Just in case you're interested.... I am still plugging away on my book! Each day brings me a little bit closer to finishing it! I do believe I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel! The manuscript is almost done, I've got most of the photos inserted, and I'm working on the formatting and layout.
I've had some set-backs, hurdles, and delays in the past month!
1) My mom's house had a rather major electrical issue. For several days off and on, we either had no heat and/or no power.
2) My laptop crashed!
Bad news - Hard drive needed to be replaced.
Good news - I had backed up everything concerning my book!
More good news - Everything else on the laptop was recovered by professional geeks - all 58GB!
More good news - God had already gone ahead of me and had the funds ready for a new laptop, the diagnosis, recovering my old files, and an external hard drive!
Even more good news - I know someone who will take the old laptop and recondition it for either a single mom or a missionary. How cool is that?
3) The new computer had problems with the hard drive! It was "bad out of the box".
Bad news - I spent a fair amount of time doing the following:
[1] Learn a different make than I was used to - Toshiba, instead of HP
[2] Learn a new Operating System - Windows 7
[3] Install various necessary items (Kaspersky anti-virus, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft Publisher)
Good news - By this time I was becoming intimately acquainted with Nebraska Furniture Mart! They were great about everything.
More good news - I ended up going back to an HP and have been up and running for about two weeks now!
NOTE: Anyone reading this who does NOT have an external hard drive (or some other method of backing up your files).... don't delay any longer! Take it from someone who learned the hard way!
The day before the laptop issues started, I ran across this quote by Mother Teresa. It brought me much solace!
"Let nothing perturb you, nothing frighten you. All things pass.
God does not change. Patience achieves everything."
Naturally, there are other things that postpone quality time writing a book -
[1] Christmas with the family (see a few photos below)
[2] Shoveling snow, chipping ice, shoveling more snow, and chipping more ice....
And... throw into the mix a frozen water pipe that burst! What a mess in the flooded garage (and a small portion of the basement)!
All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible.
- Orison Swett Marden
(founded Success Magazine in 1891; it is still being published today)As we go forth into the coming year, let it be with the patient power of knowing that God will go before us. Let the past sleep on the bosom of Christ and step out into the irresistible future with him.
-Oswald Chambers
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