I got the new hosting set up. I bought a domain name. I ported my previous content over. I got the look of the place to be at least similar to here. And I’ll have the rest of the website set up by the end of January.

If you want to continue following my posts, you can now find me here: www.maidenfine.com/wordpress. I hope to see you there.

In the last month, I quit my job, had a year of free hosting basically fall in my lap, and bought a domain name on sale. Which means I’m moving! Sort of. I’ve already begun the work of setting up wordpress on my new domain. If I can figure out how to get all the posts from here to there, I’ll do that. If not, I’ll just start fresh there and leave my previous content here. But either way, things are going to be different. I’m still in the midst of figuring out how all this stuff works, but once I have things under control, you’ll be seeing a lot more of me around. And I couldn’t be happier.

After losing most of this post to the random resets of my phone, it took a while to have the motivation to get back to it. But we’re running out of Pastor Appreciation Month for me to get it done in. So here we go.

My church got a new pastor in June or July, and I have to say, there is plenty that I love about him. On with the list.

1. Missionary: Our pastor and his wife were missionaries in Russia and Europe for the last 20 years. This gives them a unique perspective on everything we do. It also means that they have practical ideas for our church’s missions. Because they’ve done it, they know how simple it can be, and they pass that ease on to us.

2. Stage Fright: Yes, our pastor suffers from stage fright. His hands shake and his mouth gets dry and sometimes he loses his voice and has to pause. Which might sound like a bad thing, but it’s something I love about him. He could never be a pastor on his own power. But the fact that he gets up in front of the congregation every Sunday and teaches us something new is a testament to the power of God. He always makes it through.

3. Dyslexia: Along the same lines as the stage fright, our pastor is dyslexic. And I find it empowering to know that dyslexia hasn’t stopped him from earning several degrees, and doesn’t keep him from reading the Bible, along with multiple commentaries and devotionals. If he can do it, all us normal people don’t have much excuse.

4. Passion: Pastors are supposed to be passionate. I understand that.  But his passion feels different. Many pastors, when they get passionate about their sermon, they get loud. The start to maybe yell a little. But not our pastor. When he gets passionate about the Word of God, he gets quiet. And you can hear the tears in his voice. He gets all choked up about God and it’s something I appreciate in him. There are so many things that God has done for me that get me all choked up. It’s gratifying to know that I’m not the only one.

5. His wife: Pastors rarely come on their own. They always bring a second person. Their wife. And no matter how much you love a pastor, if their wife rubs you the wrong way, he won’t stick around long. Luckily, this isn’t so with our current pastor. His wife is the sweetest, most good-natured person I’ve met. She is so incredibly supportive of him. And she’s very friendly with everyone else. I admire her as a role model for other wives in the church (especially since I sometimes struggle in the being supportive category).

 

I’m pretty sure my original list was up to six before I lost it, and I hadn’t gotten to his wife yet. But for me, once things are written down, they are erased from my head in order to free up room. So I can’t remember what the others were.

If this list makes you curious and you live in the Topeka area, please come visit our church.

Seaman Baptist Church

2015 NW Buchanan

Topeka, KS

Sunday school starts at 9:30 Sunday morning. Worship starts at 10:45.

We moved into our new home almost a year ago. When we did that, we made a change in our lifestyle that I’d been trying to initiate for a long time before that. We started eating at the table together.

This was a particularly difficult change to make in our old place because of how things were set up and because we didn’t use the kitchen table for so long, it became a place to set things down. A clutter hot spot of massive proportions. And no matter how often I attempted to clear it so that we could eat there, I never cleared enough space. Until we moved and I was able to take everything off of it, throw half of it away, and find new homes for the rest. Thus, for the last year, we’ve been sitting down to family dinners at the table. With the TV off, and usually no phones.

Sunday night, we reached what I consider to be the payoff. We had just finished praying and were enjoying a little conversation about Jesus while we ate our pizza. We were talking about how God took Jesus up to Heaven. Then Elisebeth stated that Jesus lives in our hearts. It was a proud moment, but it only lasted a moment, because it was followed by an impromptu Yo Gabba Gabba moment.

“And in our tummy, yummy, yummy.”

Needless to say, my husband and I laughed our heads off at that. I almost choked on my milk, and I don’t even remember if we corrected her. I think my husband did, since I was busy coughing and couldn’t talk.

Not much later, Nathan discovered comedy. He was looking to either side of his high chair (I think maybe looking for the cat) and we laughed. Then he began whipping his head from side to side in order to make us laugh, over and over again.

And as we were all laughing and eating together, I just thought, “These are the moments that eating at the dinner table was made for.”

We have a lot of frustrating moments at dinner, too. But the amazing moments of family togetherness are worth so much more., it’s hard to remember the bad times.

I downloaded the WordPress app on my phone, thinking, “Hey, if I can write posts anywhere, anytime, I might actually post more than once a week (if that).”

So far, not much luck. And the post that I had written 2/3 of the way on my phone? The one I was planning to finish up and post today?

Well, my phone likes to randomly restart itself. So that post was lost. The casualty of the phone that I am beginning to believe is out to get me. At least it still wakes me up when I need to be somewhere early.

So, something to look forward to. I decided that pessimism is bad for me and the best way to combat it is to write posts about things I love. More specifically, the things I love about specific topics. To start with, I’m going to talk about the things I love about my pastor, since it’s Pastor Appreciation Month. Then, even though the show is over, I’m going to talk about the things I love about Born to Dance. After that, I’m not sure. Maybe the things I love about NaNoWriMo, since I’m sure we’ll be there by then.

When I was in high school I did a project: Where will you be in ten years? In mine, I expected to be in Seattle, preferably somewhere near the Wizards of the Coast building. I would have a Masters in English and I would be teaching, whenever I wasn’t busy writing my science fiction and fantasy novels. I would not be married, or have kids. In my scenario, I probably wouldn’t even be dating. I always figured I’d turn into a cat lady.

Now, it’s been 12 years and I can say, I wasn’t even close. I still live in Topeka. I never finished college at all, much less with a Masters. And I write, but I definitely haven’t made a career of it yet. But I think God was dreaming way bigger than I was. Because I have two amazing, adorable children, and a husband that I love beyond reason and I feel a purpose in my life that wouldn’t have been there if I’d ended up on the West coast all alone.

I wouldn’t have my amazing family. Or the friends that feel so much like family. Or the in-laws that feel like friends. And I might have achieved my writing dream, but maybe not. I didn’t make much progress on finishing a novel before I got married. So I probably would have been a teacher, wishing I could write.

And how much of a drag would that have been? Instead of the awesome life, full of blessings, that God gave me instead.

I’m barely squeaking in before my bedtime (yes, I go to bed early these days), but I got it done. There were a few points in the day where I was worried, but I even managed to take the kids to the library and get some grocery shopping done. So I think I had a pretty darn productive day.

I’ve gone back and forth on whether or not to charge for the PDF version, so for right now, it’s free. If and when I decide to charge for it, it’ll probably only be a dollar. But if you want it, why wait until you have to pay for it? As soon as I find the article I saw about formatting things for Kindle, I’ll have a Kindle version and that I will charge for. Again, probably only a dollar, but because it requires extra knowledge and work on my part, I don’t feel any qualms about charging for it.

What’s in the PDF that’s not on my blog? Several new links, several replaced links that were dead, a much better system of organization, and a bit less focus on NaNoWriMo. Basicaly, I ended up almost rewriting the whole thing. Which is why I was thinking about charging for it. It’ll at least be free for a week, since as of right now, I don’t have a system in place for charging for it anyway. So download it, read it, love it, and be prepared for an awesome NaNoWriMo.

UPDATE 12/18/2011:

This book is now available for the Kindle. You can purchase it here, or, if you’re a member of Kindle Select, it is available to borrow (or will be within the next 48 hours). Currently the price shows as 2.99, but I just lowered it, so as soon as they finish the review, it’ll be .99.

Have you ever underestimated the amount of time something would take? Or underestimated the amount of time that would be stolen from working on that something?

I did both of those things. I hadn’t looked at my 30 Days of PreWriting posts since I first put them up. I expected to have to fix a few links, correct a few typos, slap a cover on it, and call it good. That is not what it needs though.

When I finally finished my first song study, I started looking at my old posts. Because I didn’t have all of them planned out before I started, a few of the later days, really belong much earlier. And the whole thing is very much written toward NaNo WriMo. And that isn’t bad, but I’d like the ebook to be a little more general.

So, having said all that, I still plan to get it out in time for those who need to do some prewriting in October. I’ll be working on it all day today and tomorrow if I have to, but I’ll get it done. By the end of the day October 1, it’ll be presented for all the hands that are looking for it.

As promised, I have finally finished my first Song Study. This is the first bible study of any kind that I’ve written, so be gentle. But any comments and suggestions are welcome. I try to improve myself every day and that doesn’t change for this. So if there’s something that doesn’t work, let me know.

On the flip-side, if there’s something you love about it, also let me know that. Positive feedback always makes people feel good. Plus, I’d hate to change something that everyone loves.

The song I chose is Strong Enough by Matthew West. You can find it on iTunes* and Amazon MP3. I almost didn’t pick this one because I don’t have a link to anywhere you can (legally) get it free. But freegal.com doesn’t have any music by Matthew West, so even though most of my music comes from there, you can’t get this one.You can, however, watch the video over and over for free on YouTube.

I wanted to do this song first for several reasons. First, the verses were easy for me to find. Some songs, I know there’s a verse to go with it, but I haven’t found it yet. Second, I feel like this song has been instrumental to me finally getting one of thse done. I really feel as though I’m not prepared to be doing this. But I don’t need to be. And this song has helped me to push beyond just knowing it in my mind, to knowing it in my heart. Without this song, I quite possibly would not have ever done this.

You can get the PDF file here.

* I have no idea how to get a link to something on iTunes. It’s on there and easy to find in a search. If you’re not particular about getting things from iTunes, though, it’s cheaper on Amazon.

$ The Amazon link is my referral link. If you are opposed to using it, you can search “Matthew West Strong Enough” after going to Amazon directly.

I know I haven’t updated in the last week or so, but a lot of that has to do with working on completely changing our sleep patterns due to my husband changing shifts at work. As I get used to the new schedule (and get used to having WordPress on my phone), I’ve had more time for thinking about and working on blogging.

I have a couple posts on deck, they just need to be scheduled. But the really important thing is that I have two big things coming this week. The first is my first song study, which I intend to post up on Wednesday. The song is Strong Enough by Matthew West.

Then, on Friday, I intend to release my first ebook. NaNoWriMo is upon us soon, so it’s about to be prewriting time. And, as such, I’m going to go through, compile and edit my 30 Days of Prewriting information and make it available as a PDF.

So, I’ve been lax, but I’m going to make up for it this week.