Recharging my Inspirational Batteries
By Robin Patchen
I went for a walk this afternoon. Not the kind of thing I
generally do these days. Too busy, don’t you know, writing and editing and
marketing my latest release. Not to mention taking care of my teenagers, my
husband, and my house. Not time for nonsense like dropping everything in the
middle of a workday to wander alone in the park.
But I learned something recently, and as I slogged through
this afternoon, it came back to me.
I had the privilege of hearing Allen Arnold speak at the Mt.
Hermon Christian Writers Conference in March. He taught on how to write not for God, but with Him.
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| Robin Patchen |
My family, not so much.
So I’m back in Oklahoma, back to the grind, trying to
remember everything Allen said. His nuggets of truth flit in and out of my day like
the birds I watch through my picture window. I ignore those birds as I set my
timer and try to work a little harder, a little faster, a little more
efficiently. But sometimes, Allen’s words of wisdom penetrate my focused mind. One
of points points pressed into me this weekend. This is a paraphrase, but
essentially he said this:
God did not give us the gift of creativity so we could
create for him. He gave us this so we could create with him. And to do that, we
must be connected to him. God doesn’t care about productivity as much as he
cares about intimacy.
In all my work, was I intimate with God? Because sometimes
for me to feel intimate with God, I need to get away from the laptop and the dishes
and the laundry.
So I went for a walk. And I thought and prayed and dreamed
and
And you know what? I think tomorrow will be more productive
than today was. Because without recharging those inspirational batteries,
nothing I write will be worth reading. And even if I do write something halfway
decent, if God’s not in it, then what’s the point?
Where do you go to reconnect with God?
Bio:
Robin
Patchen lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, with her husband and three teenagers. Her third book, Finding
Amanda, is available now. When Robin isn’t writing or caring for her
family, she works as a freelance editor at Robin’s Red Pen, where she
specializes in Christian fiction. Read excerpts and find out more at her website,
robinpatchen.com.
Finding Amanda links
My website: http://robinpatchen.com/
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/finding-amanda-robin-patchen/1121693795?ean=2940151640039
Finding Amanda Back Cover Copy
Chef and popular
blogger Amanda Johnson hopes publishing her memoir will provide healing and
justice. Her estranged husband, contractor and veteran soldier Mark Johnson,
tries to talk her out of it, fearing the psychiatrist who seduced her when she
was a teen might return to silence her.
But Amanda
doesn’t need advice, certainly not from her judgmental soon-to-be ex-husband.
Her overconfidence makes her vulnerable when she travels out of town and runs
into the abuser from her past. A kind stranger comes to her rescue and offers
her protection.
Now Mark must
safeguard his wife both from the fiend who threatens her life and from the
stranger who threatens their marriage.
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