New Year

A new year is a new beginning for many things. I decided to resume posting on this blog. My goal is once a week for now. I hope you will rejoin me here from time to time.

I'm excited about the forthcoming release of my devotional gift book, As Grandma Says. Harvest House has scheduled release for next month. I have post cards and a poster. It really is happening!

Meantime, I've joined two writing groups in neighboring communities. The one that meets one Sunday afternoon a month is difficult to attend each time because of family things. However the one that meets one Thursday evening a month is great. There are some really astute writers there. We have unique points of view and can give one another deeper perspective on our writing.

It is a learning experience that will help me to become a better writer - which is, of course, my goal. I hope to be of similar help to others as well.

In the meantime, I sometimes read over the transom submissions for a small publisher. That gives me great joy - except when I have to tell the editor that a manuscript is not worth the time and effort. I've had to do that from time to time. But it is extremely gratifying to see some of the things I recommended on their list of coming attractions. It validates my judgment when the publisher agrees with my opinion.

In an online writers group that I joined, I have had the extreme pleasure of working with a young woman who shows great talent. Her creativity and imagination gave me a pleasurable trip through a draft of her first novel. I was able to recommend some things that will help her polish the manuscript to a high gloss. She is such a quick study that she "gets it" and can work up revisions with alacrity. What a joy! I can hardly wait to see her in print. Then I can say "I knew her when."

This year is full of promise.

Celebration

Yesterday, I celebrated a milestone with my cousin, Shirley.

The signed contract and advance check for my devotional gift book, As Grandma Says, had arrived safely in my mailbox on Thursday, and I wanted to share with her. She'd seen me through a lot of hard work on the writing.

I had to be in Salina on Friday for another matter, so I called Shirley to see if we could meet for lunch. We frequently do this when I'm there over a noon hour. She said fine, but she was also meeting another lifelong friend for lunch, would we (my daughter and I) join them. They planned to meet at Coop's.

Now Coop's Pizzeria is a small restaurant located between Santa Fe and Fifth street facing the alley just south of Jilka Furniture. I hadn't known it was there. My loss!!

The menu boasts a lovely selection of pizza, pasta and salads. I opted for the Greek salad. Feta cheese, Greek olives, orange slices, strawberries, diced meat, spinach and other greens, raspberry vinaigrette -- I know I'm leaving something out. Bread sticks and cinnamon breadsticks. It was a feast.

Five of us at the table, each with a different meal, and all of us wishing we had more room to eat some of everything. Take home boxes were the order of the day.

If you are ever in Salina, Kansas, look up Coop's. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Resolution For 2010

I have greatly enjoyed the year of posting daily devotions on my Garment of Praise blog. I have read the Bible from cover to cover and learned a lot.

The discipline of daily writing has been good for me. Heretofore I've been a "when the muse strikes" sort of writer unless I had a specific deadline. That will be changing - has been changing.

This daily deadline has been good exercise. It forced me to do a specific thing every day. Every day! It got me in the habit of writing without self-editing at every turn, making the writing as good as possible on the first pass. It taught me to edit in a single - or maybe double - pass after the thing was written. It taught me reference and search on the fly. It was a good discipline.

The trick will be to take it to the next level.

Next year, I will be posting only weekly on Garment of Praise. I will be writing other things in those hours - and hopefully I will have a home for them.

It is still my goal to be a published author. I'm a couple of rungs further up that ladder at the moment. It may really happen - and fairly soon. We'll just have to wait and see.

Never pray for patience. The Lord simply gives you an opportunity to exercise your patience muscle.

Reunion

Today is Saturday, October 17,1009. Friend-husband and I are in Branson, Missouri, attending a reunion of his army basic training unit from the Korean conflict.

It's always good to see this group. The consist of the original company was generally from Missouri, Kansas, and Minnesota. We're probably about as far west in Kansas as any of them, so we don't get to socialize much.

Visiting, catching up on events in people's lives, reminiscing, eating, laughing, and generally enjoying each other's company fill these days. We saw a show, The Hughes Brothers, and are taking the Ozark Train Ride today. But the best entertainment is just being together.

It's all about the people. God created man as a social being. Relationships are an important part of who we are. I thank Him for those people in my life whom I love, even if I rarely - or never - see them in person.

For my long-distance friends, I am grateful for email. It lets me be a part of your lives, even if we're hundreds or thousands of miles apart.

Most of the ladies in my CW40 group live in England and Canada as well as the US. CWGI has given me friends in the US, England, South Africa, and Australia. LinkedIn has connected me with people from all over the world. This electronic medium is a wonder on many levels.

May we always use it wisely.

The More Things Change

Well, it happened. My laptop, my one and only computer, died this weekend. I don't think the drive went out, but the screen went blank, then came up a lovely shade of aqua with three colored stripes running vertically, a gold one about two inches from the left and a dark blue followed closely by green about three inches from the right of the monitor.

This necessitated a fast run to Office Max to pick up a laptop on sale. This one has the added advantage of the numeric keypad to the right of the keyboard. That has always been a sore spot with me, having to use the numbers above the keyboard like on a typewriter. Does anyone remember typewriters?

Then I made a trip to WalMart to pick up a new modem. My wireless router is security enabled, but I no longer have the key, so I wouldn't have been able to connect to the internet with the new laptop. Inadvertently, however, I picked up an ethernet modem. It wasn't what I had intended because it requires that I be wired and in the office to work. However, that is a bit of enforced discipline for me. I will no longer be in the living room, subject to traffic and the TV.

Perhaps this wasn't so much an error as a coincidence. Definition: Coincidence is a small miracle where God chooses to remain anonymous, so if you don't want to see Him you don't have to. But if you are looking, there He is!

Keep looking!

A New Thing

Today I decided to test an alternate blog host.

If you're following this, you may want to check out www.ephemeracaptured.wordpress.com.

Thanks for putting up with me.

Anticipation

I'm preparing to attend Marlene Bagnull's Greater Philadelphia Christian Writers Conference in August. It's an exciting prospect.

But even more exciting, I have a friend from South Africa who will be attending the Florida Christian Writers Conference in March. Since my eldest daughter lives in Orlando, and the site of the conference is less than an hour's drive from her house, I'd like to go there, too.

Anticipating is almost more fun than doing. Looking forward stirs the hope within us. Hope makes the mundane of life survivable.

There are, of course, details to be worked out. Arranging for time from work, budgeting, figuring out what one wants from the conference, all these details fuel the anticipation. And if the details cannot be worked out, at least I've had the fun of anticipating.

Facebook

Sometime ago, I registered with Facebook -- and left it alone. I didn't have time to take on the learning curve and wasn't sure how I'd use it, so I just didn't do anything.

Then earlier this week, a co-worker friended me, so I had to go into it to answer her. I had forgotten my password, so I had to ask for a new one. And I acknowledged the friendship to Facebook.

Then a writing friend found me and we were off. She has shepherded me though the system, so now my blogs are also on Facebook. And I have email notification of Facebook activity in my inbox each day.

So if you're on Facebook, check me out.

Beyond Me

My friend, Kathi Macias, was interviewed on Time for Hope in connection with her book, Beyond Me: Living a You First Life in a Me First World.

You can see it here:

> http://www.timeforhope.com/player.html

I think you will find it time well spent.

Happy Are You

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encouraged his listeners with what we now call The Beatitudes.

Matthew 5:10: Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11: Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12: Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

You might find the juxtaposition of these two pictures informative.

A Perfect Gift

I have just read a book I wish had been around when I graduated high school. Unfortunately, the author wasn't yet born. But Andy Stanley's book The Principle of the Path should be required reading for every high school senior.

That said, the book is valuable for people on every stage of life – even those of us past retirement age. As long as we are living, we are walking a path – and we can make choices yet to turn that path in a different direction.

His easy and comfortable writing style reminded me of conversation with a friend over coffee and donuts. But don't be deceived. He expounds a principle of eternal value. While his words are easy and comfortable, his thoughts are deep and worthy of extended study.

With specific examples drawn from his own experience, he illuminates the path to a successful and rewarding future. He talks about distractions, intentions, attractions and various tangents that can deter or detour our steps. And he gives us help to keep from being drawn away from our chosen path.

You can skim this book in a couple of days. You will be better advised to make it a serious study. Much of value is embedded in the simple words of truth Andy writes.

Reading this book can be an enormously productive investment of time and attention.

The Principle of the Path by Andy Stanley, published by Thomas Nelson 2008.

Thomas Nelson Book Review Blogger

Responsibility

Another blog I follow led me to the website of Nate Phelps. Nate is the son of the infamous Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka.

Nate delivered a speech at the national atheists convention. What disturbs me greatly is the number and tone of the comments people have left after reading this speech.

A huge number of people have been hurt and turned away from God simply because religious people misinterpreted scripture or manipulated it to suit their own ends.

My heart yearns to comfort those who have been hurt by a poisonous religious spirit. I long to introduce them to the God I know, who graciously sent his own son to pay for my offenses. I pray that the Holy Spirit may lovingly woo them to the God they never knew despite their "religious" upbringing.

How many people do we know who have been similarly wounded? How can we reach them with the light of God's love?

Not So Fleeting Thought

This has been the best weekend!

I attended a writers' mentoring retreat just outside of Kansas City, Missouri. It was a small affair, probably forty people or so.

It was not a conference packed with activities, so that you come away overwhelmed and unsure just were to start. It provided small group discussions, individual time with mentors, and most importantly, time to write and apply what you had just learned.

Special thanks go to Mark and Jeanette Littleton of the Heart of America Christian Writers' Network for all their work and a wonderful time.

A big, BIG thank you for my personal mentor, Nick Harrison, for his encouragement and advice and his servant heart.

Hugs and gratitude go to the other six members of my group, Bob and Steve, Carey, Tonya, Marilyn and Vivian, for their feedback, encouragement and prayers. While we write different genres, both fiction and non-fiction, we are all readers and the critique session provided much helpful feedback on already written portions of our work.

Most of all, I'd like to thank God for bringing us all together and knitting us as a family of writers.
What a blessing!

A Pastor with GUTS!

I do not ordinarily participate in forwarded emails. I haven't the time to read and dislike the censorship choosing entails, so I simply tell people that I don't read and/or forward them.


But we have this injunction from the Lord.


2Chronicles:7:14: If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.


Therefore, I'm posting the following:

Thought you might enjoy this interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people.

When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard:

Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.

We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done.

We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.

We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.

We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.

We have killed our unborn and called it choice.

We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.

We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.

We have abused power and called it politics.

We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.

We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.

We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Search us, Oh, God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free.

Amen!

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest.

In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India , Africa and Korea.

Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, 'The Rest of the Story,' and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.

With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called 'one nation under God.'

If possible, please pass this prayer on to your friends. 'If you don't stand for something,you will fall for everything.'

This pastor had guts!

Feel free to share with anyone you choose.

Plans and Deadlines

Work is progressing on my current work in progress, Properly CLAD: How To Wear A Garment Of Praise When Your Life Is Rags And Tatters. But it is slow and laborious.

I have a deadline of having the proposal ready and several chapters completed by April 15. I'll be attending a mentoring workshop just after the middle of April where I'll be working with a mentor to help me polish the proposal and give me feedback on the chapters.

If anyone has time for a spare prayer, I'd really appreciate your saying one for this project and for me. It is, after all, God's book, I'm just the pen.

Thanks for stopping by.

Grace and peace be with you all.

What Time?

Today is the day we leap ahead to accommodate Daylight Saving Time. I've never understood the rationale behind DST. The sun rises and sets at its appointed time whether we call it 7:00 am or 8:00 am.

My old body gets jet lag at this season. Breakfast has to be an hour earlier, supper an hour earlier, and bedtime an hour earlier. Bosh!

My farmer-husband does his work by the daylight, not by the clock. The cattle walk to the water at the same time by the sun, not by daylight saving time. The dog gets up and wants out at the same time each twenty-four hour period whether we call it 4:30 or 5:30 am.

Why should we jangle our nerves and upset our routines by changing an artificial measurement of time? Answers, anyone?

Freelancing Still

Just signed up for an account with another project search site: Jobvana.

The sign up was free, so I'm not sure how valuable it will be in finding project by project work for a freelance writer. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

I'm not totally convinced of the value of these internet job boards. They seem to be multiplying like rabbits. And whether the produce results will depend upon the number of employers looking to find freelancers.

Sometimes the categorizations are inappropriate. For example, I write and edit. Do I go into creative writing and editing? Or should I use the professional category with a marketing specialty?

Since my passion is assisting new and aspiring writers, I signed up in the creative section. But they have no jobs listed in that category.

And they segregate jobs by state, so this limits your functionality unnaturally in this computer age.

We'll see how this goes. Check back for updates.

Sibilant Silence

In reading the Chronological Bible, the readings for February 22 deal with the offerings for sin. The offerings are for those who sin out of ignorance or heedlessness. Then there is a detailed list of the sins.

And the first sin is if a person does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify to something he has heard or knows about. That person is responsible.

We have sat silently by as our country has sunk lower and lower into the depths of degradation and shame with regard to moral behavior. We tolerate behavior that God calls abomination and murder because we like to avoid confrontation.

I hear the satisfied hiss of a serpent in our silence.

An Example to Follow

A little child shall lead them. If you don't believe it, just stroll on over to this video.

http://www.nmatv.com/video/1318/Preteen-pro-life-speech-goes-viral

This girl has a heart for God and speaks from the heart of God. Would that we all were so close to hearing His voice and speaking for him.

Shame, Shame, Shame!

This week's issue of Charisma Magazine carries an article about an aborted baby born live and then thrown, alive, into the trash in a sealed bio-hazard bag. She died, evidently, of suffocation.

You may read the entire story here.

I am appalled. Not only at the story itself, but that members of the Florida legislature would write this letter.

It is unthinkable that they can condone the abortion that would end this child's life, and then, because she took a few breaths, condemn the abortion clinic workers who treated this life so callously. Where is the logic? If it is legal to end this life before she breathes air, what is to keep it from being legal to end this life after she breathes air?

We have entered a very slippery slope. When we deny the fact that all life comes from God and that it is His prerogative to say when it begins and ends, we have arrogated to ourselves the privileges of God. This is a very dangerous practice!

We have, in fact, by so doing, set ourselves above God. We have made our selfish wishes the graven idol which supplants the Lord God. And we, as a nation, will reap the fruits thereof.

If we are to learn the lessons of the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, we will know that we cannot flout God and remain unscathed. He will use the pagan nations to discipline us, just as He used the unbelieving nations to discipline Israel.

Let us pray for revival in the USA. "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will heal their land."

We, as Christians, are called to intercede for our land. Let us turn and pray.