Danger - Submerged Objects! - by Meryl McKean

We looked out across the estuary, the tide was still high, water filled the tributaries, which stretched out into the marshy grassland like an arterial network, flowed one to another from the main river. At low tide vast sand banks would be exposed and the tributaries emptied completely, leaving them exposed like muddy slashes on the landscape. As part of our holiday we were visiting the village of Penclawdd, situated on the northern edge of the Gower Peninsular in Wales. Most of the village sits around the Burry estuary.

As we watched we saw a queue of small motorised dinghys being launched from the slipway. Each was crewed by a team of 3 or 4 men and women, feet clad in wellies and armed with large sieves and buckets. We learned that these were cockle gatherers, catching the high tide and travelling out to where the low tide exposes the rich cockle beds. The cockles would be harvested and sold worldwide.
The cockle industry has been part of this village’s history since Roman times. The local chippy displays historic photos of cockle gathers from a time when they were local women and the transport was donkeys. Even the footpaths around are formed partly of crushed cockle shells.

We were also there to catch the higher tide as we wanted to try paddle boarding along the channels. We got ready and set off to explore. It was fascinating to make our way through this landscape, but as the tide went out we realised that we needed to watch out below the surface of the water for unexpected ridges or submerged objects, waiting to catch the fin of the board and tip us over. My husband found this out the hard way!

It reminded me of our lives as writers. We may be making great progress on our W.I.P.s but then suddenly an unexpected submerged object can catch us, causing us to wobble. What are these objects?
Well, here are a few I thought of:

·       Criticism from others.

·       A rejection letter from a publishing company.

·       Comparison – it is all too easy to forget our own uniqueness and compare.

·       Illness or lack of inspiration.

I’m sure there are many more you can think of. When these things come along let’s take them to our Heavenly Father and ask Him to help us work through them so that they don’t throw us off course and we can continue to enjoy the journey.

Bio

Meryl McKean loves writing devotionals and poems and has had a few articles published over the years as well as using her writing in her work. She wants her writing to be a tool which helps others draw closer to God. She is married to Andy and lives in Bedford where she loves exploring the countryside with her camera in hand. Her day job as a member of her church staff leadership team is full of challenges and opportunities.