8698205081_11a2ff8eb1_zWhat do you do when the rejection slips pile up like dirty laundry? Do you fold the manuscript inside your drawer and start over again?

The desire to convey scenes, sounds, and emotions into the unseen through the imagery of words cannot be anything else—but a talent from God. But, getting your story before the eyes of your reader can be a challenge.

“What your mind can conceive your heart can achieve,” John Hagee says to “Hope thou in God”. Hagee explains in his “The Door of Hope” series, that life is about choices, and what God has done in the past, we can be sure, He will do again.

Hebrew 11:1 says it better. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

We have all tasted the rancid meat of failure some time in our lives. We are not perfect individuals. Just as many Bible characters weren’t perfect. They failed not once but repeatedly:

In his earlier years, Paul persecuted Christians until Jesus knocked some sense into him by kicking him off his horse and blinding him.

David, the guy after God’s own heart, murdered a man, and then married the man’s wife. Yes, like us, the people in the Bible had their failures, too. We seem to have a knack at failing. God knows this. That is why God sent us his Son.

Do you think Jesus’s words would have gotten published in his day? I doubt it! Acts 4:10-12 says; “let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

There is time and place in God’s plan for everything and everyone. Your time might not be today, but that’s not to say it couldn’t be tomorrow. The past is behind us. Our future is unknown to us. James 4:14 tells us: “…whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

Make EVERY day count.  We don’t have time to enjoy our pity party, nor the nerves breakdown we deserve. We have to “Hope now in God.” In the parable of the talents, Matthew 25:23, Jesus explains it this way: “… ‘Well done good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’”

So—write authors, write! God bless!

Catherine BrakefieldCatherine is an ardent lover of Christ as well as a hopeless romantic and patriot. She skillfully intertwines these elements into her writing as the writer of inspirational historical romance. Wilted Dandelions is Catherine’s second inspirational historical romance, released in 2015.  Her history books include, Images of America, The Lapeer Area and Images of America, Eastern Lapeer County. Her short stories have been published in Guidepost Books Extraordinary Answers to Prayers, Unexpected Answers and the Desires of Your Heart: Baker Books, Revell, The Dog Next Door, and Horse of my Heart; CrossRiver Publishing The Benefit Package and soon to be released God’s Promises. Catherine has just signed a contract with Bethany House Publishers for Jesus Talks to Me, a volume of inspirational stories, compiled by James Stuart Bell.

Catherine enjoys horseback riding, swimming, camping and traveling the byroads across America. She lives in Michigan with her husband, Edward, of more than forty years and her Arabian horses. Her children grown and married, she and Edward are blessed with three grandchildren.  For more information about Catherine’s newest release, see  www.CatherineUlrichBrakefield.net

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