Morning (but not afternoon) glories

 

Earlier this year, a friend very kindly gave some morning glory seeds. Despite my best efforts, they somehow survived, and the result has been a host of beautiful purple flowers clambering up our shed (apart from the more adventurous ones who attempted to make it over the fence into next door’s garden). 

 What I quickly discovered about morning glories is that the individual flowers don’t last long. (I guess the name is a bit of a giveaway …) Each morning, I’d open the blind to discover a fresh crop of blooms, but by early afternoon they would shrivel and wilt.

 

One of my favourite Bible verses is in Lamentations, where we are reminded that “Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning” (Lamentations 3:23, NLT). And while my morning glories will soon succumb to the cooler autumn air, God’s compassion is freely available to me each and every day.

 

So, what does this have to do with writing?

 

Every writer I’ve ever spoken to has good days and bad days; the days when you find yourself dancing round the supermarket because someone complimented you on something you’d written, and the days when you’re tempted to hurl your laptop/typewriter/quill and parchment out of the window following yet another rejection. Sometimes the words cascade from our fingertips as we hunch over the keyboard, while on other occasions we take half an hour to write a single sentence (which then gets edited out in the second draft, anyway).

 

In writing, as in our walk with God, each new day brings a fresh opportunity to try again (or maybe to start again). Yesterday may have been tough, but today we can approach our writing with fresh eyes or find inspiration to try something new. And if yesterday was a good one then we can be thankful as we press on with the next chapter or project.

 

Are you with me?

Fiona Lloyd is Chair of the Association of Christian Writers  and writes regularly for Together magazine. Her first novel, The Diary of a (trying to be holy) Mum, was published by Instant Apostle in January 2018. Fiona also works for Christians Against Poverty.