Come, Follow Me...

This week has been a week of telecoms, confabs, organizing files and updates...all fun stuff! It's a lot of busy-work that makes one feel as though nothing is getting accomplished. That's because the fruits of the labour have yet to be seen. In the midst of meetings and compiling information, file conversions, et al, I stopped to post a couple of tweets...and that's what made me think about "following" and how great a week it has been thus far. This is how my thought process went (don't laugh...OK, well you can if you must):

Hmm, go tweet something...
Follow us on Twitter...
Jesus said, "Come follow me."...
"I will follow Him."...
Queue music in my head...
"I love him and where he goes I'll follow..." (No, not the original, but the Sister Act version)
Stop music in my head. Reality check (there is, after all, work to do)...
But wait... Jesus did say to follow Him. Isn't that what White Rose is all about? Of course, and Jesus, I will follow You anywhere, any time, without hesitation...

And that's when I understood that this week-thus-far of "not accomplishing" anything has been a week of foundation. There's preparation required in every worthwhile endeavor. . .including in following Jesus. Even when He asks us to leave our current path and follow Him, our hearts have be ready to hear that message. Our hearts, at some point, were prepared--usually by personal circumstance and experience--to hear, accept and then act (follow). If our hearts aren't prepared properly, we end up like the rich man who went away sad because he could not find the wherewithal to follow Jesus. His heart was still attached to too many other things.

This week of "busy-work" is not without merit. It's a foundation, a preparation for the great and wonderful path the Lord has paved for White Rose Publishing and her authors and staff. This means the fruits will one day be evident--and that makes the week's activities not busy-work, but rather a blessing (and I'd better get back to work here, pretty quick!) Without the preparation, disaster would follow--or opportunities would be lost.

Just so, when we're writing, our stories have to have a firm foundation, a stalwart plot on which to lay the hero and heroine's plight. (Even pantsers prepare, albeit less formally that plotters.) Lay the seed of imagination, and then cultivate it carefully, making sure there are no plot flaws, leaps in logic, two-dimensional characters, head-hopping, telling vs. showing, etc. When the rejections arrive, if there is any feedback at all, use it. If no feedback is included, take that to mean that God is allowing the disappointment to help in some other way--perhaps to cultivate perseverence or humility. These are not set-backs, they are blessings in disguise given to help build a foundation of writing knowledge and healthy attitude that will lift you layer by layer until you receive the fruits of your labour. Trust that the Lord knows what He's doing (even with your life and writing career). He knows the desire of your heart, and He will be faithful to that. Just follow Him, form a firm foundation in your writing life (and in your walk with Him, of course) and when all is properly prepared, everything will fall into place.

I love Him, I love Him, I love Him, and where He goes...