I was reading Paul’s “discipline” passage this morning, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. I have disciplined my body, mind, typing fingers, and early-morning rises to finish (finally) a book I began two years ago. Here’s what Paul said: “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others, I myself might be disqualified.”
Likewise, my other desk calendar for today reads: “Trust in your money and down you go! But the godly flourish like leaves in spring. The godly are like trees that bear life-giving fruit, and those who save lives are wise. (Proverbs 11: 28, 30
So, a sense of accomplishment (not unlike giving birth, I’ve always thought) occurs when I finish a long-term process like writing, proofreading, publishing, and awaiting its arrival. The process, the training, the attention to detail, the creativity, the thousands of decisions–all find fruition when I open the box and see the created product finished. This one is number 32.
When asked which is my favorite, I always say, the last one. This one, Mom’s Magic Touch has been a labor of love for many reasons. it deals with a love/lost relationship, a widowed mother’s task and vision, a business established in a beautiful Victorian house, clients served in a respite program and hospice, and relationships of characters I’ve loved through a four-book series. I brought them into this story. They’re the family that fostered, then adopted, two sibling groups. If I had my life to live over again, I’d foster and adopt a slew of kids, and, the serendipity of it all–I didn’t know when I began writing this book that I’d be living in a senior residence and see the needs and joys of end-of-life people who just want to be loved and appreciated for why they are. It’s all tied up in my joy in publishing my other two books this year–their memoirs.
And so, I am feeling fulfilled and happy that the sequel to Seaside Serendipity, the completion of the Seaside Saga series with Suzanne Dawn’s Saga, and Monday Memoir Moments and Monday Memoirs: You are Unique, and Mom’s Tender Touch are all completed. Maybe now I can sleep past 4:30 a.m. My discipline program is to write early so I don’t let my hobby take over my life. Except when it does.
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