Couldn't resist sharing this sweet picture of my 2 girls!
Steph
Thursday 28 June 2007
My first rejection letter!
I've been receiving some pretty amazing support these days from my writing community. It's great that other, more seasoned writers are willing to reach out and support the greener ones like me! Recently I heard back from a publisher that while my book looks engaging, it doesn't fit in with what they're producing. My first rejection letter! I guess this is a milestone in my fledgling writing career!
I was just told by N.J. Lindquist of The Word Guild "that you shouldn't give up until you've had 20 or more rejection letters." Twenty??? Yikes. I guess I'm going to have to develop a thicker skin if I'm going to keep at this. And I am going to keep at this. I submitted two articles to magazines today, just to show myself that I'm staying on this horse, and that one little rejection won't knock me off! :) I trust that if God has guided me to make writing my primary focus, that He will give me the means and the guidance to help me see it through.
I appreciate your visit - come again!
Steph
I was just told by N.J. Lindquist of The Word Guild "that you shouldn't give up until you've had 20 or more rejection letters." Twenty??? Yikes. I guess I'm going to have to develop a thicker skin if I'm going to keep at this. And I am going to keep at this. I submitted two articles to magazines today, just to show myself that I'm staying on this horse, and that one little rejection won't knock me off! :) I trust that if God has guided me to make writing my primary focus, that He will give me the means and the guidance to help me see it through.
I appreciate your visit - come again!
Steph
Tuesday 26 June 2007
The How and the Why of it...
In 1996, I packed up and headed off to India and met Mother Teresa. The previous summer, while visiting my friend Margie one day, she received a phone call from our mutual friend, Miriam. I could tell from Margie’s side of the conversation that something exciting was brewing. Margie was smiling and nodding, piquing my curiosity. She asked Miriam to hang on a moment. Steph? she asked. Miriam is going to India in January to work with Mother Teresa. Want to go? After deeply pondering the question for – oh, about 3 seconds, I casually said sure. It was no more noteworthy than if I had just accepted an invitation to go to the movies. It just seemed like the right thing to do and the right time to do it. And so, after a few weeks of pinching myself to make sure it was real and convincing my family that I had not completely lost my mind, we started preparing. Miriam and I started getting the required shots, gathering the things we would need and making the travel arrangements.
Miriam and I spent several weeks working in some of the homes run by the Missionaries of Charity. My time in Calcutta ultimately presented my life’s vocation to me on a chapatti platter, though years would pass before I would awaken to it. This is the story of my travels, the seemingly instantaneous “dark night” that came upon me while in India (which I now see as the culmination of a lot of strain and loss from the years that led up to it) and the subsequent painful years-long climb out of that pit.
It has been over a decade since my return from India, and during that time my life has taken some pretty sharp turns and hairpin curves. The journey, while at times so agonizing I thought I wouldn’t make it through the day, has certainly not been without its joys and triumphs!
Until tomorrow...
Steph
Miriam and I spent several weeks working in some of the homes run by the Missionaries of Charity. My time in Calcutta ultimately presented my life’s vocation to me on a chapatti platter, though years would pass before I would awaken to it. This is the story of my travels, the seemingly instantaneous “dark night” that came upon me while in India (which I now see as the culmination of a lot of strain and loss from the years that led up to it) and the subsequent painful years-long climb out of that pit.
It has been over a decade since my return from India, and during that time my life has taken some pretty sharp turns and hairpin curves. The journey, while at times so agonizing I thought I wouldn’t make it through the day, has certainly not been without its joys and triumphs!
Until tomorrow...
Steph
Monday 25 June 2007
Poverty - in all its many forms
Calcutta is Everywhere is a story about life and death, loneliness and poverty. It’s about discovering God in all things and Christ in all people. And it’s about the biggest poverty of all: spiritual poverty, which can encompass loneliness, hopelessness and emotional suffering.
“Calcutta…” she admonished “is everywhere”. The wrinkled little lady with the white and blue peasant sari was good at reminding us that spiritual poverty, loneliness and despair are often right in our own country, our own communities, indeed in our own hearts. So we don’t need to pack up and head off to some far-away land in search of it, that elusive thing that will bring us fulfillment, satisfaction and peace. There are plenty of opportunities to serve our fellow humans right here in our own backyard. And yet, for some unknown reason, some of us do have to pack up and head off, in search of our own stories.
More tomorrow...
Peace.
Steph
“Calcutta…” she admonished “is everywhere”. The wrinkled little lady with the white and blue peasant sari was good at reminding us that spiritual poverty, loneliness and despair are often right in our own country, our own communities, indeed in our own hearts. So we don’t need to pack up and head off to some far-away land in search of it, that elusive thing that will bring us fulfillment, satisfaction and peace. There are plenty of opportunities to serve our fellow humans right here in our own backyard. And yet, for some unknown reason, some of us do have to pack up and head off, in search of our own stories.
More tomorrow...
Peace.
Steph
Friday 22 June 2007
Serendipity or Nothing by Chance
This morning I was sitting at a local coffee shop, connecting with fellow writers and pondering what to write about today. Then, in walked an old friend who is struggling and wondering what God is calling her to do with her life. When I asked what she felt was missing in her life, she said she has long felt called to do missionary work in a third world country but can't get past the fear of taking the leap. She had heard that I've been writing, but didn't know about what. When I told her I'm deep in the process of writing about my experiences working with the poor in India her eyes got really big. "Maybe I'm supposed to be talking to you about this!" She said. She had to head off, but took my e-mail address and promised to connect with me soon.
It's pretty amazing to me that all I do is share a little of my story and God does the rest. I've looked into lots of missionary organizations in the past, and hopefully I can be a resource for this friend.
Sometimes I look back and wonder what it was all for, those six fleeting weeks spent in India eleven years ago, and whether it really made any difference to anyone. What I'm seeing now is that that whole experience was of course worthwhile in and of itself, but also that it continues, years later, to bear fruit in the telling and re-telling of it, and the way in which God is touching people thereby.
Steph
It's pretty amazing to me that all I do is share a little of my story and God does the rest. I've looked into lots of missionary organizations in the past, and hopefully I can be a resource for this friend.
Sometimes I look back and wonder what it was all for, those six fleeting weeks spent in India eleven years ago, and whether it really made any difference to anyone. What I'm seeing now is that that whole experience was of course worthwhile in and of itself, but also that it continues, years later, to bear fruit in the telling and re-telling of it, and the way in which God is touching people thereby.
Steph
Thursday 21 June 2007
Publication update
Well, as usual, God is amazing. The proposal for my upcoming book, Calcutta is Everywhere: a different kind of love story, is in the hands of the people at Novalis, and they have expressed alot of interest. And, as of this past weekend when I attended a Christian writers' conference in Guelph, I have 2 other major publishers who have invited submission! Wow. I'm so delighted and humbled. Please pray for me and for the process as I prepare the proposals for these 2 new companies, and also as I prepare a couple of articles for submission in Christian magazines.
The words of the prophet Isaiah, "The desert shall rejoice and blossom, it shall blossom abundantly" have accompanied me for about 15 years to give me hope and encouragement as I trudged through what was my desert. I thank God that it seems like now is the time when it's really starting to rejoice and blossom abundantly!!! We really can bear fruit and blossom abundantly, even when we figure we have nothing much left to give. We never know what God has planned for us, that might be just around the next corner, though we can't quite see it yet.
Steph
The words of the prophet Isaiah, "The desert shall rejoice and blossom, it shall blossom abundantly" have accompanied me for about 15 years to give me hope and encouragement as I trudged through what was my desert. I thank God that it seems like now is the time when it's really starting to rejoice and blossom abundantly!!! We really can bear fruit and blossom abundantly, even when we figure we have nothing much left to give. We never know what God has planned for us, that might be just around the next corner, though we can't quite see it yet.
Steph
Less is truly more... Ask Mother Teresa
The more you have, the more you are occupied, the less you give. But the less you have the more free you are. Poverty for us is a freedom. It is not mortification, a penance. It is joyful freedom. There is no television here, no this, no that. But we are perfectly happy.
- Mother Teresa
Wow. This is so true, and yet so hard for me to live out. As I struggle to let go of those possessions, activities & behaviours that no longer feed me or that become distractions, the goal is to make more room in my life for those things that really matter. (I'll let you know if/when I figure out what those things are! :)
Until tomorrow,
Steph
- Mother Teresa
Wow. This is so true, and yet so hard for me to live out. As I struggle to let go of those possessions, activities & behaviours that no longer feed me or that become distractions, the goal is to make more room in my life for those things that really matter. (I'll let you know if/when I figure out what those things are! :)
Until tomorrow,
Steph
Tuesday 19 June 2007
Day 2 - Getting the hang of this blogging thing!
"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin."
- Mother Teresa
Indeed, let us begin, wherever we are, in whatever condition we find ourselves. God doesn't require that we be perfect finished products, only that we be willing to be used. I read somewhere that "He doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called." Now that's good news!
Steph
- Mother Teresa
Indeed, let us begin, wherever we are, in whatever condition we find ourselves. God doesn't require that we be perfect finished products, only that we be willing to be used. I read somewhere that "He doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called." Now that's good news!
Steph
Monday 18 June 2007
Welcome - Day 1, Mother Teresa Quote
Welcome to day 1 of my blog!
This past weekend, I attended the Write! Canada Conference for my first time and it was wonderful. I learned so much and met so many great people. I had the opportunity to meet with a couple of editors, both of whom invited my to submit my work. My first book is in part about a trip I took to India in 1996 where I worked with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. I am so motivated and ready to get serious with my writing.
Mother Teresa Quote for Today:
"I always say I am a little pencil in God's hands. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything and sometimes it is really hard because it is a broken pencil and He has to sharpen it a little more. Be a little instrument in His hands so that He can use you any time, anywhere. We have only to say 'yes' to God." - Mother Teresa
More tomorrow...
Take care,
Steph
This past weekend, I attended the Write! Canada Conference for my first time and it was wonderful. I learned so much and met so many great people. I had the opportunity to meet with a couple of editors, both of whom invited my to submit my work. My first book is in part about a trip I took to India in 1996 where I worked with the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta. I am so motivated and ready to get serious with my writing.
Mother Teresa Quote for Today:
"I always say I am a little pencil in God's hands. He does the thinking. He does the writing. He does everything and sometimes it is really hard because it is a broken pencil and He has to sharpen it a little more. Be a little instrument in His hands so that He can use you any time, anywhere. We have only to say 'yes' to God." - Mother Teresa
More tomorrow...
Take care,
Steph
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