Author: dannrobertjohnson

DTC and CTP

DTC!

For all those who’ve dipped toes in the adoption world before…

You know “DTC” stands for “Date to China.” This means our dossier (all the paperwork compiled together, each document notarized, state certified and authenticated as necessary) has been shipped from the U.S.!

Next on the list: LID (Login Date), signifying CCCWA in China has received and logged in our dossier, at which point the process on this side of the ocean starts moving forward.

In other adoption news: Lifesong for Orphans, via one of their outside partners: We Care for Orphans, has given us a matching grant of $3000! We are so grateful for the Lord’s provision.

 

CTP!

Here’s an acronym no one’s familiar with. Cause I just made it up.

“Continuing Towards Publication.” That’s my update on the Lily Was the Valley front.

No, I haven’t landed a literary agent.

Nope, no publishers knocking at my door.

I’m getting ready to self-publish, educating myself (slowly) about the process, deciding what to do about a cover, but overall feeling pretty good about everything at present.

I also recently contacted a fellow author about my manuscript, and her advice was to seek professional editing for X reason. So, feeling pretty sensitive about my own editing chops being thus slighted (not that all authors don’t need editors, we do), I saw the problem and did a major restructuring of Part I myself, then sent a hard copy on to the Big League editor in Manhattan. Might be the most rewarding $30 bucks I’ve spent on the book-writing journey so far––here’s what he said:

 Got LILY WAS THE VALLEY Wednesday and spent some time with it last night, and I’d be delighted to work on it. However, I’m not at all sure you need an editor, what I read was very well done (about 35 or 40 pages and I scanned the rest). If I were to work on it I would have to go through it carefully twice (which is my basic discipline) and my fee would be $2,000. But I’m not sure at all that it would be worth your money. Definitely don’t hire me unless you’re prepared for an evaluation that said you’d done a terrific job and it doesn’t need any, or much, work. Of course, I can’t say this for sure without carefully reading it twice, but I think there’s a good chance that you’re in excellent shape, so if money is tight my advice would be to skip editing and go ahead.

This guy’s resume proved he was no slouch, and after scores of rejection letters, getting that letter made me feel about the best I have in a long time. I’m grateful for everyone who has chimed in on getting the current manuscript to where it is now.

 

So…Everett and the book, they’re neck and neck. I wonder who’s going to arrive first?

 

 

Orphan Sunday –– 5 Ways You Can Make a Difference

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November 8, 2015. Christians around the world will observe Orphan Sunday and will stand in solidarity for the vulnerable. Many churches will highlight James 1:27 and renew their commitment to visit orphans in their affliction. Whether you are a church member or a member of church staff, you have an opportunity to join believers in standing for the orphan on this important day.

Here are 5 ways you can get involved:

1. PRAY. Pray for church leadership as they decide how to care for vulnerable children and families. Pray for Christians to reflect God’s love at home and abroad. Pray for the needs of the fatherless.

2. PLAN. November will be here before we know it. We’ve got a countdown clock as well as resources available to make sure November 8 doesn’t sneak up on you.

3. REFLECT. Orphan Sunday isn’t the church’s version of a greeting card holiday meant to give churches something fun to do. Instead, in the words of Francis Chan–

We’re children of God. We should celebrate that we are no longer orphans. We’re loved by this Father. We’re in this eternal family. And this overflow of joy makes us want to rescue these other kids. I want to do a little bit of what God did for me.

4. COMMIT. Orphan Sunday looks different for every church. Sermons, small groups, youth classes, prayer meetings … all afford Christians the opportunity to acknowledge the day however God leads. Launch an adoption fund or complete a Journey Bag drive. The options are as unique as each church. Bottom line: Influence your fellow church family in whatever sphere you serve.

5. PRAISE. Praise God in advance for what He will accomplish in November. In the words of David Platt–

When I think about Orphan Sunday, I think about a celebration of worship resounding to the Father in churches around the world who are saying, ‘We are your people adopted by your grace, brought into Your family, and we’re worshiping You for that together–as Your children–as a global family.’ And at the same time, we’re standing together, we’re praying together, and we’re committing ourselves together.”

What will you do this November? We’d love to hear from you and help however we can.

Learn More

  • This post was a copy/paste that Lifesong for Orphans, an organization that has been involved with all 3 of our adoptions, provided me for this purpose. I hope you click the link. And I hope your team won on this Kickoff Sunday. Unless they were playing mine. Don’t post any scores in the comments, I haven’t watched yet! For those of you who don’t care, or live under a rock as large as China––where, as far as I could tell, the day passed without observation––we’re talking about the NFL… something our culture has managed to make a pretty big deal of.
  • So let’s make a big deal of doing something for orphans, too, eh? Click the link above!
  • Dann

Handwriting Defended.Then Diminished.

Does anybody write on paper anymore?

I do. Most mornings. My usual: “Good morning, Lord,” followed by journaling followed by comments on whatever Scripture I’m reading that day.

Today I was done journaling after 4 lines. Then (the Book of Revelation has never exactly been my favorite place for devotions) my written comments about Revelation 8 were not much longer. 

Except they started a train of thought that went on for 7 pages.

When’s the last time you hand-wrote seven college-ruled pages’ worth?

About a dozen years ago, I tried to switch over from handwritten devo notes to digital ones. We’d just moved to China for the first time, and I’d discovered that the notebook paper I’d been journaling on since I was 18* was nowhere to be purchased.

I hated digital journaling. I gave up after less than a month. Too much of the rest of my life was digital. So since that time I have either brought paper in myself or had others bring it to me from the States.

Here’s the other weird thing I noticed this morning [it happened only because I did a rare immediate re-read because Tammy, who once in a while does, had asked to read, and so I went back to remember all I’d written about]: I observed that when writing on paper, I never correct myself.

Weird. I can write on and on and when I’m done, if I go back and read it, I don’t care to change anything. Whereas that never happens when typing. I can’t so much as write an email without editing it thrice, plus.

But I was soon to discover––though I’d thought these were the reasons––it was not the paper, and not the handwriting that made the difference.

No. Because I proceeded to also wrote this blog entry out by hand. As an experiment. (That and Tammy had my laptop in a coffee shop taking some online course.) And, lo and behold, I did not proceed to embark on some no-need-to-edit stream-of-consciousness piece. Far from it, my paper (pictured above) was full of cross-outs. Carrots for inserted words. Whole paragraph insertions. Then, after transposing it here, it changed so much it’s hardly the same document anymore.

So…if it’s not using paper that makes for un-edited writing, what is it? If it’s not the handwriting, what is it?

It’s the audience.

The audience. I guess that means––and this can only be good news––you’re not God. God is the only one I can write to without having to constantly adjust for clarity. Without repeatedly analyzing how I might more thoroughly impress him.

Writing to him happens on a level that writing to anyone else cannot go.

Do you ever write him, friend?

If that’s not your particular habit, why not take today and do your own experiment? Who knows what you might learn (don’t expect he’s going to learn anything) in your own 7 pages? I’ll heartily recommend notebook paper and a pen––they do give the brain that little bit of extra think-time as the hand catches up––but less so than I would have yesterday. For they’re not what matter the most.

It’s the audience.

Happy letter-writing.

 

 

*gotta credit that 8½”x11″ recommendation to you, Mrs. Stimmel––freshman year at Crown College.