Sunday, October 16, 2011

Progress Report, 10-15-11, and Losing Friends

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I finally made it to the novel's last Part. And I've divided into two less intimidating sections. I have only 5 months until my deadline, which means that the last read through/proofreading will likely be rushed, which makes me unhappy. So here goes:

THIS WEEK'S PROGRESS
Project: Falcons Rising
Pages Revised: 2.5
Pages Cut: 6.5
New Scenes: 3 --- 11 3/4 pages of new stuff!
Bad Things that Happened: sneaky schemes of murder are hatched
Good Things that Happened: A prince is born

In other news, I'm grieving this week because our circle of friends is losing not one couple, but two. Two couples are moving out of state on the same weekend! Losing one was almost too much for me to contemplate, but two? My husband's mountain biking buddies are moving to Denver, which is their dream come true. The other couple, from our LifeGroup, is employed to build those enormous windmill farms, so they go where the business is. In truth, we got to keep them longer than we hoped, but now they are moving to far southern Texas, near South Padre, which is an absolutely gorgeous island on the Gulf. They'll adjust; we'll adjust. But I'm not sure others realize how traumatically this might affect me. I think it comes from moving so often as a child. All through Elementary School, we moved every two to three years, and I would make maybe a single friend each time. I don't even remember their names, and doubtless, I'm no more than a blip in their memory. I hung out more with my sister's friends b/c there was less of a heart-attachment involved. I wasn't leaving my friends, I was leaving hers. No biggie.


Seriously, the past year-and-a-half is the first time I've had friends as an adult (I was 32). I'm settled at last in a place I mean to stay, so I opened up and let myself become attached to people. Then they move away. I'll have to work very hard to keep from convincing myself, "What's the point? Why bother?" Good thing is, our circle is still intact, just smaller. We get to watch one of our remaining couples become parents for the second time next spring. And they mean to officially open up the LifeGroup for new participants, so new couples will try us out and hopefully be a good fit. We're a crazy lot. We love to have fun while we explore the Word of God. Serious? Us? Ha, rarely. But we're all sad this week.

So here's to learning how to cope...
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2 comments:

Winter said...

Sounds like you have alot on your plate and your heart. I pray that God gives you the comfort you need. It is hard to open up. I grew up in an abusive home so I just avoided people in general...shame, fear etc..It took a long time and some serious prayer for me to make friends here, and we have been here nearly 19 yrs :) I now have a wonderful church family and a few very close friends I actually trust and rely on. It's a beautiful thing. It sounds like your LifeGroup is absolutely a blessing. Exploring God's Word should definetely be an adventure, filled with fun and excitement. Relax, breathe, release it to Him and He will fill you with hope for the future :)

Court Ellyn said...

Thank you so much, Winter, for the encouragement. And you're right. It takes a lot of trust in God, for me be to able to open up to people. He's the constant.

Many blessings upon you!