Tag Archive | Jesus

We Do Not Write Alone

Dec7

I’ve been writing for four years now and it hit me today that God has taught me some cool things on my path to publication.

Photo by Tom Otte Imaging

Photo by Tom Otte Imaging

  1. There is a beautiful group of people out there who love the Lord and are seeking to serve them with their writing. They come in all shapes and sizes and genres. From a worldly perspective they are my competition for the attention and money of the public who would buy my work. But in reality – they are my brothers and sisters in Christ. They have become so dear to me and some I have yet to meet – and hug – face to face.
  2. We all have our own unique voice and if God has gifted us and brought our pen to paper or our fingers to keyboard, our only true audience is Him. I’m not to be anyone else but me as I write.  Other authors are the same. In that sense I do not have to be jealous of them because they are writing as God created them too, with their own unique “voice,” just as I am writing with mine.
  3. Writing is an act of worship to me. Yes, it is hard work and I am constantly learning, but ultimately I want my words to bring honor and glory to Jesus. I write Christian romance. I ultimately want me readers to understand that the greatest romance is between us and Christ.
  4. Writing is a community endeavor. How would I grow without submitting myself and my work to the eyes and wisdom of those who have come before me? I may put my words to paper in solitude but they are honed in community.
  5. Pride is the lure of authors but also hard to hold on to. Let me explain. I can write a book and feel like it’s my best work ever – until I get my line edits and or read it myself a few months later and realize how much it will take to make it better. Whether writing flash-fiction or a novel – the editing process strips away any sense that this is a phenomenal piece of work. I’ve learned to be grateful for the truth-speakers who have helped me grow as a author. I’m not saying that the comments don’t sting at times, after all those words that form a story were given to me by God to put down. It is hard to recognize at times that the failure them to sparkle perfectly lies in my humanness.
  6. Writing cannot be for money. I’m not saying I don’t want to make any. The hours are brutal the work long and hard. I love doing it. But I doubt any amount of money I could earn would truly compensate for the heart and soul and butt in chair time that I put into it. It has to be done because it is what I have been called to do and I cannot imagine doing anything else with as much joy.
  7. I could not be the writer I am without the support and encouragement of special people in my life. Someone said “Don’t forget us little people when you make it big.” Well – that “little person” has been my cheerleader and I hope I never forget the way individuals like him have cheered me on.  See, some people scoff. “Oh, you are a writer. How nice for you.” Or “Enjoy your hobby, you won’t make any money at that.” or this one. “So you publish your novel and you’ll be rich?” That one makes me laugh. Sure I will, after I put you in there. There are many ways to kill off people in my stories but as Arnold Schwarzenegger put it in his character in True Lies, “They were bad, very, very bad.” As another quote on the internet says “If people didn’t want to be put in your books, they should have been nicer to you!”

I feel sorry for authors who do not reach out and engage in the communities of authors that are out there, especially if they are Christians because it is such a delightful group to be a part of! At the conferences, in writing groups and on-line. It’s more than establishing a platform to sell a book – it’s about having people love you when the writing is hard. It’s about people who celebrate with you for even what may seem like the smallest of victories, because they “get you.” They understand. It’s about encouraging each other to follow the calling of God and do it with excellence. It’s about the bigger body of Christ seeking to reach the world and inspire others to faith and wholehearted devotion to our King.

For His Glory Alone – I write.

A Log Cabin Christmas Collection (Book Review)

Nov18

Experience Christmas through the eyes of adventuresome settlers who relied on log cabins built from trees on their own land to see them through the cruel forces of winter. Discover how rough-hewed shelters become a home in which faith, hope, and love can flourish. Marvel in the blessings of Christmas celebrations without the trappings of modern commercialism where the true meaning of the day shines through. And treasure this exclusive collection of nine Christmas romances penned by some of Christian fiction’s best-selling authors.

A Log Cabin Christmas Collection is an anthology that contains nine novellas with Christmas and a log cabin as their common theme. The creativity and uniqueness of each story is heartwarming and compelling. This book has topped the best seller lists and deserves to do so. If you want cozy romances that take place in pioneer America, then this book will be a great one to cozy on up to on a winters day.

The stories contained in this book and authors that have partaken of this project are:

Snow Angel by Margeret Brownley

The Christmas Secret by Wanda E. Brunstetter,

Christmas Traps and Trimmings by Kelly Eileen Hake,

A Star in the Night by Liz Johnson,

The Courting Quilt by Jane Kirkpatrick,

Under his Wings by Liz Tolsma,

The Dogtrot Christmas by Michelle Ule,

A Grand County Christmas by Debra Ullrick

Christmas Service by Erica Vetsh.

There is not one dud in the bunch and it has been a New York Times bestseller for good reason. All the stories will leave your heart just a little warmer this holiday season.

Going Deep: Becoming a Person of Influence (book review)

Nov30

I wanted to read Going Deep by Gordon MacDonald because I love the idea of becoming a person of influence. I enjoy reading leadership books. This one, however, was very different, at times frustrating and at times rewarding.

First of all the book is written like a work of fiction. I contains a journey towards developing deep people, but not in a clinical way. It details conversations and meetings and thoughts about the “big idea” of “cultivating deep people” (CDP in the book). SO where does reality begin and where is it end? If you like Patrick Lencioni’s style of elaborating leadership ideas in a fiction format, you may like this as well, although their styles are distinct.

The first part of the book where Pastor Mac comes up with this great idea, moves slowly. As a leader and a person with limited time, it seemed to drag. I wanted to yell, “Get to the point already, will ya?” But I read on. He elaborates the painstaking process of developing the idea and finally bringing it to reality.  The fact is, none of what he is saying is really all that new. The challenge to disciple others has been around since Jesus gave us the command. The methods used may have at times changed but the principles are laid out well in Scripture. Gordon goes through an elaborate process of meeting with business people and an a Rabbi and staff to flesh things out and gain buy in with the leadership of his church.

The actual implementation of the CDP was where the reading was more fun. To see people challenged, lives changed and the methods used and described on the page was good. At times it made me want to cry because I came to like these characters who were being transformed more and more into the image of Christ. To see authentic community develop at such depth made me realize how much of that I am personally missing and longing for as well. How much so many of us are missing out on and longing for in our church communities. I felt more keenly how desperately we all need it. And even if we are not to be leaders in the church we all can become persons of influence.

The church would do well to be more intentional in selecting people and developing to be the leaders for the future. To use specific training and mentoring and the kind of plan Gordon lays out has merit. I still think that parts of this book could have been a bit shorter. The book is 383 pages and most leaders really want to meat to chew on and not all the fluff because we tend to be busy. But for all that it is a book I would recommend if you are trying to figure out a way to help your church prepare the younger generation to be quality “deep” leaders for the future.

Flying Above

Jan25

Have you ever been on a plane? I love flying, although I find it exhausting. There is something exhilarating about a huge plane leaving the ground and being fully airborne.  It’s like magic and I enjoy watching it as well as experiencing it!

From up in the air the world seems small. You realize how small you are as well. And then when you soar above the clouds, it’s almost as if you can touch heaven.

I once got to watch the sunrise from that high. It was amazing.

There are days I feel like emotionally and spiritually I am able to soar above my trials. Rising up with God lifting my wings and I can see the possibilities of the future before me.

Other days, however, I feel stuck on the ground. Mired in the trials and circumstances of life, and heaven seems so far away.  The clouds blot out the sun and life becomes a series of insurmountable mountains. I really hate those times, yet those are the times when I grow the most as I am forced to look at my own ugly sin that emerges. I am also forced to depend on God.

It might seem that depending on God would be something you would need when up in the air. When you are on a real flight, for some people, that’s where danger lies. You could crash and worst case scenario, die.

However the real danger lies when we are on the ground. When we are face to face with the temptation to sin and our emotions take us for loops that leave us crashing harder than if we had fallen from several miles above.

I long for the days when I am up. I am refreshed by them. However, as much control over I have of a plane taking off. . . is as much control I have over emotionally soaring as well. I’m not in the pilot’s seat. However, I know who is. God, Himself. Jesus. Yeshua. My Lord and the One to whom I dedicate my life.

He is with me when I soar and He is with me when I can’t get my eyes to barely lift up to the hills from whence my help comes (Ps 121).

How about you? Who are you clinging to today? Are you stuck or flying? Do you have any secrets for when you are “grounded?”

Memory Lane

Dec13

Christmas memories accumulate like snowflakes, or ornaments on a tree. This year was the first that all three children decorated the tree by themselves. Every year they get an ornament, and I write their name and the year on it. It was fun this year to hear my 10,8 and almost 6 year old exclaim as they would hang their own treasures on the tree: “Oh, I remember this one!” and “Look! I was __(age) when I got this!”

The funniest part actually came before the ornaments, when my daughter said “Can we hang the garlic now?” (She meant garland). No vampires for our Christmas!

I remember the year after we moved, and we brought in our artificial tree from storage only to find that mice had made a home in the box and peed all over our tree. Oh, did that ever stink!  I figured it would be a tree-less Christmas until my hubby came up with the bright idea of soaking the tree in buckets of pine-sol in the bathtub. Yup, a disinfected tree that really did smell like pine!

I remember the Christmas after my daughter was born six years ago. We had been at Children’s Hospital for a week. I got to bring my precious daughter to church on Christmas Eve. I was overjoyed at this marvelous gift from God who let us keep her after her medical nightmare.  That was also the year we were blessed to be a part of the “Family Tree” at church and were given a gift card that was extravagantly more than expected.

Or how about the year when I got the tree up and my little girl managed to not only tip it over but break it in the middle? Irreparable. Had to get a new one. Totally would have expected one of my boys to have done this.

Or the year I invited a friend and her four boys over to bake and decorate Christmas cookies with us. Seven children and two adults in 7oo sq ft of space! One boy said “Wow, this is a lot of work!” It was also a lot of fun.

The kids look forward to Santa Claus coming at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. He didn’t make it last year. Something about falling out of a tree and breaking a leg. Thankfully my kids know the truth about Jolly Ole’ St. Nick and weren’t too terribly disappointed. Before you scold me on that, just realize, they still enjoy the tale and the imagination of it all even though if you ask them “What do you want Santa to bring you?” they will give you a blank stare.

2010 is a lean year. Usually there are gifts already piling up under the tree.  I put gifts under the tree as they arrive and get wrapped. We have no place to hide them. It adds to our enjoyment to see the colorful packages under the tree. So far there’s nothing there and the kids are beginning to get a bit worried! There will be something there by the end of this week, not a huge amount but something none-the-less.

My favorite part of the holiday is this: We slow down. We leisurely enjoy Christmas Eve with our church family, and celebrate the magic and wonder of Jesus coming to earth as an infant. We see the lights around town and go home to bed. In the morning we wake up when we are ready, and eventually we make a big breakfast. By 10 or 11 am we might sit and talk again about Christmas and what it means and then open gifts. Maybe later in the day we will visit with family – but generally the best times are just us celebrating our Savior together.

“Every heart that knows His name, lift your voice and sing

To the praise of God with us, this child Redeemer, King

There’s never been a greater love since the world began,

God the Father sent His Son and we held Him in our hand.

He wrapped His love in flesh and blood and took the form of man.”

(Bryan Duncan, “Form of Man”)

The Apple of His Eye

Aug16

“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.

I think that the above verse though, was a concept that truly captured my heart as a young Christian. Feeling a bit disenfranchised by my own family, it was thrilling to know that God delighted in me and looked at me as unique and special, within the mass of humanity He loves, and died for.  I don’t get it.  I’m not unique or special compared to anyone else, yet in His eyes, I am. I’m His favorite! But then – so are you! I could feel a bit jealous about this but it’s easy to fight that because. . .

None of us deserves that kind of love.  The fact that it has been freely offered and I have embraced it, well, that puts me still at the mercy of an amazingly holy God, and I bow my knee in gratitude, only to look up and see a gaze filled, not with the condemnation that I so richly deserve for my sin, but with the love of a favored daughter.

Who wouldn’t want to worship a God like that? Who wouldn’t want to bend their knee and submit to His protection and leading and give all I have to someone who loves so passionately? So completely?

Interesting too, that when we are followers of Christ, He produces fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace. . . (Gal. 5).  Fruit. Character that goes beyond my ability to produce on my own.  Apples.  He sees me as fruitful.

Remember when Jesus walked by a tree that bore no fruit? He condemned it and it died!  (Matt 21:19). Jesus loves fruit! So maybe I’m a bit more of a fruit loop, but as long as I’m fruitful, I’m in the center of His vision and love.  If I chose to abandon Him, I may find myself cursed and withering like that fig tree. God doesn’t move – I do, and when I do, there are consequences.

The only way to be fruitful is to stay grounded in the deep, deep soil of His truth, God’s Word, and tuned into the Holy Spirit. I do this out of deep gratitude for His unfathomable love towards me! I want to be treasured as the apple of God’s eye. Guarded as precious fruit to be preserved and sheltered from storms. Not that they won’t come and I might sometimes feel bruised, but I will always be special in His eyes. I find that a truth that today lifts my heart in praise and worship of my Mighty King. How about you?

I’m attaching a video of an ooooold song by Benny Hester that thinking on this verse reminded me of. It has a long, beautiful piano intro.  Maybe you will find comfort in the words of this song: “Nobody knows me like You.”  It’s true – and that knowledge is because our Creator God – loves YOU and holds You as the apple of His eye.