Life on God’s “D” List

This was originally published in 2010…

Many years ago, a dear friend had emailed me about being depressed. Today, here in Wisconsin it is dark and stormy. Many of us go through storms of life that do leave us feeling: dark, down, depressed, defeated, deflated, discouraged, disabled. I shot the below “D” list to my friend then and ironically she has shot it back to me over the years and I have saved it because sometimes we all need some encouragement. So if you are in a dark place, if life is tough and the “D” words (kind of like Kathy Griffith’s “Life on the ‘D’ List”) have got you down – then take a look at life through GOD’s ‘D’ list instead:

Delightful – He lights up our lives!

Delectable & Delicious - Savor the sweetness of God!

Daring and Dangerous - Isn’t He just? And sometimes He calls us to be as well.

Dancing – In the arms of God! More fun than Dancing with the Stars!

Darling - That’s how He sees You!

Determined – To overcome Satan, we have that power through His Holy Spirit!

Demanding -We have a right to come before His throne with our requests!

Daddy - We can call Him this! Abba, Father!

Daughter - That’s who you are to Him! – If you are a woman. Sorry guys – you’ll have to wait for an “S” list!

Delirious – How we should be in love with Him!

Discipline -He does this because He loves us!

Deep – How the Bible describes His love for us!

Done - Our salvation in Christ. What a relief!

Wise, Foolish, Evil

Apr1

Happy April Fool’s Day. I’m praying you have a good sense of humor and that you don’t engaged in any mean-spirited pranks.

Dr. Henry Cloud has a great LPV – Low Production Video – on his Facebook page and I wanted to share it with you because it does a great job, in little time, showing the differences in behavior of people who are wise, foolish or evil.

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=433771934971

I hope we can aim for the wise category in the way we behave and treat others. We will all be fools occasionally but beware the evil ones. This information is also found in his book Necessary Endings.

Meow Mayhem (Book Review)

Mar22

I just finished Lisa Lickel’s cozy mystery/romance Meow Mayhem, this morning and still basking in the glow of the sweetness of it. The small town of Apple Grove is dying and it’s mayor, Donald Conklin recruits fellow Egyptian Mau owners, Amanda McTeague Preston and Truesdale Thomson to move their businesses to the town, with incentives, to help stimulate growth.

Egyptian Mau’s are a specific breed of cat, with spots instead of stripes. Valuable and pedigreed.

True liked the idea of moving because he wanted to get to know Amanda. Amanda moved so she could start life afresh after being jilted by her fiancé.

But life, and romance, never runs smooth. When the mayor is found dead, and possibly murdered the town spreads rumors and fights against the new businesses. Amanda and True wonder if this is where they are meant to be, but they believed the mayor’s vision for the town and want to honor him. So they stay and try to uncover the mystery.

This book is unusual as it is written entirely in the first person from only Amanda’s point of view. I’ll admit that this is not my favorite type of POV to read and because of that, not the story, it took awhile for me to really get immersed in the mystery. Partly because Amanda keeps sticking her nose impulsively into trouble and I got frustrated with that!

The mystery is well crafted though and with all the clues and problems that occur in the town there was no certainty of how things would resolve – or if they even would. Would Donald’s murderer be uncovered? What’s up with the chocolate (I even suspected that they might be poisoned and part of an evil plot to undo Amanda)?

And those cats. I’m not a cat person and even went to look online to get a better feel for what this breed looked like. I loved the way Lisa Lickel gave each of the three cats in the story distinct personalities and how she beautifully highlighted the unique relationship a pet owner has with the pet they have come to love like family.

I’m allergic to cats and didn’t sneeze once during this book. It was an enjoyable read and “cozy,” although towards the end I did start dreaming and wondering what was next when I would go to bed! Always the sign of a good book when it keeps you thinking about it even when you are sleeping.

Thanks Lisa for this light, cozy mystery and for not making it too easy to solve. You tied it up nicely and even had room for a little bit of surprise at the end. Well done!

To Win Her Heart (Book Review)

Mar15

I’ve become a fan of Karen Witmeyer so when I had a chance to nab another free Kindle download of hers, I jumped. To Win Her Heart did not disappoint.

Now, let’s just be clear. This is fiction. FICTION. Not real, let’s pretend and have some fun doing it. Karen does a good job of pairing two unlikely souls, a wealthy but jilted young woman and a blacksmith with a violent and criminal past. They bond over their love of books, but their budding romance is not without challenges. Between their differences in social background, wealth and secrets, there also lies someone who is out to destroy Levi to eliminate competition for Eden. The town Sherriff turns out to be a bit of a bully.

The coolest part of this story is Levi, along with his less exalted roots and his foray into fighting, landing him in prison, has another strike against him, he has a speech impediment. Karen does a masterful job of accommodating for this in giving Levi a love of literature and an unusual ability to use words that avoid the “s” sound. Perhaps this is not as significant a problem for someone who just enjoys a good book, but as a writer myself, I found myself in awe of her willingness to tackle that kind of task and the effort is enjoyable as no one would expect a man of his background to use the kinds of words he does, and she makes it believable.

Now, if you don’t like historical, western, romantic fiction – then pass this one buy. But if you have read any of Karen’s other works, I encourage you to give this one a go. I enjoyed the time spent in those pages.

The Apple of His Eye

Aug16

Reblogged from Susan Baganz's Silygoos Blog:

“Guard me as the apple of Your eye: Hide me in the shadow of Your wing.” (Psalm 17:8 HCSB)

Psalm 17 is a psalm that talks repeatedly of God hearing me, paying attention to me, listening to me, SEEING me. He also answers me, hears what I say, guards and hides me, fills and satisfies me. When I think of God being my “all in all” this psalm echoes that.

Short-Straw Bride (Book Review)

Jul26

I had seen promotions for Short-Straw Bride on Facebook and was intrigued. I saw the trailer and it whetted my appetite, which is unusual. I went to Amazon to put the book on my wish list. Then the opportunity came up with Bethany House to review it and I leapt at the chance. When I found out I would be mailed a copy I waited impatiently for it to come. I hesitated to read other things because I was so eager to read this story.

Short-Straw Bride is a historical romance written by author Karen Witemeyer. Karen has a gift for making fictional characters come alive. This story, set in Texas, introduces a young girl, Meredith Hayes with a childhood incident with Travis Archer that spurs myriad dreams of love. All grown up and on the verge of a possible marriage, Meridith hears of a plot against the Archers and in desperation flees to their ranch to warn them of the impending danger. Trouble does come and Meredith’s reputation ends up in shreds. Four Archer men need to determine which one will wed her. After drawing straws, Meredith finds herself wed to the man of her childhood dreams, Travis, but wonders if he will ever come to really love her as she loves him.

The book goes beyond this initial development in their relationship to follow the rocky course of love and misunderstandings and is filled with adventure, hope and yes, romance. All the characters are well-developed and believable. Headstrong, feisty Meredith struggles to comply with a man who is used to being entirely in charge of everyone and everything around him, supplanting God in the process. A woman on Archer land changes everything for this solitary band of brothers and all of it for the better.

I look forward to reading more from this author. I loved Short-Straw Bride and had to re-read the last chapter again so I could sigh once more at the beautifully written ending. It was a book I had a hard time putting down and I enjoyed every minute spent in its pages. Beautifully done, Karen. Ms. Witemeyer and Bethany House get two thumbs up for not only creating in me an appetite to read this book and by not disappointing me when I finally did.

Unplugging

Sep22

Okay, so I posted on Facebook about how a friend responded when I told her that for three days I was going “off-line” and taking a ‘technology fast’ while attending the True Woman ’10 conference in Indianapolis this week starting Thursday. She gasped and said she would rather go without food for three days than her computer!

We’ll, I’ll confess. This is going to stretch me as I’m blogging now and so much is going on in ministry. When I attended this conference two years ago – they challenged us to a technology fast. At that time I had no internet on my phone and no laptop. Easy as pie. In 2009, I did a similar fast at a prayer retreat. Computers were available and others would say, “Why don’t you go on-line? Check Facebook? It won’t hurt anything!” Ah, the voice of temptation can be sooo sweet! However, I had determined that my time at that retreat was to seek God – not others – and I stuck to it and to be honest – didn’t really miss it.

I have work that I know I will want to do for which a computer would be beneficial. So I have to trust God that being off-line for three days will not hinder that. He is in control of it all anyway. Emails will wait. Facebook, well, I love connecting with people there and encouraging them, and I get the best updates on news that way . . . (If it’s not reported on Facebook – it really didn’t happen), but life will go on if I’m not there. If you desperately need to call or text – I’ll still have my phone, but I’ll be busy and won’t be checking it too often. Just sayin’ that if it’s not an emergency – don’t bother.

So why torture myself like this? Well, honestly, while I kind of dread it and will leave the laptop at home to minimize the temptation, I have learned from experience that when I truly am going someplace to seek God and hear His voice, then I had better get rid of some of the “noise” in my life. I’ll have my journal. I can still write and jot down ideas or simply pray. I’ll walk away from any pressure to create or learn anything other than what it is HE longs to show me.

I have some ministry and life issues where I really do need to hear from God. I have some “out of the box” problems that have no clear cut answers and I need direction. More than anything, I want a revival in my heart for my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As much as I love ministry and people and writing – to have time where HE is my sole focus – is good, and necessary. It will make three days without being on-line so worth it. I may be “unplugging” from technology – but “plugging in” to the best power source available. Not a bad trade off.

So, if you had to, could you go three days without internet? Even on your cell phone? Voluntarily? Have you ever fasted from anything in order to seek God more fully?

Mom – Why do you read so much?

Aug25

I got that question from my 8 year old the other night, when of course, I was . . . reading. Homework had been done, they were reading and so was I. Daddy had told them that I should be the one to sign off on their reading assignments because – I read.

I’ve always loved to read. I love escaping into my imagination to another world and experience the life between the pages of a book. I long ago gave up suspense/mystery novels, my poor overworked adrenals can’t stand the excitement. So yeah, I like things that inspire me. Romance is good but it’s better when there’s fun in there. I’m hoping that may writing can have those moments that maybe make someone laugh out loud, or giggle or smile. Right now I’m reading a novel and it’s well written and my heart aches for the female protagonist. She’s well written. I feel her pain, and hopefully, by the time I’m done, I’ll feel her joy as well. We all want a ‘happily ever after’ don’t we?

I also read a variety of other books. I’m currently reading “Shattered Dreams” by Larry Crabb in my never-ending quest to broaden my theology on suffering. I’m also reading “Switch,” by Chip and Dan Heath, it’s about how to change, when change is hard. The applications are for everyone: business, church, personal life. It’s really good. Well written books that engage the heart and the head.

Of course there is my almost daily time spent reading the Holy Bible. I got a new one recently, a different version, and I’m enjoying how the differences from the way my brain remembers certain verses, get slightly different flavor with the use of a similar but different word. I like that because sometimes it’s easy to gloss over stuff you’ve read many times over – and it forces me to stop and rethink the application of the words of God and how they might be fresh and new in my life today. This is the book that challenges me to get over my bad self to focus on the Most High God, who is worthy of my praise, adoration, all the glory - and my obedience. I’m grateful He’s a God of grace who loves me when I fail and is gentle, yet sometimes painful work at molding me more and more into the image of His Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ. This is the book that is the primary text for my inquiry into the theology of suffering. It’s also the only one that promises a true ‘happily ever after’ beyond my wildest dreams and beyond the struggles of this life for those who bend their knee to worship and obey Jesus Christ, the ONLY way, truth and life. Hope is a powerful thing.

So my kids are learning to love reading, because they see that I love it too. I would rather read a book than watch any television or movie. I love to learn, and I want to always be growing, so I read. How about you? Do you read? What kind of books do you enjoy? Share – it might end up on my “wish list” for the future!

Looking Back

Aug14

This morning I get to meet with some former co-workers from my time in Milwaukee. Friends who have experienced along with me the brutal reality of mental illness and the challenges that places on society. It’s been eight years since I moved Nort’, kicking and screaming, to the Holy Land and away from my work in the inner city of crime and cockroaches. We did good work there. We made a difference, one life at a time, by serving this population of adults that are so marginalized by society. Hard work. Painful work. Amazingly funny moments in the midst of the challenges and the mental illness that sometimes seemed to characterize the personality of the company we worked for! So this morning I will connect with two of those women who share that history with me – to catch up on the real life history of our own making. I’m looking forward to that!

Then later today I get to re-connect again with several women who shared the lunch room table with me in High School. That was more years past than I really want to admit to. (my heart has not aged as fast as my body or the calendar would indicate). It seems a lifetime ago, and in fact it was. Silly me, I cannot remember much of those years in specifics and the details. I do remember feeling that with this group of young women, I belonged. Or at least they let me belong. Many rotations of the globe later we meet again and I realize that while a lifetime has passed for me and I am not the same person I was ___ years ago. Neither are they. Love, loss, pain – all mark our lives in some way, shape or form. In a way I am making new friends – not reviving old ones – because we are all changed. For better or worse life and our choices has molded us into who we are today – and each time we meet we get to understand those changes and celebrate our survival in fresh ways.

The pic above of me with Laura and Carol was taken at our first “reunion” in January of this year.

When you look back – do you see positive changes in your life? Have you allowed the challenges you have faced to grow you into a better person than you were before? How have you “improved with age?”Like fine wine or cheese – it’s worth sharing with others . . .

Anticipation

Aug11

My kids are going to a rodeo tonight. They’ve been ready for hours now and driving me nuts with their energy and expectations for fun. Made me think – what do I anticpate? What am I expectant for in my life? What gets my blood fired up and rarin’ to go? What makes me want to get out of bed in the morning?

Right now I’m working on two books – one fiction – one non-fiction. Working on them definitely fires me up and gets me excited. A little fearful too – what if no one likes them? (grateful that I have readers who love my novel!) Still – I’m having fun and that’s what counts right? Who knows what God will do? He’s already reconnected me with so many people that I knew just a few years ago in High School (good ol’ Goodrich!).

I always wanted to write and now have had the courage to do it – jumped into NaNoWriMo last year and everything changed. So with a mixture of fear and joyful anticipation – I’m writing. I’m pouring out my heart and creativity. I look forward to seeing how God will use that next. So here’s my blog. Just another step forward in a world filled with people giving their thoughts and opinions on life, exploring their adventures and potentially being inspiring in the process. Not sure if you will find that all here – but you never know – you might! Hopefully you will check in occassionally and say “hi”.

In the meantime – what fires you up? What is getting you up in the morning? If nothing – you may need to explore the dreams God has planted in your heart – and take a risk to follow them. You just never know what will happen in the process.

Susan Baganz's Silygoos Blog

Sometimes silly, always authentic.

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