hope Archives - M. C. Lee Books

I had an interesting conversation with someone recently. I was answering a survey about a writing tool I use, and it was much less technical than I expected. One of the last questions wasn’t about the tool at all, but about what my writing means to me. To my surprise, and probably to the surveyor’s, too, I found myself talking about God.

(Spoiler warning: If you don’t want to hear about God, you should change to another page now.)

This is more or less what I told him.

I believe we are children of our Heavenly Father. As His children, we share some of his attributes and powers (in a lesser portion, of course). One of these is the power of creativity. Yes, I believe that the ability to create comes from God, even though it can be misused for ungodly purposes.

Since it is a gift from God, I believe I should use my creativity and practice my talents. Doing so honors Him and helps me become a little more like Him.

Now, creative talents come in all sorts of varieties. We hear a lot about music and sports, art and writing, and other “performance” talents, but I don’t think those are the only ones that exist. Some people create friendships easily. Some people create a tidy, happy home. Some people create fresh bread or delicious meals that are always on time. Some people create happy children. Some people create beautiful gardens. Some people create sewing masterpieces or amazing crafts. This is not an all-inclusive list. If I didn’t name something you can create, then go ahead and add your personal talents to this list. 🙂

I do a few of those, though not necessarily the ones I most want. But for the survey, I was talking about my writing. I do believe that I write because of a gift from God. (No, I’m not saying my writing is a gift from God; I’m saying my ability to write is a gift from Him. What I do with it after that is up to me.) Of course I have to work to improve my talents, especially since I’m not one of those amazing writers who seems to know everything already. But it doesn’t matter how much talent I start with it, or end with, only how much I improve and use it.

So when I write, I hope my stories find readers who like them. I look forward to the day they touch someone who needs it. But even if that never happens, I believe I’m honoring my Heavenly Father by using a gift from Him, and I will continue practicing to be more like Him.

This Christmas season, I hope you reflect on all the gifts your loving Father has given you, both the tangible and intangible. And then I hope you look for a way to share your gifts with those who need help or hope or a loving hand.

Merry Christmas,
M. C. Lee

I’m going to break my pattern a little here, and talk about something other than books. Don’t worry, I’ll still be talking about hope and happy endings.

Christmas is my second-favorite holiday, right after Easter. Sure, I like chocolate and presents and family time and music, but that’s not why these two are my favorite. In fact, I’m not at all fond of the bunny and the man in the red suit, though I do try not to spoil the “fun” for other people’s children.

No, my preference for these two days is all about the Main Character in the story they tell. (Yes, I can talk about stories without talking about books.) You know Who I mean. Christmas is when we celebrate His birth, and Easter, to use literary terms, was the climax of His story. In fact, Easter heralds the climax of all our stories, all our happy endings.

Christmas reminds me of the hope the world felt at His birth. Hope that things would get better. Hope that people could find a way. Hope that their problems would end, but they would go on to a better chapter. Hope for relief from sorrow and pain. Hope for repentance and forgiveness. Hope for reconciliation and renewal. Hope for eternal life with His Father and ours. Hope is a powerful way to keep us turning pages, and we don’t have to worry about our hope being betrayed. The happy ending is waiting for us.

Easter is all our hopes fulfilled. Easter is when our Author autographed the book of our happy endings. Sure, we still have to read our personal stories, live through the ups and downs and story turns. And many times, the middle of the story is not much fun, whether we wrote it ourselves or someone else did. But at the end of each of our stories, there is a happy ending, thanks to Him. If we let Him sign our book, then whatever sad, happy, funny, or painful story covers most of the pages, the last page will share His story, His glory, His hope and happy endings.

How can you ask for a better story than that?

So during these holidays, look to the Light, the Life, and the Way. Look for hope and happy endings.

Be merry in Christ,

M.C. Lee

Tag: hope

Creativity

Holidays and Hope