The Sheepish Scribe

I'm sitting under the awning of our camper listening to wet leaves slap against each other above me. The rain has moved out but everything is soggy and foggy. Birds are calling back and forth to each other, none of the pretty songbirds, only those more raucous voiced. It's an interesting start to an important day.

After years of "thinking" about writing fiction, today I'm taking my first serious step to accomplish it. I'm attending the Christian Writer's Conference in Muskegon, Michigan. While I've written and published many nonfiction, technical articles, I've always wanted to do something in the realm of fiction. Lots of things held me back, those normal things that we get caught up in; family, job, farm, etc. Last year we cut the sheep flock in half due to the collapse of the market for lambs. This year Jeff went off to college. The garden is nearly done and winter is approaching. Those things that held me back are moving aside.

I wish I could say, "The Lord is leading me to write." I wish I knew that. I seem to see His hand working only in hindsight. But He has paved the way. The fact that I got this week off work is amazing. Smack between two of our Memory Walks is not a week I imagined my boss would let me take off. But she didn't blink an eye over it. Conferences are costly and I knew paying for room and board wasn't possible, but a State Park is only three miles south of the conference center. This spring Michael kept saying he wanted to take a full week in the fall to go camping and golfing. He was able to get this week off as well. So here we are. Just for icing on the cake, I wrote for and received a partial scholarship to attend. Okay, Lord, I'm getting the picture.

Without doubt the most difficult step was telling people what I am doing. Why? Because I might fail. I might fall flat on my face with a boatload of witnesses. That's a scary place for me to be. That's what makes this a real step of faith for me. I guess that makes my favorite of the "Seven Deadlies"... pride. And maybe that's why I'm here today. To face that and get past it, if for nothing else.