I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

There is nothing that can put me in the mood for the Christmas holiday than a little snow. While we were in Kansas last week for Thanksgiving, it snowed! I was so excited. I always miss seeing the snow for Christmas. My first Christmas here was sunny and it just didn't feel right. As you all know, it's been really hot here at home, so thinking about Christmas shopping and decorations seemed to be a distant thought at most. But once we had snow in Kansas, I was ready to come home and decorate and get all the gifts wrapped and under the tree. I just love snow.

This was Ella's first snow. She loved being in the cold air and was very intrigued by the white stuff all over her. Cole, as you can see didn't have a coat on. "It's not cold Mommy!" Oh me. Reid is all bundled up, and of course, he is the one to get sick. He was sick most of last week. As a matter of fact, he is still not doing well. Poor little guy.

Little Miss Thing

Here is my sweet, sweet Ella all dolled up. This little outfit came with a purse and she loves that. It was fun watching her today walk around with this on her arm all day. She is so girly and yet a tough little girl.

Halloween Costumes

Well, I finally have a computer with fast internet access after a little over a week. So, I am just now able to post my kiddos in their costumes. I know, serious Cowboys fan here! They had fun being football players though and ramming heads with each other.

Right where God wants you....

Have you ever looked at your life and realized that you just may be right where God wants you? We tend to always want more than what we have or do more than we are doing or be somewhere we aren't. But we tend to forget that we may be right where God wants us.

This is a realization that has really been hitting me lately. I have had such a spiritual transformation over the past 6 months of my life. I stand in complete awe of Him and all that He has done in my heart. I have watched myself do exactly what I knew He didn't want me to do and have suffered the consequences. I have experienced Him stripping away things in my life that I have loved and it has been painful. I have struggled with God in a major way and had to finally let go and then find myself in more peace. I went to a restaurant with women that I didn't know at my Writer's Conference because I was selfishly wanting good food to eat to find myself on a committee for an amazing project that I would have never thought possible.

I believe that every incident in your life can happen for a reason. God can and will use each of them to mold you into who He wants you to be if you truly love Him with your heart and truly want to seek His will.

When I was at the Writer's Conference a couple of weeks ago, I was exactly where God wanted me to be. It was a financial sacrifice for my family, but it was one that God provided for. My dreams as a writer will far exceed anything I could imagine.

I had to share that I just got off of a conference call with the ladies from the dinner table that night discussing a project that God has laid on all of our hearts. We are spread out all over the US, but we all have the same passion and vision. I would have never thought in a million years that God would have allowed me or put me in this place. I am truly humbled and excited to see where He is going to take me.

All I can say is that for the first time in a long time, I don't really know the direction or where I'll end up, but I am at peace. I can't wait to get there, but I am enjoying the ride.

I know that I am a bit evasive with the information as to what this project is, but I am under confidentialty issues right now. Just know that your prayers are being felt and appreciated and that God is doing BIG things.

Pumpkin Patch

Here are some pics of our first trip to the pumpkin patch. We will be going to another one tomorrow. We met Ella's friends today and will meet the boys friends tomorrow. Gives me a chance to get more pics of the kiddos. When will I ever find the time to put these in their books??

Wrapping up...

Today was another big day here at Glorieta. I had a few more meetings with editors and agents. I also met with the lady that critiqued my proposal and manuscript (first 15 pages) for my Romans study. She was incredibly encouraging. She told me that she really liked my style and the flow of my writing. She did encourage me to find something that was unique to April to add to my writing. This will take much prayer on my part to understand what this should be. She did like how it was driving you straight to Scripture without sounding "preachy." She asked me how much interest I had meeting with the editors. She seemed pleased with my results.

I have met a lot of wonderful people while here that I hope will be long time friendships. I have even met a lady that lives in Frisco about 5 minutes from me that is a published author and is wanting to keep in touch with me. She is truly a blessing to me. I am looking forward to a growing relationship with her. She will be great in encouraging me in my own writing as well as coaching me along the way. God has been so awesome in all that He has done this weekend with me. I just never imagined all that I would learn, all who I would meet, and the amount of interest in my writing.

I would have never considered myself a writer; however, I believe that God may have another plan for me. He always thinks bigger than we can imagine. So amazing that He would chose me.

I am a long way off as I have stated earlier from being a published author. However, I am off to a great start! For this being my first conference, having the interest level I have is such a blessing. Many of the pros that I have spoken with totally agree. They claim it's rare to have this much interest as a "newbie." (That's what we are called!) It's a tough market.

I do believe God will use my writing in some form in the near future. It may look very different than what I think. After all, He has changed my plan quite a bit over the past 3-4 months. I am excited to see where He is going to take me.

On a brief sidenote, I took a trip into Sante Fe with some of the ladies that I met while here. We walked around this very nostalgic town. It was so fun. Then we ate at a wonderful restaurant. I can't tell you how excited I was to have food that actually tasted good. No, the food was AWESOME! We were all in heaven.

I am very excited to get home tomorrow to see my husband and my sweet children. I miss them sooooooo much. Then, I am very excited to get working on my submittals that I will be making over the next few weeks to the editors and agents. It's such an exciting venture that I have been on so far.

I love you guys and will be touching base next week. I will relax with my family for a few days before jumping back on the blog wagon.

Information overload...

I have to be honest, I'm not sure that my brain can process another day's worth of information. I am in definite information overload! This conference has been so enlightening and so encouraging. I have no idea where God will take me in all of this, but I know He has a plan. I must say though, this inner passion is really coming out in me. If writing is something that I truly pursue, it will be a long, tough road. I do believe it will be rewarding all in the same breath.

This day was filled with more meetings, more classes and more workshops. Today, I met with a critique editor who said that she has quit doing Bible studies because she is tired of them telling her what to think. She told me that she would love to read my study. She would be a contact that would critique my work before ever going to an editor. She is also a writing coach.

I met with another agent today and he said that he loved my idea of what an in-depth study should look like. He is really good friends with Kay Arthur, so he was 100% on board with my pitch. The problem is he has 2 other clients that are doing studies and he doesn't want to create a conflict of interest. With that being said, he told me to send him my full manuscript. Let me give you a bit of an insight to the publishing world...they NEVER ask for the full manuscript. They normally only want the first 15 pages (or 3 chapters if it's a book) to review initially. It's really out of character for one to ask for the full manuscript. But, I thought that was cool.

In an ideal world, an author's best route would be to have a good agent. They have the contacts in the industry. They would know what publisher would work best with your writing. They take care of all of the legalities that come with writing for a publisher. Not to mention a lot of them help you write your query letter to the publisher.

I then had the privilege of having dinner with the Tyndale publisher and his son who's the agent. I spent about 2 hours with them tonight. It was good relationship building time. We told jokes, they gave me a hard time that they are the only ones that think I should write a book. The agent's wife was here today. She's great. She's also a BIG Cowboy fan....so we talked shop for quite awhile. She loved hearing every Roger Staubach story I could come up with.

Relationship is key in this industry as it is in any other.

I just have no more energy to write tonight. Know that all is going well. I feel encouraged in so many ways and know that God has put me here at this moment. I miss being home and I sure miss my kiddos. The good thing about being here is that time flies by. I can hardly believe that I've been here 3 days.

As always, thanks for the prayers. I love my dear friends and family that are praying for me. Trust me, I have felt them all!!