by Julie Lavender @JLavenderWrites
I look forward to writing conferences every year. Once I started attending regularly, I was hooked. I love the fellowship of other Christian writers. I like hanging around people who speak the same publishing language I do. I love getting the most recent industry news from well-published authors, editors, agents, and other professionals.
I love the motivation a writers’ conference stirs in my heart and brain. The encouragement and support an attendee receives at a conference is hard to fathom until you’ve actually experienced it. From one conference to the next, whether I received a couple of rejections, got discouraged about a project, or finished a project that was accepted and published, each conference brought cheerleaders to celebrate with me or push me to continue striving toward my goal.
Sometimes though, life happens, and God’s plans steer us in a direction that doesn’t involve writing conferences. Often these are difficult situations, like a health challenge involving us, our children, or our parents. Sometimes financial constraints keep us away. Other times, joyous occasions, like a wedding or a vacation interfere with our conference time.
At the beginning of 2024, I pulled out my calendar and penciled in the conferences I wanted to attend as a conferee and a few that I wanted to apply for faculty positions.
Two More on The Way
Before the ink had dried on my calendar, daughter number one announced her pregnancy and pending arrival of a new baby at the end of August. After I descended (slightly) from cloud nine, it dawned on me that I’d have to forgo a September conference where I was scheduled to serve as faculty.
Five or six weeks later, daughter number two surprised us with her pregnancy announcement. That grandbaby is due to arrive on October 18, smack in the middle of another conference I was hoping to attend as faculty. A baby shower fell on the weekend of another favorite conference.
Don’t misunderstand me. This grandma’s heart has swelled three times bigger than before as I anticipate the arrival of these precious grandchildren. By the end of October, my husband and I will go from one grandchild to three. We can’t wait for this new chaotic adventure.
Yet each time a conference passes by or someone mentions a future one, I feel a twinge of sadness. I’ve had to do some extra praying about God’s timing to overcome the challenges of a year with very little in-person, Christian writer fellowship.
If you find yourself unable to attend a conference this here are some of the verses I’m hanging onto about God‘s timing. Hold them to your heart. Enjoy them.
Lord willing, I’ll see you at a conference sometime in 2025.
Verses about God’s Timing for Writers (and everyone else)
* For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1
* But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:31
* Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! Psalm 27:14
* Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6
* “Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10
* The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. Lamentations 3:25
What about you? What verses help you trust God’s timing?
TWEETABLE
Isaiah 60:22 "When the time is right, I the Lord will make it happen." Trust, confidence, and peace in God's plan and timing are wrapped up in that verse for me. Thanks for this post Julie.
ReplyDeleteYour post is just what I needed today. I don't think it will be possible for me to attend any conferences this year either. But I'm trusting God's timing.
ReplyDeleteI too, am waiting God's "green light."
ReplyDeleteI had to miss my two very favorites this year: Blue Ridge and AWSA. So very sad. Yet God used that time to use me in unexpected ways. His way is perfect! We can trust in His faithfulness.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the impending new babies joining the family!!! My writing became second fiddle to music these past four years so I've really missed going to writing conferences, but the Lord is calling me to put it first again. Nothing ever happens according to my timeline but I've learned to trust in His timing. It's always perfect.
ReplyDelete"Trust the timing" is a new theme in one of my MG fantasy books.
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