Just as I love novels that show authentic, messy lives, I love music that speaks to the broken–music that allows the Christian to remove their smiling, church mask and show true feelings. Every once in a while a song comes out that hits me right where I’m at, a song that speaks my feelings better than I can myself. One …
Suffering in Silence
Just over seven years ago, when I was writing my first novel, I kept hearing this whisper in my head that my male protagonist needed to have a child. Knowing that was absolutely not something I wanted in this story, I repeatedly ignored that whisper, until … One day I was sitting in my recliner, doing what, I don’t remember. …
Just Another Statistic …
Come January 22, 2013, 40 years will have passed since the Roe v. Wade decision. I’m not typically an outspoken person, but it’s very difficult to remain silent when so many innocent lives are still being taken. For those of you who aren’t aware of the scope of this decision, here’s a peek into the 2011 – 2012 Annual Report …
Faithful Service
“But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your HEART; consider what great things he has done for you.” 1 Samuel 12:24 Am I serving faithfully if I do not tend to my heart? With a fit physical heart, the chances of living a long life increase. With a strong emotional heart, I’ll feel less …
Chocolate Worship
“If you are returning to the Lord with all your HEARTs, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 1 Samuel 7:3 It’s so easy to take this verse at face value and say we don’t worship foreign …
Ponderings …
And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your HEART and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 10:12 Am I serving God to the fullest if I do not ensure that my …
A Walk Through the Desert
Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your HEART, whether or not you would keep his commands. …
With All Your Heart
“Love the Lord your God with all your HEART and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5 Obeying that passage isn’t as easy as it sounds. That verse is telling me to put God in first place in all situations. It’s telling me to look up instead of inward, and then He’ll take care of the …
Of Heaven and Earth
“Acknowledge and take to HEART this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.” Deuteronomy 4:39 Or as it says in The Way (The Living Bible I received in 1976): “This is your wonderful thought for the day: Jehovah is God both in heaven and down here upon the earth; and …
And the Wait Begins …
It’s the season for waiting… Waiting for Thanksgiving, Day-after-Thanksgiving Shopping, Christmas… But for writers, we have a different kind of waiting. Many of us have recently returned from writing conferences full of good news that proposal / chapters / full manuscripts have been requested. We’ve spent days, weeks, months perfecting our works so that the agents / editors see us …