I have four email accounts (don\u2019t ask) for different purposes.\u00a0 To say I get a large volume of emails each day is an understatement.\u00a0 Today I am thankful for one such message received a few weeks ago.\u00a0 It was\u00a0a \u201cmass mailing\u201d list to which I subscribe from one of my favorite authors.\u00a0 It arrived\u00a0at one of my busiest times (packing a truck and camper for a weeklong vacation\/family reunion for 2 parents, 3 kids, and one supersized dog.)\u00a0 I plopped on the couch in exhaustion\u00a0that evening as I decided to \u201ccatch up\u201d on my correspondence.<\/p>\n
There it was \u2013 an e-mail from Lauraine Snelling.\u00a0 As far as favorite authors go, she is right up there in my top four.\u00a0 Her Red River of the North series transports me back in time to the homes of my favorite Norwegian immigrants.\u00a0 My wearied eyeballs came alive when they saw, \u201cMail from Lauraine Snelling\u201d. (Okay, I know it is probably from an assistant, but Hey! It seemed pretty personal to me.)<\/p>\n
I was hoping for an announcement that would proclaim the stage play based on her books set in North Dakota would be upcoming, hoping, \u00a0I could get my hands on some tickets.\u00a0 What I saw instead almost made me drop the computer because I wanted to jump and dance around the living room.\u00a0 (Did I mention earlier that I was exhausted? That didn\u2019t really happen.)\u00a0 The jewels of the email were two-fold. Number 1 \u2013 a writer\u2019s workshop\u00a0where she would help writers to hone their\u00a0art AND Number 2 \u2013 Coffee with Ingeborg (more on that in a later post) to which I squealed with glee.\u00a0 (THAT really did happen.)<\/p>\n
Immediately, I contacted the number listed, sent a message to my sisters-in-law (who are also huge fans), and crossed my fingers that I wasn\u2019t too late on either opportunity.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
I had the most wonderful day last Thursday once again back in North Dakota, transported to the fictional town of Blessing which has been adopted by the very real Drayton.\u00a0 I spent a day with Lauraine and eight new friends (I seem to have a way of collecting them) learning more\u00a0about what\u00a0I didn\u2019t know that I didn\u2019t know about writing and gaining some valuable insight.<\/p>\n
Upon arrival, my thoughts were\u00a0centered around Lauraine Snelling \u2013 I mean, THE Lauraine Snelling – such that I was giddy with excitement.<\/p>\n
Among my favorites, I have to admit that she is no Dr. Seuss (of course, I have to wait to heaven now to meet him), but after spending the day with her, her ranking in my favorites moved right on up. Look out Beverly Cleary! \u00a0In a one-day workshop, she answered many of my questions and self-doubts, but she also affirmed I am doing some things well.\u00a0 I learned that she has many of the same struggles that I do (losing a child, life getting in the way, the need to take breaks, her love of God, and the most important one \u2013 she is a HUGGER!)<\/p>\n
It was the latter two that stole my heart.\u00a0 Very early in her instruction, she spoke about her \u201cconversations with God\u201d which often were when she told God what she wasn\u2019t going to write about something such as historical fiction\u00a0 (the very thing for which she is most famous).\u00a0 As she spoke, I could feel the joy in my heart dance.\u00a0 It was the first time I had been at writer\u2019s event where God was so openly shared.\u00a0 It felt like a homecoming because, she, all my new friends, and her book characters\u00a0were God\u2019s friends too.\u00a0 What a game changer!<\/p>\n
The second shared character trait\u00a0was discovered at our\u00a0first real\u00a0break of the day \u00a0\u2013 LUNCH!\u00a0 After a visit to the salad bar, Lauraine walked around the room and \u201chad to lay her hands\u201d on each of us.\u00a0 Just a quick squeeze of encouragement and thanks!\u00a0 She wanted to personally tell each one of us that she was so thankful and happy we attended.<\/p>\n
Later when she spoke on grief and how it changes everything. \u00a0I sat with tears in my eyes across the table from her.\u00a0 She was no longer \u2013 TEACHER, but became the friend who walks\u00a0in the shoes I walk \u2013 GRIEVING MOTHER.<\/p>\n
At that moment, I knew that God had brought me to the point of exhaustion the day I received that email; so that I would have this very encounter with her.\u00a0 His message (through her words that day) was loud and clear.\u00a0 Do not be discouraged when you feel you aren\u2019t getting enough writing done.\u00a0 Do not be despondent when you feel that you should accomplished more.\u00a0\u00a0 Press on knowing your story is touching the lives of others.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
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