know if there would be any sort of audience at all for this book with the mix of sassy & Christian I'm working. There's no salvation prayer uttered, OH, and there's swearing. Just a little. I'm trying to portray real people that are also Christians trying to live their lives.
I've asked a couple people what they think of the general concept & whether it's okay for me to be writing this book. The stupidity of me? I never asked God about it until yesterday. Here's the assuming part: I got the idea at the beginning of this year and actually started writing it back then. And this month, I've been cranking on it and really enjoying it. So, I assumed that because I had the inspiration and it was flowing, that God was okay with it.
But yesterday, 6 of us were walking (limping) back to the car after our half marathon, and suddenly decided to go to church. The worship was rocking, so we went a-knocking. It was great and beautiful, and our stinky butts decided to stay for the whole service. (Seriously- we were still in our nasty race clothes, numbers on our shirts, medals around our necks.) The pastor was talking about hearing from God and told us all that God would be telling us something during service. He spoke of different things you could hear: Stop, Pause, Rewind, or Fast Forward. These corresponded to (duh) stopping something you may be doing, pausing and seeing if maybe you're doing something for the wrong reasons or rushing headlong into your own plans, the need to completely repent and get on a different path, or the word to go ahead and jump.
What I think was my word from God was an exact sentence that the pastor said: Press the pause button and bring it into the light. And, really, I wanted to kick myself. How was it that I was talking to other people about it and not God? Duh, Robin. Duh.
So, I've put it before God. I haven't gotten an answer yet, and I'm going to wait a bit and see if I get a yes or a no. It may be that it's fine, but I needed to stop and think and bring God into it more, or I may need to stop. We'll see.
I've been working on a novel for NaNoWriMo, and I've written over 15,000 words so far. I really like it a lot. The purpose of NaNoWriMo is just to get those words out of you. They don't have to be good, and you shouldn't edit. Just WRITE. The goal is 50,000 words by midnight on November 30th. I was nervous to start, but the book has just been pouring out of me and I'm really having fun and mostly like what I've written.
Here's the rub: it's not necessarily a Christian novel. (GASP!) And I, dear reader, am planning on being some sort of pastor. It's not like that alone is a problem. Sheesh, I'm not a complete shut-in and don't cater to those who would get their panties in a knot about that. The thing is, there's s-e-x in the book. Um, not "within the bounds of marriage" s-e-x. The aforementioned activity is considered a mistake and is dealt with- it's sort of the premise of the book- but when it happens, it's also kind of fun. I think I'm being real in the book by not pretending that all sin absolutely sucks when you're engaging in it, but there are consequences.
To recap: Adultery: it's fun! Oh, wait, it sucks. There are consequences, repentance, and God is mentioned, but I'm not shooting for a Christian novel vibe. I really don't know if there would be any sort of audience at all for this book with the mix of sassy & Christian I'm working. There's no salvation prayer uttered, OH, and there's swearing. Just a little. I'm trying to portray real people that are also Christians trying to live their lives.
I've asked a couple people what they think of the general concept & whether it's okay for me to be writing this book. The stupidity of me? I never asked God about it until yesterday. Here's the assuming part: I got the idea at the beginning of this year and actually started writing it back then. And this month, I've been cranking on it and really enjoying it. So, I assumed that because I had the inspiration and it was flowing, that God was okay with it.
But yesterday, 6 of us were walking (limping) back to the car after our half marathon, and suddenly decided to go to church. The worship was rocking, so we went a-knocking. It was great and beautiful, and our stinky butts decided to stay for the whole service. (Seriously- we were still in our nasty race clothes, numbers on our shirts, medals around our necks.) The pastor was talking about hearing from God and told us all that God would be telling us something during service. He spoke of different things you could hear: Stop, Pause, Rewind, or Fast Forward. These corresponded to (duh) stopping something you may be doing, pausing and seeing if maybe you're doing something for the wrong reasons or rushing headlong into your own plans, the need to completely repent and get on a different path, or the word to go ahead and jump.
What I think was my word from God was an exact sentence that the pastor said: Press the pause button and bring it into the light. And, really, I wanted to kick myself. How was it that I was talking to other people about it and not God? Duh, Robin. Duh.
So, I've put it before God. I haven't gotten an answer yet, and I'm going to wait a bit and see if I get a yes or a no. It may be that it's fine, but I needed to stop and think and bring God into it more, or I may need to stop. We'll see.
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