Oaxaca update: Pushing to that deadline!
Oaxaca is inching ever closer and I can see it on the horizon, peeking its little head out at me and waving. I am excited, scared, and ready for this adventure. I've gotten to know a bit more about Arquetopia, the foundation that has chosen me for this residency, and the more I see and read the more I know that this was meant to be.
Folks, I have raised right around 56% of what I need to get there. Fundraising is not my favorite thing to do, and really, this is the first time doing it for myself. I have helped the kids raise money to go on short-term mission trips, as well as the Mennonite conventions, and numerous other things. It's a bit humbling for it to be me taking the plunge. Am I worthy? Is this the right thing? As with any endeavor, you must always make sure it's the right thing to do - and this trip has been confirmed many times over.
I am writing, writing, writing as I try to complete the book before I go down to do research, editing, as well as tweaking. At times my mind drifts to the possibility that facts will change once I get there. That if I find some of his long lost relatives that a new world will open up and change the direction of the story. Story arcs are just that, they move, drift, and shape-shift into their own beast. I am humbly the scribbler of those thoughts and they own me with their urgency.
I find myself at odds with prayer and what it can bring for us. I'm not a "God, please give me this and this and this" type of pray-er. I know that in His good time we receive what's meant to be, so I'm trusting in that without thinking much further. There are things I want versus need to make the experience that much greater. These are material things. I believe, though, that He provides these items to get us to that 'thing' we're meant to do. So I trust, with abandon in that notion. I believe God is a supernatural God. So often we blindly forge ahead on our own, and I'm as guilty as the next person of doing that. Have you ever considered, though, that the urge to act on something is God planting that in you? Without carefully sifting through the action? I believe my supernatural God has His ear bent to us at all times, slowly meandering through our physical realm. We need only to reach through the blinder that's on our eyes to feel His presence and what he wants us to achieve. It's easy to stay in our own little boxes that this world makes for us. He is trying to help us out of them, and I'm slowly climbing out as my book takes shape and grows. I also climb out a little more each time I trust the He will provide for what I need.
If we let him, He will be more than just a Sunday-morning God to us. He encompasses the world, the warm soil, and the flowers that bloom with their tiny faces towards the sun. We can find Him anywhere, and I believe He will meet me in Oaxaca. In fact, He is already there readying for my stay.
I believe in this story and my husband who is my crazy partner in crime and life. This story is his, yet it's mine as well. To tell softly and fiercely on my own tongue, through a mouth and body that holds his heart safely. I believe the words will flow and spread on the written page like they are meant to...just like I believe that I will be provided with the funds to get there.
Deadlines of the first of June are approaching, and I must send the money ahead to reserve my space. If you are considering donating to my writer's residency and want to give but haven't as of yet -- now is the time. As I mentioned, it is a humbling thing to receive. Thank you, and when I'm sitting in the lush hills of Oaxaca typing away I will be humbled even more.
Visit my GoFundMe page to give as well as read my story, and if you don't wish to donate online you can send it to my physical address: 5796 State Route 39 Millersburg, OH 44654 Or you can also see me in person and we can share a cup of coffee!
Folks, I have raised right around 56% of what I need to get there. Fundraising is not my favorite thing to do, and really, this is the first time doing it for myself. I have helped the kids raise money to go on short-term mission trips, as well as the Mennonite conventions, and numerous other things. It's a bit humbling for it to be me taking the plunge. Am I worthy? Is this the right thing? As with any endeavor, you must always make sure it's the right thing to do - and this trip has been confirmed many times over.
I am writing, writing, writing as I try to complete the book before I go down to do research, editing, as well as tweaking. At times my mind drifts to the possibility that facts will change once I get there. That if I find some of his long lost relatives that a new world will open up and change the direction of the story. Story arcs are just that, they move, drift, and shape-shift into their own beast. I am humbly the scribbler of those thoughts and they own me with their urgency.
I find myself at odds with prayer and what it can bring for us. I'm not a "God, please give me this and this and this" type of pray-er. I know that in His good time we receive what's meant to be, so I'm trusting in that without thinking much further. There are things I want versus need to make the experience that much greater. These are material things. I believe, though, that He provides these items to get us to that 'thing' we're meant to do. So I trust, with abandon in that notion. I believe God is a supernatural God. So often we blindly forge ahead on our own, and I'm as guilty as the next person of doing that. Have you ever considered, though, that the urge to act on something is God planting that in you? Without carefully sifting through the action? I believe my supernatural God has His ear bent to us at all times, slowly meandering through our physical realm. We need only to reach through the blinder that's on our eyes to feel His presence and what he wants us to achieve. It's easy to stay in our own little boxes that this world makes for us. He is trying to help us out of them, and I'm slowly climbing out as my book takes shape and grows. I also climb out a little more each time I trust the He will provide for what I need.
If we let him, He will be more than just a Sunday-morning God to us. He encompasses the world, the warm soil, and the flowers that bloom with their tiny faces towards the sun. We can find Him anywhere, and I believe He will meet me in Oaxaca. In fact, He is already there readying for my stay.
I believe in this story and my husband who is my crazy partner in crime and life. This story is his, yet it's mine as well. To tell softly and fiercely on my own tongue, through a mouth and body that holds his heart safely. I believe the words will flow and spread on the written page like they are meant to...just like I believe that I will be provided with the funds to get there.
Deadlines of the first of June are approaching, and I must send the money ahead to reserve my space. If you are considering donating to my writer's residency and want to give but haven't as of yet -- now is the time. As I mentioned, it is a humbling thing to receive. Thank you, and when I'm sitting in the lush hills of Oaxaca typing away I will be humbled even more.
Visit my GoFundMe page to give as well as read my story, and if you don't wish to donate online you can send it to my physical address: 5796 State Route 39 Millersburg, OH 44654 Or you can also see me in person and we can share a cup of coffee!
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| View from where I'll be staying in the Oaxacan countryside. |
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