What Speckles taught me
For almost a year I’ve worked on Speckles, the Ordinary Chicken: writing the story, wrestling over words, finding a illustrator, realizing she couldn’t capture what I wanted to convey, finding a new illustrator who could. On Sunday afternoon, I prepared to upload the book to Lightning Source.
Surprisingly, a wave of sadness hit me, and I was unable to shake it. Why? It didn’t make sense.
Deciding to give it some time before the upload, I went for a walk. As I followed our creek trail which skirts our forest, a phrase came to me. “Better is the end of the thing than the beginning.” I wondered, Is that from the Bible? How could an end better?
In my mind, I listed ends: end of a career, end of a marriage, end of a great movie or a book. Those don’t seem like something that was better than the beginning.
When I got home, I looked in my concordance to see if the phrase was in the Bible and not something I made up. Yes. Ecclesiastes 7:8. “The end of a matter is better than its beginning. (NIV)”1
Then using one of the classical tools of inquiry, comparison,2 I made a written list so I could better reflect:
| Beginning | Both | End |
| Unknown potential new journey anticipation excitement sense of wonder | Resolution journey over perils known increased faith rest |
I stopped there, but as I studied this very short list, both the beginning and the end of something seemed equally good. Then I looked at the Both column. Lord, what does the beginning and the end have in common? What do you want to show me?
| Beginning | Both | End |
| Unknown potential new journey anticipation excitement sense of wonder | New opportunities New journey New ideas New challenges New relationships New discoveries New connections Greater trust | Resolution journey over perils known increased faith rest |
What did this exercise teach me? Once one end has arrived, it’s time for a new journey to begin. So, after I receive the refined book cover of my dear companion, Speckles, I will upload it then send the manuscript of Speckles the Brave to my illustrator.
The rest of Ecclesiastes 7:8 reads, “and patience is better than pride.” While I wait for Speckles the Brave to show herself, it will be with patience and expectancy. Lord, what will I learn in that new journey?