God’s Waiting Room

by Pamela S. Meyers, @pamelameyers

Earlier this week, I started working on my next article for Novel Rocket and now I can’t find it. In my search, I came upon a post I’d written back in 2010, the year before I was offered my first book contract. Oh so much water has flowed under that proverbial bridge since then. But, one thing I learned in the process is that if you want to write for publication, be prepared to wait. Even after you are published.

The article I wrote back in 2010 is till as timely today as it was back then, because in publishing some things never change. Here is the article:

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Last August on a very hot and humid day, a friend and I stepped into a very crowded ophthalmologist’s waiting room. Since most everyone who sees the doctor has to have eye drops, they need a designated driver, which means two seats for every patient.

Because of an emergency trip to Haiti to assist earthquake victims a couple of weeks earlier, the doctor had to cancel a lot of appointments. As a result, on the day of my appointment, they'd doubled up on appointments to catch up. A "catch-22" in the making.

That waiting situation did have a conclusion, but another waiting room I’m in is far different. I call it God’s Waiting Room. I’ve been in His waiting room far longer than that day at the eye doctor, but unlike the stuffy doctor's office, His waiting room is exciting because I have learned that God doesn't waste time even while we are waiting.

This past year, He revealed to me that those internal nudges I sometimes feel are more than just intuition, but the Holy Spirit Himself guiding me to make good choices. Of course I've believed, ever since surrendering to Christ, that the Holy Spirit is within me, but this took my concept of that to a whole new level.

Now, I begin every morning acknowledging that God is my Creator and He is the one on whom I depend for the very air that I breathe and for everything in my life. He is the one who equipped me with the desire and talent to write, and in His due time I will reap a harvest. That without Jesus going to the cross for me, I wouldn't even be able to stand before God and pray to Him and know that He hears me and loves me unconditionally.

While I wait, I continue to do what He has called me to do—write, and learn to write better. I attend conferences, listen to teaching on MP3's, participate in on-line courses, and read a lot of fiction. Reading is for enjoyment and entertaining, but for a writer like me, it's also learning by the example of authors who have gone before me.

I ended my last blog about God's waiting room by saying I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I still feel the same way.

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I love it when I find something I wrote years ago is still so true today.

There is a verse in Ecclesiastes that says He makes all things beautiful in His time. He did make it beautiful for me a year later when I received two book contracts within a couple months of each other. If you are waiting for your next big break, or maybe for your first big break, do this: Take stock, be proactive as possible, learn more about the craft by attending conferences and workshops, take online courses, and above all else…write! Last, but not least, pray and release it to God.

How have you seen God work in your writing life when you thought the waiting would never end?

TWEETABLES

God’s Waiting Room by Pamela S. Meyers (Click to Tweet)

If you want to write for publication, be prepared to wait.~ Pamela S. Meyers (Click to Tweet)

God's waiting room. An exciting place to be.~ Pamela S. Meyers (Click to Tweet)

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Second Chance Love

Chicago lawyer Sydney Knight and Texas bull rider Jace McGowan have nothing in common but everything to lose when they are thrust together during a weekend rodeo in rural Illinois. Sydney is determined she’ll get Jace out of his contract and return to Chicago with her heart intact, but Jace is just as determined to help her see they are meant to be together. Can a city girl with roots deep in Chicago and a bull-riding rancher with roots deep in Texas give themselves a second-chance love?

Pamela S. Meyers lives in northern Illinois with her two rescue cats. Her novels include Thyme for Love, Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, Second Chance Love, and Surprised by Love in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (a reissue of Love Finds You in Lake Geneva). Her novellas include:What Lies Ahead, in The Bucket List Dare collection, and If These Walls Could Talk, in Coming Home:A Tiny House Collection.When she isn’t at her laptop writing her latest novel, she can often be found nosing around Midwestern spots for new story ideas.