by April | Dec 12, 2014 | Blindness, Contest
Last week I released my very first Newsletter. If you want to be on the Newsletter list, just look to your right on my blog and scroll to the spot on the page where it says “Get The Newsletter” and do so! I email them out just four times a year. This time, those folks got the first opportunity to enter a new contest–one that might land their idea in a novel. Don’t worry, you’ve got a chance, too!
In my next novel, my main character, Amber, loses her sight to a disease. Before she does, she creates a sort of bucket list–I’m calling it her MUST-SEE list. I’ve got a list of things she wants to see for the last time–but I’d love to use your ideas, too! SO: If you were going to lose your sight, what’s one thing you’d want to see before time ran out?
Post your MUST-SEE place or thing below in the comments and I might use your idea in my novel. Everyone who posts an idea will be mentioned in the back of my novel (along with a complied MUST-SEE list) and I’ll also enter your name in a contest for a $20.00 Amazon gift card! You can send multiple ideas (please!), but there is only one entry for the gift card per person. DEADLINE is December 31st, 2015. Enter NOW!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
by April | Nov 22, 2014 | Encouragement
She called herself Mrs. G because her last name, Gildesgard, was a bit tricky for us to say. It also sounded tough. That worked, because she was tough. In our very first high school freshman English class together, she warned us she had excellent peripheral vision, so we needn’t try and get away with anything, she’d see it. (And she did. Not a note was passed or a wad of paper thrown that she didn’t catch and punish the perpetrator!). And trust me, reading the note you’d passed aloud in front of the class was way worse than detention. Way worse.
Mrs. G lay down some hard and fast rules, but throughout it all, her eyes sparkled, and her smile was genuine. She was one of those teachers who commanded instant respect on day one, and you gave it to her because she was worth respecting. Let’s face it, teens can see right through a phony, and a few of my classmates were known for being mouthy and quite cynical. But they never gave Mrs. G any guff.
I was blessed to know Mrs. G in another capacity. She went to the same church as I did. As a youngster, I rather imagined my teachers stayed at school. Didn’t they live there? The idea they had a family and a life outside that building was bizarre. Seeing Mrs. G singing in the choir, chatting with my family, and her genuine concern in how I was doing as a person, not just a body in her classroom, made her very human in my eyes. She was one of the sweetest, most caring people I had the pleasure to know.
Even after I graduated and moved away, Mrs. G would ask my parents how I was doing. When my first book was published, I sent her a copy as if to say, “Hey, I was paying attention more than you might have suspected!” I did the same with my second. She sent me back two wonderfully encouraging letters.
Mrs. G passed away this morning. When I heard, I pulled out those letters and re-read them. So often in life we forget to thank the people that made an impact on them when they were growing up. I’m so glad I had the chance. Now I have the chance to say it again. Thanks Mrs. G.
by April | Oct 14, 2014 | Encouragement
Hurrah! You Go! Get up! You can do it!
It’s so important to surround yourself with people who not only hold you accountable (lots of folks love to do that!) but who make you feel like you’re better after being with them.
Everyone needs cheerleaders in life. Not the phony kind who just say positive, surfacey things and make you feel sticky like a candy-cane that’s been slobbered on by a dog and then dropped on a cat.
No. ((shiver))
Rather, real friends who know what you’ve been through, what you’re capable of, and (more importantly sometimes) what you’re not capable of. Those that cheer you on to get up. Those that hold you up when you’re worn. The ones that not only hand you tissues when you’re sad, but pass the popcorn when you’re celebrating (well…for me it’s popcorn, for you, it might be something else!).
Last Saturday I got to hang out at Oregon Christian Writers and even got to co-teach a workshop on encouraging writers their publishing journey. It was such fun–I love encouraging others to write. It got me thinking about how important being encouraged really is. The Bible says in 1Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
In my novel, Macy, she’s got some new friends who encourage her in times of biggest need. They walk through some of her toughest moments when she falls and help her get up again. And again.
In my life, I’ve had a lot of encouragers. The Lord seems to bring them to me when I need it the most. An unexpected text, a card in the mail, a good friend coming by with a coffee just to sit and listen.
Who encourages you in your life? Who helps you get up when you don’t think you can anymore? A friend, a parent? Most importantly, do you encourage others?
I’d love to hear about the cheerleaders in your life, the ones that stood by your side and told you to get up, to keep going. You don’t have to use their names, but I’d love it if you left me a comment below.
by April | Sep 21, 2014 | Encouragement, Suffering
Life can take us by surprise, can’t it? Oftentimes those surprises are hard, rather than sweet celebrations. You only have to open your email or your Facebook to see someone going through a hard time. We all know people suffering–maybe you are suffering.
Our culture preaches preparedness. From natural disasters to retirement, you’ve got to have a plan. You’ve got to stay on top of things–you’ve got to stay in control. Have that escape route ready, that insurance policy up to date. Keep going, never say die, never surrender, never throw in the towel. You’ve got this!
While it’s irresponsible not to do our best to be prepared for the unforeseen–I shouldn’t get comfortable with my own preparedness, the illusion that I’m in control. Because even when I’ve got my helmet on, my shelves stocked with food, my legal papers all in order, I can still be blindsided by events. The death of a loved one, a devastating injury, a new illness–the unexpected can literally take our breath away. So, what do we do then?
There’s no easy answer to that. Even as I type, names of people going through the unimaginable race through my mind. All I can say is God knows what you’re facing and, if you are His, He is with you. In my own experiences, the more I try to hold onto plans and ideas of what life is supposed to look like, the more I end up feeling embittered, frustrated and depressed. I lose hope. After all, wasn’t I ready for what life threw at me? Obviously not. Conversely, the more I pray for the Lord’s will in my life, the more I give up my scramble to control, the more peace I have, the more satisfied I am with life. One definition of surrender is to give oneself up, to yield or submit to another. We just finished reading a book the other day, and there’s a quote at the end that’s really stuck with me:
“The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become – because He made us. He invented us. He invented all the different people that you and I were intended to be. . .It is when I turn to Christ, when I give up myself to His personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own.” ~C.S Lewis, Mere Christianity
A verse from the Bible shares the mystery I’ve come back to many times is 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Are you suffering? You are not alone. I’m not saying, “There are people the world over who are suffering, buck-up camper.” No, I mean, “Take heart, YOU are not alone. He is with you.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
by April | Aug 8, 2014 | Award, Encouragement, Faith, Writer of Promise, Writing
2 Corinthians 12: 9-10 But he (Jesus) said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
I won an award this week at the Oregon Christian Writers Summer conference. It’s an award for being a Writer of Promise. It’s actually an award I thought would be very cool to win, but never expected to hear my name associated with it. In fact, I was so surprised to hear my name, all the blood rushed out of my extremities. I have no knowledge of how I got up those stairs and onto that stage. I remember very little about what I said, and only have a vague recollection of sitting down in my seat again. But I did because God enabled me to. In fact, God enables me to do everything I do. He’s enabling you, too, but you might not be aware to what extent. I am acutely aware.
Here’s what I would have said on that stage if I’d had more time and had my wits better about me. Maybe I said it and don’t remember. If you were there, I pray you saw it in my eyes: my complete unworthiness, my gratefulness, and my boast in the Lord:
I can do nothing without God. Really. I am chronically ill with a rare disease that leaves my body “fighting” germs 24/7. I get up every day with body aches and a fuzzy head, not walking straight, not sure of what I can take on. I’m exhausted because of the fight. Have you had the flu? Yeah, like that–pretty much all the time. At this week’s conference, I was heading back to my room every four hours for breathing treatments. I planned my classes, my meetings, around these treatments, around rests, around plenty of downtime. I almost didn’t make it to OCW, let alone the dinner and awards ceremony, because I’d been so sick. My medical treatment for my condition is done on Tuesday evenings, and 98 percent of Wednesdays, I’m down all day. I’m certainly not dressed up, on my feet, attending classes and going to late night galas. I shouldn’t have been at the dinner. In fact, I was due for a breathing treatment RIGHT in the middle of the awards ceremony. I was going to have to leave. But my lungs didn’t spasm with an asthma flare, so I stayed. And that’s when I got the most amazing surprise of my career (outside of my first book contract).
As I heard the kudos for the last award of the night, I prepared to clap for whoever it was. Then, I suddenly realized (via some clues) that the presenter, Lindy Jacobs, was talking about me! Although we were in a room of several hundred people, right then, it was just me and the Father. Because all I do, all I accomplish, all I write, all my steps are from Him. Literally. He carried me up those steps, He got me back to my seat. He got me through photos and lots of lovely hugs, and then back up that long hallway to my room where I cried and stayed awake in awe and humility into the wee hours. He stayed up with me, too. People often ask me why I write about my illness on my blog, why I share so openly when asked. THIS is why. I want you to see it’s not me, it’s Him. I want you to see how He loves us. I want you to see how involved He is in every aspect of our lives. He is my strength, my portion, my motivation. My all in all. And I’m so grateful.
