Rough Draft

This day is different. Unique. It isn’t yesterday. It isn’t tomorrow. It is today. Right now. Today is in front of us, staring us down. Tomorrow it will be behind us, never returning. Time. How do you spend yours? As I write this in the early morning hours, two of my boys are near me…snoring. Up early but now crashed on the couch. My two other children are still snuggled in bed. And their father has already left for work.

The refrigerator hums to me. The laptop light nearly blinds me. Birds sing to me. They do their dance from branch to branch. No cares. No bills. No teenagers. No worries. They chat, taunt a prowling cat and fly through my backyard and their life with ease. Must be nice, I smirk.

This month is new. This year is new. Both untouched: Clean slates for us to write upon. Using the same pen but brand new paper. Will we continue our current novel or send it to the scrap heap? What adjustments are needed? Are we willing to make them?

Will we trust the Editor with our manuscripts? Ask for assistance? Be secure with His modifications? Like most editors, the Master Editor reviews our text for needed changes. Editors insert or delete commas and periods, change tenses, delete entire paragraphs, sometimes removing the article’s original point. They change everything! Our job is to write. And, submit. Have you submitted your manuscript, your ideas, your life to the Master Editor for polishing, suggestions, and improvements? Are you prepared to yield to His changes?

Our lives are only rough drafts. Here on earth, we write and rewrite. Learn the craft, learn to accept rejection letters and hopefully, improve our skills. We polish. We refine. In heaven, we read the manuscript with new eyes, enjoying the changes, remembering the journey that finally made our book, our life, into the best seller it was designed to be. Number one on the charts.

The next page of life begins with today. Driving to work, doing the laundry, teaching children or searching for a job. Dealing with a difficult co-worker, mounting bills or a troubled child or spouse. Life isn’t always smooth but remember, conflict keeps the story line interesting (unless of course you’re the one living it!).

Meet with your Editor often. Submit proposals, pray for wisdom, welcome suggestions and make needed changes.

Now, pick up the pen.

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24 NIV).