Please wait, my little Impatience Petunia!

That's it.
That was the line I said to my little girl one day that inspired me to write my children's story, which is tentatively called "Impatience Petunia" until it is through the editing phase. (It is only in it's first month of a two-month editing stage, beginning with copyediting and then conceptual editing.) So that's it. It's pretty simple actually.

To back up a little, my little girl's name is not Petunia. It's Shaelyn. But most of the time Shaelyn gets called a variety of silly pet names. We've never stuck to just one. At times she has been called somewhat typical things like "Sweet Pea" or "Love Bug," but more often then not she is called things like "Sweetie Peetie Pumpkin Pie" or "Silly Wiggles" or "Booger Bear" or "Kiddo Speguiddo." She is loved! So, on this particular occasion, she was being whiney and impatient about something, although I don't even remember what, and I happened to call her my little Impatience Petunia. My next thought was, "that would be a cute character name in a kid's book!"

And there you have it. Impatience Petunia was created. It took a lot more thought and effort to make myself sit down a write a whole story for this character, but once I started, I was determined to finish. I loved the idea of a kid's character learning a favorable quality, or as the bible describe it, a "fruit of the spirit." I mean, who doesn't want their kids to be patient? Then again, maybe moms and dads will need to read this more than their kids! Anyway, once I finished the story I was surprised to find out that it was actually pretty good, according to friends and family who I let in on my secret accomplishment. But now, what was I going to do with this? Stay tuned, I will write the next chapter soon!

I truly feel like this story was a gift to me. To be perfectly honest, I don't really consider myself a "writer." If any of you know my sister, Lisa, you know that she is the true writer. If you read her blog (check out sites I follow: Much Ado About Something) she explains a little about this in her latest post called "The Twin Enigma." Her "thing" has always been writing, and she is a fabulous novelist who will also have a book out by Tate Publishing soon after mine. I, however, was hesitant to share my work because, after all, this wasn't usually my "thing." So needless to say, I feel extremely blessed to have this opportunity. Not only that, I have more characters and more story ideas coming to me, and all of a sudden I am wondering what is going on here?! It's like I have a new dream that I never realized I had before. It just popped up on me one day and is growing, and I feel so thankful to my Lord for giving it to me. He is, after all, the Dream Giver and the Dream Maker. And I have found in my life that the best things that have happened have always kind of found me, rather than me finding them, if that makes sense. I've had my own dreams and plans, things I always thought I wanted, but most of that hasn't happened. And looking back, I'm glad. What has happened, as I have determined to walk with Jesus and seek to know Him more is that He brings better things than I even planned or hoped for. And He hasn't stopped! So it really is true--God wants to give us abundant life! And not just for me, but for you too! Do you believe it? You can, and that's only the beginning...

I hope you are encouraged today.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  -John 10:10