Rebekah Lyn

What Shall I Do to Be a Saint?

Saint Patrick’s Day

DiVoran Lites

What shall I do to be a saint?

But who is saying that I ain’t?

The Bible says we all will be

When we let Jesus set us free.

The Story of a Gentle Music Man

We enjoy music in our church. We had a good set of big band drums. Then our drummer left and someone moved in a set no one could play. They were digital drums and as ugly as a group of garbage can lids, only smaller. We prayed for a drummer, someone to keep the time.

Last week, Tom, a veteran of Middle Eastern wars, put down his guitar and was trying to get the digital drums to play. This week, Tom, was moving the Big Band drums back into place, because the digital drums are worn out.

Tom wasn’t happy with the way the big-band drums went with our type of music so he thought over the rhythm problem and brought in his bass guitar yesterday. It has a beautiful deep sound that goes right down into your core. Tom says he was having a hard time with his amplifier and his teeth were vibrating from the sound created by the bass. You never know what he’s going to do or say next. What fun—that’s a gift from God as well.

Tom sometimes needs a ride to work after church. He stocks meat at a big store. The other day at church he was limping so I asked if he was hurting—duh. He said he had shrapnel in his ankle and the change in the weather was playing havoc with it. I prayed for the right things to say, since he seemed to want to talk, but I was out of my zone. Bill moved the passenger seat back so Tom could fit into the car. He’s a big man and he looks strong and healthy, which is a bit deceiving because of the extent of his injuries.

Once, he wondered aloud why he lived when so many others died. He’s a humble man and lives rather simply. He has his wife, and she is a gentle person. He takes a book to work to read on his break, sometimes he carries it in his hand and sometimes he sticks it in the waistband of his pants in the back.

Yesterday he sat down at the keyboard and played a soft background song that later he said he had “made up.” He seems puzzled that he can play any instrument around. His little daughter says she can too and wonders why everyone cannot. I’m not so much puzzled; as I am in awe of God’s giving of gifts. We all have them you know, and they make our lives sweeter. One can only wonder where Tom’s life will go from here. I hope he gets to play all the music that is in his soul and in his big hands and that many will hear it.

High Hopes

Last week I started two new projects. One is a new novel, called, Roxy, and the other is my spring 2014 herb garden. I’ve really changed my approach to doing things. At one time, I read everything I could get on a subject and talked to people about how they did things. I tried to follow steps and instructions as closely as possible. I was anxious and uptight about how things were going to turn out and I often became stressed over them. I also felt as if someone else cared how I did it and was looking on judgmentally. That didn’t help at all.

It’s a good thing for us to have some idea what we’re doing, to read, do research, and take lessons, but at some point, we just have to launch out and see what works for us. What I’m doing now is an amalgamation of everything I ever read, thought, knew, and felt.

Last Monday I got out some notes I’d made by hand on Roxy and started putting the story on my computer. I used Victoria Lynn Schmidt’s Book in a Month, Raymond Obstfeld’s, Fiction First Aid, and Leigh Michaels’s, On Writing Romance, for prompts and inspirations, but I read only until I lost interest and then went on to something else. Also, I’m pacing myself, and it’s making my writing entertaining to me. I’m putting TLC into my characters and I can hardly wait to see what they do next. I’m taking care to see that each chapter is in decent shape before going on to the next one. The most important thing, the one that makes the difference is, I’m staying connected with my intuition. To me, that’s the same thing as being in touch with the Holy Spirit. The things He does when I attend Him are wonderful.

As for the herbs, Bill and I had strong new wood built into three raised beds for our plants. The beds have been ready for a month, they started calling to us last week and we went shopping for the plants. We bought six plants, all different. They are:

Basil
Tarragon
Thyme
Rosemary
Oregano
Marjoram

We read the directions and we planted them right, but with our own feelings for them, you might say loving each one and wishing it well. We plan to use them on the spot as well as to harvest and freeze-dry them at their peak. They make everything taste so much better, even when we follow our hearts in knowing what dishes to put them in.

On the way out of the store, a song played in my head…“High hopes, we have high hopes, high in the sky, apple pie hopes.” Yes. Hope is one of the most important things in the world, and we need to allow our Lord to set up things in our lives for us to hope for and to work toward. We need big things and small, spiritual and material to occupy our minds and give us the opportunity to be co-creators with our great and mighty God.

#hope #herbgardening #writing #mondayblogs

Jargon, We All Use It

I’m saved? Are you?

What does that mean? A whole raft of people could tell you, but many more could not. Why? Because I’m saved, is jargon. So what is jargon? It’s a code, a language. It’s quick, it’s easy, and everybody in our circle knows what we’re talking about. That’s fine as long as we don’t mind excluding people who aren’t in the know.

What’s up? Are you working hard? How do you like this weather? Those are okay to start a conversation at the beginning of a chance meeting when there’s not much chance of having a real talk, but specific questions and answers are more

. Here’s a couple of examples: “I remember that the last time we talked you were working on a great project. What stage are you in now? For a traveler, you can’t do better than, “When is your next trip and where are you going?” If we’re creative, we’ll hear much better stories, and possibly be inspired with something exciting to write about.

What lines of jargon are we familiar with? We know religious jargon, and writing jargon. Then we have our music specialties and historical references, maybe you speak politics or sports or entertainment or cooking. It might be fun to watch our own statements and ferret out things that others will not understand. I don’t know texting, computer, or game jargon, so I’m not the best at communicating with young people and some of the things I say such as, “You’ve got the cart before the horse,” are incomprehensible and weird to them. They are not only jargon, but they are clichéd, and archaic. I hope to root them out of my vocabulary, someday, but until then perhaps I can be more careful about when and where I use them.

Have you ever been to a doctor that told you precisely what you wanted to know in words that you could easily understand? If you have, you’ve been to a good doctor, who knows how to communicate without using medical jargon. He is especially valuable if he doesn’t take a superior attitude and judge you for not knowing.

So what do I mean when I say, I’m saved? Here’s a short explanation. It means that Jesus died on the cross for me because I was too busy ignoring Him and His Father to bother connecting with them. He had to get my attention. He got it in an act of atonement that will never be forgotten. Then he rose powerfully from death, and now because I asked Him to take over my life I’m being healed and living a freer and more abundant life than I could ever have imagined. Because he cast his cloak of righteousness over me, and He is no longer aware of my self-life, Jesus looks upon me as holy and perfect. Maybe I should just say, I’m saved, but what good would that do? What’s the point of saying anything at all if people can’t understand what I’m talking about? If I’m a Christian, I’m a teacher. If I’m a writer, I’m a teacher. Teachers must, by definition, be able to truly communicate.

#writingtips #faith #communication #writingideas