~~ Isaiah 64:8 (NIV84) ~~ Yet, O
Lord, you are our Father. We are the
clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.
by Carley Cooper
Jeff Goins tells us that
the next habit of great writers is to ‘Start
Ugly’. When I first read about this
next habit and the assignment of ‘making it ugly first’, I had
to laugh because my first thought was “Well
it’s about time; a habit that I’m already very well skilled at! What’s the next one?” Jeff says “All creation comes from chaos.
All works of art begin as splotches of paint on a canvas. It’s never beautiful at first. Before your work can reach its potential, it
will first have to be bad.”
Everything I’ve
ever written starts out ugly. If that’s
the sign of a great writer, I’m off to a good start. Each time I get a first draft done and think
to myself “This one is sooooo very much a
lost cause. Toss this one into the waste
paper basket now. Let it die a quiet and
peaceful death. Don’t let it suffer by
keeping it alive.” But, each time I
have to follow my stubborn instincts and keep trying to improve on it. The idea of quitting is a thought that just
makes me crazy. It’s like a beast that I
have to conquer just so I can say “Ha. I knew I could do it. I told you so!” By the time a work is finished; it turns out
to be a creation that I didn’t know I had in me to write. Many times when I am done it is a whole
different creature than what I had started out to construct. I always pray and ask God to lead me in my
writing; to use me to write a great message that can touch others and bless
them. Each time, I complete a work and I
see how it turned out; how well the thought process flows, and the logic behind
it my first thought always is “Wow, this
is incredible Lord. I wish I would have
thought of it. I could have written
something like this myself.” But
wait! I just did. And, I guess that’s the point of starting out
ugly. When the final polish is applied,
the end product is exciting; and accomplishment is something to be proud of.
Quite often, when
I am in a depression episode, I have gone back to read things I have written in
the past. Reading the feedback that I received
helps to inspire me; to remind me of how God is using me to bless others. This, in turn, blesses me. I have often forgotten lesson’s that I’ve
learned and written about. As I reread journals,
stories, and blogs I wrote I am reminded of the lessons I was taught with them
at the time. I get re-motivated by my
own work. It’s as though I’m seeing it
for the first time, again. Again, I am
reminded how much God loves me. He never
gives up on me, even though He has plenty of just cause to do that if He should
choose to. Each time that He uses my own
words to remind me of the lesson learned, there is just a little more of an
improvement than there was the first time around. He guides me to make a work that can help
others, and then uses it to help me too.
He helps me write pieces that start out as something ugly. With each series of revisions it is being molded
to be something more beautiful... just as He is doing with my heart and my
life. Slowly I’m becoming the person He
wants me to be; beautiful just like Jesus.
~~ Dear God ~~ Thank You for each revision that You make in
my life, and in my work. I started out
ugly, but slowly I am becoming a beautiful work of art. Please use me to bless others, and to show
Your glory always. In Jesus name, AMEN.
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