yeah, yeah, i haven't written in a while. more to come soon, i promise. the
BNC Workshop was incredible and i am still absorbing and processing everything i took away from it.
i actually wrote the first couple of pages of my book the other night, after the first day of the workshop. i've been writing here and there, bits and pieces, but hadn't actually put a "1" at the top of a page and started with the first line that i already knew. so anyway, finally did it. and shared it at the workshop. with good response =) and feedback, too, of course. man, that was a huge monkey off my back!
okay, okay, okay. twist my arm, why don't ya? i'll share a sneak peek:
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1
Everybody has a story to tell. the words flashed onto the movie screen in my mind as i drove to work on a Tuesday afternoon in February. i could see them clearly there, on a page. i knew this had to be the first line of a book.
i was never really serious about writing a book. it was something i just joked about with my friends after telling them yet another story of failure turned success or just simply grace that saved my ass from being grass under the perverbial lawnmower once again. they usually say something like "wow, that's a great story" and i say "yeah. i should write a book about that one day." and we laugh and carry on, neither of us taking it seriously.
i guess i started taking that "yeah, i should write a book about that one day" stuff seriously when a title for a book struck me one night, The Late Great Escape Artist. i thought, wow, that would be a GREAT title for a book. so the next time me and my pal, the one that occassionally shrinks my head for free (you know you have one, too!), are sharing our latest adventures i randomly say, "oh, you know that book i'm always saying i should write? a title struck me the other night, The Late Great Escape Artist. whaddya think? is that a great title or what?" we both agree it is a fantastic title, of course. so i just tuck it away, still not believing i'm really gonna write a book.
a few months down the road, i'm driving to work on a cloudy Tuesday afternoon in February. words flash into my head, visibly on a page. Everybody has a story to tell. i just kind of simmer on 'em the rest of the day. they're not distracting, yet, i can't get the image of those words on a page out of my head. it's been burned into my mind like a computer screen that's been left on for too long. it is so obvious to me it's the first page of a book. i can even see the big number "1" in the center of the top of the page. i'm still more of the mindset of "me? write a book? ppphhhhbbbbtttt! yeah, right!" but there's a part of me that knows i need to do this, i am destined to do this, to tell my story. to be naked on the page in front of God and everyone, to be just me. there are so many people whose stories have influenced me, helped me along the way. it makes me want to share my story, too.
i want to be sure i'm doing this for the right reasons, so i actually say the words "i think i'm supposed to write a book" out loud in my small group that meets on Wednesday nights. this is really scary, because, you know, saying it out loud makes it real. and i share with the girls there that if i'm supposed to write this book, i really want it to be about the story that God wants to tell through me, not about the story i want to tell. and without me even asking, Tabitha prays over me for confirmation, which is totally what i want and can't verbalize because my head is still in the "me? write a book? ppphhhhbbbbtttt ! yeah, right!" stage.
we start the study for the night after everyone finished in their prayer times. we're listening to a Louie Giglio CD series. less than two minutes into the lesson, and Louie says the words, "...you know it's really not about my story, it's about God's story..." and i almost fell off the couch. i had just said that less than five minutes prior when asking them to pray about this book thing for me. i'm doing a double take, and making a note to self to re-listen to the first couple of minutes of that session after we're done for the night, just to be sure i'm not imagining things. i do the double check afterwards, re-listening to those first 2 minutes. yep, he said it. i sat there with my eyes bulging out of their sockets, mouth poised to catch them, air escaping between my quivering lips as i put my weight down on the floor.
wow, that was fast. i guess we're gonna do this thing.
and then other things, like a buying a new desk and a new computer, started falling into place at just the right time, just amazing prices, deals i still don't believe sometimes. $25 for a brand new desk that is now selling for $65 at the same store. $150 for a refurbished computer, etc. i even got a scrolling mouse thrown in for free (guy at the computer store said i was "just cool enough to pull that off"). talk about your ball, rolling! i didn't even know i picked it up. the process seemingly started without me and now i am caught up in this unfurling avalanche that is just clearing the way almost effortlessly. if there were any doubts still hanging around that this book thing is for real, i started kicking 'em out. but, anyway...
but, anyway. that's what my granddaddy used to say when he had gone chasing a rabbit in the middle of a story, to get back on track. i can still hear the grumble-crunch-pop of the gravel under tires as his truck would come up the driveway after delivering the day's mail...
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