No Smoking

I need multiple miracles that I've been praying for. However, as I've mentioned before, not much seems to work in the desert. Mostly, it's been a lot of waiting while trying to do all the right things. It's very difficult and very discouraging. I was at church the other night, when I started thinking about when I smoked as a teenager, lo these many years ago. By the way, going to a service helps keep the devil off my back even if there's nothing special in the message for me. Spiritual attacks are diminished somehow. Watching something on TV isn't the same.

I smoked for several years as a teen before I quit at 20. I'd tried quitting various times before that last time. It took three months. During those three months, I craved a cigarette every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every fortnight of every month. I sure got a lot of reading done trying to distract myself from the constant struggle not to smoke. It's easy to say but almost impossible to describe how hard those three months were. It was a non-stop battle.

Then one day three months after I quit, it was like a switch was flipped. I no longer craved cigarettes. It was literally an overnight thing. Smoking wasn't part of my life any more. A few short years after that, I had to remember that I used to smoke. When people talked about smoking or needing a cigarette, I didn't relate to it anymore to the point where I actually had to remember smoking. At first I wouldn't even think about when I used to smoke. Why would I? It's the same way today. It's like, "Oh, yeah, I used to smoke."

So, while I was sitting in that service, I suddenly realized something I didn't consider when I was trying to quit smoking. That epic, three-month struggle was resisting the devil to get him to flee. It didn't happen overnight, but he did flee in the end. Today I have permanent victory over cigarettes if I want it. I'm sure I could somehow smoke again, but the victory is mine to maintain.

Maybe these miracles I've been praying and waiting for are like quitting smoking. Maybe there's some kind of satanic hindrance that I have to resist through to reach the victory. There seemed to be a set time period for quitting smoking. Maybe some of the hindrance today has a set time to end. If you've been struggling to get an answer, maybe it's the same for you.

Winning

I'm on a K.M. Weiland mailing list. Every month there's a drawing that I didn't notice in which four people on the mailing list win an ebook of their choice. I was one of the winners for November! I already had all her books except Jane Eyre: Writer's Digest Annotated Classics. I've wanted it in paperback, but Writer's Digest books always seem to be overpriced. I subscribe to their magazine and get their emails, so I know.

I responded to the notification email telling me I'd won and asked for the Jane Eyre book. It turned out that it's the only one she can't send an ebook for. Future winners will be notified of that. :) However, and this is the reason I even brought it up at all, she offered to send me a paperback edition instead. She even asked if that was ok. Of course, it was! That's the one I've been wanting/needing anyway, but she didn't know that. I offered to pay postage on it. She wouldn't let me. What an awesome thing to do and what a nice gal.

Another reason I bring this up is that I've been in this desert for several years where almost nothing seems to work. The spiritual attacks and hindrances seem endless. I've been needing a breakthrough in the worst way and massive amounts of prayer. This year especially has been awful. Winning this book so unexpectedly and having it work out to get the edition I preferred/needed is the biggest thing that's gone right in I don't know when. It's the complete opposite of how things have been going for so long. Right after that I won $10, no purchase necessary. I'm really hoping these are signposts that the end of the desert is near.

Book Stuff
I finished going through the rough draft again. It's resting for 30 days.
NaNoWriMo did not happen for me this year. I wanted to do it, but my outline wasn't in a good place yet, and I was still working on the rough draft. It took longer than I thought. There was no point in forcing it. I've already done two books this year. It's not something I felt that I absolutely had to do. Maybe next year.

Lake Stop

That's a Christmas tree topper I saw at Walmart. Sorry it's blurry. It was a quick cell phone pic at low res. Why does that look so familiar? I can't imagine who thought this was appropriate for Christmas or who authorized it for sale. Creeping sharia.

Below are pics of a local lake I took today. I'd never been on the back side before. In the second picture you can just make out the line of the road going by. They even have a small beach. I spent about ten minutes there and saw maybe 5 people.

Book Stuff
I'm still going through the rough draft, but I'm almost done with the latest pass.