Word Count...

11,136 - WOO HOO!

And so it begins...

Writing, Life, and Teenagers...

Greetings from Poppyland...

For the past few days I've been consumed with preparing for NaNoWriMo (see previous post).I've been trying to get a good handle on my book idea before I start writing.
Last night I went to a Nano kick-off event that was held locally. It was pretty cool to meet other people in my area who are taking up the challenge with me this November. They actually have write-ins at local coffee houses and bookstores planned. So I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of time away from home this month.

This past week I had my first small group meeting with a group of teenage girls I'll be helping to lead. It just reminded me how much I like working with young people. I remember what it was like to be 14 and full of questions about God and life. My goal is to just be as honest and transparent with them as I can. I became a Christian when I was 15, and one of the best things that happened to me was meeting a lady in my church named Pam Shaw. She was my Sunday School teacher, and she made it her business to help me grow in my relationship with God. She basically discipled me. She really helped me build a firm foundation of faith. She challenged me, and I know that I am the "Christian" I am today because of her. I'd love to pass that on to someone else. Plus I think after working in youth ministry for many years, I'm tired of a lot of the shallowness I see. I don't know if I'm expressing that well...I've just seen so many instances where we're not really being honest with teenagers about what following Christ means. So many youth ministries are full of games and pizza, and movie clips, and not much else. Where's the substance! I think it's like that because most adults think kids can't handle anything else. We do them a disservice when we have that attitude.

So I'm just praying that God would use me to impact my small group in a REAL way.

I'm off to stress some more about my novel!

(The picture is of my nieces Tahani and Richelle...they ROCK!)

NaNoWriMo 2009

NaNoWriMo starts on November 1st. For those of you who don't know what the heck I'm talking about, here's a brief explanation...
NaNoWriMo = National Novel Writing Month is held every year November 1st through the 30th. As a participant your goal is to write a 50,000 word novel within the 30 days. I think that equals 1667 words per day. I've been saying I was going to write a book for ages, and I've actually had a decent idea for a couple of years now. I think part of the problem is that the idea of writing a novel is kind of daunting. It seems so HUGE that whenever I try to do it, I usually don't get far. We'll see how it goes this year...

Imaginative Prayer

About a year ago I heard about this great podcast called Pray-As-You-Go. They're devotionals that you can download from iTunes or from their website. There's one for each weekday, and they're about 12-15 minutes long. I've been using them on and off during my quiet times for about a year. Lately, I've been using them a lot more frequently. I'll either listen to it on my way to work, or I'll take a walk and listen to it during my morning break. Usually there's a scripture reading, and then a few questions and or thoughts to meditate on. It's a great devotional tool. I mention it because today's was especially awesome. I've been learning a lot about spiritual formation and a lot of the disciplines that go along with it. One of the practices that has really impacted me is Imaginative prayer. It's a practice that was started by Ignatius of Loyola.
Here's how Mike King describes the practice in his book "Presence-Centered Youth Ministry:

"When I practice imaginative prayer, I often select a scripture passage that I want to spend time meditating on and praying through. I imagine what it must have been like to live in the situation described in the passage. I interact with the text of scripture, contemplating it, asking question like these:

What do I see?
What do I smell
What do I hear?
Who do I see myself as in the passage?
How am I reacting to the events?
What is the Lord saying to me?

I read the text several times as I ask these questions, being patient and taking time to listen."

It was cool because today's podcast utilized this practice...And today, God used it to remind me of some things that he'd spoken to me earlier this year. It was a great way to start my day!