Where I Am From

This was published at Glasswing Ezine some time ago, but I was feeling this weekend like I wanted to be reminded of Where I Am From and Whose I Am.

Where I Am From

I am from newspaper women
and farmer's wives
spines of steel;
wisdom beyond imagining
no dreams of fame and fortune.
Just ordinary lives.


I am from hard work and ancient wounds
never forgotten nor spoken of
nor exposed to light of day;
survival of the fittest;
overcoming struggle.
Manifesting deep love.


I am from the ocean and the sand;
eternal horizon expanding;
waves crash and roar;
undertow pulls and releases shells and
skeletons from the deep.
A million grains of understanding.


I am from ancient earth mothers;
sisters of magic and mystery
creators of hope and beauty,
vessels of future dreams
dutifully bearing children.
Changing the course of history.


I am from spirit and flesh and bone;
made to wonder "why?"
seeking ever after truth,
needing only the next question
asking always for the answer.
Looking ever to God in the sky.


I am from the earth and sky;
thriving where nothing should grow
dirt and clouds, sun and rain;
blooming where I'm planted
desiring only air and water.
Sometimes reaping more than I sow.


I am from woman and man;
destiny, desire and chance
created in an image and likeness;
struggling to be different
resigned to be who I am.
Rising above my circumstance.


I am from saints and angels,
wings of gossamer and gold
seen from the corner of my eye,
whispers and quiet breezes
in my head and on my skin.
Heavenly secrets in dreams unfold.


I am from the eternal source of life;
created for a purpose and a reason
perfectly and divinely designed;
journeying toward heaven
offering up my future and my past.
Each twist and turn in time and season.

© Mary Moss – April 5, 2008


Where are you from?

Blessings on your journey

What's a Richmond Writer To Do?

In my surfing the net and following several links at some friendly blogs, I found the following upcoming events that may be of interest to writers in the Greater Richmond Area. If you go, let me know by leaving a comment! Writers need to network and take every opportunity to learn the art AND business of writing!

11/9/2009 7 – 9 PM: The Richmond Playwright's Forum meets monthly at the Barksdale Theatre Willow Lawn conference room. Members share works in progress and discuss the play writing process. RPF is open to all interested persons, and welcomes your participation as voice actors or active listeners. For more information, contact Margie Langston at margie.langston@yahoo.com.

11/10/2009 12 – 1 PM: Eugene Trani discusses and signs his collaborative work with Donald E. Davis, Distorted Mirrors: Americans and Their Relations with Russia and China in the Twentieth Century. Free and open to the public. Limited free parking under the library. At The Library of Virginia, 800 E. Broad St, 804-692-3500, http://www.lva.lib.va.us/.

11/11/2009 5:30 – 7:30 PM: “Writers Wednesday.” JRW hosts a casual meet and greet for writers of all genres every second Wednesday. At Richbrau Brewing Company’s TapHouse Grill, 1212 E Cary St. Access parking in the decks on 12th St or Virginia St (between Cary and Canal Streets).

11/13/2009 4 PM: “VCU Visiting Writers Series” continues with a reading by acclaimed poet Lucia Perillo (Luck is Luck). Free and open to the public. At Barnes & Noble, VCU, 111 W Broad St, 804-828-1678. For further details call Thom Didato at 804-828-1329.

11/13/2009 6 – 9 PM: Grand opening of Books On Wheels Thrift Store: Books, Bikes, and Beyond. Catered by Joe’s Inn. At 302 Brookland Park Ave. For more details visit Chop Suey Books or call Ward at 804-422-8066.

11/14/2009 11 AM – 3 PM: “1st Annual Authors Literary Festival.” Free and open to the public. At Precious Memories Book Store, 3229 Idlewood Ave, 804-726-8501, http://www.blackauthlitfestival.webs.com/.

11/14/2009 5 PM & 8 PM: SlamRichmond’s Poetry Slam Workshop and Open Mike. Cost $5. At Artspace Gallery, 31 E 3rd St, 804-232-6464. For more details visit http://www.myspace.com/slamrichmond

If you go, let me know how it was!

Blessings on your journey

CHRISTIAN WRITERS RETREAT

OFFERED BY PUBLISHED AUTHOR LINK &
WILLIAMSBURG CHRISTIAN RETREAT CENTER
JOANNE LIGGAN, EVENT COORDINATOR

An event for Christians who write, not necessarily writers who write

Christian material. Non-Christians are welcome with the understanding

there will be prayer and discussion in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ

and no offensive material will be tolerated. If you have questions concerning

the definition of offensive material, please contact Joanne Liggan by e-mail at jliggan@verizon.net.

DATE: February 19 - 21 (Friday, Saturday, & Sunday)
LOCATION: Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center; 9275 Barnes Road; Toano, VA 23168

COST: $175/person
Includes:
Lodging for 2 nights
Meals from Friday evening through Sunday morning
Workshops/Discussions/Devotions to encourage and stimulate writers
Fellowship with other writers and Christians

(Anyone living in Williamsburg, and therefore not requiring lodging,

the cost is $95 for meals and attending daily events.)

EMAIL jliggan@verizon.net for a registration form!

Blessings on your journey

Win a $25 Gift Card to Celebrate My Interview about Woman At The Well!

My interview with Katrina Robinson, Richmond Books Examiner has been published! She's interviewing me about Woman At The Well on her column as part of her Reading Religiously series.

Win a free $25 Barnes & Noble gift card by leaving a comment here. Win an additional chance by also leaving a comment in the comments section of the interview post: Reading Religiously: Woman At The Well by Mary Moss.

Blessings on your journey

I just sold an article at Helium.com!

Woo Hoo! I just received an e-mail from Helium.com that one of my articles has been sold to a publisher looking for articles about "parenting in the new millennium!" It's not a huge amount of cash, but completely unexpected!

Here's the link to read the article: Parenting Pitfalls: 10 Mistakes Even Good Parents Make.

I'm going to check out other publishing opportunities to see if I can score another paycheck:-)I haven't visited the site for a while and it appears they have really enhanced the site and increased opportunities for writers to earn money. If you're interested in writing for Helium.com, send me your email: divinelydesigned@hotmail.com and I'll send you an invitation.

I've been doing quite well at Examiner.com as well! My page views have been consistently exceeding the average number in the category of Family and Parenting both in Richmond and at the national level on many days. Here's my link: Richmond Frugal Family. If you'd like to have your own column on examiner.com, click HERE and tell them Mary Moss referred you (examiner ID #20427)

I'm counting down to my interview with Katrina Robinson, Richmond Books Examiner. She's interviewing me about Woman At The Well on her column as part of her Reading Religiously series.

When my interview runs, I'll be offering an opportunity to win a free $25 Barnes & Noble gift card. So check back soon to find out how to qualify for the gift card!



Blessings on your journey

Wow! Save $30 on October On-line Courses for Writers

I just had to share this list of upcoming on-line workshops through Writer's Digest ! Even better: use coupon code OCT09 to save $30 on any course!

Name	Start Date
Elements of Effective Writing I: Grammar and Mechanics	10/1/2009
Fundamentals Of Fiction Writing	10/1/2009
Accelerated Fundamentals Of Fiction Writing	10/8/2009
Focus On The Novel	10/8/2009
Getting Started In Writing	10/8/2009
Focus On Writing Nonfiction For Children	10/8/2009
Fundamentals Of Nonfiction Writing	10/15/2009
Fundamentals Of Writing For Children	10/15/2009
Fundamentals Of Life Stories Writing	10/15/2009
Advanced Short Fiction Writing	10/15/2009
Focus On The Nonfiction Magazine Article	10/22/2009
Little Red Writing Workshop	10/22/2009
Advanced Poetry Writing	10/22/2009
Essentials Of Technical Writing	10/29/2009
Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing	10/29/2009

Remember - use coupon code OCT09 to save $30 on any of these upcoming courses!Just click on the on the title of interest and you'll be linked to the course outline.

Blessings on your journey

Easy Yoke, Light Burden and Sufficient Grace

Two days after making my last post our lives changed dramatically. On Friday, Sept. 18, my mother-in-law suffered an ischemic stroke. To say we have been on a roller-coaster ride in the past week would be an understatement! We have literally lived at the hospital, and in the past two days at the assisted living facility where she will be staying for some indeterminate length of time. We have been away from her to work, to change clothes and sleep and little more.

Last Friday morning when we got up, we had a long, long, long list of all the very important things we had been putting off and absolutely needed to get done by Sunday in anticipation of the week ahead.

Our family was anticipating with great joy and excitement and reveling in God's blessings upon our lives as we looked to the week ahead: Second wedding anniversary of our beautiful daughter and wonderful son-in-law; my birthday, our son's victorious graduation from Woodrow Wilson Rehabilitation Center, my husband having been offered a full-time job after more than 2 years of working multiple part-time jobs simultaneously while looking for full-time employment. We had planned a marvelous, joyous, yes, perhaps even a bit rowdy, family celebration this weekend!

Since shortly before our daughter's wedding we have been through a refining process. My husband was laid off from his job. I wasn't working full time. We had planned that I would be able to pursue my writing full time. But God decided we needed further refining in order to fulfill His plans for us. That's how we have viewed it. I went back to work--we needed health insurance and a steady, assured minimum income. We offered up to God all of our desires and dreams, all of our hopes and plans, even our very survival. There were days, weeks, months where it was our absolute and complete reliance upon God alone that allowed us to make it at all.

These were not only lean years financially, they were lean in terms of our control over circumstances--very literally we hung by a thread for a long time, hoping, praying, trusting, and ultimately believing without question or hesitation that God held our very lives in the palm of His hand and that he would sustain us. We were ready to accept whatever He planned for us - even losing everything we owned. We knew that He would provide for us what we truly needed and that He would never leave us on our own. And we were okay because we had our family and our faith.

We had learned to rejoice, even in our adversity, lack of financial security, lack of certainty about what the future held. God's grace transformed our lacking by the world's standards into an attitude of abundance only possible through belief in Jesus Christ. And our faith has grown strong and deep roots. And God has refined us and reworked and reshaped and revitalized us. And we have rejoiced that He has considered us worthy of His time and effort.

His yoke became easy and His burden light. Then Audrey had a stroke.

I could write a book about just the past week. Some of it, no one would even believe. Some of it would be just too hard to relive in the writing of it. Some of it, God isn't done using to teach us about yet. But this much we know: All of it is written in God's book of plans for Audrey and for us. He is in it all and He is in control. And we rejoice in that! We are grateful for Jesus' easy yoke and light burden. We continue to rejoice in all the "worse case scenarios" that could have played out that didn't -- not just for Audrey but for us in the past two years -- no, for us in the past 50+ years we have been alive.

One week out: we are grateful beyond expression for God's grace and mercy. We rejoice that He is in control and we are thankful for the prayers and expressions of kindness from friends and strangers regarding Audrey. We don't know the prognosis for Audrey, beyond our assurance that she will one day be in heaven - and hopefully, we will be there too. Until then, we are leaning on God and relying upon His strength, trusting in His mercy, rejoicing in His grace and coveting prayers on her behalf and ours. Oh, and we're going to have that family celebration:-)

"Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you" (Philippians 3:1 NIV).

"But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed" (1 Peter 4:13 NIV).

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice" (Philippians 4:4 NIV)!

Blessings on your journey

Growing, Living and Learning

September is National Coupon Month! Imagine my excitement at discovering this, considering it is also my birthday month AND in light of my newest undertaking as the Richmond Frugal Family Examiner!

In my last post I shared about how I have been striving. Having shared it, and my poem/prayer, I felt some easing of my sense of laboring so hard. God is so very good and He has introduced still more Christian women entrepreneurs and writers into my life, even in just this week and they have encouraged and uplifted me!

I have also had the joy of helping several others with issues in their "non-bloggy", non-writing lives and that is even more a blessing - to be a blessing to another. That's really what life is about.

This week I am working on submissions to several contests and the latest edition of my 2X/month God's Wonder Woman column at Take Root and Write is live. I hope you'll take a few minutes to read part 2 of The Seven Deadly Sins. God continues to reveal to me so much about Himself and His love as I research this topic.

I am learning to view my sin not as something that will prevent me from going to heaven, but rather as a means of growing in grace toward others in my life, myself, and the world at large. I've got a long way to go, but I am learning to view life through a new lens and it is pretty incredible!

Since I'm a bit ahead in posts for Richmond Frugal Family, I'm going to try to finalize two author interviews I've agreed to host here in the near future. Stay tuned! You'll want to know about these two writers!

If you are interested in viewing a list of free-lance writing jobs available around the world, click HERE to read Anne Wyman's roundup of opportunities. It's so great that she does all the research and lists everything in one place - including her advice on whether or not it is a good opportunity. Anne also publishes great tips for writers at About Freelance Writing.

What are you writing about this week?


Blessings on your journey

My All and All

I tend to focus on and ruminate over a word or phrase that comes to mind. A particular term that continues to "visit me" is striving. I had a pretty good idea of the definition, but being a wordsmith and lover of words, I decided to look it up. Here's what I found at dictionary.com:

1.	to exert oneself vigorously; try hard.

2.	to make strenuous efforts toward any goal.

3.	to contend in opposition, battle, or any conflict; compete.

4.	to struggle vigorously, as in opposition or resistance.

5.	to rival; vie.

Ah, yes . . . this is exactly what I thought! It is also exactly what I have been doing lately! I've also noticed lately that many others in my life have had a week or a month, or a year or even a lifetime of striving. And what are we striving for?

I asked myself that question the other day. "What, Mary, is it that is causing you so much struggle? What are you laboring for?" I know Jesus offers us an easy burden and a light yoke. Why is it, then, that I don't lay down MY burdens and take on His?

It is exhausting, this striving. It wears us out and beats us down. It doesn't matter what good or joy there is in our lives. Striving is always in the background, like white noise, if we don't give it over to the One who has already borne our burdens and won us a victory over this world.

Striving is spinning our wheels, believing we are in control, we are in charge, we are the masters of our own destinies. Hard work is a noble thing! Don't get me wrong! I believe in hard work! I believe in 'fighting the good fight' and doing what needs to be done to advance God's kingdom on earth. That's not striving though! Striving leaves out God, because there's isn't any room, or any energy to include one more component of the struggle. Striving is like there's too much friction; going against the grain; swimming against the tide.

Hard work sees the light at the end of the tunnel. Striving can't even see a pin dot of light anywhere on the horizon. Okay, I think I've belabored my point. Over the last several days, this poem has come to me. It is a prayer, really, offering over my striving to the One who lifts us on eagle's wings. I pray the words minister to you as well.

Lord of my striving

Lord of my ease

Lord of my journeying

Lord of my rest

Lord of my labor

Lord of my respite

Lord of my past

Lord of my days

Lord of my future

Lord of my hours

Lord of my burden

Lord of my comfort

Lord of my yoke

Lord of my freedom

Lord of my striving

Lord of my ease

Keeper of my heart

Champion of my fears

You are

My all in all.

© Mary Moss-September 2009

Blessings on your journey

LET ME INTRODUCE: THE NEW RICHMOND FRUGAL FAMILY COLUMNIST

It's me!!

Those who know me will immediately say, "that's a perfect fit!" I recently was awarded the position of Richmond Frugal Family Examiner at the site examiner.com

If you would like to write for them, please use my referral link:

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-20427-Richmond-Frugal-Family-Examiner

My Examiner ID is: 20427

What will you find at the site? Information on just about any subject you can imagine! Kelly and Tracy, two members of my Christian writer's group, are also columnists. I hope you'll also take the time to view their columns while your at the site.

http://www.examiner.com/x-18479-Richmond-StayatHome-Moms-Examiner

and

http://www.examiner.com/x-20766-Richmond-Breastfeeding--Examiner


Subscribe to all of us! Make us all your favorites on the site!



Blessings on your journey