A THOUSAND DOLLARS IN QUARTERS...I heard something the other night that had an impact on me, but I don't remember the source, i.e. who said it, so forgive me for paraphrasing. In a nutshell, here's what I heard: Relinquishing your life to Christ can SOMETIMES mean dying for His cause, OR it can mean giving up your life in small, meaningful increments.
Think of your life as a one-thousand dollar bill. As a Christ-follower, you lay it on the table, symbolically, and say, "Here it is, Lord. This is yours. All of it. Take it now, every last bit of it." It's like saying, "Yeah, I'll die for You. Here I am, take me now. I am ready to die a martyr's death."
But, that would be the easy way out. Why? Because 99.9% of the time God says, "Take that thousand dollar bill to the bank and ask the clerk to give it back to you in quarters. Now, throughout your life show ME to the world. Pass out quarters here and there -- to those who need a helping hand. Remember that single mom who needs a night out. Offer to take her children. (There goes a quarter.) Visit the sick and the elderly and put your arms around the mentally or physically challenged (more quarters out the door). Be a friend to that fatherless boy, that motherless girl (more quarters...). Invite a widow or widower to supper, stop to help the beggar on the street, offer to house missionaries, write letters of encouragement, take time to listen to a stranger in need, make hospital visits, LEARN YOUR NEIGHBOR'S NAMES!. (Quarters, quarters, quarters...)
Our goal should be to come to the end of our journeys with empty pockets, having given completely of ourselves even as Christ gave to us.
Something to think about as we approach this beautiful season of thanks and gratitude to the One who first loved us!
I love you all--but God loves you MORE!
I AM LIKE THE ALWAYS - PREGNANT LADY!Glory, Glory, HALLELUJAH! Another one leaves the nest. Now I await word from my editor. Did this "mother" do a good enough job of preparing Abbie Ann for the world?
Pushing out a baby is hard work, but I tell you, I'm like the woman who LOVES to be pregnant! It can be sheer agony, painful, wearisome, frustrating, and exhausting, BUT the joys of giving birth to a brand spanking new "baby" far outweigh the struggles it takes to get there! I look in the mirror and I think, yep! I'm a writer, and I'm going to have another "baby" soon, and it's good, and I can hardly wait to get going on my next one! Am I sick or what?
This "at last" completed series, The Daughters of Jacob Kane, took place in the fictional town of Sandy Shores, Michigan (actual setting: Grand Haven). My next series, "River of Hope", has a 1925 Wabash, Indiana setting. So, it's "GOODBYE, SANDY SHORES; HELLO, WABASH!"
As a refresher, here is the cover of Abbie Ann If you go to Amazon.com you will see that "she" is already up for pre-order! (Or you can just click on the cover right here on my profile page!) RELEASE DATE: APRIL 2010
I LOVE YOU ALL!
SYNOPSIS: Abbie Ann Kane, the youngest of Jacob Kane's three daughters, is a busy woman. Between running the Whatnot, the family's general store, being active in the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and assisting the elderly citizens of Sandy Shores, Michigan, she has little time for frivolous matters. And those include matters of the heart. When the recently divorced Noah Carson comes to town with son Toby in tow to pursue a shipbuilding business, Abbie Ann tries to keep her distance. But God has other plans in mind...
Want to Watch My Mug on Canadian TV?I mean it is probably the LAST last thing you feel like doing, actually, watching me talk on some TV show, but just in case I'm wrong...hm...I did a segment for a cool television show in Canada called It's a New Day! Wonderful interview, really, very professionally done and fun to watch. To be truthful, I did the interview about a month or more ago, and because the interviewer fired questions at me so fast, I barely remember any of it. I'm watching it and thinking, hm, I wonder how I answered that question. (haha)
Anyway...here's the link in case you want to watch it. I can't PROMISE the link will work, but here's hoping.
SIMPLY CLICK HERE!
P.S. You may have to wait a few minutes for the video to actually load. It took me a while to catch onto that.
I LOVE YOU ALL!
I AM MOURNING!Yes, I am mourning. Deeply. But not in the way you might think--praise God. No, my mourning is probably what you'd term shallow and insignificant in light of the bigger scope of things because, you see, it involves my stomach and taste buds. Here's the thing...it is the end of another season. Concord grape season, that is, and I'm sad. I never get enough of those delicate, juicy, straight-off-the-vine, deep purple, seedy, candy-like treats! I mean, really, just look at them, would you...
The beauty of them is that you can walk right up to the vine, pull off a marvelous, untouched cluster, and pop them straight into your mouth! I am sad to say I don't have a vine in my backyard, but my friend does, and this year he dropped off bags and bags of them, hanging the plastic grocery sacks on my doorknob--at first anonymously until I caught him in the act one time. ha!
I ate every last one, too, because the season is so short and you have to wait a full year to experience their savory sweetness again. I suppose if the season went on forever, as several other variety of grapes do, I wouldn't be so hooked, but then again it might be all I'd ever eat, and in the end I'd pay. (Umm, no pun intended in that last sentence. ha!)
There is really no point to this blog other than I needed a break from my other writing, the manuscript which is due on November 15. Yow! Do you know what a strange feeling it is to look on Amazon and find you have a book already on pre-order that isn't even finished yet? Yikes-Bikes!!! Back at it. (I have to go kill somebody, ur...in my manuscript, that is!)
I love you all!
