“What specific species is that?” our neighbor asked about a tree with a branch of leaves turning reddish yellow. We were eating a 4^th of July Eve dinner—grilled brats, Keith’s baked beans, potato salad, slaw, and garden cucumbers—on the dining deck.

“I’m not sure,” I said. There are many trees clustered together on the slope above the deck.

Our neighbor continued. “Would you take a picture and send it to me?” And so, I did – the left image. This past weekend, I focused the “Picture This” app on the tree—the middle and right images—and identified the specific tree: a serviceberry. The beautiful yet distressed leaves were from a broken branch that dropped away.

Specific plans

“I think I’m beginning to wrap my brain around the business of writing,” I said four years ago to Lisa Romeo, writer, editor, and teacher. “But it feels like I’m promoting myself, and I’m not comfortable with that.”

“You’re going to have to become comfortable with that,” Lisa said, “because publishing is the other half of writing.” She listed what I needed to flesh out in the marketing section of my book proposal: 

• Reviews: media, Amazon, blogs
• Events: in-person, online, conferences
• Publications: book excerpts, essays, guest blogs, news articles
• Publicity: interviews, lists… and so forth.

“Maybe if I think about publishing like I did teaching, as a mission,” I said to Lisa. “I enjoyed promoting the missions of the schools where I taught. So, building a writing platform is my new mission.” Now, four years later, I’m enjoying this new mission, promoting my faith memoir Wisdom Builds Her House, all for the glory of God.

Specific details

Item 36, one quarter, a dime, and one penny. “It’s the specificity that wounds,” wrote Kristine S. Ervin in her memoir Rabbit Heart: A Mother’s Murder, a Daughter’s Story. The specific details, including the coins, were a list of items homicide investigators found in her murdered mother’s car. The specificity that both wounded and brought the murderers to justice.

Specific details matter in our relationships, too. Last Friday’s happy hour was a case in point. Keith has been making excellent progress on the sequel to his science fiction novel The Starflower, and that requires focus to the exclusion of distraction, sometimes including me. So, I can just barrel along, making unilateral decisions to my heart’s content, regardless of his. What ensued for our lack of specific communication was an uncomfortable standoff.

Marriage is challenging, surprising, joyful, sometimes painful, as both Keith and I well know. Intimate relationships can be uncomfortable—and should be, because that’s how we grow. That’s how we make it work.

Specific prayers

Our Tuesday morning Women’s Bible study always includes prayer requests: the who, what, when, and where. The why usually belongs to God, and results always do. Our job is to figure out how to specify our prayers.

Bob Hostetler’s article in Guideposts offers “5 Great Reasons to Pray Specifically.”

1)  Praying for specific needs clarifies our minds.

2)  Praying for specific needs helps us define our needs.

3)  Praying for specific needs emphasizes our dependence on and intimacy with God.

4)  Praying for specific needs makes us more alert to answers.

5)  Praying for specific needs increases our faith.

God’s plans are in the details. Specific praises, thanks, and needs focus our cameras, missions, relationships, and prayers on Him. His creation, His purpose, His grace, and His mercy.

Linkup with Five Minute Friday: https://fiveminutefriday.com/2024/07/04/fmf-writing-prompt-link-up-specific/