Sunday, June 26, 2011

Winning!

 06/23/2011  Misc. CreditChase Savings Boost Sweepstakes Winner!  $500.00  


But this time it's for real!  Eventhough I had such a terrible day on the 23rd, what I didn't know is that on that same day I won $500 from my bank!  Has anyone ever heard of this kind of sweeptstakes? 

I'm still working on the iPhone/$849 mixup.  One thing for sure, I'm not sending the phone back until the $$ is back in my account. 

Aside from blogging a bit, I'm working on my short stories.  I started about 3 years ago during Community Bible Study.  There was a random assignment that asked me to "imagine you are there in the crowd when the woman who had been bleeding for 18 years touched Jesus' garment." So I did.  I wrote a two page story.  I asked myself what her life had been like to lead her to that moment.  What motivated her?  What were her inner thoughts and responses before, during and afterwards? I called it A New Direction. It was FUN!  So I did another. 

Victor had been listening to Joyce Meyer preach.  Her message was about Jesus talking to the paralytic who languished by the Pool of Siloam for 38 years!  When she recited Jesus' words to the man, "Do you want to be healed?" Victor was so convicted.  He said it pierced his heart.  I was encouraged that my husband had been touched like that, so I thought I'd write this story next. I titled it In the Shadow of Mercy. I made it into a handmade book and gave it to him for Christmas that year. 

Bible Study intervened again about "Let the little children come to me" story. Mark 10. It asked us to do the imagining-you-are-there exercise again, so I wrote this one from the perspective of a 12 year old girl (the same age as my daughter at the time.) It was fun and easily flowed into "The rich, young ruler" story from the girl's perspective. It's called Go to Him.

I kept going.  Next I wrote about Mary of Mary and Martha.  It was when she annointed his feet with the perfume, which I entitled The Alabaster Jar. That one lent itself to flashbacks of when Jesus raised Lazarus, so it was a two-fer. Somewhere in there I wrote about the 1 leper who went back and said thank you to Jesus.  Why would he do that?  I wanted to explore his motivations.  I had fun with this title, Grateful Dead.

I know it's fiction, but I guess it's more like historical fiction.  I pray and ask the Lord to give me insight and wisdom.  I know I'm not writing a Holy Spirit inspired Gospel, but I do believe the Lord helps me write them.  I like to read Francine Rivers, the Thoenes, Lynn Austin and other Christian Fiction writers--especially when they write about Biblical times.  To my knowledge, there are novels of great Biblical stories, but not many of the short encounters with Jesus. 

I've posted these stories on FB in my notes section if you care to read them.
http://www.facebook.com/#!/?sk=mynotes&s=10

The two I'm working on now are about the paralytic let down from the roof by 4 men.  This one has taken me a long time... mostly because I needed to research roofs in Caesarea... I even went to Jerusalem hoping to find info out!  Not really, ha ha! Eventhough it was in the back of my mind, I went to Jerusalem to help my friends. We never made it to Galilee!  Anyway, I'm almost finished with that one, but I can't seem to end it.  I mean, if you were healed like that, it would be a total life changer!

The most current one is about the centurion who asks Jesus to heal his slave, but has the faith to receive the healing if Jesus just gives the command, not having to go and touch her. I am adding a lot about Jewish history, because he's going to have to love and respect the Jews.

Is there any chronological timeline here?  No, I don't have that kind of mind.  It's very hard for me to be linear like that... It will all come together knowing God is in this thing.  I'd love any feedback or suggestions for publishing, editing, organizing, etc. 

So we win again.  Victor's confinement home and my subsequent cloistering provides lots of time to write.  Now if I just don't "waste" it on FB or blogging!  :D

1 comment:

  1. Karen that was awesome that you won 500 from Chase. I've heard that they do that, but have to say at that moment in time on the 23rd I think it was God thing.

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