This month has been an emotional roller-coaster, most of it of my own making. There were days that I was excited that I had made it 30 years, and there were a lot of days I felt like curling in a ball and crying. There was something about the big three-zero birthday that had me. I never thought I would get to this age without a family of my own. At the same time, I saw so many things that God needed to change in me, I kinda wondered how I had any friends and why my family put up with me.
I took a week off for my birthday and spent a lot of time thinking, praying, as well as chilling and having fun. In this week off, God has brought me not only to a place of great peace but to a point that today was a day of great rejoicing for me.
We all have expectations in life. I’m no different. Now, I wasn’t one of those who had a life plan, but I did have ideas. As is often the case, God had plans for me that were very different than my ideas. While those plans are for my good, they don’t necessarily feel good. However, we all know there are many things that feel good that aren’t good for us. We can’t live on sugar and other junk food. Exercises don’t feel good a lot of the time, but they achieve a result that is good.
There is so much that God has been teaching me, it can’t all fit into this post. However, I will say that I’m so grateful for the thirty years that God has given me. As I look ahead, I have no idea what He has in store for me. I do know that I can hold on to hope because it will be for my good and for his glory.
Here is a song I’ve been listening to a lot this past week.
“Bryon,” Alvin
whispered again.
“Yes,” Bryon
sobbed, cradling his brother’s head in his lap.
“Get the girls
and get them away from here.” Alvin’s face contorted in pain.
“Where would I
take them?”
“The woods
outside Delmore. I have heard stories of an archer who lives in the woods. The
Archer will protect you until all is safe. You must leave before she blames my
death on you. Do not return until The Archer himself tells you it is safe.”
“I will not
leave you,” Bryon said fiercely, taking hold of his brother’s hand.
Despite the
pain, Alvin smiled. “Do not fear for me, I go to be with God and our mother.
Take care of…of all of them. You are… are now the heir. Act worthy of this
call… calling.” Alvin struggled for breath. “And take Gwendolen my… my sword
with my love.”
Bryon nodded,
his eyes blurry with tears. “You have my word.”
“Go, now,”
Alvin said.
Bryon
hesitated for a moment, then gently lowered his brother’s head to the floor.
Taking hold of his brother’s sword, he pulled himself to his feet and raced to
the door. He paused for a moment to take one look back.
Through
blinding tears, Bryon raced to get the girls and follow his brother’s dying
instructions.
With a heavy
sigh, Brianna slipped out after him. She adjusted the golden circlet on her
head as she walked rapidly to catch up. Her gown of softest wool had been
colored a deep blue and it set off her brown hair. She had to look her best for
the ambassador to listen to her.
“Ambassador,”
Brianna called out, seeing that he was moving rapidly.
He whipped
around, his face red with anger. “What do you want?” his voice was gruff.
Brianna
swallowed her fear. She must have courage for the sake of her people and her
father. “Ambassador, I fear a grave error has been made.” She stopped a few
paces away from him.
“Indeed there
has,” the ambassador sneered. “The king will regret this.”
Brianna
swallowed again, her mouth dry. “Good sir, that is why I have sought you out. I
think you and I might be able to reach an agreement that will satisfy both the
needs of your country and Taelis.”
“You?” the
ambassador chuckled dryly. “You are a woman.”
“I am also a
princess, oldest daughter of the king.” She pulled herself to her full height,
but still felt small. She was not tall, even for a girl, and this man was a
head above most men.
The ambassador
crossed his arms. “I fail to see how that can help me. You are still a woman.
Unless you are proposing an alliance by marriage, you have nothing to offer.”
Brianna shook
her head. “What I offer is help to get you the trade that our countries both
desperately need.”
The ambassador
smiled, amusement playing over his features. “I see. Do you have a handful of
grain that you want to trade for a bit of wool?”
Brianna
sighed. Why could she have not been a born a son, or at least taller. It took
so much time to convince people she could help. “I am offering you the trade
you wished. I know where there are many bags of grain ready and waiting to be
loaded onto carts in exchange for a fair amount of wool.”
The amusement
had diminished somewhat in the ambassador’s face. He did not quite believe her
yet, but he was desperate to make this trade. “How are you able to offer me
this and your father was not?”
“My father was
able to make the trade,” Brianna said softly. “He simply did not wish to bother
with it this day.” Her father never wanted to deal with anything that had to do
with business. “Do you wish the grain or not?”
The ambassador
threw back his head and laughed. “I have never made a trade with a princess.
What a story this will make!”
As writers, parents in stories can be tricky. I mean, if you look at most classic stories, the parents are absent. So, here are a few tips for having your parents in your story.
Remember that adventures and parents can go together. Many stories start with the assumption that if the parents aren't there, the story will be stronger. I've found that is sometimes the case. However, also having parents along can create some pretty interesting situations and food for thought.
Parents are as diverse as people are, with complex motivations. Often, we (which includes me) often cast our parents in stereotypes which I call Clueless, Useless, and Evil. Clueless parents are usually pretty stupid and the kid is smarter then they are. Useless is a parent that is present, but self-absorbed and is unaware or doesn't care about what is going on. They usually aren't bad, they just don't notice. Of course, there is the most popular of an evil parent, the over-controlling mother, the father that is cruel, and so on. When writing parents, consider breaking the mold and giving them complex motivations, and realistic involvement in their childs life. Also, if you write multiple books, consider having different types of parents in the story.
Have the courage to tackle things that aren't easy. Many books have parents who have died or have made major mistakes. Consider bucking the trend. Show the struggles between parents and their grown children who have a pretty good relationship, but still struggle. Perhaps show a parent who has hurt their child in some way in the past, but has repented. Or how about taking on how to honor your parents as an adult living at home? There are a lot of areas to explore.
Write what you know or spend time to learn. I've been very blessed with two amazing parents. I don't have first hand expirace with bad ones. So, when I've written parents that were not stellar parents, it was important that I dig in and read or talk with someone who had delt with a parent with the flaws the character had. One of the more helpful resources is Christan raidio/podcasts where teachers interview people who have had a hard time, but see it through the lens of God's redemptive power.
What is your favorite fictional parent(s)?
*Post contains Amazon affiliate links*
Age Appropriate For:
13 and up
Best for Ages:
15 and up
Description: Our world is filled with fake facades, from
the unrealistic filters used on social media to the “holier than thou” personas
seen in certain hypocritical believers.
To combat the fake trends, a new trend
has emerged—one that fights the facade with transparency and vulnerability.
Instead of being filtered or super-spiritual, we’re told to be real and honest.
And rightly so.
I loved, loved, LOVED this book. It is one of those books
that both expressed some things I have tried to explain to others and failed,
and also encouraged and convicted me. For those who like theology, this book is
about sanctification, and how we as Christians often accept an imitation verity
of it.
Capps shares how she was sharing with a friend about how
tired she was of herself. She shared some sin struggles she was having. She was
being honest and transparent. Her friend turned to her and said “You’ve talked
a lot about how bad you are, now tell me about how good Jesus is.” From there
she shares how she had been very transparent, but that hadn’t been leading to
transformation.
As someone who grew up in a Christian house and has never
rebelled against the faith, I felt I could relate to Capps so much. So many
things she said, the struggles, and the good things, had me nodding my head.
After reading this book, I really just wanted to go to lunch with her and talk
about our faith.
Probably one of my favorite things about this book is it
wrapped words around concepts I’ve tried so hard to convey. One of the things
she talked about is that we often think that people who have it together must
be faking and those who are broken are being real. As someone who has been
accused of being fake because some part of my life was put together, I just
wanted to hug her. I love how she talked about how this! She clearly explained
how the places in our lives that were put together were a refection of Christ’s
work in us and should be used not to gloat, but to show others what God is
capable of.
I can’t do justice to this book in a review. You need to read
it. I’m pretty sure it will be one of the top books I read in 2020.
I highly recommend this for every Christian woman, those who
feel like they are stuck, and those who want to make big or small changes in
their lives.
With Father's Day right around the corner, I thought it would be a good time to share with you a little about one of my biggest supporters and one of the people that has the strongest belief that my writing will take me far - My Dad
From the time I was young, Dad read to us kids often. In fact, if you're a newsletter subscriber, you're going to be getting a fun document where I share some of the titles I most vividly remember. He loved to read and wanted use to explore different genres and types of stories. I'm a far more rounded reader because of him.
He has led our family with quiet strength. He has always been an example of being slow to speak and slow anger. He always has such godly advice, let has often let us make our own decisions so we could learn from them.
Even in these last few years, as he's walked through the difficulty of MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) and faced the possibility of dementia in his future, his chief concern has been preparing his family well for what is to come.
When I'm discouraged about all the hours I'm pouring into my writing with very little to show for it, He's the one who tells me to keep going, that one day, I'll make it. No one thinks more highly of my work then he does.
Many of the fathers in my stories are based on him because I cannot think of a better model.
I know that he is not perfect, and I have seen him mess up and apologize for his actions. However, I cannot think of anyone I would rather have for a father.
Tell me about your Dad.
Some men are for a time and a season. They live their life and pass
into the next without many people even being aware of their existence. Other
men inspire, not only their generation, but many generations to come. This is a
tale of some who did just that. They led their people to greatness in their
day, and inspired greatness in many generations that followed.
This tale has been told as a bedtime story to many children in Taelis.
In fact, it was reduced to a fairy tale as the years passed. However, I, Zale
Kahlon, assure you that the tale is indeed true. Princess Brianna really lived,
young Bryon really did flee into the woods and was rescued by The Archer, John.
John was the son of Alditha and William from my first tale. He had
many adventures with Bryon, and with the princess as well. But I am getting
ahead of myself. I shall not spoil this, my second tale of my forgotten
homeland.
As I stare out at the sea this stormy day, I long for Taelis. I can
smell the richness of the growing forest, and see the fat deer peering out from
behind the undergrowth. As I remember, I long to return. I long to open my door
and, instead of a noisy street, see the beautiful forest of Taelis. I wish to
hear the birds, feel the wind, and to see mothers collecting nuts with their
children as they tell them the old tales that kept us a proud people for so long.
Perhaps though, like man, Taelis was only meant to be for a season. Perhaps it
was purposed by God to live on through these tales alone.
From its humble beginnings, with its feuding nobles and unhappy
peasants grew a wonderful kingdom. The turning point towards greatness began
with Bryon, John, and Brianna. This is their tale. A tale of brothers… and
betrayal.
