My friend Ginger lives in Idaho. We met a year and a half ago at the Write To Publish conference in Wheaton, Illinois. We became friends when we learned that we had both lived in same remote area near the Montana/South Dakota border. Since Harding County, where I used to live, and Russell County, where she used to live, have a combined population of about 3,000 people we knew our meeting was a divine appointment. So for the past year we’ve been collaborating on a mystery novel set in the area. In fact the picture above, of the Jump Off in Harding County, was taken during a research trip to our old stomping grounds last June.
A few weeks ago, we hit our writing stride. We made daily progress on the novel and were typing toward our goal of having the book half finished by the end of September. But an email on September 23 halted our busy fingers. Ginger’s email said she’d taken her elderly mother to church that morning. Then lunch with Ginger and her husband, her mother went to her own trailer for a nap. A few hours later, when Ginger checked on her, her mother was dead. They think her heart gave out. In today’s email, Ginger said she’s grateful that her mother didn’t suffer. But she misses her every day. It will be a while before she’s ready to move forward with the book.
All that’s happened reminds me that I often live according to whatever path I create for myself. The reality is, that God makes the path I follow. And once in a while He reminds me that when He puts puts me on a road similar to the Jump Off. He lets me see just enough to keep going, but not enough to see the final destination.
I imagine that’s how Ginger feels right now. So I’ll be praying for her as God leads her through this hard time. And one day when she’s healed enough for the journey, we’ll hit the writing road again. Who knows where we’ll end up?
