THANKSGIVING: A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS

Precipitation on roses.

Vibrissae on young cats.

Shining cookwear suitable for water.

Oversized gloves made of a textile fiber with exceptional thermal qualities.

Gifts wrapped in repurposed grocery sacks and bound together with. . .well, strings.

No these are not a few of my favorite things, which is why I had no problem playing with the wording a bit. Nothing against any of them, they just don't make my list. But there are other things that do.

With Thanksgiving drawing near, there is a usually a push to list the things for which we are thankful. Certainly, our favorite things, the trivial and the meaningful, would fall into that category. So here are seven of my favorite things. They are always important, but they add to the total tapestry of my life. Who knows, you may learn a few things you never knew and find your own things for which to be thankful.

(Quick disclaimer: I deliberately did not list my wife, family, salvation, and so on. While I am truly thankful for all of the above, I believe they are so far above any list that they are in a category of their very own.
And, of course, to add the Lord to a ranking, even if He is number one, sounds odd to me. No one or no thing is even in the same race). 

So without further ado...

Study and research. I love to study. I love to deep dive into a subject and look up stuff I never knew before. Yes, at times, it is difficult, but overall, I find it thrilling.

Writing. Like studying, there are times when writing is plain, hard work, where I spend an hour composing what I feel is a paragraph worthy of Shakespeare, only to find I wrote something along the lines of "See Spot run!" But there are those other times when it feels as though the words just flow from the inner recesses of my brain and I almost cannot write or type fast enough to keep up. 

Access to information. Study and research has changed over the years.  I am old enough to be "pre-internet," which means I did a lot of research at the public library, digging through archives of actual periodicals and thumbing through the massive card catalog made up of (wait for it) typed cards in wooden drawers. Nowadays, I can find nearly anything I need on my laptop computer.

Hobbies and diversions. Yes, amid the study-work and the writing-work and the research-work, I have some hobbies that give me a much-needed mental break. To be honest, some of my study and writing and research is very relaxing, but I also enjoy reading fiction novels or collecting in my "off-time."

Streaming devices. Through this tiny little box attached to my tv, I can access classic and modern television shows, watch great movies, engage in some more research on a variety of topics, and watch news from several sources, not just one. The nice thing is that I can watch programs when I want. 

Music. All kinds: rock, pop, country, classical. My mood determines what I am interested in at a given moment. I think there are maybe five musicals I enjoy; otherwise, it's safe to say I like some of the songs from some of the musicals. I like cover songs, especially if they do a song in a different genre or style (a country song turned into a pop song, or a flowing classical piece turned into a driving rock ballad). It's safe to say my tastes are eclectic when it comes to music.

Quiet and solitude. While I wouldn't want to be cut off from civilization for long periods, there is a benefit to the peace of being in a location alone with my thoughts, able to think, pray, create, and sing without interruption.

So there you have it: these are a few of my favorite things, some things I am thankful to have in my life. They are not the total scope of my life, nor are they necessarily the most important things in my life. But if, after reading this, you feel led to take stock of some of your favorite things, you might find you have more things for which to say, "thank you."

Happy Thanksgiving!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
And welcome to a brand new, simple post for what will hopefully be a new beginning for this blog. You may have noticed a slight change in the title to STILL Incomprehensible by Tim" In other words, it's still by Tim--same guy, a little older, maybe a tad wiser.
     It's still called "Incomprehensible," mainly because you never know what will come up. It could be serious, it could be humorous. It may touch on politics or pop culture. Ministry and children's ministry will be topics. It is (still) a running essay from my brain to your eyes.
     But you can expect to see some other minor changes as the days and weeks go by, mostly cosmetic and some adjustment of how I unfold content. But the biggest change is that I will attempt to keep the blog current. I won't promise a post every day, but I will try my best to post regularly, as opposed to waiting months (or years) to chime in. And if you have ideas on topics, drop a comment below.
     As for today, the first day of a brand new year, I offer no big insights, no pithy observations, no goofy anecdotes, no brilliant satires, or edgy analysis.. Just a simple wish for a blessed 2020 and a timely warning to old and new readers:
      I'm back!

MY FIRST PUBLISHING EFFORT: WHAT WENT WRONG?

It was the late 1970s. My hair was a little thicker and my waist was decidedly not. I was the very model of a minor major uhhhhh...pick your label: geek, nerd, brainiac. I was the top of my class, active in speech and debate and drama, and my budding writing career was still in development.

I was also a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. I had felt God's call to the ministry back when I was a sophomore in high school and I fervently prayed for His leading as to how that would play out in my life. Meanwhile, I wanted to spread the good news of the gospel using whatever means at my disposal.

And CRA was born. A friend and I were discussing how to use our talents and abilities for the Lord. And we came up with CRA.  CRA would become a leading publisher and distributor of Christian literature, gospel tracts, study guides, and more. It would become the launching pad for Christian novels and comics, allowing us to write and create. I could picture the shelves of books and pamphlets in our garage, ready to be packed and shipped to a number of bookstores and churches.

But first, we needed to write something.

So my friend and I brainstormed ideas and concepts and formats, and, after several weeks, we came up with the idea and plot for our first book: The Coming of the Agents of CRA. Two Christian young men help a young woman stranded on the side of the road, only to become stranded themselves. Finding a house in which they can seek shelter and use a phone, the trio meet the mysterious owner who has a secret (cue dramatic, mystery music). Spoiler alert: because it was to be an evangelistic tool, the young men share the gospel with the woman and with the mysterious homeowner.

Concept and outline in hand, I sat down to do the actual writing. My senior year was wrapping up and college was looming, so I worked hard to hopefully get this great work published before I left town. Using whatever spare money we could gather together, we rented a post office box for an address, then paid a Christian printer in town to do the actual publishing. This printer had created gospel tracts and reprinted books, so we knew we were in sound, professional hands. The Coming of the Agents of CRA, the flagship publication of CRA, was ready for is public debut.

It was bad.

Okay, Coming was not that bad. But it lacked several things:

• Proofreading, editing, revisions, rewrites. In short, everything a professional writer would pour into a book. While my submission was not quite a first draft, it was light years away from being a polished manuscript. I was in a hurry and it showed.
• Length. On paper, Coming looked a lot longer than it was. It certainly felt longer as I was writing it. When I finished the manuscript, I remember the sigh of relief after spending so much time on the thing. But the finished product was, at best, about the length of a short story, and, at worst, the size of a magazine article.Unless the printer was going to use 100 point type, we weren't looking at a 300 page novel.
• Publishing. I visualized a standard size paperback, maybe with a textured cover with a heavier weight. The typesetting would be professional, with left and right margins straight and even, and even if it was short, it would still look like a quality booklet.
  What we ended up with made my heart sink. I don't remember the exact measurements, but I think it was roughly 2.5 x 2.5 inches, printed on standard paper. The courier type looked fresh from a typewriter, and some of the pages looked uneven. It was as if a couple of high school kids handed a printer what little money they could scrape up and expected something that came from the presses of a New York publishing company (which is pretty much what happened).  And, by the way, I don't blame the printer--he is a lifelong friend who probably did the best he could with the little bit of cash we gave him. But looking at it now, I cringe a little.
• Distribution plan. Our original plan was to send complimentary copies to local and nationally known pastors and organizations, in hopes that it would stir up further interest. Sadly, our distribution plan was limited by the amount of money to buy stamps and envelopes and pay monthly box rent. My friend did the bulk of the work in this, as I had moved to San Diego to attend college. We were hoping maybe Billy Graham or Jerry Falwell would have read Coming and endorsed it, maybe offer it in exchange for a love gift of whatever or more. But the only acknowledgement we received from the "big names" was a "welcome to our mailing list" newsletter. And I don't know if anyone actually got saved after reading it (although, maybe they did...if God could speak through a donkey, He could easily have used the message in Coming of the Agents of CRA.)
• Internet. This isn't a 20-20 hindsight observation, it's more of a time warp situation. Nearly every issue mentioned above could have been solved in our modern computer age. I've written and designed flyers, bulletin inserts, and other literature pieces that look really nice (if I do say so myself). Knowing what I know now, I feel I could not only publish a good looking print edition of Coming, but we could even distribute it online.
  Alas, we were a few decades too early. 

So today I'm bald and working hard at losing the weight that I have gained. But as I think back over The Coming of the Agents of CRA, I realize just how much I've learned and grown as a writer, minister, speaker, and person. Every author has that first book or first story which they wish they could hide away. Every preacher has that first sermon. Every singer has an early demo tape. Every actor remembers their role as bellhop #2. As I near the publication of my upcoming book (please don't ask me when, it's not that near), I look back with a certain amused pride that I am, indeed a published author, with that first work that I have hidden away. And who knows? Maybe one day,  you'll see the revised, expanded edition of The Coming of the Agents of CRA. 

YEAH...I'M A WRITER

You may not know this, but I'm a writer.  Of course, that may be obvious, since I'm writing this blog. But I've written many other things, published things, and even got paid, which, I guess, makes me a professional.

But up until this year, I've never felt comfortable calling myself a writer. I've said that I like writing, but writing and being a writer imply two different things. I don't know why, they just do. There is no pressure in writing, because a lot of people do it.  It's a pastime, a hobby, a diversion. But to be a writer, the stakes go up. For instance, many of you are now looking at this post to find every grammatical, spelling, and punctuation error in order to make judgments on my abilities. "He split the infinitive and he calls himself a writer?"

When you identify yourself as a writer, people want to know two things: what have you written and what are you writing? As far as the first question goes:

• Besides a semi-regular blog which has been highlighted on web aggregate sites and ministry networks, most of my stuff has been unpublished short stories, plot lines for television shows, skits and plays.
• Two collections of original, serialized super hero stories (kind of like Marvel and DC, without pictures).  I still have them (The O'Neill Factor Serials and The World of Galactic G) and if a major publisher wants to take the characters and basic plots off my hands, give me a call.
• An almost finished novel that is trapped on the floppies from a dedicated word processor. Sadly, the processor is obsolete and its proprietary software is not readable by modern computers, so I cannot retrieve the masterpiece (and the fact that some of you don't know what a "floppy" is pains me).
• In high school, my friend and I wrote a short story that was to be the foundation of gospel publishing empire. A friend who owned a printing press gave us a deal on 100 copies. We gave them away and...that was the end of that.
• A critical thinking workbook for the college where I was an instructor. I got paid for this, but sadly, the cover designers spelled "college" as "collage," which makes me cringe to this day.

So what am I writing now? A novel. I've let a a few people in on the plot, mostly to get their expert advice in their fields.  They will get a free copy of the book.  I'll even autograph it. But I'm not too open to share at this point because it is a work in progress. The basic plot is the same, but its execution has shifted gears several times since I started writing it. I have no prospects for publishers. I have no extra money for independent publishing. I don't know when I will finish and I don't know when you'll be able to pick it up from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

I've been working on this novel for several years. But up until now, writing has been a diversion, a hobby, a pastime. But now it's different. Things have changed.

Now...I'm a writer.

.

MAKING A LIST (BLOG 2015)

Let's see...decorations put away, check. 

Desk organized for maximum efficiency, ummm...in progress.

List of resolutions for 2015, started (paper on clipboard with heading "List of resolutions for 2015".  Rest of page is blank).

Blogging subjects for new year, in progress. Let's see, what am I thinking so far for 2015 posts:

• Encouraging and instructional posts related to ministry in general and children's ministry in particular.
• Bible related mini-thoughts (positive)
• Bible related deeper subjects and controversies (gasp)
• Thoughts on the "everything you thought you knew was wrong" trend
• Trivia, commentary, and observations from pop culture and current events
• Glimpses into my life and travels
• Maybe subjects suggested by blog readers.  I love looking stuff up that I don't know, just for the fun of it.

Yeah, some of what I usually do, mixed in with stuff from which I usually shy away.  Might make for a good blog.  Check.

Write blog post about future blog posts.

Check.

Oh...Happy New Year!