Wednesday, January 26, 2011

WiP...and "Weeping Forward"

L-WiP (Life Work in Progress)
Entombment of Christ, 1672, in Saint-Martin Ch...Image via Wikipedia
"Weeping Forward" totally comes from the Bible study I'm doing on Ruth by Kelly Minter. Looking at Ruth 4:7-14 Kelly points out that the two daughters-in-law both wept. Orpah wept going back home and Ruth wept going forward into the unknown.
Have you ever wept forward?  I'm not sure I'm at that place right now. It is more like dragging my feet and chewing my fingernails wondering what is next. I have to admit, there have been tears...I'll call them "fear tears." You know, the fear of the unknown.
But, I've had them before, those "fear tears".  It was exactly five years ago when we starting to sort through our things in China to move to Taiwan.  I so did NOT want to move here. I knew that was what God wanted of us, but my heart was not in it. I cried buckets of tears before the move, during the move and after the move. I cried with friends, with my kids, on my husbands shoulder, and alone. I don't like crying, so this was not a fabulous time for me.
I'm not sure when the tears stopped. But, they did. In fact, I'm not sure when I started to love this place, but I do. I am so glad that God moved us forward to Taipei. I love this city. I have made such wonderful friends here. And God is doing some awesome things here, too!
Remembering that God is the one who has it all figured out and secured, I can rest in him.  I can still cry, I just need to do it going forward.
I think this quote from Kelly sums it up well. "Although there will be weeping in this life, the direction in which we weep is what truly matters."
So, have you ever cried moving forward?  Are you in that place now?  Please share...it encourages me so much to hear how others stepped forward.

WiP (Work in Progress)
Ahh, the writing process.  I finished those first two chapter edits and sent them off to a few friends. I got some comments back already.  They liked it...yeah!  But, there are some areas that need more clarification and some touch ups here and there.  So thankful for people willing to look over my work and give me critiques that are not "fluffy and nice".  So, thanks to you all that took a peek and were "tough"...I like that. ;)
Now, to finish those edits up and send out those chapters on Monday for my class. Then back to editing the other chapters. Can't stop here just for the class. I'll never get to the querying stage if I stop now.
Enhanced by Zemanta

2 comments:

Sandra said...

Thanks for the post. I think I can relate with Naomi AND Ruth. I kind of wish my tears would come out right now cause it's all tensed up in my shoulders and jaws right now. =I

MaDonna Maurer said...

So, you are dragging your feet, too? ;) It's never easy. Know that I'm praying for you during your transition. Ugh! I hate good-byes...