by Cathy Baker | Faith |
I’m a stickler when it comes to maximizing my time, sometimes to a fault. Lists leading to further lists, setting my timer when cleaning, and monitoring my TV intake unite to rein in my minutes. Of course, one call to keep the grandsweets and all this merrily flies out the proverbial window.
I share the above to say I value your time as much as I do my own. With this in mind, I’m trying a new format this summer by posting on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
- Tuesdays will be focused on tea but in a NEW way! Introducing Sharing Life Together…One Sip At A Time. Each Tuesday, you’re invited to join me at the tea table where I’ll share a verse we can “sip” on throughout the day. As a Bible teacher, I’m the first to encourage spending time studying the Word in depth but meditating on morsels of scripture is also a vital part of our spiritual growth. (Check out my post from 2012, Spiritual Pre-Mastication.)
- Thursdays will include posts on serendipitous moments, photography, guest posts, God-glimpses, etc.
It was exciting to win an award for this blog at The Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writers Conference a few weeks back. However, my delight comes in staying connected with friends, making new ones, and hopefully encouraging the hearts of all those who stop by for a whiff of Christ here at Fragrant Ink.
I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. Psalm 119:15
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Friends…they cherish one another’s hopes.
They are kind to one another’s dreams.
-Henry David Thoreau
Dee Dee Parker and I arrived a day early to the writer’s conference—not to play, but to work on a beloved project. We’d planned on trying to find a conference room as soon as we reached the campus. After all, sitting on a cushy mattress isn’t the most conducive way to work. Within minutes of arriving, however, God surprised us with a place to meet in the middle, literally.
On Saturday and Sunday we prayed, brainstormed, took notes, and giggled like girls. I may have even spotted a few bolts of brilliance fly over Dee Dee’s head a time or two. (She’s amazing!)
One night, around 11:30 p.m., we decided to end “lobby time” (where everyone gathers after dark) a little early. We dropped our things just inside the door and patted ourselves on the backs for turning in earlier than normal. It was then the rush of wind took its cue and began to whistle. Trees swayed to and fro, leaning to the side as if to kiss the grass, and dry lightning struck gold. Dee Dee urged me to turn off the lights and take a seat. She on her couch…and me in my chair. There we sat, in the dark, cheering on the storm until close to 1:00 a.m. Oh, what a moment in time!
As
for the rest of the week, I’ll borrow the Las Vegas line: What happens
at Ridgecrest stays at Ridgecrest. Ha! Let’s just say I’m thankful no
one chose to walk past our window while I was dancing to Barry Manilow’s
Copacabana. (I kept forgetting we were on the ground level!)
(The view outside our window)
Perhaps those few snippets from our week give you a glimpse into why I chose the above quote from Henry David Thoreau to describe my friendship with Dee Dee.
When all is said and done, our writing aspirations may differ in some ways, but we are kind to each others dreams because we know the One who placed them within us—and that alone is something to truly cherish.
Whose hopes are we cherishing besides our own? Are we being kind to each others dreams?
For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ Acts 17:28
(One of greatest blessings you’ll discover at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Conference is how eager others are to to join you on the journey. I encourage you to make your plans to join us next year. Hope to see you in the lobby!)
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Remember this post? My favorite word in the title is “almost.”
This weekend, I, along with hundreds more, will be heading to the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. Some of the things I’m most looking forward to?
- Seeing friends and making new ones.
- Catching a glimpse of Becky Gansky’s sweet smile. I don’t know her well but when she enters a room, you immediately sense the presence of the Lord.
- Worship time.
- Sitting in Aaron Gansky’s class with Dee Dee Parker. Poor Aaron. (As we say here in the South, bless his heart.)
- Cloud 9 Cafe and the volunteers who work there. Love those little ladies!
- Seeing Edie Melson’s Steam Punk outfit on Tuesday night.
- Grits in the cafeteria. Yes, grits.
- Learning more about Flash Fiction in Ben Wolf’s class (hopefully along with Dee Dee and Susan Stilwell)
- Lobby time at night. It usually ends late and includes lots of giggling. Wheeee!
- Cheering my friends on at the Awards Banquet!
If you’ve never attended The Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Conference, I encourage you to begin saving for next year. It’s a wise investment.
Would you pray for me, as well as all those who’ll be heading to the hills this weekend? I ask for a teachable spirit, abundant energy (afternoons are sometimes a challenge), and for God to be glorified through everything I say and do. And lastly, to remain alert to the ways God may want to use me to encourage someone else.
I’ll be taking a break from blogging next week while at the conference but I look forward to catching up with you the following week.
Thank you for stopping by and especially for your prayers.
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the
Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive and inheritance
from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
Having the likes of Edie Melson and Marcia Moston in our local writer’s group Cross N Pens is a tremendous boon for those of us striving to hone our skills.
Over the weekend, our group enjoyed a mini-workshop featuring these talented women. Below are just a few tidbits from their talks.
Marcia Moston, the author of Call of a Coward, spoke on Creative Non-fiction (the 4th genre!) In addition to creative writing prompts, Marcia shared wisdom from her own experience, as well as quotes, all of which will stick with me:
- Every story has a human face. Draw and display it well; for readers, it is a magnet. -Francis Flaherty, editor of The New York Times
- When writing memoirs, we need to remember it’s not about us. We’re like the Disney cart on a ride. We’re simply the vehicle to a bigger picture.
- Marcia shared pages of information on crafting true stories. I’m a new fan of Rick Bragg.
Edie Melson, author of Fighting Fear and Co-Director of Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writer’s Conference, spoke on what it means to support our writing through writing. It didn’t hurt that she handed out two pages of markets willing to pay for our work. (Thanks, Edie!) Her advice, however, far surpassed the value found on any piece of paper. Below are a few of Edie’s takeaways:
- Stay out of our comfort zones! Take chances. We’re not seen as marketable if we’re unwilling to do so.
- The key to a good query letter is a good story.
- What does the word deadline mean? Writing when you don’t feel like it.
Sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with many gifted writers spurred me to become even more serious about my craft. Wisdom and godly conviction crossed paths that morning, and I was grateful to be smack dab in the middle of this intersection.
Let’s just say the fragrance of Christ had a hint of metal to it as it rose upwards this past Saturday morning!
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17
by Cathy Baker | Faith |
by Cathy Baker
While traveling home from the Blue Ridge Mountain Christian’s Conference last year, I sensed very clearly that “play time” was over. Not that I’d viewed it as such but I’d wasted spent a lot of time debating with myself if writing was where God wanted me to spend His time. Through a series of confirmations at BRMCWC, I left feeling confident I was exactly where He wanted me to be.
Within weeks of returning from the conference, my husband and I began discussing selling our home. The result was a seven-month pilgrimage that, in the end, played out more like a devilish detour. During that time, I shifted almost everything else—writing, meeting with friends, attending writing group—to the sidelines of life.
When 2014 rolled around, I spotted Register for BRMCWC on my calendar, but ignored it. I didn’t feel I’d earned it. This past year was to be different. It wasn’t. I was going to write every single day—but I didn’t. Despite having my poetry published in two books last year, I felt like a total failure. The thought of facing conference mentors who’d spurred me on last May was, well…downright embarrassing.
Then it happened. On a rare snowy South Carolinian day, I sat upstairs gazing out the big window in the front of our house. I soaked in every detail for a possible poem. One particular car kept driving by, when suddenly the man pulled off the street and hopped out of his car with a fancified camera pointed in my direction. He motioned for me to meet him on my front porch. I’d barely opened the door when he asked what I was doing up there. He scribbled a few lines on his pad and jumped back in his car. A few weeks later, I opened our local paper to see my picture with the tag line Inspired by a Snowy Day…Poet at work: Cathy Baker from her Curtis St. window.
While taken back by his choice of wording, I couldn’t help but feel it was a divine wink to keep moving forward. The wink escalated to a nudge when my amazing hubster insisted I register for BRMCWC.
So, Lord willing, I will enter the lovely Lifeway campus this May looking ahead, not behind.
Past regrets will not rob God’s unfolding plan for my future.
Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13, 14
Are you sensing a divine wink or nudge? I’d love to see you at Blue Ridge this May! We’ll already have something in common. 🙂
