Spring Cleaning

The other day, I started a post about spring cleaning. Whether I forgot to click the "save" button, or the window closed prematurely, I don't know. It was unfinished. When I came back and found the blog entry gone, it made me think about other things that disappear.

Time. Whether you are paying it any mind or not, every second that goes by will never come again. You can make good use of time by accomplishing the things you need to do, spending it with family or friends, taking it to get better acquainted with God through reading His love letter, the Bible, using it to regenerate energy by proper rest and nutrition. You can waste it by frittering it away on things that don't matter. Whatever you think about time, our lives consist of only so much of it. What are you doing with yours? I know I'm not doing enough with mine!

Money. Without a plan, money often disappears without a trace or anything to show for it. When you have very little to start with, every cent can matter. Some things are nonnegotiable, such as paying bills, buying food, keeping some sort of roof over your head and enough clothes on your body to be decent. Sometimes it can be difficult to generate enough income to cover your "outgo."

Family & Friends. These, too, can disappear. Whether we offend a friend and lose them, or move to a new place, through neglect, or terminal illness or accident, it's too easy to lose people we value. What can we do to stay in touch with those we love? Is it a waste of time or money? Hardly! Having people we value in our lives, being someone of value to them in return, offers wonderful benefits to all concerned. A good friend can keep you from losing yourself.

So, as I look around at the raft of things I need to do, I'll keep these in mind. Lord willing, I'm spring cleaning with a purpose this year. To discern what is important, and keep that...to dispense with what isn't...

Happy Spring Cleaning, everyone.

How Do You Write When You're Sick?

If  you're me, the answer is probably: "Badly." However, if you have the constraints of a deadline (which I currently do not, though I wish I did!), you have to tough through it somehow. How do I think I'll do when I have to push ahead despite feeling dreadful? Will I

• write anyway even though I'm afraid it's complete drivel and hope there's something I can salvage in editing?
• not write and feel guilty, knowing I'll have to work extra hard as the deadline approaches?
• call my agent or editor and explain and hope they can extend the deadline?
• ask for help?

Currently, when I am too sick to work on my main project, I am sometimes still able to work on plotting for an upcoming project. That's what I did today, when the pounding headache & nausea I'd been struggling to believe wasn't the same virus that's been plaguing my mother finally convinced me that it was.

If you're a writer, with or without deadlines, what do you do? Please share your ideas and suggestions with me! Sorry there's no prize for the best post, but I will post a link to your reply on Facebook, so others can share your insight!

Website Update

After a long hiatus during which I've been writing & editing stories, composing & playing music, and in general trying to survive, I revisited my Hope Chastain website to update the Commonly Confused Words page. It seems almost every time I read a book, I discover yet another word that has been used in place of a similar-sounding (and correct) word. This time it was adverse used in the place of averse, as in "I'm not adverse to that idea." Since adverse means inauspicious, what the author really wanted to say was "I'm not averse to that idea," meaning opposed to or against.

I'm always willing to give writers the benefit of the doubt. After all, it's easy to misuse a word through writing too fast. Fingers flying over the keyboard trying to keep up with the thoughts tumbling from a writer's brain can easily add or subtract letters, changing words and meanings. That's where proofreading comes in.

Proofreading is one of the most difficult of all the arts associated with writing. It's so easy to get caught up in what is said on the page and miss typographical or grammatical errors. My hat is off to all proofreaders everywhere.

Editors can't catch all the mistakes. They get caught up in the story, just as we do. So, writers, it's up to us to catch our own mistakes, so they don't have to!

Happy proofreading, everyone!

A blank page. Waiting to be filled with ideas, plans, thoughts… Perhaps with words, or sketches, or musical notation… Perhaps instead, mathematical equations, chemical formulas, architectural renderings…

Babies are kind of like blank pages. So much wonder in those little eyes…

As we grow older, all kinds of things get written on our page. Sometimes we do the writing. Often, however, other people write things into our lives that we never would have planned. They scribble on our page, add things we don't want, subtract things we do want—in short, people can make a mess of our pages.

At times, we don't even need other people to mess up our page. We do a fine job of it on our own. Letting things annoy us to the point of snapping at those we love… Deliberately going our own way when someone else's way would be better. Choosing to do something that we know is wrong, because we want to. Insisting on having our way at the expense of others.

Do you ever wish you could erase what's on your page? Or, just click "Delete" and eliminate what's on there? You can try to do better, but those mistakes just won't go away. No one else may see them, but you know they're there.

The good thing is, even though you can't make your mistakes and deliberate willful disobedience to the laws of man and God go away, God can. I'm not talking about a "Get out of jail free" card. Some things we do have consequences. People whom we've hurt may never forgive us. Broken laws can lead to fines, jail time, or even capital punishment. While your body may not be free, your spirit can be.

God planned you before the beginning of time. He is willing and able to rescue you from bondage to things from which you'd rather be free. Jesus is the editor who can turn your page into something beautiful.

Are you ready to have your page edited? Just ask Him. He will.

Computers

My mother and I were discussing our annual Christmas album this morning. Every year, when we're able, we like to put together an album of public-domain Christmas music for our family and close friends. It's a gift that takes time and thought, not just money. When we first started out, we used recording tape or cassettes, but since I got a recording program for the house computer, we've been using that.

Oddly enough, Wave (.wav) files take up a lot of disk space. MP3 and MP4 files (like the ones playable on an iPod®) are much more compact. Because of the way they compress the sound, however, most digital recording programs don't use them. After a few years of recording Christmas and other sundry music, our hard drive has filled up to the point where I need to delete some files. No deletion, no room for new music (or books, articles, or photos)!

I started going through the files yesterday to see what I could delete. Looking for an empty place to put files I wanted to keep, I couldn't find an available CD-ROM.

When I told Mom about it this morning, it got me to thinking about computers in general. I said something about being glad that God's hard drive never fills up. She suggested that sounded like a blog to her, so here I am!

Just think about it. God has created billions of people over the years, and He knows everything about each one of them from the beginning of time to the end. He has kept track of you from the moment you came into existence. Knows all about the grades you made in school. Knows about your first love...and your second...and your third... Keeps a loving eye on you at all times, even when you're not walking with Him.

God's computer has it all on record. His hard drive never runs out of space. It always has room for more. His computer never crashes. He'll never lose touch with you, even if you deliberately try to lose touch with Him. And why? Because He loves you.

So the next time you're upset because your hard drive is too full, or your computer just crashed, or you can't access a file, remember: God loves you, and He'll help you through it, if you'll let Him.

Book Review: STEADFAST SOLDIER, by Cheryl Wyatt

When I discovered Cheryl Wyatt was doing a promotional tour for her upcoming June release, STEADFAST SOLDIER, I jumped at the chance to be part of it. Why? Because Cheryl always delivers a great romantic read with characters going through true-to-life situations, enhanced with humor and undergirded with faith. This latest book is a worthy addition to her Wings of Refuge series.

For those of you who may not already be familiar with the series, Wings of Refuge is the story of an elite team of Air Force Pararescue Jumpers. Each of these brave heroes has his own journey to faith and love.

Chance Garrison, a hard case, found faith in an earlier novel. Now he’s found purpose: to help troubled youth at his church in addition to his military job. Having lost his mother not long ago, his heart’s desire is to marry and have children while he’s still young enough to enjoy them. Enter Chloe Callett, a feisty Occupational Therapist assigned to help Chance’s father recover the use of his arm after a massive stroke.

Chloe has emotional scars that don’t show on the surface. Her life’s work, rescuing animals and training them as furry therapists, possesses all her thoughts. She’s not about to let some incredibly hunky Airman derail her from her purpose in life. Or is she?

Set in the town of Refuge, Illinois, STEADFAST SOLDIER will warm your heart. Getting to visit with old friends from the series is another perk. There are some interesting surprises in this book. If you’ve never read any of the PJ novels, this will be a great place to start!

Meaningful Easter...

This Good Friday, our church put on its first-ever Easter Pageant (at least since I've been there). It was a gigantic undertaking for a not-huge church, and there were times we wondered whether we would pull it off. We should have known better. With all the prayer we had going for us, it had to be a success, and it was.

Despite thunderstorms, the auditorium was packed, and the audience overflowed into the fellowship hall to watch by closed-circuit TV. According to one attendee, they were transported back to ancient Israel. I know I was.

When our minister of music asked me, a month into rehearsals, to take on the part of Jesus' mother Mary, I was honored that he thought I could handle it. I'd missed the previous practices due to Mom's & my getting sick after Christmas and taking a while to recover. When I went online looking for a similar version to the solo, I saw some impressive talent. "The Day He Wore My Crown" is a beautiful, poignant song. How many times have we known that Jesus was crucified in our place, but never stopped to consider that crown of thorns should have been placed on our heads? It gave me real cause to think.

It also gave me a lot of trouble. Once I put myself in Mary's sandals, I couldn't sing it. During Holy Week, we think of Jesus' passion and suffering, but don't often think of the pain his mother endured. I know I hadn't thought about that aspect. I thought about his disciples, his friends, about the Lord Himself, but not about His mother and how she must have recalled Simeon's telling her "a sword will pierce thine own soul also."

It took me a long time just to be able to sing along with the soundtrack. I'd get so far, and then the enormity of the words would hit me, and I'd break down. At last, I got to where I could sing it with the choir backing me up.

Then we practiced the music for the first time with our Jesus singing with us. We sang "Behold the Lamb" as he stood there fastened to the cross in jeans and a t-shirt. For the first time, he spoke the words uttered so long ago in another language: "Father, into Thy hands I commit my spirit. It is finished." My musical cue came. I walked downstage, opened my mouth, and burst into tears.

Despite no one's being in costume, the reality of what we were doing pierced my soul. Jesus was crucified for me. He did wear my crown. And He would have done it if I'd been the only sinner ever born. What we represented really did happen in ancient Judea. Jesus really died. Really was buried. Really rose again in a body like we can't imagine on that Sunday morning. Really is coming again to reign for a thousand years before the earth is made new.

I asked for, and received, prayer, and I got through the song, not only that first proper rehearsal, but all the subsequent ones, and our Good Friday presentation. That's not to say I didn't cry. If I hadn't cried, if that song, meaning what it did, hadn't brought me to tears, if I hadn't been so touched by it, neither would anyone else.

So, as Holy Week draws to a close, ask yourself whether you've ever personalized what Jesus did for you. If you haven't, can you think of a better time than now? After all, the present is all we have.

Photo by Kathleen C. Davis, (c) 2010