(One of my favorite cartoons ever).
This is my update on NaNoWriMo: I did write 50,000 words! I started the month of November on schedule with the around 1700 words per day necessary to keep the pace. Then issues with my parents and a mild bout of depressions slowed me way up. To pick up the pace, I had to write a LOT….and did. It is really rough, but it is there.
It WAS worthwhile. I learned so much about my parents’ marriage and history. In my ethnic group, respect for older people is present, but not as it should be. My parents, whose bodies and minds are changing how they operate, think qualitatively differently than a middle-aged whipper snapper who wants to move too fast without understanding the depth of meaning behind their ways. Even if changes MUST be made. Being a basically insecure, very feeling, analyzer and second-guesser, it has been painful and frustrating navigating with my parents their process of reviewing their lives and grappling with the limitations that snuck up on them too fast. It has also been and is a great honor. So writing about how their lives (plural) become their life (singular, together) has opened an opportunity sometimes missed in my culture – to sit at their knees and learn from the wisdom of the aged. And to be reminded, with GLEE, that they are the same “swell kids” they once were. I learned so much from them that I have had all of my life to learn, but never put together quite this way before.
And it took me out of the problems and issues and challenging logic, into the souls of two people who have been blessed to live life with trust, success, and harmony overall, throughout their lives. A couple who, as very poor newlyweds, would make decisions like forgoing stouter fare and opting for oatmeal or pancakes for a while so they could afford to go out to a movie, yet would find something in the cupboard for happy siblings and spouses who would stop by with their own paltry offerings, and eat until it was gone – laughing and enjoying the company. Who had some of the funniest marital fights I have ever heard! Who forgive each other everything, always. Whose eyes dance with warmth and love whenever the other is reflected there.
It is 50,000 words of facts and thoughts and ramblings. There is work to do to organize it and even out the styles of writing (personal vs factual narrative), and make it complete. I will do it, and soon, so it will be a legacy available for them to share as they wish in their lifetime.
Now for the request. I received a chain letter in my personal e-mail suggesting that each person send one positive and encouraging Bible verse to the e-mail address of #1 person, then move #2 up, then send on. I am really curious what verses people would choose, and in a rare state where I actually want to hear people quote Bible verses. I mean, this is almost weird. I’m not going to bombard anyone with a chain letter, but I did send a query to see if they want to get it. Weird again.
Truly, I have called you my blogger church. Still true, really. I wonder if you will do me the honor of sharing one particularly encouraging, positive verse or quote, scriptural or not, just for the joy of sharing a bit of your spiritual legacy and wisdom with me?
I would be so honored to sit for a moment at your knee and learn as I did with my parents.
Thanks, dear friends.
Blessings,
Diane
Tagged: advice, Aging Parents, Bible, church, Elders, Legacy, Love, NaNoWriMo, violence in families, words
Ran The Gauntlet 
Just checking in to wish you well, Diane. I miss your posts, and dearly hope that you are finding strength and inspiration. With thanks.
Hi Diane,
I wanted to congratulate you on reaching 50K for NaNo!! You rock, girl! 🙂
This was my first year not to complete my goal, but I am surprisingly okay with it! That is a feat in and of itself 🙂
You are so fortunate to have had such a wonderful marriage modeled for you. I hope you continue expanding what you’ve started here and with NaNo.
I didn’t really think of a favorite verse relating specifically to writing, but here’s one I like on perseverance that could definitely apply to writing!
Galatians 6:9
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.
Love it! Thanks Denise! My daughter has a philosophy about things: keep only what brings you joy and that you love. I think that includes tasks we set for ourselves…like writing 50,000 words in a month. Yes, discipline is necessary to a degree, but I sure think living for peace and joy is under-rated in our culture. Good for you NOT doing NaNo this year and being OK with it. Seems like not growing weary in doing yourself good by listening to your needs. Sounds pretty healthy to me!!! (However, I now invite you to be my nano buddy in 2014…just sayin!!). Diane
Thanks, Diane!
If I do NaNo this year, I definitely will be your buddy! 🙂
I love Peanuts too! I have ’em on my checkbook cover. But when I ran out of Peanuts checks, I decided to order Strawberry Shortcake this time around (the vintage Strawberry Shortcake, not the new too-thin-n-boring-lookin’ one). :oD
Diane, you crack me up! 🙂 …in a totally good way…
The post about your parents is very touching, and left me wondering what more I might could glean from my parent’s legacy.
I especially liked this: “…the souls of two people who have been blessed to live life with trust, success, and harmony overall, throughout their lives”
…and this: “Whose eyes dance with warmth and love whenever the other is reflected there.”
So sweet and touching!
You almost lost me on the chain letter thing…until I read it close enough to realize you weren’t participating in a chain letter, do not advocate chain letters, and seem amazed yourself that you would have an interest in this particular chain letter.
Personally, I’ve learned to almost always response to coercion or manipulation with a “no!” All those “if you love Jesus you’ll repost this” FB posts go completely ignored by me, not because I don’t love Jesus, but rather because I hate manipulation and feel no need to try to prove my love for Jesus by submitting to silly manipulative demands.
BUT, a polite request for a favorite quote? Absolutely! I’d love to.
…except I have so many favorites it’s hard to know where to begin. The past several months we’ve been studying the book of John in Sunday school, and the class joke has become my weekly declaration “This is my favorite chapter!” as each weekly chapter is studied. Yes, it’s true…they’re all favorites…and each is called on under different needs and circumstances.
However, some that I find myself going back to, more and more, include:
“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8) This one has become, for me, something of a barometer. If my attitude, behavior, or interepretation of scripture opposes justice, mercy and humility, I need to re-evaluate.
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down;
For the Lord upholds him with His hand.” (Psalm 37:22-24) Both a promise and an exhortation, to trust Him and rely on His guidance, because He can be trusted to guide me.
And “The Serenity Prayer” not scripture, but a short prayer that is meaningful to me, and which I find myself praying often, as part of living out the ideals of God’s word in an imperfect fallen world:
“Lord, give me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The strength to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.”
Have a blessed Christmas!
Hi, Joe! I love the quotes you included! Thank you. As for chain letters, I avoid them, also, and really don’t like the control edge. But this one was nice, respectful, voluntary…kind of like a funky sock exchange deal that I, well, broke some time ago. I like funky socks! What was I thinking?! 🙂 Happy New Year!!