Day Fifteen: THAT Chapter
Looks like this weekend is going to be tough. We don't have WiFi at the retreat center where we're staying, but I'm sneaky. I can't manage the blogs on my phone. We all saw what happened yesterday. Ugh. Okay. Melanie and me. She is awesome, I must say. She's no nonsense but gracious, and she's witty and my type of girl, completely. We were able to talk through most of the manuscript with very few changes- a clarification here, an extra sentence or so there. It was going so well...
Then we got to that chapter. Melanie's notes were simply "We need to talk about this. I'm lost. I think a complete rewrite might be in order." OUCH! And NO!!!! :)
After we talked she understood more of what I was trying to say but said she gathered none of that from the chapter. She told me to start over with a different approach and then see about restructuring what I already had. "Great, that should be easy," I thought, full of sarcasm.
Then I had this epiphany (divine inspiration, I should say!). I got the big idea for the chapter and knew I could flow from it. I storyboarded it and rewrote it in relatively no time. It just came. Then I sent it to Melanie.
She was thrilled, and so was I. It turned out to be one of my very favorites in the whole book. It's interesting because it's the newest material for the book, so it has just that much more perspective from this side of the journey. I love that I was made to rewrite it. I love that the frustration of unclear thought became a conduit for one of the more powerful revelations of one of God's principles for me... and hopefully, for you who will read.
God, thank you for this unbelievably beautiful place where I sit- crisp wintry air wisping across my face as I look over limitless fields of roaming deer and pouncing squirrels. Once again I'm in awe of your creation. Thank you for this time of meditation this morning, knowing that even in a rewrite of a chapter You met me. Even in the most frustrating moments, you are doing your perfecting work to make us better and more mature on the other end. It never ceases to amaze me that you care so much to be intimately acquainted with us and ever-pursuing us. I'm humbled. Thank you. Amen.
- C