SHEEP, SMILES, AND JAMES T.

"The issue is never, 'Are you qualified?' The issue is always, 'Are you called?'

I make this distinction between qualified and called with aspiring writers all the time. Too many authors worry about whether or not their book will get published. That isn't the question. The question is this: Are you called to write? That's the only question you need to answer. And if the answer is yes, then you need to write the book as an act of obedience. It doesn't matter whether anyone reads it or not."
Mark Batterson
The Circle Maker

I'm out praying today.

I AM writing a book. It's about sheep. Well, sort of. It's really about me--and you too.
"We all, like sheep . . . " Isaiah 53:6
"We are his people, the sheep of his pasture . . . " Psalm 100: 3

I've read every book I can find on sheep, with more emphasis on those without Christian leanings. I wanted to see what the relationship was between shepherds and their sheep. It's been a sweet journey. Every time I pick up one of those books (I HAD to buy them.), I feel enveloped in a strange sort of contentment and in God's love. 

So the book,  We . . . Like Sheep, is a devotion book.

Years ago, I wrote a children's book for a writing class: To Catch A Smile. I love this book. It's about Jacob who considers himself way too boring for Jesus to want to spend time with him. He hides behind a tree and watches other children play with Jesus. It was some time before I realized that "I" am Jacob.

James T. Now, there's a fellow you can't help but like. He's a cross between Mr. Green Jeans off of Captain Kangaroo and my husband, Ray. He always travels with his dog; his first adventure being to a town with no signs. Not a sign anywhere, including store fronts. He accidentally walks into a dress shop and quickly backs out before answering the lady's question: "How do I look in this dress?" He visits another town without manners; people don't even know what manners are!

Yup. James T. and I are buddies. Though I haven't pulled him out of the file for a while, he makes me smile.

Batterson's quote could be discouraging, I suppose. Yet, more than discouragement, I accept his words as permission. I absolutely feel "called" to write; and so I will. 

 My prayers aren't whether I "should" write; they are more about asking what I should do with what I write. There are some huge hurdles toward publishing. That world has changed a lot since I had articles and children's stories published in magazines.

And so I pray, because I am . . . 

Utterly Dependent on Him Who is Utterly Dependable,
Lonnie