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Joseph – Sans the Dream Coat

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

I was reading my Bible this morning and came across a very simple verse that made me pause and reflect. I thought I’d share my musings with you all.

Many people know the story, but in case you don’t, I’ll give a very quick rundown. Joseph, son of Jacob, a man faithful to God, was sold into slavery by his older brothers. Through some twists and turns, ups and downs, Joseph ends up in the King’s prison. Two of the King’s workers – the cupbearer and the baker – angered Pharaoh and were sent to prison. They had dreams. Joseph interpreted them correctly and asked the cupbearer to remember him. Joseph didn’t deserve to be in prison and hoped the cupbearer would inform Pharaoh of this injustice.
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Now…here are the two simple verses that made me pause, taken from Genesis 40:23 – 41:1:
The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream.
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Okay, I’ve read over these verses many times before, thinking nothing about them. But WOW! Two full years?! Joseph had to wait two more full years – seven hundred and thirty more days in prison – before Pharaoh’s dream reminded the cupbearer of him. That is an incredibly long time to wait.
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It made me wonder… what was Joseph doing during those two years? I wonder if he thought he’d stay in prison forever. I wonder if he thought he would die there, forgotten and alone. I wonder if he got frustrated with God’s timing, wondering why in the world he was still there. I wonder if Joseph had days where he just gave up. It’s interesting to think about, isn’t it? Reading over the verses, the two years float right past our tongue. Yea, okay, so two years later Pharaoh had a dream. But hold up. Two years is a long time.
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Of course this made me think about my own life. In the midst of all this waiting, sometimes I find myself getting discouraged. When will I be able to stay home full time with Brogan, Lord? When will I get published? When will things start happening for me in this writing journey?
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Here’s the thing. I bet God had a lot of work to do with Joseph during those two years. I bet, during those two years, Joseph drew nearer to God. I bet he reached a point in his life where he had to let go of his dreams and just trust God to do His thing, whatever that may be.
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When I step back and gain some distance from my life, I’m able to see God working in me as well. He’s asking me to be still and know that He is God. He’s asking me to trust and to learn patience (something I have very little of). And throughout all this, I can feel Him taking my toes and my hair and stretching me out, growing me as a writer. As a person. I’ve learned SO much over this past year. Heck, I’ve learned SO much over the past month! And through this journey, I’ve grown closer to my maker.
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For whatever reason, God’s asking me to wait. And while this waiting might not end as glorious as Joseph’s (in case you don’t know, he becomes second to Pharaoh himself, a great leader of Egypt), God has a purpose for it.
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Question to ponder: What’s God asking you to wait for today? What are you doing while you wait?

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The 3 C’s: Cares, Concerns, and Celebrations

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Every Friday I’m going to start doing a 3 C’s post. Hope you enjoy!

Celebrations:
Today is my first day of summer vacation. I have nine glorious weeks to spend with my baby boy. No waking up, getting him ready, dropping him off at day care, and rushing off to work. It’s a wonderful, wonderful feeling.

My husband and I are celebrating our five year anniversary. It’s crazy to think we’ve been married for five whole years. It sure doesn’t feel that long!

Cares:
To raise awareness, please go visit Marybeth’s blog to learn about a rare, incurable disease affecting her nephew, Jacob.

Concerns:
I’m not quite sure if this should be a concern or a celebration. Brogan can crawl! He started Monday night. While it never gets old to watch, I can already tell this will be a summer filled with “chase the baby”.

I went running today for the first time in five months and I couldn’t make it more than a mile and a half. The weirdest thing… my legs weren’t sore, but my arms were killing me! Isn’t that odd? In my glory days (in college), I used to run seven miles six days a week. Boy has that changed! I even ran the Madison City Marathon.

All 3:
This last one is all three because I care about it, I’m concerned about it, and I’m not sure if I should celebrate it. I completely changed the beginning of Beneath a Velvet Sky. I cut the first two chapters and started at chapter three. For the life of me, I cannot decide if this was an improvement or not. I’m too close to the story to tell. While I sift through my thoughts and try to decide, chapters one and two are waiting in a separate file.

Question to Ponder: What are your cares, concerns, and celebrations on this beautiful Friday afternoon?removetweetmeme

GMC: Looking at the G

Posted on by Katie Ganshert

Besides Brandilyn Collins’ Getting into Character, I am also reading Goal, Motivation, and Conflict by Debra Dixon. These two are excellent books to read in tandem, since they sort of feed off one another.

Today I thought I’d blog about the G in GMC – which is Goal. Every main character in a book should have a goal – both internal and external. Debra says this goal needs to urgent and/or incredibly important. There should also be serious consequences attached to each goal. The “So what?” addendum. If this character doesn’t accomplish this particular goal, so what? Is the consequence big enough to make the reader care?
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Once we have the G’s established, we need to make them evident right off the bat. We don’t want to leave our reader guessing what it is our character wants. This is all so incredibly obvious…. in hindsight. Now that I’m reading about it, I’m having a fun time searching for the G’s in the books and movies I read and watch.
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For enjoyment, I’m reading Reclaiming Nick, by Christian fiction author, Susan May Warren. Right away (in the first chapter), she establishes the goals for all three of her main characters (MCs). I was amazed at how effectively she accomplishes this!
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Nick’s goal: Make sure Cole St. James doesn’t set foot on Silver Buckle land (external) and make amends for his past choices (internal)
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Piper’s goal: prove that Nick Noble lied and framed her brother for murder (external) and in the process, find healing/forgiveness for not believing her brother (internal)
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Maggie’s goal: to claim the land Bishop Noble left them (external) and start a new season of hope with her family (internal)
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The author really just lays it out, doesn’t she?
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I decided, before I start plotting out my next idea, that I need to have my MC’s goals firmly established. Remember how I said these two craft books I’m reading feed into one another? Well, currently, I’m having a hard time figuring out what my hero and heroine’s goals are going to be… especially the heroine. In order to discover them, I’m going to utilize Collins’ interview strategy. I’m making some progress with Gavin – but I haven’t quite hit rock bottom yet. I’m patiently waiting for his cooperation so I can discover what it is that makes him tick. And hopefully, in the process, figure out his goals for the story.
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Questions to ponder: So what about you? Do your MCs have goals? Are they working toward something? Are the goals important enough? Are there consequences for not meeting them? How do you establish these goals for the reader? And if you feel like it, please share your MC’s goals!

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