Well, I have made it a goal to do some writing this year. I have been thinking about topics of which I could write. I decided to start this new year (2011) answering some basic journaling questions each day which may give me some insights and direction. I thought I would answer these questions:
How did a particular passage stick out in my Bible study?
What life lessons was I faced with today?
How did others minister to me today?
How did I minister to others?
What did I write about?
What thoughts might I consider for the future?
In order to get myself going, I went ahead and started this on Dec. 31 and did my monthly Proverbs reading from chapter 31. (wow, was that ever the place to start!-or maybe I should say it WASN'T the place to start!). Immediately I was placed into the Mary/Martha saga I have fought for years! Some of those chapter 31 qualities are me and some are definitely NOT me. You see, I have always wondered why I fret so much for having such a Mary-like personality and lacking in Martha style when Jesus rebuked Martha and encouraged her to be more like Mary. (This Mary/Martha topic will be one of my first topics). Up until now, I just struggled with these ‘guilt’ feelings when it came to entertaining type stuff. I absolutely hate the thought of planning a shower or ladies’ event. I can do the devotion and maybe come up with some fun and exciting games. But when it comes to decorating and making it nice—total stress!! I kick myself and wish I could be a better person in this area.
WRITING HISTORY:
As I thought through this, I realized that this saga also reaches into my writing/teaching style. Then it dawned on me that this goes all the way back to high school journalism! I started out my writing interest as a journalist. My writing was short and sweet, you know, 5Ws and MAYBE an H! I won journalism awards in high school writing contests, I was the assistant editor of my school paper, and even continued my journalism ‘career’ in college as a major writer for the BBC Banner in the late 70s.
Then, the first conflict of styles… Freshman Composition Class. Assignment: Write a descriptive essay of a landscape of your choice. I wrote about the mountains near El Paso, Texas. I wrote what I thought was a pretty good description of those lovely mountains along the Rocky Mountains chain. Problem number one, it was way too short. The grade was not so good. “Debbie, this was to be a descriptive essay. You need to add some ‘color’ to your essay.” Ok, second attempt-I added some more adjectives. Hey, I even used the Thesaurus! The result? “ Debbie, I’m glad to see you use more adjectives, but you really should add some more ‘flowery’ ones”. Flowery adjectives? “Gag me with a stick!” as we used to say. No way!!
As I continued to recall my writing history, I remembered my grad school classes. I put together a really good Children’s Ministry Handbook and some really good handouts for future lessons. But, dear Miss Herman ( I love you soo!) said, “Debbie, great work, but you should add some clip art and make your work come to life.” But, I put a nice clip art picture on the front cover, what else would you want ? (I know she was right!)
A Simple Start:
Well, I started writing this on facebook Notes-no clip art, no pictures, no fancy font-just me explaining my thoughts simply and plainly—to the point-- Mary-like. I can handle this. I can study my passage, develop a good exegesis (determine the original meaning of the passage based on historical data, language data, Biblical data, etc.) from reference books and commentaries, and share implications as how this passage could apply to peoples’ lives. Then, I can just publish my thoughts for the entire world to see and hopefully someone will be blessed in the process.
What do I need to do?
Well, I suppose I should prepare this same material but with a little flair and specialize the applications in an effort to make us, AS LADIES, more Christ like wives, mothers, grandmothers, sisters, …
So, my goal this year is to add a little Martha style in my written presentations.
I guess this means getting off of FB NOTES and creating a blog where I can add pictures and fancy font. I will take the challenge to add A FEW …flow…flower… flowery words. (I noticed the cringe on my face while I was typing that last sentence J).
Then came the encouragements!
WOW! Thanks so much for all of your encouraging thoughts and comments, both public and private. Your statements of enjoying the ‘fun-ness’ of my style and my honesty, comments of making you smile, etc. encouraged me to be me and not necessarily change my writing style (although I know there is always room for improvement). These differing styles really led me to my current title and description. There is room for both the Marys and the Marthas in this world. God wants to use both. We must find ways to work together. That is what will be coming down the pipe!
Love it! I can't wait for MORE!
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