“Nothing great in the world
has been accomplished without passion.”
—Georg Wilhelm
WHEW … been a busy week, how ‘bout you?? Spent a good part of it staying with my sweet mother-in-law who is recovering from a fall, and talk about a labor of love! I LOVE this woman and quite frankly, there’s no “labor” involved whatsoever when it comes to spending time with her, God’s truth. But when I returned home again? Oh, yeah, lots of laundry, cleanup and writing tasks piled higher than the dust and the dishes! That said, I’m taking a free pass on writing a Journal Jot this week and revamping one of my old Seeker blogs below instead because honestly, it’s a subject near and dear to my heart and ALWAYS relevant.
PASSION. Don’t you just LOVE that word?? I have to say, it’s one of my all-time faves and apparently God thinks so too, because two years ago at an ACFW Conference, I attended a seminar of about 50-75 authors where at the end of it, the teachers — Allen Arnold from Thomas Nelson and Karen Ball from B & H Publishing — invited the authors up to the front to receive a diploma and a pretty cloth bag containing a polished stone with a word engraved on it. Each author got to select a bag, stone unseen, and you want to go ahead and guess what my stone said? Yep, you got it—PASSION!! I was so blown away, that I went up and asked Allen Arnold how many stones in the pile contained the word “passion.” “Only one or two,” he said. Coincidence? Yeah, probably … but I prefer to think of it as a smile from God. 🙂 So, without further ado, here is a blog I wrote a long time ago about my favorite word entitled “A Passion for Passion”:
Okay, yeah, big surprise—I’m writing about “Passion.” Why, you ask, other than the fact that I’m a hormonal Baby Boomer? Well, because it’s important—in our relationship with God, with our family AND in our writing.
Okay, I’ll admit it—there are times when my passion for my husband may wane a bit. Especially over his inability to sink a dirty T-shirt in the hamper when the man can swoosh a basketball through a hoop with his eyes closed. I mean, come on! What’s that all about?
But there are two areas where I unequivocally do NOT waver in my quest for passion: with God and in my writing. And, quite frankly, as Christian fiction writers or readers, that’s the way it should be. Because to me, nothing is better than the merge of passion for God with passion for romance. Kind of like hot fudge glazing vanilla-bean ice cream—God’s anointing makes our writing (or reading) all the sweeter, all the more “moan good.”
Now I wish I could claim the distinction of being the one who first pressed the limits of passion in Christian romance, but that honor belongs to God. Have you ever read “Song of Solomon”? YIKES! Keep a fan handy. That is one passionate account—of God’s love for Israel, His love for the Church, and in its pulse-pounding sensuality, a metaphor of just how crazy He is about each of us. Which got me to thinking. Why is passion so all-fire important to Him?
Good question. And one He makes no bones about in His Word. You see, I have this weird habit of writing favorite Scriptures (or ones that apply to current problems of mine) on index cards and carrying them around or tucking them as bookmarks into my Bible. And you know what I realized just the other day? Most of my index cards talk about passion and fervor for God! Check it out:
They sought God EAGERLY, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side. 2 Chronicles 15:15
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who EARNESTLY seek him. Hebrews ll:6
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are FULLY COMMITTED to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9
The effectual FERVENT prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16
Eagerly. Earnestly. Fully committed. Fervent. Passion in all its glory. And it’s important to God, so it should be important to us. In Him … and in our lives.
So what does that mean? Well, for me, it means that before my fingers even shadow the keyboard, they need to shadow the pages of my Bible. And before one single, solitary e-mail is answered, I need to answer my God when He asks “Do you love me? Will you spend time with me?” And it means that before I lose myself in writing a love scene that will make me swoon, I need to first swoon over the Love of my life. Because without “passion” for Him, my passion is flat. So I pray—DAILY—for passion and fervor for God.
I truly believe that then—and only then—will my passion flow … for writing … for my family … and for the people in our lives who need to experience the passion of God rather than the polluted passion of the world. Because let’s face it—true passion in writing or living for Him comes, first and foremost, from passion FOR Him. It’s the hot fudge on the ice cream, the icing on the cake … and, without question, the joy in our heart! So as a lover of God, whatever you do — dig in and do it with passion!
LAST-MINUTE GIVEAWAY!!
As many of you know, come January I batten down the hatches and write, packing away all blog interviews/giveaways until the next book comes out. BUT one of my dearest reader friends AND the 2nd place winner of my “Have a Character Named After You” review contest, Michelle Tuller, is wrapping up her 1-year blogaversary this next week, so I just couldn’t pass that up. Michelle is giving away A Passion Most Pure (with a signed book plate) and I am giving the same winner their choice of any of my other books, including Steven’s story next year, A Love Surrendered, PLUS winner’s choice of a top CBA book from my library. So if that appeals, stop by and say hey with a comment at:
http://sweettreatsandinspiration.blogspot.com/2012/01/happy-1-year-blogiversary-julie-lessman.html
Hope to see you there, and here’s to a PASSIONATE weekend in whatever you do!!
Hugs,
Julie
