A Wonderful Evening of Writing

I just got back home from the gathering of writers. It was a reunion of folks who were in my writing class and I also invited my former boss from Habitat to join us. We had the most wonderful evening. One of the people in the group hosted us in his home. His wife treated us to a delicious dinner. I felt like I was in heaven - good food, laughter, and writing. It really doesn't get much better than that for me.
It looks like we are going to try to get together once a month. We are going to share what we've written and get feedback. I am glad to have this as a part of life. I think it will really help me to be more disciplined in my writing. Tonight really got me excited again about my novel. Hopefully I will get back in the groove.
Well, it's an early day for me tomorow so I think I'm headed to bed. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

P.S. - Thanks for your continued prayers for our family recruitment efforts at Habitat. In the past two days, we received seven more new applications. I am so excited!

A Gathering of Writers

I am really excited about tomorrow evening. Some folks from my writing class are getting together for a little reunion. Before our last class ended, we had talked about getting together once a month for mutual support and to share our writing with one another. It's taken us this long to finally do it but tomorrow night we are getting together to do some writing exercises, catch up, and share what's happening with our individual writing projects.
One of our group members is going to host the meeting at his home. He and his wife are treating us all to dinner. I have invited our former Executive Director at Habitat to join us for the gathering as well. She has been working on a book and I am anxious to hear about her progress.
I wish I could say that I have written more than I have. I have been working on my novel but have not been very disciplined. I hope that this group will help spark something within me and motivate me to write more.
It will be wonderful see these folks that I have not seen for quite some time. I know there will be a lot of laughter in the house as we meet and catch up with one another and talk about the thing that we all enjoy doing so much.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

A Wonderful Day

Today was a wonderful day! I wasn't sure how it was going to go when I woke up this morning. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and I had a hard time prying myself from beneath the covers when my alarm clock went off. However, I got moving and thanked God for the sunny cool morning as I headed to Northern Kentucky for the wall raising service for one of our Habitat Partner Families.
The wall raising service was great. We had a lot of people including groups from a local Firestone plant and a Catholic high school. This week is also National WomenBuild Week for Habitat for Humanity International. It's the week when women are encouraged to volunteer with Habitat and participate in our mission of ending poverty housing in the world.
The Partner Family was so excited as we raised the walls. The mother especially got a bit choked up when she was thanking everyone. She offered gratitude to God, to her church, to her family, and to everyone gathered there for helping to make her dream of home ownership a reality. I must admit that I got a bit teary-eyed when she began to speak. I have the humbling honor of knowing a lot more of the details of families' stories and this family, like many of our families, has had a rough road. So, today was a huge milestone and a great day of celebration.
This afternoon I attended a workshop in Springboro, Ohio that focused on how to get published. It was a good class. I think I come away from the workshop feeling a bit overwhelmed by the whole idea of publishing my writing. I don't know if I have what it takes to really do it. I enjoy writing but one of the points that the presenter really drove home was that publishing is a business and to get published you have to think like a business person. That is hard for me to do when it comes to my writing. It is very personal and hard to think about like a commodity to be bought and sold. I know that's what the reality is. I just don't know if I have the energy and entrepreneurial spirit to take the next step. I guess this is something I need to really pray about.
I'm really looking forward to attending my church tomorrow. I also am looking forward to spending some time with my family for Mother's Day and my nephew Cameron's birthday.
I hope you are having a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Busy Weekend Ahead

I am hoping that sometime soon I am going to have a nice quiet weekend with absolutely nothing to do. This will not be one of those weekends. Instead, my weekend is full of activity.
Tomorrow I'm attending a wall raising service for one of our Habitat Partner Families in Northern Kentucky. It looks like the weather is going to cooperate and the rain will hold off in the morning. I am looking forward to this day. This is the first family that I worked with through the entire process since I've been with TriState Habitat for Humanity. We had other families approved or who were already in process when I started with THFH but this family is the first family that I did the initial application review, worked with them to get their application complete, and then finally saw their application approved by the Board of Directors. So, this will be a very special day for me.
In the afternoon I am planning to attend a writing workshop in Springboro, Ohio. The workshop is led by an author who is supposed to take class participants through the steps of getting a book published. I am looking forward to being a part of this. I think some of my writing class participants are going to attend the workshop.
On Sunday, my family has a two big celebrations. Of course, it's Mother's Day and I will get to spend some time with my Mom. Also, Sunday is my nephew Cameron's eighth birthday. It's hard to believe he's eight-years-old. It will be fun to celebrate with him and my family.
I am also really excited to be able to get back to my church. I have not been able to attend for the past three weeks and I really miss it. I am looking forward to the worship service.
I know there are probably a lot of people who have busier schedules than I do, but for me this will be a lot. This is especially true since I would like to just nap and watch Netflix. Oh well. Let the weekend begin! Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Last Writing Class

Tonight was the last session of my writing class. This was actually the last session of the last class in the series of three classes I have been enrolled in since last fall. It has been a long road. I have learned a lot. I realize how much I still have to learn. I was inspired. I was empowered. I laughed a lot. I got to meet some really wonderful people.
I am glad to have a break from the homework and assignments. However, I will also miss being with my fellow classmates. I am looking forward to getting together with them this summer for some informal sessions. We have decided to continue meeting on a monthly basis for a while to hold one another accountable in our writing and to share with others what we have written.
I am ever grateful that God led me to this series of classes. I am grateful that God allowed my path to cross with the paths of my classmates. I am also grateful for the ways in which I have grown as a writer.
I hope and pray that I will have the motivation to continue forward writing my novel. I feel that I have a gift to share with the world and maybe one day I will have the honor of doing that through the written word. What a wonderful blessing that would be.
I keep you informed as I continue to learn and grow through the gift of writing. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

First Day Back to Work

Today was my first day back at work after walking the half-marathon. It felt like a long day. The stack of stuff on my desk seems like it's a mile high. I am grateful to my co-workers for all of their encouragement along this journey. It was a real treat for me to show them my medal today.
My foot is still sore but I think it's getting better. I was really tired today but tried to keep moving. I came home and took a nap and now I'm not long from bed. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a bit more energy. I have my last writing class tomorrow night and want to be ready for that.
Well, I'm not long from bed. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

The Best Medicine

I love to laugh. I believe that laughter is a sign of God's grace in my life. If it were not for laughing, I'm not sure I could have made it this far in life. All I have to do is look in the mirror and I know for a fact that God has a sense of humor.
Tonight I laughed really hard. I attended writing class and it was just what I needed in my life right now. I had a really hard week and didn't get all of my homework done. I thought about not going to class because I just wanted to go home and sleep. I have been really stressed out and it all seemed to come to a head this afternoon.
I am so glad that I decided to attend class. This is such a wonderful group of people. We really seemed to gel tonight. We got to laughing and it was contagious. It was wonderful. I was laughing so hard I was in tears. It was a healing time for me. It was by God's grace that I was led to this class at this place at this time.
God is so good to me. Through the gift of laughter God raised me up and allowed me to experience joy and peace. Thanks be to God!
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Lots of Sleep

I wrote yesterday that I was pooped from all my walking. I must have been really, really pooped because I took a three hour nap in the afternoon and then slept about ten hours last night. I did wake up feeling rested but I'm still sore from walking.
I guess I needed all of that sleep to recover from the walking. I am grateful I took the day after the marathon off as a vacation day. I will definitely need it to recover.
I've got a short work week but two long days ahead of me. I have the last in our series of Partner Family classes tomorrow night in Clermont County, Ohio. On Wednesday I have my writing class. I still need to finish up my home work assignment for class. I guess I had better get busy doing it.
I'm taking Thursday as a vacation day and Friday is a holiday for our office. My sister Shelly and nephew Michael are coming up from Tennessee for the weekend. So, it's going to be a busy few days.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Answered Prayers

Today was a day of answered prayers for me. I had a dentist appointment and I was really nervous about it. I lost a crown about two weeks ago and I was afraid that they were not going to be able to get it back on. It looked like the tooth underneath was really messed up. However, they were able to glue it right back on. The dentist didn't even seem to hesitate. I said that I was worried they were going to have to pull the old tooth out and the hygienist just chuckled at me.
I was also worried about how much all of this was going to cost. However, I have new dental insurance and it was all covered under my insurance plan. So, I didn't have to pay a thing. That was a huge blessing because my budget is really tight this month.
I had a wonderful writing class tonight. I feel like I have really gotten to know some of the people in the class and it have enjoyed seeing how their writing is progressing. We laughed a lot tonight and were able to share ideas and give good feedback to one another.
I am so grateful for this day and for the many ways - seen and unseen - that God blesses me and answers my prayers.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

New Writing Class Begins

I started a new writing class tonight. This one is entitled "Write That Book". We are going to focus on developing a novel and talk about how we might go about getting our writing published. It should be a great class. Tonight was a lot of fun and we had a full class. There was a lot of energy in the room.
I'm really tired. It was another long day. Not as long as yesterday but still long. I will also be coming home late tomorrow night. We have our annual volunteer appreciation banquet for TriState Habitat for Humanity. I know it will be a very special evening.
My meeting with our new Executive Director went well. We had a nice visit. She is a movie buff as well so that will be fun to have someone else in the office who loves movies like I do.
I am tired and headed to bed. Thanks for being a part of my journey.

Writing Class - Last Session

Tonight I had the session of my creative writing class. There is one more class in the series but we don't know if there will be enough people signed up to have it. I hope it will work out. I have really enjoyed these classes. I don't know that I am becoming a better writer but I am learning a lot.

Tonight we shared more of our writing. We had a homework assignment in which we had to write the same scene as narrative, dialogue, action, and then merge all three together. It was a challenging and really fun assignment for me. I got some good feedback in class tonight.
I am ever grateful to God for allowing me to take these classes. It's been a wonderful experience and very affirming for me. I hope that God will give me the grace to keep me focused to do more with my writing in the future.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Creative Writing Class

I had another wonderful creative writing class tonight. There's only one more session and then it will be done. This has been a very different course than the first one. I have enjoyed immensely. There is one more class in this series. The next class focuses on how to get a book published. I am very interested in that class.
I am really glad that tomorrow is Friday. I have not been feeling well this week. I seem to not have much energy and have not been sleeping well. I think it's the changing weather wreaking havoc on my sinuses.
Saturday will be another big walking day. I am hoping the weather will cooperate and we will be able to walk outside. Beyond that, I don't have much planned. I'm guessing that Netflix is in my future though.
I hope you have a great Friday. I'm headed to bed. It's been a long day.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Creative Writing Class

I had another creative writing class tonight. It was great session. We shared our writing with the class and then received critique. I got some very good feedback about my story. I have a lot of editing to do.
The thing I like most about the class is that most of us were together in the last class. We have become more comfortable with one another. We are able to laugh together and offer more honest feedback than we did in the first writing class I attended. Along with this, I am really coming to respect my classmates as writers. We all have different styles but I like that. Experiencing this diversity is very good for me. It exposes me to different ways of expressing ideas through the written word.
We also did an interesting exercise. We took a Myers-Briggs style personality test. I've taken this test many times. We then read an article about how our personality type may impact our writing process and style. As I read the article, I began to laugh. It described me pretty accurately.
We have several assignments for next week. It's going to be a busy week for me as I try to fit it all into my schedule.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Creative Writing Class

I had another good writing class this evening. We did an interesting exercise in which we answered a series of questions about the story that we are writing. The purpose was to help us think through the larger picture of the story of the book we are writing.
This was really good for me because I had not thought this far ahead yet about my story. I still don't know a lot of details about my story but I feel like tonight helped me to take another big step forward.
We also did another exercise. Our instructor told us to write the very last paragraph of our novel. When I heard her instructions, I went into a complete panic. I have no idea how my novel (if I even end up writing a novel) will end. She told us that this was a way to get us thinking. She also said that as we write the ending may change. I wrote my last paragraph. I don't know if this really will be my last paragraph, but it was a challenging and fun exercise.
I continue to enjoy this class. It brings great joy to my life. I am really getting to know my classmates better and am grateful for their presence in the class. I also am thankful for the instructor. She challenges me and is helping me to grow as a writer.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Answered Prayers

Thank you for your prayers for me as I requested yesterday. I could feel your prayers lifting me up and helping me to move forward in my journey.
Today was a very long but also a very good day. I really needed to get back on track with my walking and I did just that this morning. It was about 8 degrees when I woke up this morning. I set my alarm for 6:00 AM and was up and out the door by 6:15 AM. I was at Wal-Mart a few minutes later and walked for about an hour. It was a good walk. There were hardly any people at Wal-Mart at that hour. It was just me and the Wal-Mart employees and a few shoppers who had braved the cold morning temperatures.
The neatest thing about walking was after I had been walking about a half hour, my friend Karen showed up for her morning walk. We hadn't planned it but it's always good to have a walking partner. We walked and talked for about a half hour. I left and Karen kept on going.
I made some progress at work today in moving some applications forward in the process. It is a very slow process but I think it is a pretty good process that designed to benefit families even if they don't make it all the way through the process. Hopefully they can learn something along the way. Hopefully we are able to help them take the next step in their journeys of life. We hope that will be as a Habitat home owner, but it might also mean that we refer them to another program that may be able to help them in a different way. I feel a constant sense of gratitude for this work and ministry.
My day ended with another great session of my creative writing class. We did some very long writing exercises. We basically wrote for one and one-half hours for the first part of the class. Our instructor gave us prompts to get us started. They were essentially sentences that were to get us thinking. My prompt was "Any day the water wasn't frozen, Rhoda washed her hair." When I drew this one randomly from the pile of prompts, I thought "What in the world am I going to write about this?" However, it turned out to be a fun exercise. My mind went in some really strange directions. I think I actually came up with the beginning of another short story. We'll see how that goes.
It's late and I want to try to get up early and walk again tomorrow at Wal-Mart. I need to get to bed. Like I wrote above, it's been a long day but a very good day. It was truly a gift from God and I am grateful to have had the honor of experiencing this gift. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Creative Writing Class

We did an interesting exercise in my creative writing class this evening. We had to write a story that was twenty-six sentences long. The instructor urged us to continue the storyline of the larger pieces that we have been working on. I chose to do this.
For this exercise, the first sentence had to start with an A. The second sentence had to start with a B and so on. We had to use every letter of the alphabet. It was really hard.
I had no idea what to do with the letter X. I ended up introducing a character named Xander to start that sentence off. It was rather random and didn't make a whole lot of sense. I couldn't figure out how to work in a xylophone, x-rays, or Xavier University into my story.
It was a good challenge. It made me think. It forced me to write in a way that took me outside my comfort zone.
I am really enjoying this term of writing class. It's really helping me to focus and stretch me in new ways.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Creative Writing Class

I had the first session of my creative writing class tonight. This is the second in a series of three classes. It was good to see three other people in the class from my last class. I enjoyed seeing them and catching up with them.
The class went pretty well. We did several exercises to help us think in new ways about the words we use and the way we write. These were good exercises for me to do because I often get lazy when I write. I tend to use the same sentence structure and words. I don't always think about different ways of expressing my ideas.
One of the exercises we did was to write a 55 word short story. The first thing I discovered is that 55 words is not very many words to express a whole story. It was really tough. Everyone else in the class seemed to get it. I felt like I missed the mark.
We have a homework assignment to write at least two pages. I plan to add two pages to the longer piece I have been working on. I'm interested in getting feedback from my classmates on my new story. I am hoping it will develop into a much longer piece - maybe even a novel. We will see. I'll update you as things progress on my story.
I'm now headed to bed. It's been a very long but good day. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Writng Class Tomorrow

It's been a long day and I am not long from bed. I want to get some good rest tonight because tomorrow night I have the first session of my writing class. I am really looking forward to it.
Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Creative Writing Class - II

Well, I finally did it. On the last day I had to register for the second creative writing class, I signed up for it. I am really excited about starting the class. I really enjoyed the discipline that the class brought to my life and the things that I learned about writing and about myself.
I am looking forward to making progress with the piece I have been working on since my last class ended. I am ready to be pushed further and learn more. I am ready to again be with a group of people who are passionate about writing. I know that I will learn a lot from them.
I am hoping that I will have time this weekend to spend some time writing. However, it looks like I will be busy with my family. Shelly and Michael get into town tonight. Cameron has a basketball game tomorrow afternoon. Shelly is planning to make a shrimp boil for supper on Saturday evening. We are then going to play some games.
I hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!

Winter Weekend

It sounds like this is going to be a cold, snowy weekend. Of course, the amount of snow we are supposed to get will be very small but snow in general seems to put all of Cincinnati in a state of anxiety. It snowed today and I drove by the grocery store on my way home from work and the parking lot was full. I guess people are hoarding food again in case they are trapped in their homes by the additional dusting to inch of snow that we are supposed to get.
I am going to use this winter weekend to stay in as much as possible and simply enjoy the weekend. I do need to run some errands and plan to go to church on Sunday, but beyond that I want to try a new crock pot recipe, read, watch some Netflix, and do some writing. I also need to do some walking as a part of my pre-marathon training.
I come to this weekend after being back to work with a real sense of gratitude It is a time to do stuff I need to get done. It is also a time to do stuff that I want to do. It's down time. It's quiet time. It's worship time. It's cleaning time. It's laundry time. It's writing time. It's movie time. It's time to pause and give thanks to God for the gift of work and the gift of rest.
I hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for being a part of my journey!