Living a dream takes prayer and planning. That’s the fun part! Then comes the work. Sound familiar? Rarely does a dream drop into our laps. We hear about such things, like winning the lottery, inheriting a beautiful piece of property or a fantastic business opportunity. That doesn’t happen often. In my experience, dreams unfold while working a plan. Not every plan I’ve worked is successful. In fact, most are not. But, when it works, dreams unfold. Think of your successes. Some are little spots of joy, some are the dreams of a lifetime, and some do not turn out as expected.
11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. [Jeremiah 29:11]1
This week we returned from a working vacation in the North Carolina mountains. While we worked we were blessed with autumn’s show. I have written about my dream to write and live in the mountains. This was my goal when I “retired.” We bought property in 2019 and planned to build a home in 2021. Then the world shifted on its axis and the dream changed.
For years I’ve clung to Jeremiah 29:11. I identify with this prophet of God. He saw much sorrow and loss. Through Jeremiah, God promises Israel’s captives a future and a hope. The promise resonates in my soul as well. I thought the promise meant a mountain home to heal my body and a place for writing.
The shift causes me to realize my dream is not His future and hope for me. I now want to see where God leads on this adventure journey. Following His lead I place my hope in the Lord God.
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
[Lamentations 3:22-24]
As far as the future, well, we will see how it unfolds. The reason we went to the mountains, this past week, was to finish the interior of our little cabin. With this work done we can focus on preparing the South Florida home our next change.
Over the last two months, God has done two great things for us. He is moving us away from the city and strife of South Florida. Then He laid another book on my heart. His challenge is on the table, “Finish “Disrupted” and Write “Reviled.””
National Novel Writing Month is the November challenge for writers. The challenge is to write 50,000 words of a new novel within 30 days. It is like a marathon for writers. I wrote the first 50,000 words of Disrupted in the 2017 NaNoWriMo challenge, as it is called. Right now, Disrupted is about 82,000 words. The ending still needs some work wrapping up God’s purpose in the story.
I was excited to write Disrupted. It was a story I wanted to explore. At the time, I was writing secular fiction. An amazing thing happened that year. At the end of the novel on November 30, 2017, I realized I had a Christian fiction suspense novel on my hands. Oh, my! God had given me a fork in the road. I had a choice. What kind of writer would I be? Secular or Christian? This was not what I expected! At the time, I had two draft novels, a career, a sick dad, and one of those novels would have to be rewritten. Either path was going to take a lot of work. In one month the dream had changed.
In contrast, Reviled is not a story I want to write. It is based on an actual nightmare that left me in a cold sweat in 2018. Since the nightmare was so vivid, I did something I rarely do with dreams. I wrote it down. Maybe it was a premonition of 2021 or just a creepy dream, but as America suffered chaos, losses, and divisions over the last three years, I have thought of this nightmare. The title came to me this year. As we have pitted people against each other, driving some to revile others and others to be reviled.
This is a scary story for me to consider. I don’t have a plot yet. There is no outline drafted. Dread of failure creeps into my soul. I do not want to write something so dark. How in the world can God make this work? I wondered.
“The challenge is on the table, what will you do?” The Holy Spirit nudges. “November is coming up.”
“With your help, my Lord, I will write Reviled.” I prayed. Knowing God always has a plan and I place my faith in Him.
Please pray with me:
Heavenly Father, Thank You for gently leading me to the future You have planned for me. These next steps we take to revive our broken world must be guided by You. I cannot do this alone. I want to run from this challenge. Somehow You will bring healing. because, I do not have the words. Without the Helper, I am as broken and beaten as the protagonist in “Reviled.” Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.2 May your praise be continually on my lips.3 In Yeshua’s name, amen. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, amen.
My hope remains in God, yet the future will be determined as I listen more carefully and step onto this unexpected path to the Future.
May God speak to your soul and heal your heart today,
Milly
Footnotes
1All scripture is from the New King James Version: Prophecy Study Bible New King James Version, Editor John C. Hagee © 1997 by Thomas Nelson, a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.
2Psalm 51:9-11:
9 Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
3Hebrews 13:15-16:
15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
P.S: You can find MillyReally on GETTR at: https://gettr.com/user/millyreally or @MillyReally on GETTR. Join me on GETTR as long I don’t forget to post the posts (hee hee).
Milly Really! 