Montana Writing Retreat!

I love Montana. I arrived this afternoon to a glorious view of the Montana big sky. The big round and warm thing in the sky was a welcome sight after leaving a dark and rainy Seattle. We haven’t seen the sun a whole lot this winter.
I’m here for a writing retreat at my sister Kathy and brother-in-law Denny’s house. Their last name is Goodheart. That name is so very fitting. They are good-hearted Montana folk.
I always feel like a princess in my room at their house. I have a desk to set up for writing. I sleep in a huge king size bed with a cozy down comforter. The stars extend to forever in the midnight sky over their hot tub. I love it.
I have a deadline for my devotional book so I’m excited to work on that this week. Thoughts have been brewing in my journal and in my heart for many months. Now I need to organize them in the format needed for this book.
My book is a called Caregivers Devotions to Go. It will be published in January 2010.
On my last writing retreat at the Goodhearts, I created the book proposal for this book. Now I get to actually work on the manuscript. There is just something so good about this place.
Being here makes me miss my mom. She lived here for seven years. Many of the devotions I’m writing involve stories about her caring heart. She was an amazing caregiver as mom to her ten children. Many friends and neighbors affectionately called her “ma”. She was a wonderful caregiver to the hundreds of students she taught for twenty-six years. As grandma, she loved and cared deeply for her twenty-six grandkids. She only got to meet some of her great-grandchildren but she loved each one.
The last time I saw Mom alive was here in Billings when she took her last breath on October 20, 2007. Even in her death she cared enough to hang on so we could fly from Seattle to be with her. She held on until just a few hours after we arrived. Just like her. Always caring for the other guy.
As I write for my devotional book this week I plan to pay tribute to the caring legacy she left for her family. I only wish I had her editing expertise to scribble red ink all over my manuscript. I miss the excellent craftsman she was when it came to telling stories. She was ruthless when it came to typos. I miss that too!
God Bless Your Heart!
Gigi