Ghosts of Rejections Past: Guest Post by Patricia Beal

**Please welcome back Patricia Beal to the Alley. I had the pleasure of meeting her in person at this year's conference! She is an amazing person and shares some powerful encouragement with us today!-- Angie**

It’s been a month since the ACFW 2015 conference. I spent the first week post conference editing, and by the end of September my agent and I had submitted all we were asked to submit.

Now we wait.

And wait.

I’m horrible at waiting. I can manage to stay positive for about two weeks, but after that the ghosts or rejections past tend to take over, and I start expecting the worst. I take my eyes off Jesus, look at the waves, and sink fast.

Victim of Grace by Robin Jones Gunn

In her book Victim of Grace, author Robin Jones Gunn writes about her journey to publication and her life as an author. She says that the consistent rejection from publishers was demoralizing—an exercise in defeat. She almost quit. Psalm 102:18 kept her going: “Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD.” She was pregnant with her second child when that verse spoke to her heart.  

Here’s the bottom line: Rejection is painful, but God will get you through it if you’ll let Him.

Put your writing out there.

Submit even if rejection hurts.

In the movie “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,” famous photographer and womanizer Connor Mead is a Scrooge-like character in dire need of transformation. After ruining his little brother’s wedding weekend, he tries to keep the bride-to-be from running away: “It doesn't mean that you're never going to get hurt, but the pain you feel will never compare to the regret that comes from walking away from love. And from someone who's felt a lot of both, trust me, pain beats regret every day of the week and twice on Sunday. Don't run away. Don't do it.”

Don’t walk away from love. Don’t walk away from writing. Don’t walk away from trusting God’s calling. Pain beats regret. Submit.

And I’ll suggest something even better…

Have a healthier relationship with the pain of rejection.

Remember the story of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32?

What does God do before blessing Jacob (self-reliant, self-seeking) and naming him Israel (prince, powerful with God)? God touches the hollow of Jacob’s thigh. The hollow of Jacob’s thigh was now out of joint. Jacob would be forever weakened by that injury. God saps strength out of Jacob. He breaks Jacob of Jacob.

God grew him by making him weak. He grew Peter by making him weak (let the devil sift him as wheat). He grew Paul by making him weak (didn’t remove the thorn in the flesh).

What does God tell Paul about the thorn in the flesh? “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” How does Paul respond? “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Our trials are making us weak and loosening us from the shackles of self-reliance that are holding us back.

We don’t have to despair. Cast yourself at His feet and acknowledge that you can’t do this on your own. He already knows. He wants you to know.

Let’s look at rejections in the proper light.

In light of Jacob’s story (and Peter’s and Paul’s), we can conclude that being weakened is good, so the next time we receive an email from an agent or editor, no matter what it says, it's good news. Either our dream is about to come true, or God is about to make us weaker, thereby freeing us from self-reliance more and taking us closer to a yes through His power.

One is more Facebookable than the other (sigh), but it’s all good news.

Here’s what I’m going to do. Before opening the next agent or editor email, I’ll walk away from the computer and get my mind wrapped around God’s truths and methods first. Then I’ll open the email.

Do you want to do the same thing? If yes, commit to it right now.

If you would like to worship with Sara Evans and “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW3yMJhhkTI

Do you have a different healthy way of dealing with rejection? What is it? Did you quit at some point? Are you there now? Let us encourage you today.

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Patricia Beal is a Christian author, Army wife, and ballerina. She writes contemporary fiction and is represented by Leslie Stobbe of the Leslie H. Stobbe Literary Agency. She’s a 2015 Genesis semi-finalist. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Cincinnati in 1998 with a B.A. in English Literature and then worked as a public affairs officer for the U.S. Army for seven years. She and her husband live in El Paso, Texas, with their two children.

Patricia is very active online and would love to connect with readers.

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/patricia.beal.author

Twitter - https://twitter.com/bealpat

Web - www.patriciabeal.com

Are You Keeping a Healthy Heart?

Today is all about hearts-- disappointment, triumph, and keeping perspective in it all.

Photo by mapichai, at freedigitalphotos.net

Turn on the TV, drive down the street, or walk through a grocery aisle, and you're going to get bombarded with messages about having a healthy heart. Take rom com movies, for example. Why is it all the leading heroines seem to be joggers? Do these writers and producers get their best ideas on their own morning jogs or something? Then there are the endless conversations about trans fats, butter, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc., etc., etc.

What we don't talk about nearly as frequently is the condition of our writers' hearts. Which is unfortunate, because if you're human, and you're a writer, you're going to have a struggle-of-the-heart at one point or another. And more than likely, this struggle will happen daily.

Our poor writers' hearts are constantly being bombarded, and it's usually with disappointment. Maybe you were really hoping to final in a contest (*ahem*), and you didn't make the cut. Or maybe your dream editor has been looking at your heart story, and rejected it without any feedback. Or maybe you're just plain discouraged. Maybe you've been doing this a long time, and . . . well, you feel like you've had to give up investing your heart in your stories just to survive the struggles of the publishing journey.

This past week, I stumbled upon an audio recording by Robin Jones Gunn from a writing workshop she taught in Africa. You can find it here in her online store. It's a steal at only a few dollars, and I can't recommend this recording enough.

In this workshop, Robin uses Psalm 51:10 as the cornerstone of her teaching: "Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me."

Now, we've all heard that verse before--probably hundreds of times. But have we ever really allowed it to sink in to our hearts as writers?

Robin uses the illustration of our stories being like a cup of water that is offered to readers, and really, to God. At first, that cup of cold water sounds really appealing--especially if you're in a parched place in life. But imagine tossing in just a few grains of dirt and sand. Maybe a little pepper and spice. Suddenly, the glass of water doesn't seem so appealing any longer. Even if there's only a little dirt inside, who wants to drink that?

 rakratchada torsap at freedigitalphotos.net

And yet, that's exactly what we do when we sit down to write with bitterness in our hearts. With unforgiveness, envy, pride, and anger as our company. Even if these things have no apparent, direct bearing on our stories, they will naturally and inevitably "come out" in the water. That's because writing as a ministry is different from other types of writing. It takes all of us, all of our hearts. And in that way, it becomes a form of worship.

So let me ask you again. Are you keeping a healthy heart?

Or have you allowed bitter things to take refuge inside?

See, when things happen to us that seem to justify our response, this whole process gets really hard. Because sometimes people really do hurt us. Sometimes they really do let us down, in a big way. And it's easy to feel like we have a right to be mad.

If we're not careful, we begin to compare ourselves to others. Maybe we envy them. Or maybe we think they took our spot in the next-to-be-published line.

Or perhaps it's not an actual person who threatens your dream as a writer. Maybe it's the seemingly- elusive goal of being a bestseller. Or maybe it's a family member or friend who has hurt you and let you down, weakening your resolve to keep writing.

After a while of responding these sorts of challenges, a couple things happen. Either we just begin to give up, or we keep going-- harboring in our hearts little bits of frustration, disappointment, and bitterness we've picked up along the way. So we begin to write with a little bit of dirt in the water, muddying the message God has given us.

But God has called us to so much more.

Romans 2 says we have no right to give these sorts of things free living space in our hearts, because God has forgiven each of us for so much more. Just as the Biblical debtor who was forgiven, then went out and collected the smallest of debts for his own gain, we so often forget the vastness of God's grace in our lives. We are not our own measuring stick. Grace is the measuring stick. And thank God for that.

God has given you a story that only you can tell. If you get so caught up in contests and rejection letters and the comparison game that you forget to listen to the voice of God, the world will lose out.
Your future readers will lose out. Because no one else can tell your story.

So if you find yourself in a position where the water of your heart is a bit murky, or perhaps all-out mud --and really, aren't we all in that position?-- the remedy is simple. Pray. Ask God to create in you a clean heart. Ask Him again and again every time you begin to write. Because the ministry of writing is a mighty calling. And readers deserve nothing short of the whole, beautiful story God has put in your heart.

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Ashley Clark writes romance with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.

Catching the Vision

Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law."

The Message says it this way, "If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.

God has a plan for your life. You may think you know exactly what that plan looks like, or you may be overwhelmed by what feels like a lack of clarity. But chances are that if you're reading this, you are called to be a writer. You may have doubts or feel discouraged, but those things don't take away your calling.

I think all of us, at one time or another, doubt our calling. Especially whenever circumstances seem to confirm our worst fears... we've been waisting our time. We began to listen to the voices that say no one will ever read these stories, that our efforts don't matter, that we'll never change the world. That we've spent too much time away from our families, too much money on books and conferences that aren't going to make a difference anyway because we'll never be published. We don't final in a contest, and suddenly we take the criticism a little too close to heart, believing we are worthless as writers.

But think of your favorite author. What if she had believed she was worthless as a writer? Maybe she did believe that at one time. Maybe she had more rejections than you have and faced even more criticism. Did you know Robin Jones Gunn was turned down by 10 publishers before she finally found someone who wanted to publish the Christy Miller Series, which has now been in print for twenty-four years. Twenty-four years!

Take a look at what she wrote about this on her blog: "It took me two years to write that first Christy Miller story - a mere 160 pages. I wrote and rewrote the book many times over as I learned from the girls in our church youth group what they liked and didn't like in the story. During that time I sent the opening chapters to a total of ten publishers and all ten turned it down. Many of them said they didn't see a market for teens." You can read the rest of that story here: http://www.robingunn.com/christy-millers-birthday-talk-production/

Did you catch that? Many of the publishers said they didn't see a market for teens. But thank God, Robin saw something they didn't. She caught the vision God put on her heart, and she held on. And that vision continues, even today, to touch the hearts of readers and change lives. In fact, that series is one of the reasons I am even writing this blog. Christy Miller's story is what drew me to Christian fiction as a teenage girl, and I don't know if I would've discovered the genre and opportunities ahead of me if it hadn't been for Robin.

Let's talk about three different aspects that affect our vision in our calling.

Blurred Vision
So often, things start off well and we have forward motion, with a clear goal and vision in mind. But over time, other things enter into our perspective. And little by little, these things cloud our vision. Just like actual vision can grow clouded over time, we lose sight of what is ahead of us, and often this process is so gradual that we don't even see it happening. Before we know it, we've allowed doubts, insecurities, and criticism, as well as concerns regarding things like time and finances and relationships, to cloud the clear dreams God has set out before us. What has come into your life that has blurred your sight of your goals? How can you cast those things off, cleaning off the lenses of your life like a pair of glasses?

Closed Eyes
Sometimes our vision is more than just clouded. Sometimes we feel as if we can't see at all. But the thing is, our vision is still there. It's just behind the barrier of our closed eyes.
When big things happen to detract and pull us from our goals, it can be very easy to just shut down. Have you ever been rejected by an agent or publisher you really thought would be a good fit? After things like this happen, we all feel like giving up. The problem here is, the vision is still before us. We're just choosing to look the other way. And so long as you are turning your head away from your vision, you will never be satisfied in life. It's time we realize God has not made a mistake in calling us to the writing life. He has put this joy, these dreams, these stories in our hearts, and part of our job is to hold on. We will never see His plans, nor see them realized, if we don't first open our eyes.

Seeing Freely
Only when we recognize the things that are hindering us will we be able to cast these things off and live in freedom, seeing clearly the vision He has cast for our lives. But until we get our perspective correct, until all we see is Christ, we will never know true freedom. And the incredible thing is, this is the place where we find the most beautiful stories of all: stories of redemption, of love, of hope, of peace, of dreams.


Have you ever felt like your sight has become blurred? How can we move past these hindrances to see our goals clearly and "catch our vision" again?

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Ashley Clark writes romantic comedy with southern grace. She's dreamed of being a writer ever since the thumbprint-cookie-days of library story hour. Ashley has an M.A. in English and enjoys teaching literature courses at her local university. She's an active member of ACFW and runs their newcomer's loop. When she's not writing, Ashley's usually busy rescuing stray animals and finding charming new towns. You can find Ashley on her personal blog, Facebook,Pinterest, and Twitter. She is represented by Karen Solem.