Christine Rhyner

Christine's blogs

Run Writer Run! Make Music with Your Words
Wednesday, February 15, 2017 by Christine

 

I sat in my living room and looked out of the picture window that faces the harbor with its docked boats.

“God, I feel like one of those boats, meant to sail through the wind and waves but anchored. Just like them I’m bobbing back and forth and not getting anywhere.”

Well, they need someone to drive them.

“Yes, Lord, but why won’t you be the pilot and give me a clear direction? I’ve been asking for over a year.

You know my struggle since I published my first book. I bared pieces of my soul, bled onto the pages and hoped to connect with an audience on an intimate and personal level.

Then, the book kind of bombed.”

My ongoing lament to the Lord went something like this: “All of that exciting mystique about the process was two years of work, not to mention a lot of money I didn’t get back...All for what? Who cares what I have to say? I’m trying, really, but I’ve slogged through the start of three fictional works and this idea I have for a new nonfiction book and I can barely get anything down I’m happy with or that flows. Just tell me for the millionth time, what should I choose to write about or should I even bother to continue? But somehow I can’t not continue...”

And then, not in audible words, but in images and a narrative in my mind He said:

Does a runner sit on a log at a fork in the road deliberating about which path to take? No, he runs because it’s what he does.

And does a musician sit before a silent instrument and endlessly ponder which piece she will choose to play? No, she starts with the piece in front of her.

You fret there are none to cheer you on...Is there anyone to cheer on the aching runner through the miles of dark, cold and rain except me? Or the solitary musician in a room for hundreds of hours with callouses on her fingers except me?

No. The runner is cheered only after he is proficient enough to really race. The musician is applauded on stage when she masters her instrument and delights a crowd.

Clarity! It’s a wonderful thing when it comes from the Lord, but for most, He does not provide a crystal ball into the future. And, He always requires something of us, revealing only as much as He wants us to know while we forge ahead filled with trust in Him.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27:

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable….”

Paul, of course, is not literally a runner. He is talking about the race to preach the Gospel of Christ, the ministry for which God chose him. And if you are a writer, writing might likely be one of your ministries, a calling upon you through which God uses you. You may not outright preach the Good News, but you may be called to encourage, entertain, inform—all in a way that points your reader to the Lord. But truth be told, if you write overt Christian material there will always be those who will not be receptive to it. And, a first book will often not be a masterpiece. One writer said, “I’m glad I published my first couple of books using a pen name, they were that bad.”

So, write to perfect your craft, not to craft perfection. Make it a discipline. Trust in God, the One who put that desire in you. Validation, if it comes, will only be followed by maturity, and maturity requires discipline. And God requires discipline in all areas of our lives. And honestly, I fail at that a lot.

You may look around and see those who write a break-out bestseller. It may be their full reward is here on earth. You may see the reckless, ignorant and deceptive validated by millions. If you are a follower of Christ, the Lord loves you too much to make a success of you until He decides you are ready to take that success and work it to His glory. And His idea of success is not the world’s. There may be one or five or a hundred he wants you to impact for Him. His will be done.

If HE wants to make you known, you will be.

And this:

There are moments when fingers fly across a keyboard, racing to keep pace with words. And there begins a rhythm, a beat. I actually feel myself sway to it, this music as I write. Maybe you have felt it too. Those are the hours that feel like moments, when passion and discipline come together and I feel Him leading me on.

Share This Blog:


Comments

Joy DeKok From MN At 7/27/2016 9:15:52 PM

Beautifully said!

Previous Posts

Day of Mourning, Day of Shame
Christine
1/22/2022

God's Presence With Wings
Christine
6/18/2021

The Church Needs to Unify in the Battle For Right to Life
Christine
6/10/2021

Our Sixty-Year Decline
Christine
6/1/2021

H.R. 1 Would Be A Bigger Test For The Church Than Covid Shutdowns {Part 2 of 2}
Christine
5/20/2021

H.R. 1 Would Be A Bigger Test For The Church Than Covid Shutdowns {Part 1 of 2}
Christine
5/12/2021

Dangers of Love Growing Cold
Christine
5/3/2021

Democrats' Despicable, Advantageous Use of the Elderly
Christine
4/23/2021

America, Land of Condemnation (Part Three)
Christine
4/15/2021

America, Land of Condemnation (Part Two)
Christine
4/6/2021

America, Land of Condemnation (Part One)
Christine
3/24/2021

Government's Desperate Need for Humility
Christine
3/11/2021

Is the Church Changing?
Christine
1/19/2020

What Are Our Values Anymore?
Christine
11/22/2019

The Final Frontier (Part Two)
Christine
9/4/2019

The Final Frontier (Part One)
Christine
7/29/2019

Soulmate
Christine
4/30/2019

The Colors of a Writer
Christine
12/29/2018

What's Not to Get About the Writing Life?
Christine
4/18/2018

Learning to Sing the Song of Winter
Christine
12/10/2017

Perspectives & the Second Half of the 10 Commandments of Conflict
Christine
8/25/2017

Perspectives & 5 of the 10 Commandments of Conflict
Christine
5/2/2017

Run Writer Run! Make Music with Your Words
Christine
2/15/2017

Mom, the Fishstetrician
Christine
10/14/2016

The CONSTITUTION For President
Christine
6/5/2016

The Radicalization of Hillary and the Democrat Party (PART 2 OF 2)
Christine
4/16/2016

The Radicalization of Hillary and the Democrat Party (PART 1 OF 2)
Christine
4/15/2016

Why Ted Cruz NOW?
Christine
3/19/2016

Why is the GOP Committing Suicide?
Christine
3/14/2016

Dear Chicago
Christine
3/12/2016

Does God Give Us More Than We Can Handle?
Christine
2/29/2016

That Unanswered GOP Debate Question
Christine
1/9/2016

America's Lifeline
Christine
12/31/2015

Fractured Nation (2 of 2)
Christine
11/14/2015

Fractured Nation (1 of 2)
Christine
11/11/2015

What is Orphan Sunday?
Christine
11/8/2015

November's Gratitude and Longing
Christine
11/4/2015

Losing a Child is Like...
Christine
9/12/2015

Finding God in a Tenement
Christine
9/3/2015

Doing School in the 21st Century
Christine
8/22/2015

Superstition vs. Planned Parenthood
Christine
8/19/2015

Addicted to Giving Birth?
Christine
4/21/2015

Why We Should Have "The Talk" Before Marriage
Christine
3/20/2015

Adoptive Parents "Hypersensitive" & "Selfish?"
Christine
3/12/2015

What's So Wrong With Calling It "Gotcha Day!"
Christine
2/26/2015

How God Connected the Dots
Christine
2/7/2015

Exposure of Transracially Adopted Kids to Their Races a Bad Thing?
Christine
2/2/2015

Out With The Old
Christine
1/12/2015

Those Who Scoff at International Adoption
Christine
8/16/2014

Setting Aside Birth Story Facts for Truth
Christine
7/31/2014

Sneak Peak, "How much did you pay for her?"
Christine
6/11/2014

Blessing Through Adoption Pain
Christine
5/16/2014

Eight Ways Publishing Your Book is Like an Adoption Journey
Christine
2/23/2014

Neglected Ministries?
Christine
2/17/2014

It's a Boy
Christine
2/8/2014

Thoughts of Her
Christine
2/1/2014

To My Son
Christine
1/30/2014

Rational Thinking?
Christine
1/25/2014

Minority Against Minority
Christine
1/12/2014

Happy New Year!
Christine
12/30/2013

Happy Thanksgiving
Christine
11/25/2013

You ARE my mother?
Christine
11/10/2013

The Transracially Adopted Children's Bill of Rights and Some Thoughts
Christine
11/3/2013

Infertility Is...
Christine
10/19/2013

Will He Speak English?
Christine
10/11/2013

Kitty-Sam
Christine
10/5/2013

What's in a Name?
Vhristine
9/30/2013

An Adoptive Mom's Message to Those in the Healthcare and Education Professions
Christine
9/25/2013

Being Tested
Christine
9/11/2013

When We Are Weary
Christine
9/1/2013

Trailblazers
Chrisrine
8/24/2013

A Fresh Start
Christine
8/22/2013

God Works Behind the Scenes
Christine
8/13/2013

Why Adoption Requires Forgiveness
Christine
7/28/2013

Dust Bunnies and Poo
Christine
7/19/2013

Reality Check
Christine
7/13/2013

Forgiveness is Work
Christine
7/9/2013

An Answer to Prayer, Part Three
Christine
7/3/2013

An Answer to Prayer, Part Two
Christine
6/27/2013

An Answer to Prayer, Part One
Christine
6/22/2013

Are They Really Brother and Sister?
Christine
6/16/2013

Infertility's Not Fair
Christine
6/13/2013

Has He Ever Eaten a Dog?
Christine
6/11/2013

Sometimes We Fail
Christine
6/9/2013