Eating Humble Pie

Don’t you hate it when God points out an area of your life in which you’ve been prideful? He does it, of course, by helping you understand “the other side.”

I used to be that way about deadlines. Before this month, I had been queen-of-pleasing-my-editors-and-meeting-all-my-deadlines. My manuscript was in the email the day my project was due, whether it be articles or books. And, honestly, I didn’t understand those writers who had to ask for extensions. I mean, the publishing house is counting on them getting their work in on time, right?

Then . . . this month happened. I’ve had to ask for an extension for my current novel work-in-progress TWICE. My editor was gracious and my new deadline is August 8th. (It helped that he is on vacation until then. 🙂

I also had to ask for extensions on two articles I was writing, because–you know–when one project runs later than expected, then it throws everything off.

Through this month I’ve learned a few things:

1. Life happens. We can’t anticipate things like unexpected trips or a family member’s unexpected hospital stay, but these things do not catch God by surprise.

2. Everyone needs help and grace sometimes. As someone who strives to gain the approval of others–to a fault–it’s good for me to realize that people still like me even if I’m not perfect 🙂

3. I cannot schedule the Holy Spirit. There are times when I feel connected with God when I write, and other times when I feel as if I’m typing in a fog. There are times when this is due to personal struggles. But other times God doesn’t move, as we’d like, for reasons we can’t explain. God is God. And I can’t force Him to fit my schedule.

So today, I’m setting to work on my book, hoping that the same “momentum” that hit me last night shows up again. But if it doesn’t happen that way, it’ll be okay.

God is a good God when things go my way writing-wise . . . and He’s a good God even when they don’t.