In honor of heading to Chicago for my third Write-to-Publish Conference, I am posting the very first non-newspaper item that I ever had published. It was a children’s devotion called The Rotten Apple, and it was the result of a writing exercise at one of the classes I took at my first Write-to-Publish Conference.
Because Terri Kelly (then editor at Devokids) chose to publish it, I started to believe I could do this writing thing. Now several years and many acceptance letters (and many rejection letters) later, I am looking forward to soaking in as much writing knowledge as I can in my whirlwind two-day Chicago trip.
“Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts.” —Larry L. King, WD
The Rotten Apple
My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight.
Proverbs 3:21NIV
“Ewww. Gross!” Jeff hollered from the deck. He had just watched his little brother Paul sink his teeth into an apple he found on the ground beneath Grandma’s apple tree. Jeff rushed to Paul’s side just as the five-year-old grimaced and spit the bite of rotten apple into the grass.
With a trickle of apple juice dribbling down his chin, Paul looked from the discarded fruit on the ground up into Jeff’s eyes. “That apple looked yummy, but it was gross.”
Many things look good at first glance. Just like the apple. Paul saw a shiny apple on the ground, but he didn’t look close enough to discover the underside was rotten.
Sometimes we do that too. Bad things can seem attractive simply because we don’t look close enough. Like buying a magazine just because our favorite athlete is on the cover only to find that the advertisements inside are inappropriate. Or watching a television show because the kids at school say it is funny only to find out that the content is not pleasing to God.
It is always wise to take a serious look at opportunities before we make decisions we regret. No one wants to mistakenly sink their teeth into a rotten apple.
