When God Calls You On The Carpet

Did you ever ask God to give you guidance?

I have. I fasted for it. I prayed for it. I begged and pleaded to Him for an answer. I even threw myself on my bed face down and ugly-cried for His answer. 

What was my question? 
'What do You want me to do Lord?'

Just when I thought He'd never answer, I heard His voice ring in my ears. "Write books."
Being the good, obedient Christian I am, I replied, "All of them?!?"
And I know I'd heard a chuckle when He said, "Yes. All of them."

Now He didn't mean all of them, as in the whole-wide-world 'all of them', but all of them as in 'all of those partially-finished writing projects that are sitting dormant as notes in the folders on your desk'. 

I tried counting those folders once, but I ran out of fingers and toes. Twice.

That's a lot of books.

This exchange took place a while ago, mind you; in fact, I wrote a blog post about it. And yet here I sit, still bookless and folder-full.

I can understand how the Hebrews felt when God wasn't pushing them 24/7. The miracles are noted, praised on, and then left to be forgotten in some dusty notebook- or in my case laptop- until we heard from Him again. Last week I was sitting all alone and wallowing in misery about my purpose, but this time God decided to let me wallow- at least until Sunday.

When I went to church, there was a visiting speaker. I love new speakers- at least most of them. I liked this man too- he had a lot of great insights to share. 

And then he said...'Stop giving God excuses! If God told you to write books, write books!' 

I know the speaker gave other examples after that, but I was too busy giving an 'uh-oh I'm in trouble' look to my best church buddy sitting next to me, who gave me an 'oh boy, yes you are' look in return.

She knew my 'write books' story. She also knew I was full of excuses for not writing. Any writing. 

God called me on the carpet. Big time. 

She knew it. I knew it. And God certainly knew what I wasn't doing.

Yikes.

No more excuses. This was a warning, and I didn't want Him warning me again. No forty years in the desert for me, thank you very much.

But what to write first? Same problem as before (since there are no fewer than seventy book ideas with half-written notes in my folders), but God was nice enough to give me a little clarity this time around.

Three books are on the list to start with (the first needs a final edit as the artwork is being done, the second is half-written and the third is a coloring book for my artsy muse moments), and I'm telling you all of this, my Dear Readers, just to make sure I stay on track to get these books finished!

I don't know how long the art will take, but even if I get the final editing done before the art is finished, I already have that half-finished book lined up. The best part is the second book cover is so simple, I'm going to create it!

If all goes well (and fast) at least one book will be out before the holidays. At least, that's my goal. Setting deadlines are also something I have to do. Small goals, small successes, but big results!

Has God ever called you on the carpet? What's your story and how can I pray for you?