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You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

Deuteronomy 8:17-18, NIV

Sometimes I can sit down at the computer, sit back and practically just watch the words flow. Then there are those other times. A deadline is looming and I’m waiting for the flow. Waiting. Waiting. Still waiting. –Nothing.

Those are the times my house gets the cleanest. Anytime my house is a disaster, I would probably be wise to ask for a deadline and a bad case of writer’s block.  It’s amazing how much I can get done around the house—and how many “important projects” I can think of—when I’m trying to avoid facing a blank screen. Suddenly it becomes quite urgent to polish the tulip bulbs and plant the light bulbs. No wait, maybe it’s the other way around. Either way it makes me want to have a snack.

Out of the blue I find it necessary to arrange my house plants in an orderly fashion according to size, color and from dead to less dead. By the way, I find plant-sorting goes so much better when you keep a roll of pepperoni in one hand. Then I alphabetize the Barney videos we haven’t watched in seven years and change the oil in the vacuum cleaner. While downing a Ho Ho and a Diet Pepsi, of course. Anything for an excuse to forget the deadline for a few more minutes.

Whether the words are flowing or the carpet is getting vacuumed within a fiber of its life (while no Twinkie is safe), I need to make sure I never forget that it’s all by God’s grace and in his power.

 Look at the paraphrase from Deuteronomy 8:11-14:  “Make sure you don’t forget God, your God, by not keeping his commandments, his rules and regulations that I command you today. Make sure that when you eat and are satisfied, build pleasant houses and settle in, see your herds and flocks flourish and more and more money come in, watch your standard of living going up and up—make sure you don’t become so full of yourself and your things that you forget God, your God” (The Message).

When I’m waiting for the words, I need to remember to obediently focus on the Lord. When the words effortlessly roll onto the screen, I need to remember then, too, to obediently focus on the Lord. And it’s amazing how he teaches me both in the rolling and in the waiting. Through thick or thin, flow or no, typing or snacking, I’m reminded that in my own strength, there’s nothing of value on that screen. Nothing. Ever. Verse 17 says, “If you start thinking to yourselves, ‘I did all this. And all by myself. I’m rich. It’s all mine!’—well, think again.” The next verse says again that we must remember that God, our God, gives us the strength to produce anything of worth.

I’m praising God for his glorious provision. Think about it. He provides the “write stuff” at just the right time. He even provides the pepperoni.

Thanks and News from Rhonda

Thanks so much for your prayers for the writing and speaking ministries. Many thanks as well to those of you who continually encourage through sweet e-notes of encouragement. Those mean so very much!

In ministry news, I’m zeroing in on the program for the 2010 Advanced Writers and Speakers Association Conference. I chair the conference that will be held June 25-27—right here in St. Louie this year! The group’s founder, Linda Evans Shepherd, and I are program maniacs. Last year in Denver we even dressed alike. Okay, that was a total accident.

We would love your prayers that the Lord would gather the program participants and fit us all together for his glory. The conference is such a ministry to women who write and speak in every nook and cranny of our globe. Our theme this year is “Abiding with Christ.”

Last year in Denver, honored AWSA member Thelma Wells kicked us off with a bang and we were pointed to Jesus from the very beginning to the very end! We want to hear joyful noise again this year and get the women revved up, encouraged and equipped for ministry, excited about sharing Christ another year.

In other highlights coming up on the calendar, I’ll be with the women of First Baptist Arnold, MO, March 12-13, the Aglow women’s ministries in Crestwood, MO, March 27, the Texas State Minister’s Wives April 15-17 in The Woodlands, TX, and more—including a fun, fun weekend women’s event in Fresno, CA in May.

On The Fiction Front

Two books almost completed in the fiction series! Rhonda and daughter/co-writer, Kaley Rhea, are pumped about the new series. Interested in a very random snippet? From Grip, Chapter 23:

Her voice. It stopped him in his tracks. He hadn’t actually heard it in a few months. By the sound of it, she’d seen the caller I.D. and knew exactly who was calling her. Which of course meant he should get his mouth working if he wanted to avoid seeming like a complete stooge. “Nadia, hello. It’s Rick.”

              “Rick. Hi,” she drew the word out conversationally. “How are things?” She sounded very pleasant. Also equal parts surprised and confused. But he knew she wouldn’t ask why he’d called. She’d wait for him to say it.

              “Ah…good. Good. How about yourself? Everything going all right?”

              “Everything’s fine here.” She made it almost a question. More of an invitation for him to say whatever it was he needed to say. There was a moment of silence. He imagined what she probably looked like right then. No doubt still at her office, he expected she’d abandoned her shoes and had bare feet crossed at the ankles resting up on the desk. She would have one arm wrapped around her middle as the other held her cell phone to her ear. She’d have on old, comfortable jeans and an oversized sweater with the sleeves pulled down to her fingers unless she’d seen a client today, in which case she’d be a sharply-dressed businesswoman. Her shoulder-length dark hair would frame around her face in a sea of thick, untamed curls. And he really wished he knew if she was smiling or frowning.

              “You’re probably wondering why I called.”

              “You don’t really need a reason, you know.” He thought he heard a bit of a smile there. And there was the reason he felt so wrong about calling. Because he did have a reason. A really good reason. And for the past four months, he hadn’t called her once just to talk, to see how she was. He’d been too hurt and too selfish and too ashamed that he’d proved her right. He only called now because he needed something.

              “I have children,” he blurted.

              There was a rather lengthy shocked silence, followed by a puzzled, “Um…congratulations?”

              “What? No. No, they’re not mine. They’re teenagers.”

              “Why do you have someone else’s teenagers?” she asked patiently. “And do you plan to give them back?”

              “Well…” He honestly hadn’t imagined this conversation going any better. That sort of helped. “They’re in trouble. And I’m in trouble. I’m sorry…that I’m calling you like this. But these boys…really there’s no one to give them back…to. I thought you would help.”

              “You knew I would help,” she corrected.

              “I knew you would help.”

              “Good.” He heard her take a deep breath. Then the woman who had every right to hang up the phone asked earnestly, “What kind of trouble?”

Piece of My Mind vs. Peace of Mind

Thanks and News from Rhonda

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