The Befores and Afters

It's always been like that.

Think of marriage. BEFORE, it's courtship,
a time of getting to know the person with
whom you hope to spend the rest of your life. The special dates, flowers, then the ring and marriage.

Now, AFTER where you discover the real
person you are now living with for the rest of your life. And hopefully you have made a wise choice! (Happily I did. After many years we are really in sync with each other in every way)

Now what about the BEFORE of a holiday. The anticipation of spending a time of true relaxation in that special somewhere you've always wanted to visit. First buying the air tickets, checking your luggage can withstand mishandling. Insurance in case things go awry. Maybe some new clothes?

And the AFTER? No matter the weather, I can read for hours without bothering about cooking, cleaning or washing. Oh, joy! I soak up the freedom. The exhilaration of new sights, new experiences. I feel refreshed and ready to face my everyday life at home.

Now take the BEFORE of a book. It starts with with a thought, a premise. Add more thoughts, the plot. Then the delving into the protagonists' characters. Now the writing which could have already begun.The editing. Beta readers. The proof reading.  And finally .... da-dah! THE BOOK! 

But now comes the AFTER. Oh, it's well and truly been completed, and its author can enjoy the pride and satisfaction of all that hard work, the sacrifice of other pleasant outings, late nights etc.
Then comes the hunt for a publisher ..... And eventual publication!

I thought of the Lord God  BEFORE creation. Behind each day of creation week He had planned the reason and the order of things that would come into being. If we as mere humans plan and reason, it's because our dear Lord made us that way. Life never generates from nothing spontaneously. Even the most brilliant of scientists admit they do not understand where LIFE came from. Yet our God, Ex Nihilo, formed the universes, our planet and our humankind from nothing that ever was. And so we live, and breathe and experience our being.

And the AFTER? I am so looking forward to being with HIM forever. To see my Saviour, Jesus, face-to-face! And what a marvellous reunion that will be! As the hymn writer wrote;

When the trumpet of the lord shall sound and time shall be no more
When the morning breaks Eternal, bright and fair,
When the saints on earth shall gather over on the other shore,
When the roll is called up yonder, I'll be there!     

BIO:

Indie Publisher, Rita Stella Galieh, has written a trilogy of historical novels & also contributed to several US anthologies. She is now completing a third historical romance series. Besides her weekly blog, she can be found on Facebook and www.ritastellapress.com  

 After their marriage, she and her husband attended Emmaus Bible College, and were also involved with Christian Television on Sydney’s Channel Nine. Currently she co-presents Vantage Point, an Australia-wide Christian FM radio program. She enjoys giving her fun-filled presentations of ‘Etiquette of the Victorian Era’ in costume.

THREE ACTS

Most good movies, plays, and fiction are written in three acts. As writers we understand that each of those three acts push the story along.
To simplify:

 1. The First Act is the set-up, where we introduce our characters and what they want most.
2. The Second Act  consists of conflicts from without and inner struggles all of which make it almost impossible for them to reach their goals.
3. The Third Act is the climax and conclusion where all ends are tied and we discover whether they lose, or get what they most want.... or something better.

In essence that is your life. It's my life. It's everyone's life.

I was amazed to discover that our Bibles have also been written that way. This is not biblical scholarship by any means, but I'm just looking at the big picture.

The set-up: God brings Adam a beautiful mate from a rib near his heart.
So the union of male and female still stands as God's definition of marriage, despite the outcry from those demanding to change it.
The First Act: Despite having the pick of every luscious fruit in Eden, they believed they were missing out on the one thing forbidden to them. They were smart enough to make their own decisions. Why shouldn't they be able to run their own lives without God's interference? And from that first wilful act and failure of one simple test, chaos came into our world.

And we're no different. Soon after we're born we discover we also have a strong will, and as we grow we find it difficult to accept God's plan for our lives. Yet He knows and understands us better than we even understand ourselves. He was there when we were being formed in the womb. Psalm139.

The Second Act: Things rapidly happened in the human sphere. The whole human race, except for a few faithful followers, sinned with abandon and the Old Testament records this. But God wrote HOPE in His book and promised a Saviour.

As writers we're told to SHOW and not TELL.  God did both. He gave His guidelines, The Ten Commandments  to TELL  us how to live. But when people tried to follow those rules and failed, God SHOWED them how to live by sending His own Son, Jesus. His life, death and resurrection became the focal point of history. Everything that had gone before now made sense.

The Third Act:  Every book has a conclusion. And the climax of God's story is coming soon.
Every life comes to an end. Yet God writes the name of everyone who trusts in and follows Jesus in His Book of Life. We have no idea what a year, a month, a week, or even a day might bring. Life is unpredictable. But we can know this: Nothing ever takes God by surprise. He knows the end from the beginning. His book begins with His Plan for us. And it ends that way.

Besides her daily radio ministry with her husband, Indie Publisher,
Rita Stella Galieh's three published books in her Victoriana Series are now online as ebooks. If you like the Historical Romance genre and TV series such as Downton Abbey etc. you'll enjoy these.
See: 

http://www.ritastellapress.com/buy-novels.html  

and scroll down to the ebook widgets.

or Click

<https://www.smashwords.com/books/byseries/24011>

Costumed as a governess, Rita shares a fun presentation on The Etiquette of the Victorian Era, at ladies, seniors groups, coffee mornings and dinners, then finishes with the above message. 
contact:  ritagal @ optusnet  dot  com dot  au.