Emily Conrad's Blog, page 23

Paraphrasing Jesus to My Dog

My dog spent a noticeable portion of the last week at our old house anxious. She whined and watched with painfully keen attention as more and more of our belongings preceded us out the door.

Being the caring owner I am, I assured her we weren't leaving without her and that I had something better lined up for our family. In the midst of all the moving activity, I made it a point to walk my dog past the new house so she could sniff the terrace. I was preparing her and reassuring her as best I could.

I wanted her to sit by the front door, tail wagging, that big pit bull smile on her face, waiting for the signal to join me in the journey to our new home.

Unfortunately, my dog doesn't understand that much English. She continued to her droning worry whine.

Fast forward. A week after we moved into the new house, we had to go live with my parents until our refinished hardwood floors could cure. You'll read this on the day we get to move back in. In the meantime, I'm wandering around, a displaced and longing for home. My own home.

As I do, it occurs to me that instead of focusing on the house just three miles from here, an earthly house with yet another major repair scheduled for early this summer, I ought to be longing for the home Jesus described to me.

When I reassured the dog, my promises echoed my Lord, who said he's going ahead to prepare a place for me that where he is, I may be also. So, though paraphrasing Jesus to my dog didn't do my dog much good, it did put Truth in the forefront of my mind for when I would need it. As I think over my attempts to help my dog and Jesus's provision for me, I realize he's even allowed me to "sniff the terrace" of heaven by giving me his Spirit, his Word, his people.

I've done the best I can for my dog. Likewise, Jesus has done his best for me. And his best is infinitely better and more complete than mine.

As I did my best, I wanted my dog to eagerly and happily participate in our move. In response to his best, God wants me to do the same. He wants my heart and soul to echo those who have gone before me, like Paul, who writes,

Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8, ESV

Today, as I wait for my earthly home, I'm making this verse my prayer.

Whether you're in the middle of a move or not, I hope you will, too. With how many times we're told to "fear not" in the Bible, God wants us to be of good courage, regardless of our circumstances in any area of life. He wants us to remember that this world is passing away. He wants us to obey him in this life as we eagerly anticipate the next, where we will finally, finally be home.

Lord, I pray that I would be of good courage, regardless of what my earthly situation looks like. Thank you for all the blessings you've poured on me, for providing for both my physical and spiritual hunger, for being the One who satisfies me. Help me to put my treasure in my permanent home, in heaven, and to remember how temporary my home here on earth is. Increase my faith to believe your promises about the forever home you have for me.

In the name of looking forward to our eternal home, what's your favorite promise about heaven?







What paraphrasing Jesus to a dog taught me-via @novelwritergirlBe of good courage, believer. Your home is secure-via @novelwritergirl

Beauty Rewrites: You Are Beautiful. Believe It

It's week one of Beauty Rewrites! I am so thrilled to join forces with two wonderful and inspiring ladies, Christina of CreativeandFree.com and Ludavia of NiftyBetty.com. Our goal for the twelve-week series is to rewrite the so-called "ideal" so we can all embrace our own true beauty! 

Have you ever considered the dictionary's definition of beauty? I've never looked it up. It simply didn't occur to me the definition of beauty that a million life experiences have taught me might be wrong. Or, at the very least, incomplete.

Thank goodness Ludavia Harvey thought to dig deeper! Don't miss this chance to examine the actual dictionary definition of beauty and how that definition flies in the face of the one the media would have us believe.

Click here to read this insightful post and tune in next Tuesday for a new installment in the series!


You are more than what media defines as beautiful via @NiftyBetty #beautyrewrites

You Are Beautiful; Believe It (A Beauty Rewrites Post)

It's week one of Beauty Rewrites! I am so thrilled to join forces with two wonderful and inspiring ladies, Christina of CreativeandFree.com and Ludavia of NiftyBetty.com. Our goal for the twelve-week series is to rewrite the so-called "ideal" so we can all embrace our own true beauty! 

Have you ever considered the dictionary's definition of beauty? I've never looked it up. It simply didn't occur to me the definition of beauty that a million life experiences have taught me might be wrong. Or, at the very least, incomplete.

Thank goodness Ludavia Harvey thought to dig deeper! Don't miss this chance to examine the actual dictionary definition of beauty and how that definition flies in the face of the one the media would have us believe.

Click here to read this insightful post and tune in next Tuesday for a new installment in the series!


You are more than what media defines as beautiful via @NiftyBetty #beautyrewrites

Hello from the Desert: Postcard from a Genesis Non-Winner

I was going to miss my regular blog post today because there's a lot going on with our move and home repairs, but then ACFW's Genesis results came in.

I'm not a winner. The two manuscripts I entered are out in the first round this time, and immediately--immediately!!--the lies started to seep into my brain. I first recognized them when a friend asked if I was okay following the semi-finalist announcement. I felt kind of numb to the whole thing (or so I thought), and maybe that's why my silly brain thought it could slide this response past my better judgement: Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going to give up on writing.

No, I didn't even type it out until I just did so for you here. Because I'm not giving up. But if you're anything like me, trying to reconcile yourself to contest results that weren't what you'd hoped for, you're also battling a few lies today.

Funny how in my last post, I wrote about how there's a desert between the 'before' and 'after' pictures that document success. There's a long journey to get to the Promised Land. And now, I'm living there, in that desert with another disappointment. But actually, as I write this post, I'm encouraged. I'm battling the lies.

Let's battle side-by-side, shall we? Let's put those lies out in the open and skewer them.

Lie #1: It must be time to quit writing. 
Truth: Um, hello. No! It is, however, time for some extra time with God and for some reflection. It's time to take some time and get your bearings. Not placing in a contest doesn't actually mean as much as it feels like it means when you first get the results. Sometimes, the scoring is really close and the deciding factor may have been something as simple as personal taste or one judge scoring harder than another.

Also, the same manuscript can receive drastically different scores in different contests and settings. For example, my First Impressions winning manuscript didn't make the first cut in Genesis. Granted, part of this is due to the additional pages, which I realized needed more revisions to after I entered Genesis. But still. I've also never placed in a contest with the more current versions of the manuscript that landed my agent.

Lie #2: These judges have the final word on the quality of my story.
Truth: Judges' comments and scores, there on your screen in black and white, seem so official and permanent and indisputable. But judges are human, too. They bring their own experiences and preferences into the scoring. They have to. I've liked published books my writing friends haven't liked. And vice versa. Everyone has taste and style preferences. You do not have to apply every piece of feedback you receive.

Lie #3: The judges have no idea what they're talking about.
Truth: The fact is, writing is subjective. You may not agree with all the comments, but they are someone's perspective in a subjective industry, and that makes them worthwhile. Prayerfully consider what to apply and what to pass up. God is all-powerful and works everything out for the good of those who follow him. Choose to believe that everything includes which judges he assigned to your story. He chose them for your good, not for your harm. Take any stinging comments you receive (yes, I've gotten those, too, though I haven't received my Genesis comments yet) and lay them at his feet.

And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, because those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified. Romans 8:28-30, NET

Lie #4: God doesn't care about the results of a contest.
Like I said above--like the Bible says--God works out everything for the good of his people. Contests included. In my case, if this post, which I can only write as the non-winner I am, encourages someone else, God is already using those judges, that score, this situation, for good.

Lie #5: Not placing in contests means my dreams will never come true.
Truth: Did you really start writing in order to win contests? I didn't. My goal is to be published, and I don't need contest wins to accomplish that. Sure, they add nice credits to my writing resume, but they aren't the end-all-be-all.

But, since publication is on the minds of so many contest entrants, myself included, let's talk about that for a minute...

Lie #6: If I don't get published, I'm a failure.
Truth: Just like God is in control of everything else, God is in control of whether or not you ever see your book in print. Whatever contest wins or book publications come your way, he's chosen them for your good. Whatever you don't get? That's for your good, too.

If he called you to writing but hasn't called you to publication, that is for your good. For my good.

I would rather have a soul beautified by the process he has for me, rejections and all, than a printed book that will one day go up in flames with the rest of the world. My soul is better off waiting on his perfect timing, whatever he has for me, than trying to force anything or resenting what he has or has not given me.

I've been reading through Isaiah, and 50:10-11 speaks to this. Here it is from the NET translation:

Who among you fears the Lord?
Who obeys his servant?
Whoever walks in deep darkness,
without light,
should trust in the name of the Lord
and rely on his God. Look, all of you who start a fire
and who equip yourselves with flaming arrows,
walk in the light of the fire you started
and among the flaming arrows you ignited!
This is what you will receive from me: you will lie down in a place of pain.

Don't create your own light when you're in the darkness or your own path when you're in the desert. Trust, instead, in God. He has a plan for the contest winners, and he has a plan for the non-winners. Either way, if we're trusting him, we're on track.







Don't create your own light when you're in the darkness. Trust God. via @novelwritergirl
I want a soul beautified by God more than a printed book that'll one day go up in flames - via @novelwritergirl

Protecting Healthy Habits

My husband, dogs, and I are still in the midst of our moving adventure, all exhausted, a little shocked, and looking forward to the future when we'll finish the basic repairs so we can move into the main portion of the house.

The disruption in our normal routines has reminded me how precious and comforting some of my habits are. Walking my dogs, making coffee, settling into the couch with my husband for a favorite show.

They're all habits. I spend so much time correcting bad habits that when a habit of mine is called into question, I tend to assume the worst of it. It's a habit. It must be bad. Or at least dispensable. 

I'm tempted to unpack until bedtime instead of giving in to my routine of relaxing for a bit. I skip my usual walk with my dogs because they have been running around their new fenced in yard. I choose to forego my ritual of making coffee and just pick some up on run. 

Coffee, relaxation, and walking are habits that get in the way of my to-do list. They need to be cut.

Or do they?

By skipping these normal beats of my day, I end up longing to go home. Even when I'm at the new house. It's my routines that help to make my house a home and my life one I enjoy. The habits I'm talking about aren't bad, and they don't need to be broken. Instead, they belong to the category of habits that need to be protected because they foster relationships, health, and contentment.

Let's fight for those habits. Drop the guilt that says you need to jam pack your days with chores and obligations in order to make them count. Refuse to starve out life-feeding routines. Even in the midst of upheaval, find little ways to enjoy the moments and rhythms of your day.

What healthy habit refreshes you when life gets crazy?




Refuse to starve out life-feeding routines - via @novelwritergirl

Easy...Not

Have you ever noticed how people often encourage others to chase their dreams like it’ll be the easiest, most freeing thing they could do? Images of eagles and mountaintops flash to mind. As a culture, we envy dream-pursuers, often refusing to acknowledge they are rare for a reason.

We so often see before and after pictures right next to each other. Many of us initially don't understand there's a desert between the two. I, for one, set out along a figurative three-day path through the wilderness, never guessing it’d take years to reach the Promised Land. My goal was (and still is) to publish novels, but this applies to more than writers. Everyone has some Promised Land.

With few exceptions, those of us on this path of pursing dreams don't close in on our dreams in the time we allotted. This is why you can give a group of writers the word “easy” as a prompt and find that most of us—me, included—pair it with “not.” (Yup, that's right, I'm getting two posts out of one Five Minute Friday prompt. I hope you don't mind the familiar topic. My family is moving today and tomorrow, and things are a bit crazy so I'm going with what I've got!)

From the wilderness of waiting and writing and striving, I have remembered my office days and thought of how perfect they were. I thought of the purpose I had, the clothes I could afford, the trips I took. I blocked out the struggles, and there were many.

I looked back on my personal Egypt with rosy longing.

Have you?

Join me in facing forward, in journeying toward not the Promised Land, but the God who created it. Let’s always remember the "Egypt" He’s led us from. Let’s enjoy a feast of manna and praise God for leading us into the wilderness where we are free to follow Him, invited to know Him, taught to understand that He is God.

What are you grateful for in the midst of a period of trail or waiting?










Don't chase the Promised Land. Chase the God who created it. Via @novelwritergirl

Don't travel without your encouragement map!

I love mountain hikes, but all that natural beauty comes with a good dose of natural danger. That's why it's important to carry a map, even on what you expect to be a tame hike.

Writing's that way, too--both beautiful and risky. On the writing journey, we'll face obstacles of rejection, struggle, and disappointment. Thankfully, there's a kind of map that can help us along the way!

Click on over to Seriously Write, where I'm guest posting today about mountain hikes, the writing journey, and 6 easy steps to creating your own encouragement map!

The writing life is both beautiful and risky. Don't travel without an encouragement map! Via @novelwritergirl

Disaster Avoidance

My mood was already down before I received an email requesting prayer for a family member's difficult situation. I read it, prayed, and closed the email. Back in my inbox, another subject line jumped out at me. The message from a payment service was titled: Disaster Avoidance Exercise.

In part, disaster avoidance makes up a big part of my life. I drive responsibly. I follow rules. I check and double check my work. I line up all my ducks, I try to not put all my eggs in one basket.

Sometimes, it's all for naught.

No matter what I do, companies close. People lie or mislead. Natural disasters happen. So do accidents. Sometimes a person's best isn't good enough.

Before the family situation came up, I was already down over a writing issue. The generic knowledge that sometimes a person's best isn't good enough became personal. Maybe my best isn't good enough. Maybe my writing life is a disaster I can't avoid.

Delete the phrase "writing life" and insert something important to you in the blank. Do you ever feel that way?

The fact that I'm writing right now and have spent a significant portion of my day on writing projects means that I'm fighting the lie, and I think God is showing me a new truth, pointing me in a slightly different direction with my fiction. I'm sharing a peek at the struggle with you so that you'll fight your lies, too.

When we are doing our best work in good conscience before God, our best is good enough. Not because of ourselves, but because of our God. The results may occasionally feel discouraging or, occasionally, disastrous, but those results were never in our hands to begin with. We are not in the business of avoiding disasters. We are in the business of chasing Jesus. 

God is still God in the midst of our discouragements. He doesn't change, and no disappointment, setback, or disaster can foil his good and perfect plans. In fact, what looks like a disaster from our perspective, God is using for the ultimate good. We have nothing to fear.

What initially "disastrous" situation has God used to bring about good in your life?

We're not in the business of avoiding disasters. We're in the business of chasing #Jesus via @novelwritergirl

Following the Spirit to Sunrise

The alarm went off at 5:30 and beeped until I lifted my head from my pillow and flicked the switch. It had done its job; I was awake. Now if only it had been my alarm and not my husband’s. 

As I tried to fall back to sleep, I thought of the Bible study I led last night. When the study talked of the best ways to spend our time, it suggested we flip to Mark 1:35: 

Then Jesus got up early in the morning when it was still very dark, departed, and went out to a deserted place, and there he spent time in prayer. (NET) 

I was awake early, and it occurred to me that going to pray someplace away from my dogs, away from the distraction of my computer, might be a better option than spending the next hour trying to fall back asleep.

I didn’t budge. Surely it wouldn’t take an hour to fall asleep, right?  

And then I thought of a story someone told of a time when she didn’t do something she felt like she should do. Remorse I know from the inside. I’ve failed to listen to the Spirit, too.

Was it the Holy Spirit calling me from bed? Would I be quenching Him yet again by refusing? If I didn’t listen this time, would His voice be fainter and harder to follow next time?

The sky was beginning to glow navy blue. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and Googled the time of sunrise. 6:10 meant I had time to get up, get dressed, make coffee, and get myself to the lake.

So, I allowed dawn and a voice I hoped was God's to beckon me from bed. 

I brought coffee, my Bible, my notebook, my phone. I nervously eyed the purple sky as I drove, hoping I wouldn’t miss the moment. 

Not only did I make it to watch the sun rise over the lake, but I saw much more beauty than I expected to. The photos in this post are from my journey. God, the one who gave me the love of words, allowed me to spend a good portion of my time in written prayer and poetry.  He sang over me as I sat on that bench by the lake, and my soul sang back.
  _____________________________
Witness
I burn my retinas, watching the sun
free itself from the hampering blanket of Earth.
It burns free, rising like a hot air balloon,
warm, then white.
The squabbling birds sing, 
He’s done it again.
This time, we have a witness. 
The paper I write on reflects orange sun,
lit all across.
The black cut out of a pelican soars
over the electric mercury water,
beneath the bobbing sun.
The sun bits blaze on the waves,
a highway across the lake,
a street of gold
from You to me.______________________________
All of this to say that when you feel the nudge to do something and suspect it’s from the Holy Spirit, do it! The blessings God pours out in response are so much more than what He asks us to give.
When you feel the nudge to do something and suspect it’s from the Holy Spirit, do it! via @novelwritergirl
Have you had an experience like this? I’d love to hear it!

Five Minute Friday: It'd be easier if...

I'm participating in Five Minute Friday. For details and the link up, head over to Kate Motaung's blog here. The challenge is to free write for five minutes on the week's one-word prompt: easy.

Here goes!



The thought came to me fully formed: it would be easier if I were working full-time instead of writing.

Expenses wouldn't be as daunting. I wouldn't have to be so concerned with the extra expenses of moving and fixing our new home. We could take more vacations. I could shop more. That kind of easy.

But the truth is, life would be harder, too. I would go through each day knowing I'd deliberately passed on the opportunity I have been claiming to want since high school: to focus on writing as my only job.

And more than that, I would be turning my back on the opportunity I believe God went to great lengths to give me. He promoted me at work time after time, and He gave me just what I said I always wanted, that one position.

It was torture in more ways than it was easy. Long hours, out-of-balance schedules, un-walked dog, untouched keyboard. My stories sat on hold, my blog dropped off, I cried a lot, I started having health issues--some of which still haunt me.

Lord, never let me forget that you've brought me here and that there is nothing easy about being outside of Your will.

What have you decided to do despite sometimes thinking it'd be easier not to?