Friday, April 18, 2008

Missed deadlines and "Issues"

I'm learning how fast time goes when you want to write and your time gets filled up with other things. That's been my week. I think it's turning out all right but a number of unexpected "happenings" filled my week. They had to be addressed however. So I'm just beginning to learn about a blog and really have not devoted much time to it this week. John is still busy trying to "edit" his novel Earth Is Not Alone and decide on a website and a publisher. Ethan has been working on a new article for the hebraic roots website he writes for and I have mainly been trying to think about a nonfiction book and also the writers conference in CO.

In all of this I'm attempting to trust that as I put each "issue" in God's hands, it will turn out for the best.....even if I don't understand. That lesson is one it has taken me decades to learn but now it's the only way I want to live!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Short and Sweet!

Yesterday I wrote my first blog and I'm hoping to learn and perfect this as the time goes on. Today has been a really busy day but nice. It's almost 9 PM and I will keep this short. In one month we are supposed to fly to Denver where we will visit my son and his wife and our new grandson, Ezra, who was born in December 2007. After that we will attend the CO Christian Writers Conference and then return to Florida early on the morning of the 20th. John and I are "snowbirds" and spend half a year in PA. We actually live in Montrose and each July the Montrose Bible Conference has a writers conference which I try to attend. After all the price is right!

But for many reasons including visiting our family, I felt like this is the time to attend a different conference as well. John is finishing up a novel that he plans to title "Earth Is Not Alone" so that is part of the reason. He rarely attends conferences so I am surprised I have talked him into attending this one. I think it will stimulate us into action as his book becomes a reality. I have not written a book but I have increased my output of publications this year. One of my favorites goes along with the picture you see on this site of John, me and our son, Ethan, in Israel about a year ago. When I returned from Israel I wrote an article entitled "Israel in My Heart' which was published in "Maggie Mae," an Orlando newspaper (along with the picture.) Then last summer it was published in the Melbourne section of the Florida Today newspaper under the title "Israel Revisited" along with the picture. I like both titles and was extremely happy that our 35th Anniversary Trip was actually captured in print! Now I need to concentrate on writing some articles to show editors of periodicals in CO! I'm sure this month will fly! And as I said, as a senior citizen I want to make my time count. I'd better close or I'll have to change the title of this blog.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

It's (God Willing) Never Too Late!

April 8, 2008! There are young writers and middle-aged writers and "older" writers. I'm the latter! For years (ever since 1987) when I had my first published article (in The Lookout), I've called myself a writer. My husband had told me as soon as I sold my first article, I could say that! BUT I never took myself seriously and everything else (including watching basketball) took precedence. Especially my family.

I've been very blessed to have met the Lord as a teenager and am grateful for the multitude of experiences He has given me and the ways He has guided me. Always a new experience around each bend. Some have been hard but the road has never been dull. And even now ...in my retirement years, I seem to find each day filled to the brim. This blog is part of that. I hope to share a part of my life (writing) that has gotten short shrift in the past years.

Although my husband, John, and I lived most of our married life in Oswego, NY where he was a professor at Oswego State University, we are now "snowbirds." My "fantasy" basketball name is FlorPenn (a combination of Florida and Pennsylvania) ...two states that I love! Actually Pennsylvania is probably my first love but New York and Florida are tied for a very close second. The beauty of each state is so special but I'm sidetracking!

There are many things I will talk about but this blog is mainly to share the part of my life I have neglected the most up till now which is WRITING. That has begun to change in the past year and I hope I can continue to say that I grow ever more diligent as that is what I feel God has for me to do in this season of my life. But this blog will not be just about writing. I'm sure you will soon find that family, friends and the land of Israel are all mentioned on a regular basis. Israel was where I met my husband and the place we returned for our 25th anniversary as well as our 35th! My oldest son lived in Israel while studying and working for almost nine years and my daughter studied in Israel for one semester also. In fact, all of our children as well as my daughter's fiance went to Israel together when we celebrated our 25th anniversary. John and I love to travel. This year we also had a fabulous trip to Tanzania where our middle son and his wife have lived and worked in the Serengeti for the last few years. I may be "older" but I hope this is the "beginning" of the most productive part of my writing life.