I was
prompted to do some rethinking recently when I saw this painting done by my
eleven- year-old granddaughter. Apart from being reminded how talented she is,
I realised I’d been thinking quite negatively about the future for my
grandchildren. The world seems to be becoming a much more frightening place.
I’m concerned about what kind of life the next generations will face. How will
they manage the environment? Will anywhere be safe for them? What kind of
persecution will they face for their faith? I’ve recently seen the most
horrific reports and photos of Christians in the Middle East being tortured and
killed for not renouncing their Christianity. I’m sure some of you have been
horrified by these too. Even children being beheaded. One young boy about my
granddaughter’s age being crucified!
Although we
do all we can to keep our children safe from harm and do what we can to address
the issues of the environment, it often seems we are fighting losing battles or
hardly have the means to fight at all.
Sorry if that sounds depressing. I’m certainly not depressed and I give
thanks every day for the life I’ve been able to live and for the blessings I
still have every day in my life. But my awareness of the struggles ahead for
the coming generations is still acute.
So when I
look again at this painting of my granddaughter’s I give thanks for her heart
of hope, for her dreams for her future. Right now she wants to be an artist.
Whatever she does, she has a positive outlook. She believes that she and her
contemporaries can make a difference, can make the world a better place, can work in harmony with people of other cultures and backgrounds, and can
achieve their personal dreams. I have another granddaughter (twelve years old) who is
determined to become a barrister and who is overflowing with ideas about how
she will make life better for struggling families. My eldest granddaughter wants
to be a psychologist and work with disadvantaged children. These girls live
each day with their goals in mind, with confidence that they will be able to
accomplish whatever is necessary to reach them. I take heart from them. I thank
God for them, and I will encourage them every step of the way as long as I have
breath.
Beyond that,
I’m prompted to remember that in all things we can have hope because we have a
God who can do so much more than we dream about or can even conceive. I know as
a writing community we face difficulties. It’s a tough world for publishers and
writers. More so for Christian publishers and writers. We face opposition,
competition and difficult choices about how and when and to whom we can present
the Christian message in our writing. Who will read our work? How overt should
our beliefs be in our stories? How do we find the resources to compete with a
world of readers who feed on worldly, ungodly material – masses of it, readily
available and cheap?
These are
real issues for us and are unlikely to get any easier to solve, but can I
encourage you today to believe that Together
We Can. We have a wonderful network of support within our ever-growing
groups on-line. We can help each other with editing, promotion, selling,
reviewing. We can share ideas and pray together and believe that God is with us, so whatever or
whoever is against us, cannot overcome us.
Yes, together we can do what God has
called us to do, individually and as a community. So, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will
reap a harvest if we do not give up” Galations 6:9.” What wonderful words!
And our words of hope and light and truth are also vital to a world so often
filled with darkness.
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope
we profess for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur
one another on toward love and good deeds.” Hebrews 10:23-24.
Carol
Preston 
Carol writes historical novels based on her family ancestry in Australia from the First Fleet. They include the Turning the Tide series; Mary’s Guardian, Charlotte’s Angel, Tangled Secrets and Truly Free. Her earlier novels Suzannah’s Gold and Rebecca’s Dream have been re-released by EBP. Her new novel Next of Kin is soon to be released by Rhiza Press. You can see more about Carol and her novels on her website, her Amazon author page or her FB page.
Such a realistic but encouraging post, Carol. Love your granddaughter's artwork and the heart all your granddaughters have to make a difference in this world. And I love your heart to support them to the hilt and also to spur other writers on to keep going and support one another. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteCarol, excellent post! Your granddaughter's painting is lovely :) It's easy to become discouraged by the obstacles in life and not see the bigger picture and the eternal hope we have through God. Thanks for encouraging us all to work together to do what God has called us to do.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jo-Anne and Narelle. Couldn't help using my grand daughter's painting. As they say "out of the mouths of babes". Kids can be so inspiring.
ReplyDelete