July 1st, 2011
I fiddled with it ’til I broke it
Writing can be so hard. You get it very nearly just right… then you go in to tweak one little thing, and then you realize there is a much more clever way to say that thing in the paragraph above…. which jogs your memory about that perfect metaphor you’ve been saving which would fit great in that part near the end, and before you know it, instead of having an extra “the,” you now have six jumbled and mismatched paragraphs and have completely drowned your “take-away” in 300 extra words.
I write a couple of times a month for the blog on the Faith Radio website, and over the past week or so I worked hard on the post that just went live moments ago. Last night I thought I would never be able to post it. Today, in humble gratitude for a do-over, God helped me find the way to say what I really wanted to say, even if I had to cut some of my cleverness out. :)
I think growing up in a large family (number 5 of 7) I learned to get my words in quickly. And to try to get them in all in one sentence! (Once you had the floor, who knew if you’d get it back.)
But writing to show God’s character and goodness is teaching me that I don’t have to say it all right now. If He wants me to say the rest, He will give me another opportunity to do it. And it’s always a better use of the words when it’s His idea to say them.