Chasing Inspiration

Today’s inspiration comes from another long-term project. A few years ago, I set myself a task to create images to go with my Butterfly Prayer House daily blog, with the ambitious goal of one day having designed an image for a verse from every chapter in the Bible. As there are many great inspirational texts, it will take me the rest of my life to fulfil this goal.

Today, I went through my collection and selected some images taken at Dodges Ferry, Tasmania, Australia. I love going to the beach, but not on my own.

I have added a caption below each image to explain the relevance that these Scriptures brought me today as I prepared for my day of writing )i(

Writing a book takes a long time.
I like to swap out the word ‘temple’ in the final line of this text
and replace it with my current project.

This is a good Scripture to describe what happens when writing the manuscript is done,
and the revision and editing stage begins.
I have discovered that it is easier to write the story than
to reach the end of the process of editing.
But the end result is worth the extra effort.

**There comes a time in the writing process**
where taking time to rest and recover
is the best way to keep moving forward.

**There also comes a time when I sit and call out to God for help.**
**There are moments when I know where my characters need to get to**
**but I have trouble writing their journey.**

**Always God answers my prayer for guidance.**
**Not always when I expect Him to, and not often within my time frame,**
**but when I wait patiently, He brings me through the desert**
**to the place where the words flow from me like water from a spring.**

**My stories are about justice, with lots of internal conflict and**
**more than a little bit of trouble for my characters.**
**I am working on my third manuscript in the *River Wild* Series,**
**and so far the stream of inspiration hasn’t failed me.**

I remember sending off my first manuscript *White Rose of Promise (WRoP)*
**for Copy Editing, and my editor told me to get to work on my second manuscript.**
**The first one (WRoP) is still fully engaged in that process,**
**and my second manuscript *When Promises Are Broken* (WPaB)**
**is away with my alpha readers.**
**Meanwhile, I am up to chapter 5 of book three…**

**I have chosen water themes to join together the books in my *River Wild* Series.**
**When I trusted God to give me a clear direction for my writing,**
**I was expecting to come to a satisfactory conclusion to my first story,**
**and then wait on Him for inspiration.**
**I never expected Him to take my characters and build a new story around them,**
**so that I started writing the next episode with all the hard work already done.**

When I take the time, I can find inspiration from wherever God has placed, me, but sometimes it takes me some intentional sitting and waiting before I find the key to what God wants to say.

Do you have a favourite beach or water photo? Or do you get your inspiration from another natural feature?