Dealing with the Uncertainties of Writing

by Jennifer Slattery

Jennifer Slattery

I’m a planner, in writing and in life. I love to-do lists and those daily organizers broken down by the hour. Mine’s filled in, from 7am to 8pm, every day except Sunday.

Uncertainties and unexpected changes really throw me.

I think that’s the hardest part of writing—the uncertainty of it all. We write book-by-book, contract-by-contract, not knowing if each story is our last.

The other night, the uncertainty of this journey really bothered me, so I told God all about it. His response?

Surrender. Trust. Focus on what I’ve asked you to do now, do it with excellence, and leave your future to Me. 

As God’s words settled deep into my heart, peace flowed through me, stilling my plotting, planning thoughts. Reminding me I am not the one in control. I never have been. Plotting and planning might give me the illusion of control, but in truth, God is the one perfecting His plans for my life.

I first heard that truth at an ACFW conference. It was my first national conference, and I went into it pretty freaked out and insecure. I had no idea what to expect—there’s that need for control and predictability. Seems God’s been working on this weakness of mine for a while. Will I ever learn??

So anyway, here I was at this conference. I knew a lot of writers through ACFWs email loop, but in truth, I didn’t know anyone. And I had no idea what my weekend would look like, though I had a sense it would be emotionally exhausting. Stress and insecurity has a way of depleting one’s energy stores.

I think it was the first session, the opening night of the conference. Brandilyn Collins was the keynote. I don’t remember much of what she said, but I do remember the intense look in her eyes as she addressed the listening audience. “God will perfect that which concerns you,” she said.

When I got home, I looked that verse up. It comes from Psalm 138:8, and when I first heard it, I found it incredibly encouraging because it assured me God was always working on my behalf. In other words, it felt like assurance that His plans for me would come to pass. But as I consider this verse now, I’m stuck on the verb perfect. It reminds me of Hebrews 12:2, which says, “We do this [--this being running the race God has mapped out for us--] by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith” (NLT, insert mine).

This—thinking of Christ’s perfecting action as we pursue our calling—makes me think of James 1:2-4, which highlights the training we receive as God grows, equips, stretches, and perfects us.

Many times, that training is hard. Uncomfortable. Sometimes even incredibly painful. I’m not a huge fan of this perfecting process, but I am a fan of the results. Because of this, I’ll surrender my desire for control, following Christ in whatever direction He leads, knowing the One who loved me enough to die so I might live is the very One who’s calling me now to lay my life down—for Him and His glory.

What about you? Are you facing any uncertainties? Any chance God is using those uncertainties to train you? To perfect that which concerns you? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below, because we can all encourage and learn from one another.

BIO: Jennifer Slattery writes soul-stirring fiction for New Hope Publishers, a publishing house passionate about bringing God’s healing grace and truth to the hopeless. She also writes for Crosswalk.com, Internet Café Devotions, and the group blog, Faith-filled Friends. When not writing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband.

Visit with Jennifer online at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com and connect with her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/JenSlatte.

New Hope Publishers, 2015

ABOUT THE BOOK: Abandoned by her husband for another woman, Tammy Kuhn, an organ procurement coordinator often finds herself in tense and bitter moments. After an altercation with a doctor, she is fighting to keep her job and her sanity when one late night she encounters her old flame Nick. She walks right into his moment of facing an unthinkable tragedy. Because they both have learned to find eternal purposes in every event and encounter, it doesn’t take long to discover that their lives are intertwined but the ICU is no place for romance….or is it? Could this be where life begins again?

BUY IT:

CBD: http://www.christianbook.com/intertwined-a-contemporary-romance-novel/jennifer-slattery/9781596694439/pd/694430?event=ESRCN

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Intertwined-Jennifer-Slattery/dp/1596694432/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/intertwined-jennifer-slattery/1121268293?ean=9781596694439

Read More

Overcoming Self-Reliance

by Jennifer Slattery

I’ve become quite accustomed to the writer’s lifestyle. I spend most of my time behind my computer, diving into a world of my own making. So, learning to lead—actual people—has become a challenge for me this year, in part because, well, I have a lot to learn about interpersonal skills.

Like sometimes you need to buffer conversations with chocolate and heavily flavored coffee. And people don’t always behave the way my fictional characters do, which is normal, and actually, beautiful. But sometimes it takes a bit of adapting to see the beauty. And most times, it takes a bit of tongue biting as well, because I’m learning my initial interpretations, and thus, reactions, are often wrong.

That’s been my greatest challenge this year—overcoming my ever-yapping mouth. And my desire to be right. And in control. And to know what’s coming next, whether that be in ministry or in conversations, because, well, I’m a plotter. That means, before I write scene one, I’ve pretty much got my entire novel planned out.

Wouldn’t it be nice if life worked that way? Then again, such interactions would greatly impede my growth. I suppose God knew that, which is why He’s placed me in numerous situations this year that have made me a wee bit uncomfortable. And uncertain. And relying heavily on Him.

So maybe that’s what I’ve most had to overcome—my almost innate desire for self-reliance. It seems just when I reach full surrender, something unexpected arises, and I long to sit back in plotting mode, working characters and scenes back into order.

But again, life doesn’t work that way. And I’m learning to appreciate that. To view all these unexpected situations, interactions, and diverse personalities through a glorious, grace-filled lens.

Although I think I still have a ways to go, which is why I’m so incredibly grateful that every ounce of grace God is encouraging me to give out is being equally lavished back on me.

Jennifer Slattery writes soul-stirring fiction for New Hope Publishers, a publishing house passionate about bringing God’s healing grace and truth to the hopeless. She also writes for Crosswalk.com, Internet Café Devotions, and the group blog, Faith-filled Friends. When not writing, Jennifer loves going on mall dates with her adult daughter and coffee dates with her hilariously fun husband.

Visit with Jennifer online at JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud.com and connect with her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/JenSlatte.

New Hope Publishers, 2015

Intertwined, part of New Hope Publisher’s contemporary fiction line, is a great reminder of how God can turn our greatest tragedies and failures into beautiful acts of love and grace. Readers will fall in love with the realistic characters and enjoy the combination of depth, heart-felt emotion and humor that makes Jennifer’s novels so appealing. Readers will be inspired to find God in every moment and encounter in their own lives! 

Buy it:

CBD: http://www.christianbook.com/intertwined-a-contemporary-romance-novel/jennifer-slattery/9781596694439/pd/694430?event=ESRCN

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Intertwined-Jennifer-Slattery/dp/1596694432/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/intertwined-jennifer-slattery/1121268293?ean=9781596694439

Read More

Burial, or Rebirth?

By Jocelyn Green

River North Publishers, 2015

In Spy of Richmond, one of my main characters is an inmate of Libby Prison and tries to escape. As he is
desperately digging through a dark tunnel with very little oxygen, and making barely any progress, one of my characters tells himself, “This is not a grave, it is rebirth.”

Isn’t this true for whatever we must overcome in our own lives? When we’re in the midst of a trial, we may be isolated, in the dark, and gasping for breath. It might feel like our burial. But with God’s help, that dark place can really be a tunnel to get us to a new place of rebirth.

My own tunnel was very dark. Depression always is.

When I was twenty-two, I was in love with a man who didn’t love me back. I was determined to prove to him, and to myself, that I could live without him. So I hastily took a job as a private English tutor in Vienna, Austria. Yep, I moved to the other side of the world, and nope, I didn’t know German.

I had unwittingly placed myself in the care of a woman who was extremely manipulative, and her promise to let me take German classes was completely reneged. Not knowing the language made me illiterate, dumb, mute, and more isolated than I could have imagined possible.

Isolation breeds depression. I remember vividly the moment when I snapped—my knuckles white on the staircase railing—and I just started crying and couldn’t stop. For days. For weeks. Until a neighbor, who happened to be a missionary from Minnesota, told me that I needed to take care of myself and go home. I was reading the Bible and praying throughout this time. I did not feel that God had abandoned me, and I still trusted Him. It was not a matter of will-power, or of just “being more spiritual” to turn off my tears. My system was just overwhelmed and shutting down. My hair was turning grey. I lost weight until my clothes hung on my shoulders as if from a hanger. So I went home.

Back in America, I was diagnosed with severe depression and put on medication. I moved to Washington, DC, got a great job as an editor for a nonprofit on Capitol Hill, and found a church. Four months later, I decided to stop taking my medication cold-turkey, because I no longer lived in isolation and the triggers for my depression no longer existed.

Fast forward two years.

On July 5, 2003, I married my husband, an officer in the Coast Guard. Two days later, we moved from Washington, DC, to a small town called Homer, Alaska. On our one-month anniversary, he kissed me goodbye and left for a month.

It was a shock on many levels. I went from having a career to being unemployed. From big city to small town. From single to married, and from civilian to military. Rob was gone seven months of our first year of marriage, though not all at once. It was challenging. My worst month was November. The weather was cold, it was dark, and when our driveway was covered in ice, I was all but stranded at home. I had to put chains on my boots to walk to the grocery store. I really had a mental battle going on. I was terrified I would slip back into depression. I had to tell myself it was just one day, just one bad day. Everyone gets them. It doesn’t mean you fall into a tailspin. It’s OK to have a bad day, or two, or three.

I felt like I could have gone either way that year. Even if I hadn’t gone into a clinical depression, I could have become bitter and resentful about the sacrifices I made to tag along with Rob’s career. But, with God’s help, I made a decision. I would not allow myself to isolate. I joined two book clubs, two Bible studies, volunteered at the nursing home, and drove a cancer patient to her medical appointments in Anchorage, five hours north of us. God taught me things through his Word, in light of my new status as a military wife that left me in awe of Him.

God used that year to breed in me a passion for supporting the spiritual lives of other military wives. A few years later, my first book was born: Faith Deployed: Daily Encouragement for Military Wives. Fourteen other military wives from all branches of service helped me write that devotional book—and in 2011, a sequel was released: Faith Deployed . . . .Again.

I don’t believe God shoves us into our dark places. But I do believe that He brings us out of them with a greater capacity to live lives that honor Him. As Harrison Caldwell says in Spy of Richmond, it’s not a grave. It is rebirth.

Jocelyn Green is the award-winning author of ten books, including fiction and nonfiction. A former military wife herself, she offers encouragement and hope to military wives worldwide through her Faith Deployed books and The 5 Love Languages Military Edition, which she co-authored with best-selling author Dr. Gary Chapman. Her Heroines Behind the Lines Civil War novels, inspired by real heroines on America’s home front, are marked by their historical integrity and gritty inspiration. Her novel Wedded to War was a Christy Award finalist and the gold medal winner from the Military Writers Society of America. Jocelyn graduated from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, with a B.A. in English, concentration in writing. She is an active member of the Christian Authors Network, the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, American Christian Fiction Writers, and the Military Writers Society of America. She loves Mexican food, Broadway musicals, Toblerone chocolate bars, the color red, and reading on her patio. Jocelyn lives with her husband Rob and two small children in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Visit her at www.jocelyngreen.com.

Read More