Memory Beach

On my favorite writers’ loop—www.acfw.com (That’s American Christian Fiction Writers)—we were challenged to think about what few items we’d haul with us if given the luxury of a month alone in the mountains or at the beach to write uninterrupted. No electricity in this beach cottage. My battery-powered CD player for worship music would be drained the first day.

What oh what should I pack with me, if the assignment is to write my heart out?

The sassy answers that came to mind were:

1. Personal chef
2. Masseuse to help deal with the neck strain and arm fatigue from writing everything longhand.
3. My husband—the middle-aged equivalent of MacGiver—who can make a solar blow dryer out of old bicycle parts and a ballpoint pen.
4. For break times, my floor-length, turtleneck swimsuit.

Then my mind wandered to the true essentials. For me, “splashing in the deep end” means fully enjoying and delighting in the deeper things of God, the significant faith issues. So, because the Bible—God’s Word—is one of His key methods of communicating with those He loves, I’d need God’s Word beside me.

And if I didn’t have it, but had paper and pen, how much of His Word could I recall and write down?

I’m improving, but still struggle with exact “addresses” of scripture verses. So in my journal of “What I Remember” I’d probably have three columns: Old Testament, New Testament, Unsure But Still Precious To Me.

How long could I write before I could no longer recall the sweet messages from God’s heart to mine recorded in the pages of scripture? A few verses? A few pages? A few notebooks full?

I think I’m going to try it. I’d like to see in front of me what I’ll have if I only have the verses that are engraved on my heart and in my memory.

Working through Beth Moore’s study of King David, I was reminded that kings of that day were required to copy—by hand—every word of the law God decreed. Then if they made decisions contrary to the law of God, no king could claim ignorance.

His Word by hand. His heart to mine. Sounds like a plan.