Writing 2

My Take

DiVoran Lites

    When Mother was ninety years old she had to go to an assisted living facility. She wrote and told me she couldn’t write any more letters because she had slipped and hit her head on a dresser. I suppose she felt fogginess descending. I kept writing, and Bill and I went to California to be close to her when my brother and his wife needed a break. Eventually, Mother could no longer manage to talk on the phone. I felt bereft, but I still had God as a correspondent. I journaled daily during my morning devotions. I liked to paraphrase scripture exactly as if God was talking directly to me. Instead of writing: “For God so Loved the World, that He gave His only begotten Son,” I could write “Beloved, I loved the world so much that I gave my dearly beloved son so that you could live a free and blessed life.” It’s what I do privately. I’m not trying to rewrite the Bible or anything like that. I kept two things in mind: 1. Write from the first-personpoint of view as though God is speaking.  2. Cut out the future tenses. For instance,if the Bible says something like, I will comfort you, I simply write I comfort you.That makes it more immediate and it shows me I don’t have to wait and wonder when he will do something because I am His, and He is already doing it. In the morning I take my coffee into my office and turn on soft Christian music. I remain still and meditative to see what I’m to do each morning. Sometimes I feel inspired to draw and paint, sometimes I write down problems, sometimes I free-write what I think God is most likely telling me, I try for everything to chime with the Bible. I choose scriptures that are plainly for a believer who wants to obey God. It can get pretty depressing to read the warnings that are meant for those who ignore him. In other words, it is important for me to stay positive. I run everything together with what He is saying and what is in my heart and brain. When I read it again I feel loved and comforted, and that is how I know God has been talking to me. When I first started I got Peter Lord’s first two books which had tips about knowing God and were made to write in. They asked only for a short amount of time from us. After that,I started buying my own inexpensive spiral notebooks. From there I began to splurge and buy hardcover blank books. Next came spiral sketchbooks with lots of lovely white paper. I have 134 full ones now. They live on my sturdy closet shelves in two bedrooms. Writing in a journal is a habit. I love to get Bible verses from various sources and read different translations. I like the Bible apps that have so many versions, but I like my printed Bibles too.  

Here’s a sample of how some of my journals look in the closet.

  At times I wonder if anyone else will ever read them, but I’m not concerned about it. I’m not saying this method is for everyone. I’m retired and I’ve always liked to write. People can spend time with God in many ways. Problems and questions are solved in these sessions and they make fears and worries flee. Instead of being a navel-gazer, trying to figure out what I did wrong and how to make up for it, I am learning to start singing God’s praises and thanking him for everything, good and bad. Praise comes and joy then appears. The Lord lifts my spirits and gently tells me what to do next. If it’s asking for forgiveness he will show me what to do and when. If I need encouragement to do something I feel He wants me to do, His guidance and power come gently. “The Joy of the Lord is my strength,” or to make it plain and easy I can hear in my heart that He is saying, “My joy is your strength.”       DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

Tags: Journaling