In Which I Become An Old Testament Scholar (Oh Yeah, There's an Old Testament Too)

Apart from the book of Proverbs, my relationship with the Old Testament has been like my relationship with a great aunt in North Dakota. I don't have a great aunt in North Dakota, but if I did. She would be the Old Testament, and I would be me. Just doing my thing over here in South Carolina, blissfully unaware, but asking who that lady was when we all got together every third Christmas.

Before you judge me for comparing the Old Testament to a great aunt, think about the fact that the Bible gets compared to lots of things, mostly love letters from beloved ones that you wouldn't just shove into a closet without reading. Is a love letter a better analogy for the Bible than a great aunt? Yes. It is. Do I have to come up with analogies comparable to the analogies that preachers come up with? No. I don't. They're preachers, and I'm just a person. Just a person scribbling on a blog writing everything that comes into my silly head, and that's why you've stopped reading by now, because no one would waste their precious time reading this no one would NO ONEEEEE.

However, I would like to tell the survivors of my last paragraph that I'm working on something that WILL be worth reading!

My first novel.

TA-DA!

Actually, I estimate that it will take me a year to write, AT LEAST, probably several years, MOST LIKELY. But I've been plotting all day and it is finally under way, and I'm very excited!

The great thing about writing this novel (which will be sort of suspenseful Biblical fiction) is that it is MAKING me delve into the Old Testament. It's going to be set in David's time, and it will specifically be about Mephibosheth's son, Mica. The Bible tells us one thing about Mica. Here it is.

2 Samuel 9:12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica.

AAAAH!! I love it!! Basically this gives me COMPLETE LEEWAY to create Mica and his entire story! Of course, there are several Biblical stories surrounding Mica, who is closely tied to his father Mephibosheth, as well as to Jonathan (his grandfather) and to King David. Fascinating stories, I might add. I read commentaries on them until 2 AM last night. Then I got up late to go to work. That's bad. I can see that writing a novel is going to take all kinds of 1.Planning 2. Discipline 3. Self-control.

And, prayer. Because as elated as I sound- and I am- there's no way I can do this on my own. I need help with ideas, research, writing, and certainly any success in getting my book published. I want to write a book that will draw my readers in with an intriguing story, and make them realize that David was real- that the people in the Bible were real. They had personalities, emotions, and senses of humor (or not) just like we do. They struggled and made mistakes and chose to follow God (or not). I want to make the time period come alive for everyone reading it- to be as accurate as I possibly can- and most of all to point people to God, who is the same today as He was in David's day!

I'm not exactly sure why I'm telling you about all of this already. It probably would have been wiser to keep it hush-hush until I actually wrote it and got it published- if I did- and THEN to talk about it. But, I usually write about the things that I'm thinking about, and I’M THINKING ABOUT THIS. It's actually  been in the back of my mind for a loooooong time. Because when people write Biblical fiction, they usually write stories set in Jesus' day. And I think it would be really unique and educational- for me at least- and A LOT OF FUN to delve into the ancient history of Israel and write a book set in it (sneakily teaching people about it in the middle of a fascinating- I hope- fictional story!).

Right now I'm trying to imagine Mica and get to know him, in a sense. I'll share some of my brainstorming with you. I haven't gotten very far in answering these questions, and I'm going to have to read EVERYTHING I can get my hands on about this time period and about David's life.

Things I already know: He's a boy with a prosperous, good-hearted, humble, lame father (Mephibosheth) who has the king's protection. He eats at the king's table, deals with the reality of a famine and watches as his father's cousins die for the sins of their grandfather (Mica's great-grandfather) Saul. He contends with jealousy from one of Ziba's sons (fictional). He deals with conflict between Ziba and his father.

Questions I need to answer:

What's his objective?

Is he learning to trust in God?

What is he learning to do for a living? Does he take his father's prosperity (from David's hand) for granted? What about when his father loses his possessions to Ziba?

What is his personality like? Is he introverted or extroverted? What does he care about?

How is he being educated?

What will the main conflict of his story be?

What are his goals before and after the conflict? How is his life disturbed?

How old is he, what about marriage?

What are the rules of his society/ home? Does he try to challenge the norms of his society?

What does his name mean? What toys did he play with when he was little? What kind of food does he eat? What does his house look like? And all kinds of other details...

Make him funny or make one of his friends funny…

Make EVERYONE in the story interesting and relatable!

Again- I don't know if I should be writing these things on my blog- and I’m sure it's as boring to read all of this as it would be if I'd written Five Ways to Cultivate Cucumbers- but I can't write about anything else on here because I’m not thinking about anything else right now! Like I said, it will be AT LEAST a year before I finish this book- I'm thinking about making one year the goal. But since it requires significant research (maybe even a trip to Israel? Now THAT would be AWESOME), I don't know if a year will be long enough! I thought about writing a different book first, maybe a novel about American kids or Haitian kids, but I JUST CAN'T. This is what I've been feeling passionate about… for a long time… so… this is going to be my first novel!  If you're still reading this… you must be my friend or something to CARE SO MUCH!! Now I'm going to stop talking about it and get to work on it and I'll tell you all about it next year or two or three when I publish it… I hope!… aaaaaaaand you've now MADE IT to

THE END

P.S. Sorry about all of the caps and exclamation points… I wouldn't normally do that to you but… I just can't help it right now!

P.P.S. I'm still going to write on this blog every Tuesday, but I might write short posts because I might be a little… DISTRACTED

And you'll probably say, as Marley and Marley  said in Muppets Christmas Carol: "That was terrible. It was awful. It was….. SHORT. WE LOVED IT!"

P.P.P.S. No promises though. I'm sure this is just my novel writing honeymoon and I'll settle down soon enough. And I'll be back here writing long posts about everything that I'm thinking about, once again.

P.P.P.P.S. What are all the P's for anyway? Am I doing that right? If you know, please comment and tell me below, yes, comment,  in that comment box right down there. Yes, I KNOW, it is TERRIFYINGGGG to comment on such a blog as this. You'd practically be admitting to… READINGGGGG ITTTTT. But if you don't tell me that I'm doing it wrong, I'll keep right on doing it wrong, and the whole world will grind to a screeching halt, and it will be

ALL

YOUR

FAULT.

P.P.P.P.P.S. You can comment about other things too. Blog comments are my love language. Now that you know that, you're feeling extra extra extraly scared to comment, and I don't blame you. It's okay. Don't, if you'd rather not. I will let you stalk my blog quietly like the quiet blog stalker that you are. *Guilt Trip* *Namecalling* Well I'm a liar because I said that it was the end, and it wasn't, so I don't even deserve a blog comment, anyway. *Pity Party*

P.P.P.P.P.P. S. I don't actually care whether you comment or not. *Tough Act*

A-Whole-Bunch-Of-Ps. S. I just noticed that I started this post talking about the Old Testament, which comprises over half of God's sacred, inspired Word, and it has degenerated to THIS. Please come back next week. I will be much more sane and able to communicate much more clearly about much more compelling things. Like I said. I'm in novel writing honeymoon. I'll be back. You'll be back. Because you know that I won't be like this forever. Right? Okay. Good. *Feels Reassured* *Going to Talk to Mica Now*

Sisters

Families are supposed to be together.

Sisters

Mothering Sunday

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-442696/Mothers-Day-women.html

The Moms Who Work the Hardest

On Mother's Day, I want to honor my mom most of all. She works very hard, and she always has. She's amazing. But today I'm writing about some other moms, a group of moms that my own mom has taught me to appreciate by her words and her example.

They're all different ages, from a twenty-year-old devastated by her unborn baby's diagnosis, to a seventy-year-old struggling to care for a toddler in a fifty-year-old's body. They're in all stages of mothering, some changing diapers and some getting adult children ready for fast food jobs. They're assigned tasks that are much harder than the tasks assigned to most moms, and those tasks seem never-ending. They face disappointment and uncertainty about the future. Sometimes they're overwhelmed by despair.

I admire every mom. Motherhood, even more than marriage, means sacrifice. A mom gives up much of her social life for her kids. She can't just go out and have fun in the same way anymore. She's got a helpless, sloppy, wailing ball-and-chain. As her kids grow up and start going to school, she has a little more freedom, but many more errands to run and more places to take them. I used to look at my mom, who has five kids, and wonder how she could be content to live so completely for her family.

But mothers of children with disabilities sacrifice even more. Many of them remain stuck in the hardest stages of child rearing as their children's brains stop developing. When their children make progress, even amazing progress, other people don't understand or celebrate it the way they do. 

I used to play with some of their children. We had five four- and five-year-old babies at the Early Childhood Center in Godfrey, IL, when I was there in 2009. I remember one little girl in particular- her sweet smile, the way she stalked awkwardly around the room. Her hands reached aimlessly out, not purposely picking up a toy like another girl her age would have. Our "babies" were adorable, but we had to constantly guess what they needed. I heard the teacher arguing with the physical therapist, their voices rising. If these women who have been educated for years for this don't know what to do, how could an untrained twenty-year-old know what to do with this child? She'd have to study, learn, worry, make mistakes, get advice, try again.

Mothers of children with disabilities lose their freedom the way every  mother does, only more so- more completely and more permanently. Imagine having a baby for life. For as long as you live. I don't think I  could do it. (Not that every child who has a disability is a baby for life- but some are.)

If your child had physical needs, you'd have to design every trip and vacation to accommodate him. You might have to make special food and schedule repeated doctor visits. 

You'd feel forced out of social gatherings when your child screamed or misbehaved. You'd feel like an outcast after you left. If you didn't leave, you'd face annoyed stares and judgment. 

I see it this way: Everything that's simple for me is a chore for a mom, and everything that's simple for me is a huge struggle for the mom of a child with a disability.

I don't know if any mothers of children with disabilities are even reading this. If you are, I just want to say: Thank you for the happiness you bring into the world. Your child makes us smile and helps us in ways that other children can't. Thank you for putting up with the people who don't understand your struggle. I couldn't take the looks and the comments that you take on a regular basis.

I promise that I will never be annoyed by your child. I'll talk to him or her like I would to anyone else. I'll try to give you a break when I can. I won't tell you to "let me know if there's something I can do for you". I'll ask specific questions, what can I do for you, and I'll do it.

Most of all, I want you to know that God knows. He knows everything- all the extra work, the heartache and worry, the disappointment and the joy that your child brings to you. He knows the way your child makes everything in your life at least four times harder than it should be. He knows the looks people give you when your child is loud in public, and the times you pretend not to notice, but it hurts. He knows if you've lost a friend or two because they just didn't want to share your burden.

He knows that your child's babyhood or toddlerhood or childhood is lasting much longer than most. That it seems like that difficult stage will never end.

He is there. "Underneath are the everlasting arms." He knows, and knowing how hard it is, He wants you to rest. Just rest in His everlasting arms and trust Him that you're going to make it through this. He has a wonderful plan for you and for your child. If no one else tells you this mother's day, I appreciate you and I admire you. Your love makes the world a more beautiful place. Happy Mother's Day.