In print...

UPS made an unexpected delivery to my house today. When I opened it, I was surprised to find 3 copies of Home Life magazine. They send copies to you when you have an article published. I had sold them this particular article over a year ago, but never put it on the blog because they bought the rights to it…and seeing how I’m not an attorney and all, I didn’t want to violate any agreements that I couldn’t defend myself against. So, it was a welcome surprise to receive that package and I’m now free to post it here!

I never got around to the “Darla Stories” for the week, so in lieu of the traditional, here is instead, a now published “Story by Darla”!

Wet Ink #

I have found lots of things in my children’s backpacks… rocks from the playground or forgotten snacks. So often when I want to throw something away they cry, “NO! That’s a treasure.”

Yesterday I found my own treasure in my daughters backpack. I pulled out a worn looking piece of paper. The writing on it wasn’t particularly neat; it was bent and folded several times, and words were scribbled all over it. Before throwing away what might be another “treasure,” I asked my daughter about it. She said, “Mom, that’s wet ink.”

“Wet ink?” I asked, fearing what might be stained down deeper in her backpack.

“Yes,” she said, “wet ink. It’s a writing exercise we did in school.”

Intrigued by this, I asked her to tell me more. She explained that to come up with the best stories, you have to keep writing all your thoughts and that you never, ever want to put down your pen because the ink will dry, and you may have to scribble a little to start it running again.

“What if you can’t think of anything else to write?” I asked.

“Oh, that’s easy,” she replied. “That’s when you put a ‘dot, dot, dot.’

Those dots [or ellipses] are for the times you want to keep the ink wet; you want to keep thinking and writing, but you aren’t really sure what to say.”

I had her tell me about it again because as she was talking I was so overwhelmed by the thought of how our Christian lives should be just that… wet ink.

There are days, weeks, months, or even years when we may be able to fill page after page or book after book with the things God is doing in our lives, the ways He is working. It may be that things are going well and you are so full of praise for His blessings. It may be that you are going through the most difficult thing you have ever faced in your life, and you feel God walking right beside you. Or perhaps in these times, you have picked up your pen, and the ink has begun to dry.

Or it could be, if you are anything like me, that sometimes you don’t fall into any of these categories. It’s not that your faith has lessened or you don’t love Him any less; it’s just that there are times we put down the pen. Maybe we feel we are too busy, we forget, we become disappointed… whatever the case, our ink – the ink that is God’s work and voice in our lives – begins to dry.

BUT! These are the times we need the “dot, dot, dots” on our paper. These are the times we can’t let the ink dry. These are the times we have to dip ourselves into the Word, strengthen our faith, and keep the ink – or Jesus’ work in our lives – wet.

Ink can stain. And how great is that for us! Let our lives become stained by the ink of God writing His story for our lives and in our lives. It’s a story He is desperate to write. He is, after all, the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).