Climbing that Writing Mountain

This morning my husband and I were fighting. You know the kind. You say something, he says something, and you end up taking on the silent treatment for awhile.

Photo by nateOne, courtesy of Flickr

Another thing happened this morning. My niece and nephew were found up in the mountains after a long night of being in the wind, snow and cold without even coats to protect them. They had been hiking since early that morning.

Yes, it snowed yesterday, and they were caught unprepared.

No hypothermia, amazingly. Just some cold teenagers needing a warm bath and a warm bed.

I am feeling very grateful this morning for the tender mercies of God. Often, when things don't make sense and protection is given up and beyond what seems "feasible" we look to God for answers and realize he was our protector.

Climbing our writing mountain is a bit like that. Our writing may be eased at times, but I don't think the climb is ever easy (at least not for long). True writers walk the trail and when the snow falls and the trail is covered, they may lose their way for a time, but there are always others to help them find their way back to writing again. Especially God who knows the trail no matter how many layers of snow has covered it.

When my niece and nephew lost their way they had their cell phones on them to call home, there was search and rescue and there was God.

God wants us to succeed when climbing our writing mountain and preparing ourselves will help us to finish the trip. Writers prepare themselves to scale the mountain by listening to feedback and learning all they can about writing by attending writing classes and conferences. And  they never giving up on their writing, even when the terrain gets rough and they've forgotten to pack their coat.