I realized the other day that I have not updated my web journal in a month! So much has happened that I have honestly had little time to write here. I like to share my thoughts about what God is teaching me, and I hope that is a blessing to you, but between work and travel, I’ve had no time to process the many lessons I continue to learn. One day soon, I hope.
For those of you who do not subscribe to my newsletter, I do talk more there than I usually do online, so I would encourage you to sign up if you want to learn about my books and what’s going on in my world. (I promise I will not inundate your inbox!)
On this website, you can find a link at the top of the page “From the Author’s Pen” where you can join the email list.
That said, I am also in the middle of restructuring my website. Actually, I’m having a friend help me. Look for a different style to this site in the next month or two. (Newsletter signup will be on most pages for ease of use.)
On another note – Many things are attached to traditional publishing besides writing a book. That’s where I am right now. I finished writing three books last year, but this year I’ve had to edit all of them. Two are now in print and available to purchase – She Walked Before Us and Her Source of Strength, Raya’s Story. One – Miriam’s Song – is on my couch where I am going over the pages for a final edit. My current work-in-progress about Joseph is on hold.
In the middle of the release of She Walked Before Us, I have several scheduled interviews – one was taped today, airs Nov. 14. That interview is with Suzie Thomas of WNPQ-FM Our Community radio. I think it airs at 9:30 a.m. but it will be in their archives after the initial airing.
Another interview is next Tuesday is with Roxanne Richardson on WDJC-FM in Birmingham, AL taped at 9:30 a.m. I will make sure the coffee is brewed by then!
On Wednesday, November 14, I have been invited to speak with Rabbi Eric Walker of Igniting a Nation for an online live hour-long interview at 11:00 a.m. (This is a first for me! I’m not nervous yet.)
You can listen in through their website or their YouTube Channel. I’m excited to see what live online tv is like!
We also had the unexpected privilege of flying west to visit our seven-month old granddaughter, whom we had not yet had a chance to meet. That took a lot of planning, which God seemed to pull together without a hitch, and we had a week of beauty and fun. I don’t think I will ever stop feeling grateful for that. Of course, this year, we had to take extra precautions including being tested for COVID. We were both negative! We are very grateful for good health these days.
Now I’ve returned to all of the above, and I pray that I can finish Joseph’s first draft before the year is out. It is due next March.
Of course, life as usual always comes with complications – especially this year. As my nephew mentioned the other day, we have to wonder what God wants us to learn from all we have suffered. This is a year that seems to keep piling on one more hard thing.
We can all ask why so much suffering? And the truth is, some of us are suffering in unimaginable ways, while others feel bad because they are blessed but still stressed over it all. Gratitude to God for all of life can go a long way, but we can never undermine another person’s pain.
Isolation has caused more harm than I think we realized at the start. We’re not used to being together so much or alone so much. We live in fear or we live in judgment of those who don’t feel as we do.
Is God allowing all of this to get our attention? That is a though question to answer because we don’t want to see God as anything but loving and suffering doesn’t feel like love, does it? Jesus told us that in this life we would have tribulation, but to be of good cheer, because He has overcome the world. If we are His, then His perfect love in our hearts should cast out our fears. There is no fear in love. So why are so many Christians afraid? I understand when those who don’t have the hope of Jesus fear. I even understand their anger. But that is not how we are to react, even in the worst of times.
That’s easier said than done, I know, even for one who loves and trusts in Jesus. But it’s not faith if we allow ourselves to react to all that is going on in the world with fear, anger, bitterness, hatred, violence, arguments, and so much more. God tells us to be grateful in all circumstances. Give thanks. It’s a sacrifice to praise God when life is falling apart. But it’s also a weapon against those very emotions that would hold us hostage. We are not slaves of hate or evil. If we walk with God, we belong to Him, and He can be trusted to get us through this. He’s done it before – just read Scripture or even history and you will see that this is not the end yet.
Someday it will come though, and I hope we are all ready for the day Jesus returns.
I believe God uses many ways and means to get our attention as he did with the men and women in Scripture. He wants us to realize how much He wants to be in our lives. He wants relationship with us. He wants us to trust in Him. To admit our sin against His holiness and turn around and go back to what we know is right and true.
I wish I could say I know the solution to all of our struggles, but I am flawed and human. God is not. He does have the answers, but He doesn’t always answer the questions. Sometimes He sees if we will wait for Him. Will we have faith and patience enough to trust that He’s got the situations of our lives under control, and for us to just wait until He can show us what He’s doing? He’s impressed that on me of late. Sometimes the changes we pray for depend on the actions of other people, and God may be wooing them to Him, but they resist. Be patient while He works. We don’t know what the future holds.
One thing I have learned through this past month of busy working, travel, internet silence, is that God can make a way where there is no way. He can open doors that are shut. He can fit all of the puzzle pieces together. If He could hang the stars in the heavens, suspended on what looks like nothing, shining brightly from generation to generation, He can do far more than we could ask or imagine.
This is why I write. To share God’s love and His message with the world. I’m passionate about our God and wish I could share the beauty of His grace and holiness with everyone. I pray the whole world comes to know Him. He is everything we’ve ever wanted or been looking for.
Until next time~
