Six Days
With words He took nothing and created everything;
six days, and all that was done was good.
The day, the night, earth and seas did His power bring,
six days, He worked and all was made as it should.
Vegetation and plants He made, which all yielded seeds
six days, which can be measured by the stars He also made.
Then He created the fish and birds and animals of all breeds;
six days, He spoke, and His work shall never fade.
Then He made man in His own likeness,
and gave Him dominion over all other creations.
six days He worked, and all was flawless,
six days He created with nothing but His orations.
He gave man and woman blessings of faithfulness.
Six days he worked, and He needed nothing more than declarations.
The Lessons From The Master
He promised the poor his kingship;
He said those who mourn will always be comforted.
He offered the earth to the meek of his fellowship;
Let our hearts and his lessons never be parted.
Those who hunger for righteousness shall be filled.
Those who offer mercy will receive it.
Praise our Lord Christ, through whom the prophecies will fulfilled,
To you, dear Jesus, and your teachings do we, your servants, commit.
He took the things said to those of old,
and clarified them so we may know
the truth and context of what was told.
With Him we learn and hope and grow.
Let us follow his teachings and commands.
Let us follow him, every woman, child, and man.
The Glory
To Him who saved the Israelites from the Pharaoh of Egypt,
to Him goes the glory always.
He is perfect and mighty; to Him goes the praise;
For He raised His son from Death, now empty is the crypt.
To Him who delivered Jerusalem in fulfillment of an oath,
To Him goes the glory forever.
His love and mercy always endure, come whatever.
For he is the God of jews and gentiles both.
To him who gave us the profits, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel and Moses,
God of Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham,
He who judges and has mercy, He who curses and blesses,
He who granted Salvation, His son was the lamb,
the glory goes to Him who sees humanity through its distresses.
To Him goes the glory, He who calls himself I AM.
Redemption
What a glorious thing I’ve been given
from the God-man incarnate from above.
It matters not how much I’ve striven,
Only His grace, which was given from love.
Even though I am undeserving,
He paid the price for my transgressions.
His care for me is ever unswerving;
All I can give back are my confessions.
He is my Savior for what he’s done;
His substitution is my redemption.
His blood and sacrifice my soul have won;
His death the key to my adoption.
I accept you, my Savior, in my heart,
With that and repentance my new life and sanctification start.
The Armor
Let us clear away our hypocrisy that we may fight free;
let righteousness cover our hearts, Lord, so temptation can’t get in.
Let your good news grant our feet certainty, so we won’t slip by a single degree;
Let us trust in you, and let that trust cover our bodies and keep us from the darts of sin.
Let us always remember we are saved, let doubt never enter our minds;
Help us to train, oh Lord, to study your word like a blade master trains with his sword.
Help make your word a part of us, for we know that he who seeks finds;
Let us recall the right verses when we face temptation; then victory over sin will be our reward.
Let us wear your armor, Lord, and never remove it;
Let us be guarded by you always and never let down our guard.
We pray to be alert, Our Father, lest to our own natures we submit.
We pray to be alert, Our Father, lest our walk with you be jarred.
Let us stand with you always and trust in your grace.
Let us wear your armor, Lord, and let us walk in the faith.
Willing
We are able, Lord, we are able;
They spoke to him to gain his favor.
They wanted the left and right seats of his table,
but they did not understand our Savior.
They did not understand the true cost
of service and submission.
He was about to die for the Lost,
and they would suffer on his commission.
They did indeed find the glory they sought,
but not before paying the price.
The value of service is what the master taught,
and they learned so well through his sacrifice.
Now we are asked if we are willing;
let us be so for all the days we are living.
Rule Us
Let us humble ourselves to your mighty hand;
let us strive first to be righteous.
To seek to do or accomplish for ourselves is erroneous,
for you exalt, in due time, those who do as you demand.
Let us trust in you with all our hearts
and think first of how to glorify you.
For without your will, there is not point in what we do
We seek your kingdom and scripture to be our ramparts,
Our own works count for nothing beside your great plan.
The true blessing is to submit and trust in your grace.
Let us do so, oh Lord, and bring you to smile.
For we know disobedience is where our sin began,
and it was obedience of your son on earth that this original sin is erased
because our own understanding is not worthwhile.
I’d like it to be this:
I’ve published two books so far. I’m not ever going to stop writing. I’ll either make it, or I won’t, but I believe I’ll succeed in time if I just keep at it. I believe the same of you.
I will not use this book to prove my state of mind any more than I will to dispute the book’s content. I believe a man’s actions are either in line with God’s will, or contrary to it. A man may choose to go against God’s will because God granted man the power of choice. Yes, man can choose to refuse to worship, but that refusal doesn’t diminish God, it demises and condemns the man refusing. Here I feel it appropriate to mention that it is my opinion that the best way a man worship’s God is in living out his purpose. The fear comes from the line between one’s conviction in what he’s doing is God’s will vs assuming any man can actually KNOW God’s will. This is an issue I would greatly appreicate more elaboration on.
The quote reads, “We can ignore even pleasure, but pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
What I believe in this regard is that God gave us free will, and demands obedience to His will. What pain I suffer I do not believe is God punishing me any more than I feel that the joys I receive are rewards. The blessings and trials I receive are for me to learn and grow from. They are, in my individual opinion, not devices of training, but tools for growth. I see a distinction. As a man, I just don’t want my dogs to pee on the floor. So we spank and punish behavior to correct it. It makes sense to draw the correlation, but I feel it’s misplaced. A man just wants his dog to behave; I feel God wants man to become. Man wants animals to behave as man wishes; God wants us, I believe, to become the works of art he sees we can be. This requires more than simple training, but teaching.
My pain, in my belief, is far more my fault than God’s displeasure with me. My choices and actions have consequences. The religious implications of those actions are not necessarily related to the earthly ones. But I do think about it.
At this point, I remember the most important part of myself. It is when I write, that I most feel I am doing what I’m meant to do. Writing has nothing to do with being read or selling books.
You are here for a reason. So, the question is: Why?
I met Rusty somewhere around two years ago. We both teach at the same school. Over the last few months, we’ve been working more closely as he’s teaching the same segment of the course I teach.
I haven’t had the pleasure of getting to know Mr. Laprath. He’s currently a reservist in the Air Force, and any time I can help out a fellow veteran, I’m going to. You can find out more about him on the 
After more time and revisions that I could ever count, I’m so very proud to say that my second book is ready to send off for review and, more importantly, publishing! I don’t know that this feeling will ever get old for me, but I plan to enjoy every moment I can every time I reach this stage. About a year-and-a-half ago, I published 
I don’t have a release date yet, but I’ll announce that as soon as I get a few things figured out. What matters to me is first that my dream has come true a second time. That doesn’t happen without God’s help, and a lot of help from some very important mortals as well.
Peggy has become a huge supporter of mine after Bob. She’s read a few key scenes here and there, and I can’t wait to see what she thinks of the finished product. She’s a one-person sales and celebration team who I’ve come to admire more and more since meeting her.
As I type this, I’ve sold less than 300 copies of my first book. I’m ranked 532,049th among Amazon’s authors. My sales graph looks like a jumbo slide at a theme park.
You fail when you quit: This is something I was taught even as a kid. To my own detriment, I’m one who refuses to quit. I’m fiercely loyal. I’m ABSOLUTELY dedicated. When I say “I will,” I do. So when I start to feel like a failure, I try something. I try ANYTHING I can think of that I think will help me improve. I try a new marketing scheme. I try a new sales tactic.
Remember Where You Started: Even if I NEVER sell a book again, I’ve still written a book. It’s not easy. You see, in reference to my earlier statement, I see sales as sales. I don’t consider the sale of said book to be the goal of writing. Finishing a book is the goal of writing. Selling said book is the goal publishing the next book. No matter how low I get, I realize nothing stops me from writing another book.
Finding Wins: This is a harder concept to grasp. For me, one of my most powerful wins is that the bulk of my readers like my book. According to 
Talking To People: This is critical. We writers can be pretty miserable at times. We’re actually very fun people on the whole (well, maybe I’m not, but I’m not all that normal a guy to begin with). The thing is we’re artists, and we artists are emotional beings. I’ve had several conversations with all my writer friends.
So those four things are what keep me going. I understand that one of them amounts to, “just keep going, cause screw giving up,” but it works for me. My friends hate this phrase I quote, “I am Orwell’s Boxer, and I will work harder.” But that’s me in a nutshell. I’ll never stop. I’ll never give in. I may end up old and in a metaphorical glue factory, but I’ll never give in. When I feel the temptation to get too self pitying, any one or combination of these things helps me get moving again.
Whilst wandering the Earth in search of more skills, I came upon a scroll. I don’t know how it came to be under a rock in a cave I didn’t realize I’d need to sleep in until the snow grew so thick I couldn’t see, nor do I understand why I bothered to glance at it before I burned said paper for much-desired warmth. The important thing is I read it.
I re-read the word over and over. Was there more? Nothing. Who would waste so much paper for a single, five-letter word? The excitement I felt when I saw the title was replaced by the need for self-preservation. My body was shaking from the cold at this point and my fingers were likely to become individually wrapped popsicles.
“You gonna hold me all day, or do you mean to do something?”
“I still don’t have any ideas.”
Frustrated, I stabbed the pen onto the scroll and started writing a story about an argumentative quill destined to help an aspiring author create the greatest story ever told.
I’d decided to be a writer, and I realized all I needed to be so was to write. I started out as a discovery writer. I just made crap up and wrote until it made sense to me. I kept going until I’d finished my first book. It was awful. The description was lacking. The setting made no sense. The plot was trite.
I joined the Navy and learned how to be a journalist. I saw a bit of the world. I got distracted, but I eventually recommitted to what I wanted to be. I wanted to be a writer, so I wrote. I tried to save that first book. I literally tried 21 times to make that book something ready to be published. It’s still not. So I wrote a new book. I joined a writer’s group. Those words came more and more easily to me. The more I wrote, the more I wrote. The more times I typed “the end,” the more times I started a new book.
Everyone with a dream has that moment of calling. It’s almost never some obvious magical moment in a cave with a magical, talking quill. It’s hardly ever some wise old traveler coming to change your life. The real world isn’t that kind. The real world lets you do, whatever it is you want to do.
I don’t care what you write. Just write. I don’t care if it’s good; that’s what editing is for. I don’t care if no one likes it; write what you like. Just write. It doesn’t have to be a thousand words. It can be a block of time or a smaller number of words. But every day you write, you’ll find it easier to write. I promise! Every day you write, you’ll find you’ve written more and more. I promise!
I’m afraid my family will never truly understand how much I love them, so I drop everything I’m doing to pick up the phone when they call or spend time with them when they ask.
I’m afraid I’ll never be a good enough teacher, so I spend every day at work looking at
That makes me afraid I’ll never be a good enough mentor, so I pick up the phone every time one of “my Sailors” sends a text, sends a message or calls.
I’m afraid my friends will never know how important they are to me, so I never let them go. Even if we don’t speak for days, months or years, I remember them, and I make it a point to be there when they need. I’m afraid they’ll need me, and I won’t be there, so sometimes I just check in on them.
I do the things I’m afraid to do because if we never dare to try the impossible, we never achieve the impossible. I do the things I’m afraid to do because if we never face our fears, fear wins. I understand the paradox I’ve created. It’s true. Ultimately, I do the things I fear most because of my innate fear of failure. So I’m fighting a battle I’ve already lost.
One of those other things I say a lot is, “I hear with my eyeballs.” I invite you to try the same tactic. Look at your life. What’s the thing you do no matter how tired you are? Who are the people you make time for no matter how busy you are? This doesn’t diminish the existence of other people or other things, it simply shows you what you’re really putting your time into. If the things you want aren’t the things you’re doing, then aren’t you afraid you’ll never get the time to do the things you’ve always wanted?
I’m exhausted. I wake up at 6:30 and work until 6:30. I go home, and I spend time with my niece (I have quite a few of those) and sister (and even more of those) because I’m afraid they’ll leave, and they won’t know how much I love them. I spend time with them until they go to bed because I’m afraid to miss one moment with them. Then I go downstairs and I write because I’m afraid I’ll never finish revisions on Caught, and that makes me afraid I’ll never start working on Sojourn in Despair. I’m so afraid that I write as I’m writing now at 1:15 a.m.
M.L.S. Weech 