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I prayed before drawing a name out of a big shopping bag... let the book go to someone who can really use it or who can pass it on to someone who can really use it. And the name I pulled out was...
Joshua! One of our teen writers!
So God answered that prayer in a sweet way.
I'll have another gift to give away by the end of this month, drawing from all the folks who leave a comment in December. I'll announce what the gift is... after I've gone shopping. LOL
Speaking of shopping... Did y'all get out for "Black Friday?" I didn't. It's not that I don't mind getting something on sale. Who does? It wasn't even the idea of fighting traffic in the parking lots and standing in long lines to check out. It's that commercialization of Christmas thing. I don't think there's anything wrong with giving gifts to our loved ones, but we get in such a frenzy this time of year and forget... we're supposed to be still... and know that He is God.
How much we talk about this! How many "spam" e-mail messages are sent out that encourage people to seek God, to reflect on His goodness and the grace He freely gives us. How many promises do we make to ourselves and to God. Stuff like, "This year, I'm going to read the whole Bible. Sit down every day and do it."
As writers, we strive to say something worthwhile about God in our stories. Some people might argue that the Bible itself is enough. It should be, I suppose. But God is wiser than we are and He knows us. Jesus spoke in parables because the stories engaged His listeners minds. They related to the people in the stories. And God has called us, as writers, to do the same. We've been given an awesome privilege and responsibility to convey to our teens something about God that is also Biblically sound, in a way that engages them. Not to replace the Bible, but to stand behind it.
So, I've got some questions for y'all. What are you trying to say about God in your WIP (work-in-progress)? What do you want teens to know about Him through your writing?
Blessings,
Diana
