Progress

I am happy to say that I made writing a priority last week and now have about one more chapter to write before book three will be finished!  Next week, I will finish the final chapter, go back through for a quick edit and then send it to my editors for their editing notes.  If all goes well, it should be ready to be published in September!  I'm very excited!

Brooke's story has been more difficult for me to write than Georgia's story was.  I think I probably related more to Georgia than I do with Brooke.  It's been interesting to see her story unfold though.  Her story has brought me to tears on occasion, has brought in some new characters and brought back some old ones and I think it will be a touching story when it's all is said and done.  At least, I hope so.

On another note, Georgia's story, Smell the Roses, will be on sale for $0.99 starting August 3, 2014 for a week!  There will be no price increase through that week so it will be available for 67% off the regular price all week long!  If you haven't bought it yet or know someone who would like to read it, this would be a great time to get it!  You can find it by clicking the link below.

Smell the Roses by Courtney Lyman

Best Laid Plans by Courtney Lyman

Laziness

I've realized something in the ten yeas I've been a mom.  God uses those little ones to point out my own imperfections and challenges me to change in ways that the best sermon won't do.  See, my kids see me all the time and they pick up on my behavior and they emulate my behavior.  Suddenly they're doing things that drive me crazy and I want them to change.  I wonder where they ever picked up something like that and all of a sudden it hits me that it's from me!

Recently my son has been driving my crazy with his laziness.  Any time I would ask him to do something he would whine and complain and drag his feet.  It would take him two hours to do a ten minute job because he spent so much time trying to get out of it.  I learned quickly that he couldn't share chores with his older sister because that just meant that he would let her do all the work while he played.  I was getting on him all the time about how God wants us to be productive and doesn't like laziness.  I wondered where he had ever learned such a thing and then I took a good look at myself.

What did he see me do every day?  He saw me spend a lot of time on the computer.  While some of that was work related, often it's to check Facebook or play games.  He saw me reading or on my phone.  More importantly he saw the results of my misspent time.  He saw the piles of dishes and laundry, the layer of dust, the clutter everywhere.  Why did I expect more out of him than I expected from myself?

This was part of the reasoning behind my New Year's resolution to be better about cleaning my house.  I wanted to show my children that Mom knows how to work.   I want them to see me work hard, not to please my husband, my parents, my friends, my kids, but to please God.  I still have days where I give in to temptation and sit at my computer too much and don't get enough done, but I'm having more frequent days where I get a great deal done around the house.  My house still isn't immaculate and it probably will never be, but my laundry and dishes are not piled up very often and I make my bed every day (something that I have never done in my life).  The other chores get done much more often than before.  I still  have room for improvement, but I'm happy with the progress that God has worked in me so far.  And yes, it is through God's help that I've been able to do this.  Laziness was so deeply ingrained in me that I needed Him to nudge me forward.  Every time I feel that temptation to just let everything slide, I also feel a familiar nudge that reminds me that my kids are watching and I need to do it and do it cheerfully.

My son had a memory verse that I told him was a good one for him to learn especially.  Be careful of ever thinking or telling someone that a verse is perfect for them because often it's good for you, too.  As soon as I made the comment  I felt that old nudge.  It was like God said, "And what about you?  Don't you think this could be a good one for you to learn, too?"  And He was right.  The reason why it was so perfect for my son was because it was also perfect for me.  Here it is:  "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31 (emphasis mine).  That's a good principal to remember as I trudge through the daily things that I don't enjoy doing and don't want to do.  I need to follow that command anyway just out of obedience, but it's doubly important for me to do it as a mom so that my kids can see a good example in me.  

Halfway

Yesterday evening my oldest daughter was at ballet and my husband was going to pick her up.  My son was playing at a neighbor's house and my youngest daughter was napping and when she woke up she was content playing quietly by herself.  Can I tell you just how amazing that time was?  I almost never have a house that quiet!  It was prime writing time and I took advantage of it.  I was so immersed in my writing that before I knew it my husband and daughter were home.  At first I thought they came home early, but I looked again and I had just lost track of time.  I got quite a bit done and it flowed so easily.  Those are the times when I really enjoy writing.

Looking at my progress, I'm about halfway done!  That is exciting!  My goal is to have the book done and ready to send to my editors by the end of July.  Now having said that, it's taken me six months to get the first half done so I'm not sure that will actually happen.  However, the first six months of the year were extremely busy and as I look at my July calendar there's very little going on this month.  It's possible, but I'm going to have to get to work.  I'll make sure that I post some updates periodically.  A little accountability never hurts.

Summer rhythm

Summer has a much slower rhythm than other seasons.  It's a time to relax and refresh before the busyness of fall comes back.  Sometimes I can still pack our summer so full that it whizzes by, but this year I've purposefully kept it as empty as possible.  It's been so nice to settle into a slower pace.

I'm a night owl.  My mom says I've been that way since I was born.  So summer is my time to stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning and sleep in as late as I want.  I love not waking up to an alarm.  My day starts off so much nicer when I can wake up on my own.

After I wake up, I get the kids their breakfast and I spend some time catching up on emails and Facebook.  I go get ready for the day and maybe do a few chores.  Then it's lunch time.  After lunch the kids have to turn off the television.  Then my kids do their workbooks.

Yes - I give my kids homework for the summer.  I can't help it.  My degree is in elementary education.  I want my kids to stay actively involved in learning.  So I get them workbooks that are for the grade they're going into.  This year is the first year that my youngest is working on a preschool workbook.  We all sit down at the table together.  My two older ones usually don't need my help except when they need some clarification, but my youngest needs my guidance through each page.  I've told people about this tradition of ours before and they usually tell my kids that they can come live with them since I'm so mean and make them do school work in the summer.  My kids always tell them the same thing - "Actually, we like it."

After we do the workbooks it's chore time.  Then they can play or read for a while.  I always hope I've finished my own chores by this time so that I can work on my writing.  Soon it's dinner time and my husband comes home.  We spend some time as a family - watching movies, playing board games.  Then I read to them (right now we're reading through the Chronicles of Narnia) and it's time for bed.

I love this rhythm.  I love the time we spend together.  I love the slowness.  I love the routine.  I love the rest.  I keep so busy all the time that it's nice to slow down for a change.

It's not that we never do anything else.  We'll go to the zoo or on a play date.  We'll go swimming sometimes or go to a movie.  Once a week I try to bake with the kids.  We've made cookies and batter breads so far.  But that's part of the beauty of it, too.  We have the ability to be pretty flexible.  I love summer!

Vacation Bible School

I've always loved Vacation Bible School!  As a kid I loved the themes, the music, the crafts, the corny skits, playing with my friends and the Bible lessons.  I actually liked to see how the lessons fit with the theme.  Sometimes it was a stretch, but sometimes they fit well.  I looked forward to it every year.

Actually, I'm still a kid at heart and I still look forward to VBS every year.  Since middle school I've helped in various ways in VBS.  I've helped or taught in almost every age group from 2 & 3 year olds to 4th-6th grade.  I've helped in crafts.  I've led the music.  I've helped in puppets.  Honestly, I've enjoyed each and every task I've had the blessing to undertake.  One of my favorite things to do was when my friends and I would make large posters to decorate the church.  We used to make way more than we needed, because I was a firm believer in "too much is just enough".  It was a time for me and my friends to hang out all day long while we worked on the posters.  It was such a fun time!

This year I had the opportunity to participate in VBS in a way that I never had before.  My sister and I co-directed our church's VBS.  It was so much fun to see all the "behind the scenes" work that goes into VBS and I have a completely new appreciation for all the help that is required to put this together.  It's one thing to know that a lot of work goes into it and another to actually see the work that goes into it.  We had an absolutely amazing group of directors working on this and they made our job so easy!  We were so thankful for each and every one of them!

One of the things I prayed about when I first accepted this position was for humility.  Whenever I'm given a position of authority or visibility I'm very aware that pride can begin to creep in.  As I look back on my time as a director I have to laugh because God definitely answered my prayer in such a way that I couldn't take any credit even if I'd wanted to.  God took control from the day I started working on it and everything fell into place so neatly and smoothly that it was obvious that He was at work.  My sister and I joke that God knew we couldn't do it so He just told us to sit back while He took care of it all.  I've spent some time since VBS finished just reflecting back on all the answered prayers, all the details that were easily taken care of, all the issues that were dealt with quickly and smoothly and I'm just blown away at all the different ways where His working was so completely evident.  I can only sit back in awe at the work He did and it makes me smile.

No matter what areas I'm lead to participate in VBS in the future, I know that this year has changed the way I view VBS.  I'm going to be much more aware of the people who work so hard beforehand.  I'm going to be much more aware of God's working in the smallest of details.  I'm going to appreciate all the volunteers who help out through the week even more.  This year has been such a blessing and I'm thankful for the opportunity that I had to participate in this way.



As a side note, VBS has kept me from working on book three, but now my schedule is much more free and I'm hoping that after I've had this week to get my house back in shape that I'll be back to writing again next week.  The story is working in my mind and I'm anxious to get my thoughts out on paper.
Best Laid Plans
Smell the Roses

Balance

I'm entering the time of year where I'm finding it difficult to balance everything.  The school year is coming to an end which means parties and fun activities.  My daughter's ballet class is getting ready for their recital.  My son's baseball team is entering the play off season.  Vacation Bible School is coming up soon.  It's all fun and I enjoy it, but it makes the every day things a bit more difficult to do.  I've actually been keeping up on the house for the first time ever.  I don't always get everything done, but it used to be that my perfectionism would tell me it wasn't good enough and if I couldn't do it all then I shouldn't do any of it.  Doing as much as I can is a definite improvement.  Unfortunately, what has slipped lately is my writing.  It's been difficult to sit down and focus on the story.  Looking at my calendar it seems like things slow down in the middle of June , so hopefully I'll be able to concentrate more on writing then.

I think Brooke's story is coming along nicely though and I feel like I know where it's going which is always a good feeling.  I'm always interested to see if everyone else likes it as much as I do.  I'm looking forward to having my editors read it through and let me know what they think.  I'm also starting to get an idea of how I want to work Isabelle's story.  I feel like her story has taken me a little longer to figure out, but I think I'm going to enjoy writing it.  I actually enjoy the  process of writing more and more as I go along.

On another note, I want to thank everyone who helped to spread the word about "Smell the Roses" being on sale.  I did see a significant jump in my sales and I know that your publicity helped me.  Thank you!

SALE

"Smell the Roses" will be available for $0.99 (normal price $2.99) starting tomorrow, May 7th, 2014!  It will be at $0.99 for a few days and then will increase to $1.99.  It will return to it's regular price next Wednesday.  If you haven't purchased this book yet, this week is a great time to do it!  If you have any friends who might be interested please let them know about the sale.  Word of mouth is fantastic advertising for me.

You can purchase the book by clicking on this link:
Smell the Roses by Courtney Lyman

Remember the sale is for one week only!