Set a Timetable

YOU are a good writer! YOU can do wonderful things for the Lord if you learn how to get your computer running, your mind turning over, and your brain moving to proclaim the truth through the written word.

Years ago, the author of a very successful book which had recently come off the press, tells about meeting with Winston Churchill,

"How long did it take you to write?" Churchill asked him.

The author said he didn't know---over a period of 5 months, in patches---he said he had found regular work impossible. He had to sit waiting for the mood to write...

"Nonsense! Go to your room regularly, at 9 o'clock and say I am going to write for 4 hours."

"What if I have a headache or indigestion and so on?"

Churchill told him, 'You have got to get over that. If you sit waiting for inspiration, you will sit waiting until you are an old man. Writing is like any other job. Like marching an army with your troops, kick yourself, irritate yourself, move out. You can produce something very ingenious by keeping office hours." Churchill, himself, proved that.

If we are here to proclaim the written Word, we can only find audience by honing our skills. By choosing not a word, but the very best word. We are to be strategic in planning and crafting our sentences. We must smooothly transition from parapraph to paragraph. We must have the clincher firmly in place when we begin. Have you started collecting a file of picturesque speech, neat words and anecdotes and colorful language sentences? Save them from newspapers and magazine articles. They will prove invaluable.

We can pray: "Let our words, O Lord, be a fragrant offering, pleasing in your sight." 

The View From the Texas Governor’s Mansion

Did I mention that our First Baptist Church in downtown Austin stood next to the Governor's Mansion? Yes, and every Sunday when church was over, I came down the church steps wearing my white gloves and hat, looking over at the beautiful structure.  The heavy oak trees surrounding the house and lawn held out their huge arms as if embracing all of Texas.

I think the historic Mansion enjoyed looking out on Congress Avenue at all the business establishments, the traffic, grand movie houses, the Paramount and State Theatres, and the Capitol itself. (You do know our Texas Capitol dome is slightly higher than the one in Washington, D.C., don't you?)

 The famous landmark, Lamme’s Candies, must have felt prominence, being watched by the stately Mansion just up the hill.

 First Baptist Church felt a sense of pride, having Governor Allan Shivers in its congregation. In fact, the Governor taught my dad’s Sunday School Class. What a time in Texas history! Can’t you picture the handsome Texas governor, crossing the street from the Mansion on Sunday morning, in long, purposeful strides, his gray sideburns visible beneath his big white Stetson? The epitome of a Texas governor, Allan Shivers’ steady brown eyes, tall figure, and courteous manner filled the Texas tradition of orator, horseman, gentleman, and church-goer. Did I mention the Secretary of State who served with him, Zollie Steakley? He was chairman of the First Baptist Church deacon body!

Like night riders, Texas politics rode rampant in my hometown. Three doors down, 

my neighborhood housed, (when Congress was in session), a future U.S. president. No wonder I found myself working to help elect the next governor, while still in high school! My mother and dad worked in every political race, (local, state and national), giving and wearing buttons in support of their candidates.

*I’ll stop for this writing, but see what I am doing?  You can do this, too---write your story!  It's like nobody elses'! Get busy!