sneak peek of my new book!

We are close to the one-month countdown until my devotional officially releases! June 1 is the day, although you can pre-order online now! A sneak peek of what's inside is below... but first the official picture and description of the book:

"Within the pages of this beautiful women’s devotional, you’ll find the encouragement you need to celebrate every day, as you are reminded that your heavenly Father pours out His love on your life. With more than 180 just-right-sized readings, each encouraging devotional is accompanied by a related scripture selection that will leave you feeling perfectly loved."


Now, my favorite part... the sneak peek of what's inside! This one is from the section on endurance and shows the general format of the devos.

~~~

Immerse Yourself in God’s Word 
I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. -Psalm 119:11 NLT

Enduring through difficulty can feel impossible, but it isn’t. Read, study, or memorize God’s Word and give yourself ammunition to make it through difficult times.

When you are alone, the Holy Spirit can remind you of Hebrews 13:5.  When you are scared, you’ll remember Psalm 23. When you need healing, Isaiah 53:4–5 will come to mind. The Word of God is filled with power. It will strengthen you when you need it the most.

~~~

There you go! If you want more of these bite-sized nuggets for your morning, pre-order a copy, okay? Thanks! I really hope you enjoy it. 

By the way, if you're looking for a mom's day gift, you can always pre-order it and put a nice note in her card saying that a book will be mailed to her soon!

I remember thinking of you, my audience, when writing it. I hope you are encouraged to live daily for Jesus as you read what's inside. 

Have a great day... and thanks for reading and being interested in my writing!

My first book is at the publisher!

I am beyond excited, relieved, and grateful because... I just pressed "send" and my first full-length book is at the publisher! WOW!

(That's one reason I've been quiet on here; all my extra writing energies have gone to that! The other is my two children...!)

I can't quite describe the feeling I had as I did my final review and edit of the process. Every devotional represents a "eureka" moment I had in the past few months. A moment of, "That would be perfect!" Sometimes it involved other people... I asked a few of you for permission to share your story and I'm blessed that you were okay with it! I grabbed lots of Sunday sermons, your conversations, my random thoughts, my mistakes, my stories, your stories...

I hope it turns out to be a vehicle that truly encourages and blesses its audience and that they feel a touch of God's love and encouragement every time they read it.

Oh, the book is titled "Today God Wants You to Know... You Are Loved." It's almost two hundred short devotionals with a title, verse, and copy. It's published by Barbour Publishing... to whom I am very grateful they have provided me with this opportunity, as well as the previous books to which they have allowed me to be a contributing writer .

I do have to thank my husband for allowing me to go on this journey. I know it took a lot of mental time and energy and a few late nights for me, but you were gracious enough to let me go on it. THANK YOU! I love you dearly.

Thank you to my parents and my in-laws for helping with the kiddos so I could write... Erik and I couldn't have done it without you! To everyone who allowed me to share your story (a few of you don't yet know that I shared it; some of you do!), a big huge thank you!

Thank you also to my BFF, April, who edited the project the summer she's preparing to get married! She's amazing and had excellent feedback!

I'll keep you posted when it comes out next spring. Maybe I'll get to post a few sneak peeks too. We shall see!

Thanks for enjoying this journey with me.

:-)


"Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]—to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen (so be it)" Ephesians 3:20-21, Amplified

a sneak peek at ONE devotional

Hi there!

I am excited to share that I am a contributing author on the ONE devotional recently published by Barbour Books. I loved writing my portion of the devotionals; I hope you enjoy reading them.

Here's a sneak peek of one of my devotionals. Enjoy and then click on the link below to order your own copy of the book!

Follow Your Leader

Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man's eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, "Can you see anything now?"

Mark 8:23 nlt

Not once in my thirty-some years on earth have I had the thought to spit in someone’s eye. Even if I had, I can’t imagine acting on it because spitting in someone else’s eye is quite frowned upon by society.

Jesus, on the other hand, did just that. Not only did He spit in the eyes of the blind man in Mark chapter 8, but He also used spit to heal a man born blind in John chapter 9. That time, He spit on the ground, made mud, and put it in the blind man’s eyes.

Mud in someone else’s eyes? Now that takes direction from the Heavenly Father.

In John 5:19, Jesus said that He only did what He saw His Father do. That means He had specific direction given to His heart from heaven to use spit in these healings. Jesus could have easily said, That’s too strange for me, so I’ll pray for his healing my way. Instead, He obeyed the Father’s instructions.

God’s ways are unique and beyond our comprehension. Just as Jesus imitated His Father, we are to imitate our Lord. When He directs—even when we don’t understand—we are to trust and follow His lead.

Father, teach me to trust your leading, even when it is out of my comfort zone. I want to trust and obey you every time. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you want to read more, here's a link to purchase the book! http://www.barbourbooks.com/product/ONE-A-Daily-Devotional,11238.aspx?Tab=Books&sj=821 

my recent writing projects!

I had the opportunity to write some things recently that I thought I'd share with you....

One was a devotional for my sister-in-law's ministry New Beginnings. You can read it here.

The other was an article for www.cfaith.com, a faith-based website where you can access tons of articles, videos, and audio messages on the Word for free. You just have to sign up. You can read it here. 

Have a great day!

if you only reach one

As a writer, I can quickly get caught up in how large my audience is... I mean, wouldn't it be great to be the next best-selling author who sells millions upon millions of books to people around the world? Or wouldn't it be great to become the next best-read blog, read by hundreds or thousands every day?

But then I remember something a writer told me a few years ago at my first writer's conference. If you only reach one, your message and your writing is worth it.

The writer went on to say that he heard back from one girl who read one of his blog postings and as a result decided not to commit suicide. He knew then his blog post was worth it - even if no one else read it except that girl.

That has stuck with me immensely. Right now, I have been published, but I'm not a best-selling author, and I blog, but my blog isn't read by hundreds every day. That doesn't matter though. If my writing impacts one life, it's worth it.

Everyone seems to have stars in their eyes about being a big author or movie star or singer or fashion designer or whatever. What they don't realize is that every person - the well-known to the not-well-known - has a purpose and a place on this earth.

For example, people are needed to write articles for USA Today, but they are also needed for the local city newspaper and the school's monthly newsletter. Every writer is necessary. In the same way, business people are needed at the top as CEOs and business people are needed in the middle of the company. The CEO influences a lot more people than the employee a few rungs down from him, but the direct impact that employee has on his or her coworkers is much more profound than the CEO's could ever be.

So as I'm continually remembering, be content with who you are and your current circle of influence. Your impact on the people around you is invaluable and can be replaced by no one.

writing news!

I hope you all had a nice Christmas and are getting ready to have a nice New Year's! This week between holidays is always kinda relaxed, isn't it? Or I suppose it may be crazy depending on what job you work. :-)

We had a nice Christmas with both of our families. Relaxing. Enjoyable. Played our second game of Quelf and yes, I got a rule that during the game I had to snort every time I laughed. And the global rule was that all of us had to end our sentences with "izzle." Glad I had my flip camera with me. Fun times... and if that all makes no sense to you, play the game Quelf with family or close friends and you'll find out!

So my big writing news is that I have been published again! YAY! I am a contributing author in the book Heavenly Humor for the Chocolate Lover's Soul (published by Barbour Books). Three original writings/devos of mine are in the book... and stories about my dad, mom, Erik, and his friend, Drew. Click here for the publisher's info sheet on it.

God has been so good to me in my writing adventures. He's been faithful to bring me writing opportunities I never dreamed I would have... I'm excited to see what He has in store for my future!

Writing update!

Hi everyone!

So I have super cool news! This spring, I have five devotionals I wrote coming out in a book called Blissfully Blended (a compilation of many different devos/authors). I wrote the devos over a year ago and the book is close to being complete. I found it online:

http://barbourbooks.com/product/Blissfully-Blended,6918.aspx?Tab=Books

If you download a sample (the read inside link), the first 25 devos are printed and mine is day 10!!!! (wow! I'm super happy about that!!!) I have four others that are going in the book.

I have the chance to be in another book for this company - Heavenly Humor for the Chocolate Lover's Soul. I have to write two samples and then if they choose mine I could get published and maybe write more stories. I'll keep you posted and if they aren't chosen, I can always post them here for you to read. :)

Once these type of writing opportunities come around, it gets my mind thinking in that direction. I've tossed around this book title for a while: Everything I Need to Know About Life... I Learned From My Dog. Here's a glimpse of what would be inside:

1. Be persistent.
No matter how many times you push Tucker's paws off the counter, table, bed, or sofa, he always jumps back up again. No matter how many times you tell him "no, you can't have any of my dinner," he'll still push his nose up to your plate in hopes he can get a morsel or a lick of anything good. And if he sits still long enough and tilts his head just so, he can almost guarantee himself some type of treat or goodie. Life deserves that kind of persistence.

2. Be joyful.
No matter how long Erik and I leave Tucker in his cage, I have never once walked up to let him out and seen him sad, mad, or upset. His tail is always wagging when he knows he gets to come out and play. Plus, no matter how bleak or upsetting situations can get in life, we can always look to our dog and I guarantee we'll be smiling in moments. Their joyfulness is infectious... and ours should be too. Not because we can put on a fake smile, but because we have a deep joyfulness knowing what Jesus has done for us.

3. Love people.
Every time someone comes to our door, Tucker freaks out. He jumps on them, wags his whole behind (not just his tail!), and pants ecstatically as he welcomes them to our home. (Sorry to all those who have experienced it!) I'm certainly not recommending loving people to the extent that you freak them out or make them nervous, but always, always love people in a crazy, wonderful way, where they can't help but wonder where you get that kind of love. (Hint: it's from Jesus!)

4. Love your master.
Tucker knows Erik and I. As his masters, he loves being by us and cuddling with us. Every time he sees us, he gets happy. We should be the same with our Master and Lord, God.

5. Mark your territory.
Tucker is 10 months old. Since he could barely walk, he instinctively marked his territory wherever he went. I usually roll my eyes and groan, but one morning I took notice as he marked almost every driveway, sidewalk, mailbox, and stake in the ground he went by. He wants people to know where he's been. How much more should we do that as Christians? We should leave a recognizable mark behind in every place we've been: lives changed, new souls for the kingdoms, attitudes reversed.

I'm sure I can come up with more as I watch and learn from my 10-month old puppy. For now, I better go make dinner.

Smiles all around. :-)