Complete in Thee: NaNoWriMo

Friday, October 23, 2009

NaNoWriMo

This year I am going to attempt to write for NaNoWriMo: National Novel Writing Month. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 days of November. Just a rough draft, but a novel nonetheless. Look on my sidebar for the link to my profile. My username is "tara_byrne". According to Facebook, that is my "Irish name"; I doubt there is any basis for that, but I thought it was pretty so, behold, that is my username! ;-)

I'm not 100% yet which of my name story ideas I am going to use. Following are the ideas I will probably choose from:

WORLD WAR II STORY (no name):
Japan has bombed Pearl Harbor. The United States has declared war. American men are leaving behind their parents, siblings, wives, fiancees, and children to defend their country overseas. Among those left behind are Pastor and Mrs. James Stirling, and their five children. It is particularly hard for their eldest, Helen, who, at twenty-three, had been expecting a "happily ever after" to her engagement to Dick Harris. Now separated by thousands of miles and who knows how many years, Helen must help her family fight the war at home, as well as fight the war inside her own heart as she strives to trust God and do His will. Can Helen trust Dick to God and reach out to the needs of others despite the struggles in her own heart? Will Dick ever come home?

17th CENTURY ENGLAND STORY (no name):

Ann Williams never knew her father, and barely remembers her mother. Raised in a strict Anglican home by an icy, status-obsessed, unloving grandmother, Ann longs for something beyond the walls of Abercromby Park... for the truth about her father's death... for the truth about God that so many people seem in conflict over. Now that she has reached the age of matrimony, Ann discovers that her grandmother is determined to marry her off to a self-satisfied, unfeeling, very rich baron, Lord Barrymore, because of his high position in the House of Lords and because of his support of the king, Charles I. About the same time, she meets a quiet but interesting merchant named Polydore Tyler. Does he have the answers to her questions about her father as well as about eternal life? Can Ann make the right decision despite fear of her grandmother's displeasure? Can she find peace in a world that is crashing down in religious and political turmoil?

THE KAMI STORY:

Seven years ago, Kami was in love with a young man named Jim. But then Jim's busybody family started telling stories about Kami's father that led to the breakup of Kami's family and the suicide of her father. Kami and her younger sister lived together for several years after that... But now her sister has died of a sudden, unprecedented seizure and Jim all of a sudden returns! Kami doesn't know that she can trust him-- or any Christians, for that matter. Aren't Christians just people who say they are "saved" and use that as an excuse to do whatever they want? Is Jim really sincere in His love for God... and for her? Can she lay aside the doubts and bitterness that she has stored in her heart against God, and allow him to heal her life and give her hope and a spirit of forgiveness?

I am posting a poll on the sidebar for you to tell me what you think I should write. There's also the comments section. ;-) I'm sort of leaning towards the England story after writing that description.... but we'll see. :-)

3 comments:

Amanda said...: Oh, I want, want, want to do this too! If only I could!!! But, unfortunately, a great opportunity is within reach and I'll be too busy to do it. : (

Nice name, BTW. I voted for the England one, thought the WW2 one was also very interesting! They all sound good!; October 23, 2009 at 11:14 PM
Melanie said...: Oh, Marie, that would have been really neat if you could have participated in NaNoWriMo... but I understand you're ultra busy!! :-); October 24, 2009 at 10:53 AM
Gaby said...: Hmmm... I voted for the England one. Though ALL of them sound really good!!; October 24, 2009 at 4:58 PM

PRAYER REQUESTS

"Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints" (Ephesians 6:18)

PLEASE PRAY...

* That I would draw nearer to God every day and never allow my relationship to become stagnant ritual; particularly that I would grow in the area of submission, patience, 1 Corinthians 13 love, and wholehearted devotion

* That I might have wisdom as I edit "The Marquis' Daughter"; that the Lord would bless and work through it; and that I might find just the right publisher for it.

* That I would submit to the Lord's work in my life, whatever it may be; that I would take each opportunity He brings me (even the seemingly hard ones) to draw closer to Him and point others to Him

*That our Etsy shop might be successful and that it would be a means by which we can glorify God and share the Gospel

Ephesians 2:1-10

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

"The heart set to do the Father's will need never fear defeat. His promises of guidance may be fully counted upon. Does it make sense to believe that the Shepherd would care less about getting His sheep where He wants them to go than they care about getting there?"

"God is God. Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to."

"If God, like a father, denies us what we want now it is in order to give us some far better thing later on. The will of God, we can rest assured, is invariably a better thing."

"Obedience to God's will is the secret of spiritual knowledge and insight. It is not willingness to know, but willingness to DO (obey) God's will that brings certainty."

"Victory over all the circumstances of life comes not by might, nor by power, but by a practical confidence in God and by allowing His Spirit to dwell in our hearts and control our actions and emotions. Learn in the days of ease and comfort, to think in terms of the prayer that follows, so that when the days of hardship come you will be fully prepared and equipped to meet them."

"And shall I pray, Oh, change Thy will, my Father,
Until it be according unto mine?
Ah no, Lord, no, that never could be, rather
I pray Thee, Blend my human will with Thine."

"A crucified life cannot be self-assertive. It cannot protect itself. It cannot be startled into resentful words. The cup that is full of sweet water cannot spill bitter-tasting drops, however sharply it is knocked."

"And as we rest our hearts upon what we know (the certainty of the ultimate triumph of good), leaving what we do not know to the Love that has led us all our life long, the peace of God enters into us and abides. And then we see our light."

[A Practicing Christian]...it means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God. It means looking at everything as something that comes from Him, and always looking to Him and asking His will first, and saying, "How would he wish me to deal with this?"

Christ says: "Give me all. I don't want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work. I want you."

"I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and to obey."

"What is saving but taking us out of the dark into the light? There is no salvation but to know God and grow like Him."

"I will not try to convince you of anything about God. I cannot. You must know Him. I only tell you I believe in Him with all my heart. You must ask Him to explain Himself to you, and not take it for granted that He has done you a wrong because He has done what you do not like. Whether you seek Him or not, He will do you justice. But He cannot explain Himself unless you seek Him."

"Sometimes a thunderbolt will shoot from a clear sky; and sometimes into the life of a peaceful individual, without warning of gathered storm, something terrible will fall. And from that moment everything is changed. That life is no more what it was. Better it ought to be, worse it may be. The result depends on the life itself and it's response to the invading storm of trouble. Forever after, it's spiritual weather is altered. But for the one who believes in God, such rending and frightful catastrophies never come but where they are turned around for good in his own life and in other lives he touches."