I am the queen of hair-brained ideas. I spent a lot of my early stay-at-home-mom years chasing a lot of those in attempts to find an outlet for my adult side. After all, when children’s programming becomes the bulk of your viewing choices, you need an adult outlet. The call of a little extra income for your one income family also calls like a siren song.
I sold Christmas Around the World, which was based on home parties. I wasn’t horrible at this seasonal business and actually sold it for a couple of years. But knick-knacks aren’t really my thing. And I’m naturally an introvert. Not a great combination.
I was an Avon representative. Yes, the girl who is allergic to most makeup and can wear it only for short periods of time if I’ve taken an allergy pill, sold Avon. I did fairly well with that one. I actually sold it for several years and even won awards.
My time selling makeup was at least better than my idea to open a gift basket business. In theory, it’s not a bad idea. After all, I enjoy putting gift sets together for people. I bought a book about the gift basket business to prepare myself. I came up with a plan, but my fire to do it fizzled out quickly. Not as quickly as my idea to break into freelance editing for companies, with no training and only a book to guide me, but still, quicker than my jaunt into at-home childcare. (I’m a relaxed mom. Having to have a sparkling house and provide healthy, well-planned meals every day did not agree with me.)
At least by the time my big, expensive ideas for opening a bakery or a Christian bookstore/conference center were sparked, I’d learned not to follow every idea that came into my head. Although I have to admit, these two ideas still haunt me at times. I even have floor plans drawn out for each business.
But during these times when I so desperately needed to find an outlet and my dream of becoming an author was still working itself out, I had one thing a lot of people lack. I had a cheerleader. My husband could have easily said no to any of my ideas. He could have told me how ill-fitting some of my plans were to my personality. He could have made me feel foolish for thinking about trying or, even worse, foolish when they fell through.
He didn’t. He let me try, as long as it didn’t involve a bank loan. He let me explore and decide for myself whether each plan was a good fit for me or not. When I inevitably walked away from each of them, he didn’t say “I told you so”. And when I finally started focusing on my dream of writing, he didn’t stand off in the corner shaking his head and muttering, “Here we go again.” No, he encouraged me, gave me writing time, and sent me to conferences with the abandon of someone who’d never lived with a woman who’d chased down more bad ideas than good.
That encouragement means the world to me. It’s given me the chance to find out which ideas are in my life for a time/purpose, which ones should never have seen the light of day, which ones are meant to fuel the stories I write, and which ones I should chase after for the rest of my life.
Because an idea can fall into any of those categories. Just ask Michelle Wilson from Amy Anguish’s newest book, Saving Grace. When Michelle is involved in a fatal accident, newborn Grace is left alone in this world. Bonded through the traumatic event, Michelle feels she has been called to make sure Grace is taken care of for the rest of her life.
Initially, this charge seems perfectly set up. Her parents are equipped to provide emergency foster care. Grace’s birth grandparents are dead, and there are no uncles or aunts to claim her. Already moving back home to start her dream job, Michelle is perfectly placed to provide Grace with the love and care she needs.
But it isn’t smooth sailing for Michelle. While her parents agree to help her, they’ve made it clear they aren’t sure Michelle is ready to be a single parent. And when her best friend Greg learns Grace’s parents wanted her raised by a married couple, not a single person, even he has a hard time fully backing her decision.
The lack of support leaves Michelle determined to see her plan through to the end. Will she allow herself the time to search out if God wants her to keep going in this direction or if He has another plan in place for her and Grace?
Of course, Greg has to weigh some ideas of his own. He’s loved Michelle for what seems like forever, even though she’s never noticed the shift in his feelings. In all their years together, he’s never not supported her. But this is a child’s life and her parent’s dying request. How can he support her? When the answer comes to him suddenly, Greg has to decide if the idea is one he should abandon or hold onto no matter what.
Amy has written a story of finding one’s purpose that opens the reader up to the reality of the many paths we have to choose from in life and the importance of quieting our hearts to hear Him tell us which ones to turn from, which ones to travel for a time, and which ones to journey down for the rest of our lives.
https://scrivenings.link/savinggrace
Usually I post a quote on Wednesday, but today I had the opportunity to participate in an interview. This interview had some really great questions, and I thought I would share them with you.
Sometimes it’s the name of the author or the back cover copy. This time it was the cover. The title is written in a fun, laid back script. The woman is blurry, but her hands are not. And those hands are holding colorful macarons.
Sometimes it’s the name of the author or the back cover copy. This time it was the cover. The title is written in a fun, laid back script. The woman is blurry, but her hands are not. And those hands are holding colorful macarons.
“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” – unknown
“A writer is a writer not because she writes well and easily, because she has amazing talent, or because everything she does is golden. A writer is a writer because, even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway.” Junot Diaz