October Open Spaces Vol. 20.10

 

Open Spaces

Vol.: 20.10

October 30, 2020

By John W. Vander Velden

 

Where does the time go? It seems that as my years add up to an intimidating quantity, months pass at an alarming rate. Wasn’t it August just yesterday? No, John, it was not. It wasn’t September either.

The summer of 2020 is just a memory. For some, not the most pleasant memory, but a memory all the same. A month into autumn and my world is racing toward the year’s ending. For Jackie and me, and for many of you as well, we will long remember THIS year.

Yet, when we have at last passed the COVID-19 crisis, and we will, I hope that each of us will have memories of the good things that came our way in spite of it. Yes, we like most of you, have had to change our plans because of the pandemic. But those changes offered different experiences we would never have considered before.

As I had mentioned in other newsletters, work’s obligations and safety considerations, have forced us to stay “close to home”. But staying close to home does not mean we did not live. A trip to a state park that had long been put off, is one example. We have gone to restaurants that have, in our opinion, taken seriously the need of social distancing. We attend our church services. No, we did not “hole up” in our basement since March!

Of course we grow weary of wearing our masks. But because we willingly do our part we WILL continue to do so. The discomfort is a small price to pay as we, all of us TOGTHER, face the dangers the disease brings.

If I say any single thing of importance within these few words...let it be that we...all of us...are in this crisis TOGETHER! And if we all do OUR part...take responsibility for ourselves, and take the actions that CAN help those around us...we will...TOGETHER...overcome the COVID obstacle.

Whether we like it or not, friends, we are interconnected. Perhaps it is time we act like it.

Time to step off my soap box...

For a bit of writing news. I have finished the first pass of the first review of the manuscript of the book I am preparing for publication. That’s a mouth full isn’t it? The book tentatively titled, House on the Lake’s Shore, is well underway, but the finish line is many laps ahead of me.

Am I pleased with the story, so far? Much more satisfied than I expected to be. Fact is, I felt concerned that I would find the story lacking in some major area. I had never written a draft where I knew...beforehand...both ends of the tale. I feared that I would fail creating a worthwhile story filling in the middle, so to speak. But reading through the draft twice has eased those fears...for now.

Even so my mind is rushing ahead creating plotlines for future stories. I hope my brain can shift back and forth between projects. I believe it can.

Though revisions fill most of my writing time, being so near the end of another draft temps me. I add a few pages each week to that story, Severed Ties, a standalone novel.

So you can see I am moving forward on my writing front, and am hopeful that you, my reading friends, will be satisfied when at last House on the Lake’s Shore is published. The third book, which falls within the Misty Creek Saga, is my primary focus at this time, and it is the project to which I give the most energy.

It seems that once again I have run long. So my friends, let me leave you with just a few additional words. Because we know the absolute power of GOD. Because we know that JESUS saves us. Because we know the HOLY SPIRIT is always near. We are able to live with confidence...today...and all the tomorrows that are before us. Let that, even in these unsettling times, bring us stability and strength to face EVERYTHING that lies ahead.

May GOD bless you and yours,

John

 

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