Robin Lee Hatcher's Write Thinking

with eyes of compassion, He sees me

Luke 22:59-62 But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about." And immediately, while he was still speaking, a cock crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, "Before a cock crows today, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly.

Oh, man. Reading this causes my breath to catch. It breaks my heart. This is the only Gospel that records that Jesus turned and looked at Peter at that horrible moment. How awful for Peter. Bad enough that Peter knew what he'd done, that he'd lied, that he'd denied his best friend, his Lord, the One he had declared was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. (Matt 16:16) How awful that Peter could look into the eyes of his Master at that very same instant. The guilt must have been unbearable.

But Jesus is with me every moment. When I justify my wrong actions (even just mentally), when I watch a movie I know I shouldn't see, when I let words pass my lips that dishonor Him, Jesus is looking at me. He is looking at me with eyes of compassion and understanding and love. Oh, that I should look up to Him, and when I do, rather than running away and weeping bitterly, may I fall to my knees in repentance and say, "God, forgive me!" Then my tears will be tears of joy.

---

My Bible Doctrine study begins working through God's Providence this week. The sovereignty of God was a huge lesson of mine in recent years, and it became the key focus when I wrote Beyond the Shadows. Thus, I am looking forward to studying all that the Bible has to say about the Sovereign God of the universe and of each person on earth.

---

Yesterday, I tried to buy a new antenna for a rather old mobile phone. Forget that. I came home with a new camera phone. Oh, but the pain and agony of moving the 50 phone numbers from my old phone to my new one!!! (This phone model is new, and they didn't have the software yet for moving numbers from one phone to another.) Still, I got it done and even managed to snap a photo of Poppet and email it to my computer. What didn't work was emailing the photo from my phone to another. Sigh... Don't know why, but I guess I'll figure it out eventually. The salesman told me how great it is, since I travel, to be able to snap a photo and send it to someone else so they'll know what is happening right then. Well, only if it works!

---

Today I have a meeting at church after second service for the newly forming Internet team. When the Vineyard in Boise had a ministry fair during our 40 Days of Purpose study, I signed up to work in this ministry. Web design and management is something I enjoy, and I believe it's something I can do without my book deadlines and travel schedules interferring.

A blessing on your Lord's Day!

-rlh-

Today's Bible Reading: Luke 21-22

a very little thing

The parable of the ten minas, Luke 19, has the returning nobleman saying in verse 17, "Well done, good slave, because you have been faithful in a very little thing, be in authority over ten cities."

Am I faithful in the very little things of life? Am I a good servant?

What I do — my writing — is a very little thing in many ways. It isn't brain surgery, and it's highly unlikely that a hundred years from now people will be reading my books the way they read Jane Austin or Mark Twain today. And yet it's a big thing, too, because it's what God called me to do. I can be in doubt about many things in my life, but about that I have no doubt at all. The morning God confirmed that call on my life is forever burned into my memory. Lord, let me be a faithful servant, doing what You have called me to do.

Okay, I feel a rant coming on. It seems that so many people like to diss Christian fiction lately. I don't mind so much when a secular reviewer or reader does it. How can they understand what makes a Christian novel a Christian novel if they don't believe in Christ? What I hate is when said a CBA author or publisher implies that they are the exception to the rule. Other writers/publishers are putting out sub-par books but mine/ours are better. It especially irritates me when what is implied/said is that CBA (Christian market) fiction can't/doesn't measure up to the ABA (general market). Hey, we can all improve. I don't dispute that. Raising the bar, striving to do better with each new book, is what all writers should be doing. Certainly my books are never what I wanted them to be. But I read many CBA authors, and I can say without hesitation that the CBA market is offering readers lots of high quality fiction. Sure, not every CBA book is a classic, but I've read lots of garbage published by the ABA. (Hey, they are about ten times bigger in terms of the number of books published each year, so they've got about 10x more books to complain about. Right?) Anyway, IMHO, the ABA has nothing on the Christian market. And I pray that all of the CBA authors who are being true to the call God placed on their hearts will be blessed a hundred times over for it and know that He is saying, "Well done." End of rant.

Proud "Mom" moment. Poppet is getting close to graduating from her training classes. I'll be going out with the trainer today so he can assess how she is doing. My assessment: She does great indoors, but if she is loose in the backyard, barking at the neighbor's dogs on the other side of the fence, forget obedience.

-rlh-

Check, check

Whoopie! Doing the old Snoopy dance here. I finished the line edits of Veterans Way early this morning and emailed the file back to my editor. Feels good to check that off my To Be Dones. Next came the bill paying that had to wait while I was in Dallas, then waited a little longer while I was sick with a sinus infection and allergies. Check, check. Whew. Breathing easier now.

Watched the movie, The Day After Tomorrow. Hmm. As disaster movies go, it was not the worse I've seen but it was pretty dumb and had the stock characters that you can see coming from miles away. I doubt it is a DVD worth buying. I wouldn't watch it again. But I did have a lot of fun with a red laser pointer light, shining it on the floor so that Poppet chased it all around the room trying to catch it. Laughing so hard — while on the screen people were freezing to death in the new ice age sweeping over New York.

Tomorrow it's back to the rewrites of LL. I am so ready to dig into them. My hard copy is printed. My notes are made. My thoughts are somewhat organized. I've got about 32 days left. Count down.

-rlh-

not losing heart

Luke 18:1 Now He was telling them a parable [of the woman and the judge] to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart...

Father-God, my heart has often ached during this season leading up to our presidential election. I have feared for our nation because of the hate I hear in so many voices. I have feared for the direction our country is going. I despair for the murder of millions of the unborn. I fear for the sanctity of marriage and for the safety of my children and grandchildren in a world of terrorists. I have prayed for a man who knows You as His personal Savior to be in the White House, but I confess that I have not prayed at all times. Father-God, this verse says I am to pray at ALL times and to not lose heart at ALL times. I set my face today to obey that command. I will pray and I will not lose heart, no matter what the coming days and weeks bring. I will stubbornly cling to my trust in You. Thy will be done. Amen.

---

I didn't complete my VW line edits yesterday but I am oh-so-close. I should be able to finish them this morning. I hope so. I would love to zap them back to my editor before she leaves the office today. Good thing, too, because I have a stack of unpaid bills that desperately need my attention. I least my head isn't quite so stuffed up as it was a few days ago. Something the doctor gave me is working. Yea!

-rlh-

Today's Bible Reading: Luke 17-18

Convinced to Give it a Try

Here I am. After nearly three years blogging on Diaryland, I've decided to try something new. Change can be scary! I love some of the options offered here, but I don't want to lose all of my old entries. So for now I intend to keep the old blog open for readers who want to backtrack.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, let me know what you think of this new one. Comments are allowed, so speak up.

Blessings,
Robin