The beneifts of a meeting of the minds and hearts.

I read a story recently about an old pastor who went to visit one of his parishoners who had not been to church for some time.

When the pastor arrived at the home of the parishoner he was cordially invited in and made to feel comfortable with a cup of tea and a warm chair beside the hearth of a blazing fireplace.

After a few pleasantries it grew quiet and the two just sat and looked at the fire. Finally the old pastor got up and with a pair of tongs he removed a hot coal from the burning fire and set it alone on the hearth.

The two of them sat and watched the coal as it began to lose it's glow and turned into a cold gray lump.

The pastor then got up and returned it to the fire. Once again they watched as the coal  began to glow and burn with new intensity.

The old pastor got up to go. "See you in church next week?" he asked.

"I'll be there" said the old parishoner."

The story is pretty self  explanatory. We need to be around those who share our passions if we are going to maintain the vibrancy in our life..

I just returned from a Christian Writers conference in Muskegon MI on the beautiful shores of Lake Michigan. Before I went, I felt like I was losing the passion to share Gods goodness to me through the written word...writing is a lonely life and you get very little feed back and even less pay.

But I was reminded at the conference that it isn't about recognition or fame or money. It's about writing what God has laid on my heart. It could be that He wants me to write what is on my heart at a certain time for only one person ...and if that's true, He will make sure that one person reads it and is helped by it.

God's timing is the key and He won't waste anything He has given us the passion to do. My prayer is that what I write today may help someone else down the road when they need it.I may not be able to make a living at it but if it touches one life it was worth my efforts.

On that note...when I returned from the workshop I found a contract in my mailbox from Guidepost magaine. They want to publish, in their December magazine, a story I wrote a long time ago about my son. It;s my son's story but because I had the honor to be his mom I got to write it. It is his legacy, a story about sacrifical love that I hope will touch the hearts of at least a few of the 8 million people who will read it. I think it will... because God's timing is always perfect.