Top Ten Reasons Not to Write: Doris Richardson

Recently in my writers group, The Write Circle, we got to chatting about all the excuses we make to not write. So, in George's infinite wisdom, he made that the assignment for the following week. When we returned the next week, for the first time, everyone had done the assignment! Granted, I did mine as I was sitting there because I didn't have time during the week. I mean, I have a baby and a house to clean and Christmas shopping to do...oh, wait, those sound like excuses.

Anyway, I told the group if they sent me their top ten, I'd post them once a week on my blog. Doris was the first to respond. Doris always shows us all up. She writes more than anyone I know and that's between the millions of other things she does that would easily give her an excuse to set the writing aside. So Doris has become our inspiration. If Doris can write despite all the other things she does, surely we can get a few words down on paper.

So I leave you with Doris's thoughts on her top ten reason not to write.

Ten Reasons Why I Can’t Write

By Doris Richardson

1. I don’t have time.

      I’m working almost every day and housework and spiritual responsibilities plus a lot of other things.  My plate is full enough. After all, I am supposed to be retired.

2. I don’t have the ability.

      I write because I enjoy it and feel compelled to do it, not because I’m a great writer.

3. I haven’t done anything worthy of writing about.

      What I’ve done has been for the Lord, not for people to pat me on the back.

4. I’m lazy.

      I require five or six hours of sleep a night.  Can’t navigate as well on less.

( Ed. Note: Five or six? That's a nap for me!)

5. I don’t always feel like it.

      I discipline myself to do what I should, not what I feel like.

6. I don’t know what to write.

      That is occasionally true of an assignment, especially if it is abstract in nature and requires more imagination that I possess.

7. Nobody will read it anyway.

    Yes, there is great satisfaction in writing but why write if no one is going to take the time or have the interest to read it?

8. There are too many interferences.

      I start writing and the phone rings or my husband starts talking to me or I have to do this or that.  So my best concentration is after midnight when I’m suppose to be sleeping.      

9. I have arthritis in my hand.

      Yeah, but it is under control and my hand works just fine.

10. People will take what I say and misconstrue it to mean something contrary to what I intend.

            There are ten reasons why I can’t write.  But why am I looking at all these negatives?  “I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13), so away with all the reasons.  I can and will write.

Thanks, Doris, for being an inspiration to all of us. 

If any of you writer-type would like to set a spot on the Top Ten. Please contact me. 

A Change of Plans

Have you ever had a change of plans?  You know, you get one thing all scheduled, planned to the T. You know what time you need to leave and how fast you have to drive in order to arrive at your destination with four minutes to spare.  Those four minutes will be eaten up by your walk to the building and you'll show up right on time.

But what about those times that you've had to throw those plans out the window?  All the hard work put into preparation and something steps in the way and it's all for naught.

Recently, my Mother planned a 40 year anniversary trip to Maine for my Dad. As Dad puts it, "This was a labor of love." For anyone who knows my mom, she hates to travel.  I mean hates it! She'd rather have lemon juice poured on paper cuts than travel more than 30 minutes in the car. So, this was a huge deal for her. She planned the whole thing herself; the B&B's, the stops along the way. It was her love for my Dad that spurred this trip. So, it must have been hard when unforeseen circumstances caused them to cancel the trip. So, she painstakingly called the B&Bs to cancel. Some refunded her money, some did not. But she did it because life got in the way and because she loves my Dad. They got to go eventually, but only after she rearranged her plans.

But how about those times when we choose to change our plans? We plan to do _____ and our kids want to do _____ (Fill in the blanks.) Sometimes we put our own plans aside because we want to see the joy on our children's faces. We want to show them how much we love them by giving them things that will make them happy.  We want to show them that they are the most important thing in the world to us and do so by putting our own wants behind theirs.

This is how God is with us. He changes his plans for us!

Isaiah 38 tells the story of Hezekiah. "In those days, Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah went to him and said, "This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order because you are going to die; you will not recover." Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. "Remember O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: "Go and tell Hezekiah,'This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life."

It was the prayer of the faithful that caused God to change his plans. He had things all set. Hezekiah was supposed to die of his illness, but his prayers made God change his plans.  Isn't that amazing.  GOD CHANGED HIS PLANS!

Yesterday in Sunday school, we were discussing the miracles of Christ. My favorite is his first miracle at the wedding in Cana. You know the story. Jesus is hanging out with his buddies at a wedding. The bride and groom run out of wine, which was about the most disgraceful thing to have happen in that time period. So his mother comes over and says, "They don't have any more wine." He responds by saying, "Why do you involve me?  My time has not yet come."

You see, it wasn't in his plans to turn the water to wine that day. But those of you who've read the story know how it ends.  He does it.  He performs a miracle. He changed his plans that day. Who knows, maybe his first miracle was supposed to be something huge like a group healing. Maybe it would have been accompanied by lightning bolts and earthquakes just to make sure everyone noticed.  But whatever his plans were, (the Bible doesn't tell us when 'his time' really was.) he changed them for that couple.

Are you beginning to see?  God loves us so much he changes his plans for us. So don't give up or give in. Don't resign yourself to the fact that nothing will ever make God change his mind.  It doesn't matter if you think God has a certain plan and everything is set and unchangeable. God is the only unchangeable being in this universe. His love is unchanging. His grace is unending. However, with a little prayer, sometimes with a lot of prayer, his plans can change. Why? Because he loves you.

So what ideas have you given up on today? What have you stopped praying for because you still don't see the answer? Have you decided that you'll never have a baby because the doctors have told you so? Have you given up on that relationship because it seems too impossible to fix? Are you absolutely sure there is no more hope? God wants to be merciful to us. He wants to extend his grace to us. The real question is, are we willing to reach out and accept it?

I was once told that God answers prayers in three ways: "Yes", "No", and "Not right now."  But I'm beginning to believe that there are now four answers: "Yes", "No", "Not right now" and, "Sure, just let me rearrange some things first."

Christians Can Speak Loudly Too.

For those of you who haven't yet heard, Laurie Halse Anderson's SPEAK is under attack. Wesley Scroggins, an associate professor at Missouri State University, claims it is filthy and immoral and even claims it contains "soft pornography" because of two rape scenes. This man is a Christian and asks how the Christian men and women can expose their children to such filth.  Ironically, the Bible contains stories of rape, incest, adultery, murder and the like, as well as being a story of redemption, yet I'm assuming Mr. Scroggins won't try to prevent children from reading it. 


I'm horrified by this whole event. First of all, I'm a Christian.  I have been for as long as I can remember.  Growing up with a pastor for a dad, my life was inundated with faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. My faith boils down to this: We as humans screw up on a daily basis, sometimes worse than others.  This is called sin. That sin separates us from God. To fix the problem that we originally created, God sent his son, Jesus Christ, two thousand years ago to be punished for those sins.  He died and because of his sacrifice, I can one day spend eternity with a God who loves me and sacrificed his own life for me.  


I've screwed up countless times.  I've hurt the people I love the most, and in doing so, I've separated myself from God.  But you know what?  He forgives me.  Notice that's in present tense.  He forgave, forgives and continues to forgive.  It's not that I do horrible things on purpose, but living in the world we do, we often are influenced by the things we see around us.  We are continually under attack by the enemy of our souls, Satan, and we have to stand guard in order to fight against this evil.


Christianity draws an even clearer picture of the depravity that we humans face every day.  It's not right to shield our children from reality. If we do, they won't know how to deal with it when they experience it for themselves.  Should we do this before they're ready? Of course not, but we can't pretend that sin isn't real either. If we downplay the sin in the world, we also downplay the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Personally, I want my children to understand that despite all the evil that surrounds us, our God has already defeated the enemy of sin and death. I want them to understand they can live in this world without fear because of Christ's death and resurrection. I want them to know that no matter what sin  is committed and no matter how broken people are, there is still forgiveness and healing in Jesus.


Just one look around this world and we can see the sinfulness. Murder, hatred, incest, lust, affairs, and abuse are just a drop in the ocean of the horrible things humans have done to each other. And rape.  Yes, rape, which brings me back to the controversy surrounding SPEAK. 


If you haven't read it, do so!!!  It's a necessary read for any teenager, despite what Mr. Scroggins says.  Yes, it has rape in it. But why are we afraid to speak loudly about issues and sins in our own society? Are we instead just  going to ignore the rapes that occur every day and hush young people when it happens to them? Are we going to tell them by our silence that their pain isn't important, or are we going to show them that there are people who have been through what they've been through? Are we going to show them that they can survive, live even, after something so horrible? Are we going to support them  and encourage them to speak out or are we going to shush them into dealing with their pain alone? How do we expect to change any of the atrocities that happen in our world if we keep silent about them? 


Do horrible things like rape happen every day?  Yes. But there can be healing after. Our Lord Jesus Christ can bring healing and wholeness that the enemy and the rapist took away. 


But sometimes it takes a little nudge.  It takes someone like Laurie Halse Anderson to write a book like Speak that shows young people they don't have to remain silent. Speak gives them a point of contact, someone to resonate with, a spark of recognition that maybe, just maybe they can be all right. If we keep silent about these issues like rape, abortion, drugs, or abuse, kids will discover answers on their own.  Why not give them a point of reference that may just help make their lives a little better?


So, Ms. Anderson, keep writing stories like Speak.  We're still listening. 


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The Good Book

For those of you who have come to this site after reading Wintergirls and are wondering where the post for that is, look to the right and find my blog list. We can still discuss even though the post is not the most recent. If you haven't read it, get busy and get discussing! I'm still awaiting your brilliant comments. (Thank you Jordan for yours.)

In the mean time, I'm going to post other rambling thoughts.

Since this is a book blog, it would be a sheer disappointment if I didn't at least attempt to discuss the greatest book ever written by the greatest author in the universe. No, really, I'm not joking. Yes, in the entire universe! Obviously, the book I'm referring to is the Bible, the author: God Almighty!

This morning I was reading through Hebrews chapter 4 when I came across verse 16, which says, "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need."

I always liked that verse, but I always thought it referred to just asking for what we need. What I didn't realize is that it specifically says that we will receive mercy. When is it that we need mercy the most? It's when we've done wrong. We can still approach with confidence when we are full of sin and dirt. In fact, that's when we should approach.

Our normal reaction is to hide. At least, that's how I respond when I'm in desperate need of God's mercy. But he tells us to be confident. Think about that for a moment. Why would he tell us to be confident? It's because he knows what his response will be-- Mercy!!! In our sin, we need that mercy desperately but are often afraid to ask for it because, admit it, we aren't sure of the response. We aren't sure because in our minds, when we do something wrong, the other person should be angry and punish us. But that's not the God I serve. Sure, there are consequences to our actions, but my God delights in showing mercy. He delights in giving us what we DON'T deserve. When we begin to understand who God is, only then will we be able to approach that throne with confidence.

So, be confident today. You can serve a merciful, grace giving God. I know I do.