No Such Thing as a Fairy Godmouse...

Isn’t that supposed to be fairy godMOTHER, you know, as in Cinderella and her magical mentor who turned mice into prancing horses, a pumpkin into a golden carriage, and rags and bare feet into a beautiful gown with glass slippers?
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Well, yeah…but please bear with me for a moment, okay? I have a collection of framed greeting cards that I periodically switch out above my desk for inspiration—and a kick in the seat of the pants. You can see one of them above…little Cindermouse astonished by the arrival of her very own fairy godmouse who will transform the world as she knows it.
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This particular illustration is near and dear to my heart. Years ago, in my early days as an aspiring writer, I’d written on the back of it: “There ain’t no such thing as a fairy godmouse.”
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And what did that uncompromising statement and the charming image that inspired it mean to me?
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The winged and wand-waving rodent was a humorous “reality check” that, as much as I hoped for, longed for, and dreamed of reaching readers as a published writer, no fairytale creature was going to step in and magically do it for me while I watched from the sidelines. No fairy godmouse would type my book as I slept. She wouldn’t polish my prose, transform the sagging story middle or cover other flaws of craftsmanship with fairy dust while I attended to other things.
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The essence of the familiar Cinderella story—a good-hearted, mistreated lady (or lad!) magically being granted success—is one rooted in cultures throughout the world for thousands of years. It’s certainly well-established in our modern-day collective psyches, often to our detriment when it encourages us to lethargically await a magical, effortless intervention requiring little or no commitment or exertion on our own part.
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Bible teacher Joyce Meyer says “God actually chooses people on purpose who absolutely cannot do what He is asking them to do unless they allow Him to do it through them.”
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But she doesn’t mean He does everything FOR us while we’re off having our nails done or getting a massage. Instead, He chooses to do things WITH us. He is the power source but we are His instrument if we willingly make ourselves available.
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From the very beginning of my writing journey, I knew I didn’t want to be published if it wasn’t God’s best plan for me. I also knew early on that while God might plant story ideas in my head and frequently pick me up and dust me off when I despaired of ever attaining publication, he expected ME to sit down at the keyboard and hammer out the thousands of necessary words. He’d grant me the courage to enter a contest, but he wouldn’t send off the entry. He’d give me insights into the feedback received from judges, but He himself wouldn’t incorporate those lessons into my manuscript while I was taking a nap. He’d point the way to open doors of opportunity, but he wouldn’t force me to walk through them. Even if I did everything “right,” the effort came with no guarantees of publication or remaining published. I had (have) to be “good” with that.
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It’s a partnership if we choose to sign on.
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Few things in life that are worth doing come easy if you want to excel at them. God won’t wave a wand over my writing dreams. He wants me to build spiritual muscle in order to be healthy and strong, to have endurance for the long haul, to grow in deeper relationship with Him. He’s using the writing dream to develop those things in me. But it takes a time and effort commitment on my part. Self-discipline. Setting and meeting goals. Dismissing negative self-talk. Trusting God. While I may still sometimes wonder why it took so long to get published and wonder why it can still be so hard to write a contracted book, I know God’s developing my “core” self. Building layer upon layer of “muscle” in the most central part of who I am and who He wants me to be. In His eyes, pursuing the writing dream is more than the attainment of publication. Much more.
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For me, it’s been an ongoing lesson in perseverance, patience, self-discipline and overcoming fear. It’s been growth in time management and craftsmanship, in coming to better understand the power of Story. It’s seeking God’s support and guidance and continuously being willing to conform to—and trust in—His will even when I’d rather take a shortcut or throw in the towel.
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So what do you think would have happened to our beleaguered Cindermouse if that winged and be-wanded fairy creature hadn’t made a timely arrival? Would she still be sitting in the ashes, feeling sorry for herself because she can’t complete a book? Making excuses because she’d rather watch TV or cruise the internet than “pump iron” at the keyboard? Whining because the road to publication (and staying published) is often harder than she’d ever imagined? Or would she seek God’s guidance and solider on?

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At this very moment I’m under a pressing deadline for a book that’s due at the end of June. Several other Seekers are currently in a similar boat. We believe the books we’re writing are a God-pleasing endeavor, but we also know that no one is going to complete our manuscript for us. No one else is going to expend the creative energy, make the required sacrifices or carve out time to sit in front of our computer—except us.
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That’s reality.There’s no such thing as a fairy godmouse.
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Many of you who visit Seekerville are among those who’ve stopped waiting for the appearance of wand-waving fairytale creature. You prayerfully determined this is a direction God would like you to explore. There are no guarantees that you’ll ever be published or remain published, but there’s a promise that God will use your efforts to make you an instrument fit for His purpose—whatever that may be. You made a decision to step out and commit to do your part. You’re writing regularly, you’re taking on-line writing courses, attending conferences, joining critique groups, submitting entries to contests and queries to agents and editors. Some of you have even become published authors since we first met you on the sunny beaches of our Unpubbed Seeker Island!
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So please share with us today what the turning point was for you—when you went from merely daydreaming to pursuing the dream in tangible, measurable ways. How do you keep going when attaining the dream doesn’t happen overnight, when you desperately long to get your hands on a magic wand? What evidence do you see that God is building your “spiritual muscle” through this ongoing endeavor?
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If you’re an Unpubbed Seeker Islander who’s not yet taking concrete steps toward pursuing your writing dream, what are you waiting for?
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And please don’t tell me a fairy godmouse!!
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Glynna
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If you’d like to be entered in a drawing for a winner’s choice of one of my books, please mention it in the comments section, then check our Weekend Edition for the winner announcement!

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Glynna Kaye’s debut book “Dreaming of Home” was a finalist in the ACFW Carol and Maggie awards, as well as a first place winner of the “Booksellers Best” and “Beacon” awards. Her 4 1/2 star “At Home In His Heart” was chosen as a Reviewers Choice finalist by national magazine RT Book Reviews. “A Canyon Springs Courtship,” her sixth Love Inspired book (and the fifth set in the mountain country of Arizona), releases in September 2013--with two more contracted for 2014!