We've all experienced times, when one thing after another seems to pelt us with discouragement.
Sometimes, when it rains, it pours.
Two days before I attended the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers
Conference I found myself overwhelmed. If it weren’t for the non-refundable deposit,
I would have surely backed out.
It all started with an umbrella.
It all started with an umbrella.
Two days before the conference, my umbrella flipped its lid during a rainstorm and never recovered. I kept forgetting to pick up a new one. Then I heard they were calling for rain during the week of the conference.
The night before my departure, I begged my husband to pick
one up on his way home from work.
My directions were explicit. It needed to be a one-push-button, compact umbrella. He even called me from the parking lot asking what a push-button umbrella looked like. He assured me he knew what I meant.
Somewhere between his car, and the aisle with his favorite little blueberry muffins, he forgot all about the umbrella.
My directions were explicit. It needed to be a one-push-button, compact umbrella. He even called me from the parking lot asking what a push-button umbrella looked like. He assured me he knew what I meant.
Somewhere between his car, and the aisle with his favorite little blueberry muffins, he forgot all about the umbrella.
When the muffins arrived home, without an umbrella, I dashed
to the little store down the street. I grabbed one of the one-push-button
umbrellas near the checkout and dashed back home to finish packing.
I should have tested the umbrella at the store. That
umbrella weighed less than the six dollars I paid for it. One slight breeze
would result in another soggy disaster. I threw it in the back of the van and
prayed for sunshine.
There were several misadventures during the week:
· My room had a broken air conditioner (God quickly sent
a repairman).
·
The microwave beeped erratically at all
times of the night (I pulled the plug).
·
I became disoriented on campus on numerous occasions (God sent me
a new friend to guide me each time).
· I was locked inside my room, on the third floor, due to a faulty lock (I got
out. How I got out is a miraculous
story I’ll save for later!)
These things kept me laughing and made for good
conversation at meal times. However, not
everything was humorous.
Early in the week, I was overwhelmed with some writing work I had brought with me. Deadlines looming, I was second guessing every word I wrote.
Then self-doubt began to pour through my clouded thinking.
I tried to pray often when writing but occasionally I
allowed Satan to drop a negative thought in my head.
"Who are you to do this?”
