By Julie Lavender
Beautiful sights and scents of spring adorn my south-Georgia town. Honeysuckle and wisteria vines twist throughout the trees in the back yard, and yellow Jessamine dots the edge of the forest beyond. The dainty flowers attract nectar-seekers, especially honey bees, this time of year.
Married to an entomologist, I’m quite fascinated with God’s diminutive insects, though I prefer to enjoy them from a safe distance. The honey bee is one of my many favorites, because it often reminds me of a writer’s pursuit.
According to a trivia page on the National Honey Board website, honey bees must tap into two million flowers just to make one pound of honey! That’s a lot of nectar-seeking. On our writing journey, we may need to tap into millions – well, at least lots and lots – of resources to find those choice, sweet words to write for the Lord. Once collected, those delicacies might take the form of newspaper articles, magazine articles, devotions, books, blog posts, or more.
Apparently, a hive of bees flies over 55,000 miles to produce that one pound of honey. Writers often journey for miles, with a great deal of hills and valleys and mountaintops along the way. Writers need a “hive” of fellow scribes throughout the trek to support and encourage, too.
An average worker honey bee makes only one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime, exactly what God ordained for each honey bee. A delicious dab of sweetness!
What sweet contribution will you make as a writer? How many miles will you travel and how many flowers will you visit? God’s ordained that, too.
May the words you write BEE sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
365 Ways to Love Your Child
Julie Lavender is a journalist, author, and former homeschooling mom of twenty-five years who holds a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education. Julie and her husband David (her high-school and college sweetheart) have four children and a sweet, sixteen-month-old grandson. Julie loved living in various locations across the country as the wife of a medical entomologist for the United States Navy. After her husband retired from active duty, the family moved back to their hometown, and David began work as a wildlife biologist at a nearby Army installation. Julie’s parenting book, 365 Ways to Love Your Child: Turning Little Moments into Lasting Memories, releases in October. Julie also co-authored two devotionals with Michelle Cox. She is a freelance stringer for the Statesboro Herald Newspaper, and she’s published in several magazines, including Guideposts and Focus on the Family’s Clubhouse Magazine, and several parenting and homeschooling blogs. Connect with Julie on her FaceBook page or her Facebook Group, 365 Ways to Love Your Child.
