I’ll never forget the day my hubby came home from Moody Bible Institute’s Founder’s week, after listening to a sermon by Bruce Wilkinson…no, not a sermon, a challenge to go to Russia, to help the school system (yes!) teach a morals and ethics curriculum, to introduce the gospel to a country that had denied God for 70 years. His enthusiasm swept me away, and I was right there with him, ready to sell every thing we had, to pack up our life, and our two little children (ages newborn and 14 months) and hop a plane for Russia.

Thankfully, God gave me a little time to prepare, but a year later, there we were, filling out forms. And I stood at the pinnacle of an incredible journey…and panicked. What if our children got deathly ill there, and we couldn’t get them decent medical help? What if we will attacked by the growing mafia, or someone was kidnapped? I, like our hero for the past two weeks, stood at the edge of the journey and shrank back. I didn’t think I could do this…

And then, God gave me a verse. Just like that, out of the blue, Joshua 1:9 ~ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

I believed that verse. And I saw it action – God with us when our children DID get deathly ill, when I had to be flown out of the country for emergency surgery, when my son had appendicitis, when we were mugged, and held hostage, and eventually attacked in our home. We saw it when the KGB arrested Andrew on a train, and when one of our best Russian friends spent his dying days with us. God WAS with us, and that verse was a sword I carried with me to fight off doubt and fear.

This week, we’re moving our hero forward on his journey. The next step is “Supernatural Aid” – that thing, as our hero shrinks back from the journey, that empowers him to continue. It might be truly supernatural. Or it might be a token, something instrumental to his journey. In LOTR, it’s the Fellowship. In many romances, it’s the heroine/hero. In some books it’s a calling, or a diary, or a letter, or a promise. Whatever it is that equips your hero for the journey.

We writers are equipped, also. We’ve been called to a journey, and although sometimes it can seem overwhelming (like today, for me, as I’ve taken an old book and tried to give it new life), we can ask God for that Supernatural Aid to assist us on the journey. Maybe it’s a verse, or a song. Or just the knowledge of Phil 1:6 – he will continue the good work He is doing in your life. Ask him for it. Expect it. It’s all a part of the journey.

See you tomorrow when we talk about Secondary Character pt. 1: The voice of Reason!