Stepping Into My Characters' Shoes

God, what are you doing with my life?

"Do you want to go?"

"Yes, of course."

My curiosity soars. My novel, work-in-continual-progress, has a scene in this very location. I'd love to go. I need to go. I need to get inside my characters' heads more, know their hearts. Plant my feet where they planted theirs.

We pass Greenville, Texas, heading into Commerce—my novel's setting and the city I have grown to love. "There's Karalee's school," I say. Wonder where she's at? What's she doing? Hard to believe my oldest daughter is there and I'm here. This thing called change is interesting. Our hearts are so intertwined that I feel present with her all the time. Rejoice when she rejoices. Cry when she cries.

We proceed out toward the state park, passing farm after farm. Beautiful Texas, always beautiful to this Texan. 

I gasp. A city limit sign announces "Posey" ... Posey, Texas. My heart claps. That's part of my itty-bitty character's nickname. I missed that detail on Google Earth. Wow. Unbelievable. 

Believable.

God, you've got this thing covered. I know you do. And you're showing me the signs. Thank you.

We park the vehicle. 

My youngest steps out, branches out, and begins exploring. The one who's seen devastating hardship. My cancer survivor. She's discovering shells along the water's edge. She's found her niche.

Have I found my niche? I think so. 

My feet hit the ground. I pivot, absorbing the surrounding beauty, standing right where my characters stood. Building their imaginary lives has been sweet. They've so obediently taken each action I've required of them. Walked when I needed them to walk, erased what I needed them to erase, built what I needed them to build.

God, you stood right where I'm standing. You made all things, and you came here—living, serving, loving, building, accomplishing, finishing—to know me inside out. To know your creation, your people. 

"I could stay here all day," my daughter says, beaming. 

Stay here all day. That's it. I made the connection.

God, sometimes I'm slow, but I made the connection.

Walk out on the water. Go exploring. Discover the growth. Through the difficult, the scary, the times of ease, the times of beauty, times of uncertainty, times of seasonal change ...

 

When you don't know what God is doing, do what you love. 

He's given you love. O Soul Within, find what you love. Do what you love. Continue doing what you love. He gave you a heart, to please, to love, to obey, to build, to follow, to lead, to accomplish, to do the thing He's called you to.

Step in character with whom God made you to be, into the very shoes He designed for you.

Change is never easy ... but proceed.

So ask the hard questions. Get inside God's head. Yearn to know His heart. 

You are His and He is yours, intertwined. He's where you are. He rejoices when you rejoice; He surely cries when you cry.

Find that place—with Him—where you could stay all day. The place to do the living and dying. The place to type—The Beginning and The End.

Do you want to go?

~~~

How has God been speaking to your heart?

A Prayer For A Persistence That Will Stand

The truck veered off the busy county road. 

My eyes widened. Really? I've been wanting to take a picture of this for forever. A warm smile spread over my face on this beautiful autumn day. 

"Watch where you put your foot."

"I will." I opened the door, stepped one foot out. Just tall grass. And honestly, I don't care. You know that car pulled over, someone taking a picture on the road-side? Yes, that's probably me. I've suffered swarms of fire-ant bites to feed baby calves. It's irrelevant. 

There she stood. Tall, broad, but rusty and weary. Falling to pieces. Watching her, I could imagine the groans on the inside. But she's still standing. The most beautiful barn I've ever seen. Well, not quite. I guess that position will always belong to the barn on my grandparent's property. But each barn is so beautiful to me. 

The timing, the setting=perfection. The tall grass wavy in the breeze. A perfect pond set in front of the masterpiece. A clump of old logs sat piled off to the side. 

I rested my arms over the gate, steadying myself for the perfect photo. Something to capture what only my eyes can fully embrace.

Got it. Well, maybe.

Only then did my eyes shift past the beauty to the busy interstate beyond. Cars, trucks zooming by. Businesses, billboards, and clutter lining the background.

I released my held breath.

Lord, give me persistence to endure this life, this writing life, this family life, this walk of faith, this daughter life, this mother life, this sister life. 

Keep my eyes focused on you, on the beauty, for forever. 

I thought over my first published article, 2007, like the moment was yesterday. I pressed the answering machine to hear the recording. "Congratulations, Shelli. Your persistence paid off." Tears streamed. Joy filled my heart. A characteristic some would loathe took me one step further down the road I so love. 

I snapped picture after picture. 

Rested my arms again. 

Father, you know my inward pains and groans. You know my heart. Give me what it takes to persist. Use me. Gift me. To gift others. Let my resolve be strong. 

Let my foot keep stepping out in spite of the surrounding fears, in peace. This little girl from Texas, the one who sweat bullets to stand in front of others. The one whose greatest fear in life was an oral book report. The one who ducked down low in her seat to keep from reading aloud, praying the teacher's sight would pass me by.

Father, how you can take our greatest fears and turn them into our greatest dreams is beautiful. Breath-taking.

Keep me standing. Keep my resolve tall and broad through the rusty and weary moments. Because the rusty and weary add character and beauty to my life's picture. The clump of old logs that seems a hindrance to the photo adds beauty. Vintage beauty to a life. 

Help me to embrace, utilize, and see with your eyes all that is before me—the encouraging friends lining the view whose support and nourishment seems miles deep, those continually waving me on.

Allow my persistence to be beautiful to someone. Let my resolve persist like an old Texas barn, still standing after all these years. Because Father, your timing, your filter, your setting equal perfection. 

   

Do you have a heart request? How may I pray for you?

And I have an article in October's issue of WMU's Mission Mosaic magazine and a cover story in November's on missions in Philly.