The Business of Writing

So after chronicling a year (okay, a bit more...) as a Princess of our King, I'm leaving the blog for a bit to finish writing the book.  Thanks for your support reading, commenting and following me! I'll be in touch when I'm finished!  Blessings to you all, and remember how awesome you are in the eyes of our God!

New Year's reading

Okay - I've started this year off by reading two books simultaneously that are telling me to trust God more. I suppose that's something I still need to know so God decided to knock me over the head with it.  I'm reading Jen Hatmaker's 7: A Mutiny Against Excess, and William P. Young's book The Shack. Ever read either of those? NO SPOILERS! I'm not finished with them yet. Will be glad to blog about them more later (prepare yourself - when I talk about books I tend to get carried away...)but what a way to remember whose I am! Yay!  Go Princesses!

The Same Glory as Christ

I attended the Ted Dekker “Outlaw” tour event on Friday night. He said something that I hadn’t given much thought to:

In John 17:22, Jesus says “I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one…”

Wow!  We have the same glory as Jesus? God has made us that special?  That floored me. 

Amazing love.  Amazing grace.

I'm Back!

I figured September would be a good time to get back in the swing of things. For the first time in YEARS I took a few months off. I joked that God gave me a sabbatical, but indeed He did! He gave me June and July and most of August off to write a novel! I am so excited about it!

But literally as soon as I typed "The End" I started getting calls to speak and do book signings. God has clearly taken me off my sabbatical and put me back to work! So it's gonna be a busy fall!

Helping Others is my theme for this month. Mostly, I'm focusing on my family. I've been so busy in the past doing this and that for volunteer work that I've once again let my own house slip. So I'm trying to get the kids more organized and take some of the work load off of my husband.

I've also experienced the help of others helping ME. I have a lot more to say about that, so will post that later, but sometimes we need to receive help instead of give it.

I'll be away from my desk for a few days....my sister-in-law passed away yesterday morning. She died with a smile on her face so we know she's with Jesus now. I have more to say on that too, when I've got the energy. Right now it's time to grieve and help where I can.

Blessings to you all.

God Love

            While I was washing dinner dishes one night, my youngest grabbed a paper plate and pen and ran upstairs. When my husband Duane and I went in our room to go to bed, there was the plate, sitting on our pillows. In elementary school print, our son had written "Mom and Dad - I love you, Logan".  It was so sweet that I saved it.

            Nothing prompted Logan's note, and it wasn't a special day, but Logan is known for leaving little love notes around the house for us.  He also writes notes to God, and blows kisses to God at the end of his bedtime prayers.

            I look at Logan's joyous, unselfconscious expressions of love and think of God.  God loves us with agape love - an unconditional love.  No matter what we've done, or who we are, or where we've messed up, God is willing to take us back into His arms and remind us that we are His children.  After all, He loved us enough to die for us.  It's hard to love on a greater scale than that.

            I am blessed with a good husband who never forgets holidays and hugs me daily.  But no matter how much Duane loves me, there will always be a void in my life.  Love notes, love songs, and warm embraces still leave me wanting more.  There's a reason for that.

            We were created with what I call a "God-space."  It's an empty place in our souls that only God can fill.  God wants to be first in our lives.  He wants us to love Him with abandon, just like Logan loves his parents.  Only when we go to Him will we receive that deep, unfilled love that takes away loneliness, fear, emptiness and more.  He knows our innermost thoughts and our deepest needs.  Only God can love us like we really need to be loved.

            Over the past few years while I worked on my book A Kid At Heart:  Becoming a Child of Our Heavenly Father, I've explored what it means to let God love us on that level.  We can depend on Him, trust Him, and run to Him for comfort.  We can laugh with Him, share our secrets with Him, and know that no matter what, He will never quit loving us.

            He wants to be our Prince, the love of our life.  Let Him love you as only He can.

It's Free!!!

God’s

Riches

At

Christ’s

Expense

My favorite thing about grace is that it’s free. Christ has already paid the price. All we have to do is accept the gift. It doesn’t get much easier than that. Makes me wonder why there are so many people who don’t want it. 

I’m rejoicing on this beautiful summer day for grace!  Are you?

Grace Isn't Just Somebody's Name

        With the end of the school year, we've been a bit flubbergusted (is that even a word?) with getting all the loose ends tied up before the actual "end" arrives. (I'm not talking about the Second Coming.)  Why are there so many parties and final projects and graduations and teachers' gifts and just STUFF this last week of school? I think we should have a week in April when we get to do the "last week of school" and then the following weeks could just be school work until the "end" arrives. That would give me a breather.
        Anyway, with all the STUFF, we've been a bit edgy. "GRACE AND MERCY" has been my mantra to my kids. (It's in capital letters because I am usually yelling it.) Grace and Mercy. When Dad forgets to give you hot lunch on your hot lunch day and Mom has to repack it in seconds while we're already late for school. GRACE. Or when Mom forgets to bring your violin to school after she promises (since you forgot it FIRST) so you have to be bored during music class. GRACE. How about the fact that you didn't have any clean LONG pants to wear this morning and it was only 42 degrees outside so you had to wear shorts and "just cover your legs with a blanket" in the car?
         And it's only Tuesday.
         Thank God for grace! I often talk about the grace God has for us, but what about the grace we should have for each other? The dictionary describes Christian grace as "the free and unmerited favor of God". I'd like to see some of that in this family this week. I know I'm not mom-of-the-year right now, but just love me. And I'll love you even though your socks don't match (I know...the other "mate" isn't washed) or the fact that you said you didn't have homework last night so you could go outside and play but, "discovered" that you did this morning and did it at breakfast.
         GRACE. That's my goal today (or this week). Grace.
         Join me?