2016 Update

This year has been crazy. We continued work on the new house in January, moved in February, and have continued work on the old house ever since. That's still ongoing.

On top of that, I dealt with an illness in early April that knocked me out of commission for a few days in addition to a back injury that took a serious toll through late February, March, and into April. My old chiropractor switched to using bleach products in the office - something I'm highly allergic to, both contact and fumes. That meant finding a new one. I thought I'd found one, only for him to make matters worse (and tick off my husband by treating me like I was stupid). Took a couple of weeks to find another new one. Thankfully, she's reversed the damage the other chiropractor did AND taken care of the original issue.

I'm sort of on track to meet my writing and publishing goals for this year. As a reminder, my goals for 2016:

• 400,000 new words written
• publish 5 paperbacks
• complete 3 old projects

To date, I've accomplished:

• 80,253 new words written
• 1 paperback published
• 12 short story e-books published and counting (9 are live; 3 on pre-order status for release in May & June; more coming this summer - will be compiled & published in p-back when series complete)
• 1 old project completed
• 1 new project written start-to-finish

Not where I need to be to meet my writing goal, but I'm not worried at this point. Given a couple of really good writing months, I can easily make up the difference.

I have 3 paperbacks approaching publication, with a fourth due out toward the end of the year. If those publish as expected, I'll have 5 out by the end of the year.

For old projects, I need to finish 2 more. I started working on one before Camp NaNoWriMo started on April 1st, but put it aside to do Camp. I hope to get back to it later this year.

May is shaping up to be a busy month in my personal life, but I hope to get a good chunk of writing done despite that. June should be a little less busy. July is the next Camp NaNo, and there are some big changes coming that month. I don't know what August through December will hold yet, but there are still unresolved things hanging out there, so they could be quiet or nuts. Only time will tell.

I'm still moving forward. Slower than I hoped, but it's still progress, so I'm content.

You Want Me To Do What, Lord?

Photo courtesy of sideshowmom @ morguefile.com

Have you ever had God tell you to do something that seemed so completely illogical that you just stand there and stare up at the sky dumbfounded? I have. Recently in fact. And it's a doozy.

At the end of 2012, the Lord made it plain to me and my hubby that He will be moving us from Bisbee to Benson in the near future. (How "near" is a relative term when it comes to God's timing, I've learned, but I know it's coming. In His time.) Hubby and I are both okay with this idea, even if I hated the idea of moving THERE a few years ago. God has a way of changing and preparing willing hearts, too. *G*

Anyway, here's where the weird stuff starts.

A couple of months ago, I felt that gentle nudge in my spirit to start packing. Talk about illogical, irrational, and "Are you nuts?!?!" Our house is not only NOT on the market yet, we're currently working on some things just to get it ON the market. Things that won't be completed overnight. I figure it'll be spring, AT LEAST, before we're ready to put the house on the market. Yet God is telling me to start packing?

But you know what? If there's one thing I've learned, it's to listen to those gentle nudges. Because generally if I ignore them, the next nudge won't be quite so gentle. It may come in the form of a 2x4 upside the head. Just as soon not. Okay?

So I began packing. Just bits here and there. A box or two or three when the energy struck.

Now, here's the thing God knew but it took me a while to clue in about. The work we need to finish on our house to get it on the market? MUCH easier to do with some of the stuff packed and stored out of the way. Imagine that.

I'm still packing as I can, putting away things we don't need right now first, of course. Pretty soon, though, we'll be down to the stuff I can't pack until we actually make the move.

We're still waiting for God's timing on the house, and the move itself. It may come soon, or later. It may come quickly, or take months of work to deal with the banking mess. But in the meantime, God's prompting to pack has made it SO much easier to get some of the work done. I'm all for that!

By the way, as an aside, am I worried about selling our house? Nope. Despite the current economy and the housing market being what it is, I know God is above such concerns. He'll sell our house when the time comes. No worries. We just have to do what we're supposed to do in order to get it ready. Sure takes a load off.

So what about you? Has the Lord ever told you to do something that seemed so contrary to logic and reason that you were dumbstruck? Did you ever find out the reason for the madness like I have?