Verse for the Year

I've heard of people having a verse they focus on for the year.  They post it somewhere where it's visible to them to remind them through the year.  They memorize it.  I had never done it before.  I think mostly I hadn't done it because I didn't know where to start!  The Bible has so many wonderful passages in it.  How do you pick one verse out of it to focus on?

Towards the end of last year, I took a Bible study called "The Power of a Woman's Words".  The facilitator gave each of us laminated cards on a key ring with verses for every week to remind us to be careful of our words.  The key verse for the entire series was Psalm 19:14 and it really stuck out to me.  For the first time, I had a verse to focus on for the new year.

This is now posted right next to my computer.  Women tend to use more words in a day than men.  I know that I need to be aware of my words when I speak to my children.  As a stay-at-home mom, I know that there are days where my words are spoken hastily and in frustration, annoyance or anger and that they can really hurt my children.  I want to be a mom who encourages her kids daily, who is patient, who is able to discipline with love when they need it.  I know not every day will be a success, but I know that, with God's help, I can be that kind of mom.  There are also words that I use with my husband, my family, my friends.  Are my words with them encouraging?  Are they helpful?  Are they true?

In today's world, it's not just the words that proceed from our mouth that can cause trouble.  When I'm on Facebook, I have to think about what I'm posting as my status.  Is it something that everyone needs to know?  Is it ungrateful or selfish?  Is it arrogant or rude?  When I comment on one of my friend's pictures or statuses, am I kind?  I have typed many statuses that, before I pressed post, I thought better of it and deleted it.  I'm sure there are many more that I should have thought a little longer about.

As an author, I deal with words all the time.  I want the books I write to be pleasing to God first and foremost.  I want people to feel uplifted after they read one.  I pray all the time that God will give me the wisdom to write what I should.  I pray that my books will speak to my readers.  My biggest prayer is that the words I write will be pleasing to "my Rock and my Redeemer".

A Return

I've mentioned before that I'm often surprised as I'm writing by what's happening.  It seems odd that the author is surprised, but things sometimes go in a way that I did not expect.  Afterwards it seems like the most natural progression and I wonder why I hadn't expected it.

I was working on the third book the other day and a character from a previous book returned.  I had known that they were going to, but I was surprised at the direction it took.  I'm very excited though because I think it's going very well.  I think the best part of writing a series is being able to bring back characters that you were interested in before and check in on them.

Brooke's story is coming along, but slower than I anticipated.  Part of that might be my schedule.  I need to have more of a set time to write instead of making it so hit and miss.  I'm still hoping it to get it done by summer, but my very latest date is to have it published sometime this fall.  I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes.  It's still early in the book and anything can happen!

You may have noticed that I've stopped giving updates on my new year's resolution.  (Or maybe you haven't and that's all right, too!)  I'm not doing so good with my housecleaning.  I got towards the end of January and I'm not really sure what happened.  I think my old habits came back and that was detrimental to my resolution.  However, we're only in the third month of the year so I still have nine months to get my act together.  I'm going to try anyway.

I enjoy hearing from you!  If you have any questions or suggestions, I'd love to hear them!  Thank you for your support!