The Heart Connection

When I first started teaching writing to a group of homeschooled high school students last September, I had no idea that God would knit my heart to theirs. They were all sweet kids, and I already knew many of them through my daughter, but writing is an activity that unveils the heart. It is through the activities of the class that I have made a connection with each one of them, because I have caught glimpses of each student's real world. It's been an amazing journey, and I am delighted that the Lord has allowed me to be a small part of their lives.

Writing is one of the ways that God chooses to reveal Himself to us: through the power of His written Word. The Bible is incredible. I have been constantly reminded lately of the wealth of worth and power in the Scriptures. I have a friend who is a first-year missionary in Jerusalem, and she shared recently about a sermon she had heard:

[The pastor] reminded us that every saved person is in full-time ministry. That Jesus owns us. That He purchased us and paid for us. And if we call ourselves followers of Him, we commit ourselves to partner with Him in establishing His Kingdom on earth. He also reminded us that we have a very real enemy, one who will constantly challenge us with, "Did God really say.....?" and our defense for that is to KNOW what the scriptures DO SAY. For ourselves. Not because we listen to someone else interpret them, but because we READ THEM. He challenged us to wake up and take responsibility for our faith.... or to stop calling ourselves believers.

Once again, I'm challenged to rise to the risk of my faith. We can't THINK the Word, LIVE the Word, PRAY the Word, or DO the Word, unless we READ the Word. Read it to know what He says! Read it to know His heart! The Word is your heart connection to Jesus Christ!

HERE IT IS!

Do you love it? I am thrilled!

Memory Work

Hey Everybody,

I am working on memorizing this verse and thought I would share it with you. I don't memorize Scripture as much as I should, and I really want to do more memory work. There is something that happens when you take God's Word and you go over it and over it (which is what you have to do in order to memorize something, LOL!). You actually begin to ponder it. You actually learn how to meditate on it. I think that is a pretty good place to be!

Anyway, here is what I have been pondering over the past few days:

"This is what the Lord says: Let not the wise man gloat in his wisdom, or the mighty man in his might, or the rich man in his riches. Let them boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who is just and righteous, whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken" (Jeremiah 9:23-24).

Isn't that good? Isn't HE good?

SEASON OF CHANGE UPDATE!

Hey Everybody,

I am so pleased with Tate Publishing! I am having a great experience with this company, and that is something worth being very excited about!

My editor has been absolutely incredible! Since I have a degree in English, I teach writing, and I've done freelance editing work, I tend to think that I know everything about editing, LOL! And I don't--not at all! But when it comes to finding typos and grammar goofs, I do believe that I can hold my own (and my students will attest to that--although I do love it when they catch one of my mistakes!) So I'm going to be pretty tough on any editing that is done on anything I write. (I'm just being honest, now, just keeping it real!) I received the first edits of my manuscript last weekend, and I was absolutely thrilled! I felt as though a kindred spirit had gotten a hold of my book--she caught everything that I didn't! In fact, there was only one edit of hers that I took issue with--only one! That's truly remarkable. :) What I also loved about this editor was that she took the time to throw in some encouraging words throughout the manuscript. Everybody knows that a few encouraging words go a very long way! Anyway, so far, so good with Tate!

Now I am eagerly waiting to see the cover design! I spoke with the cover designer a couple of weeks ago, and she was great, too! (Yes, all these Tate people are great!) I have been praying for her. The cover is SOOOOO important! I have got some great covers on my books. God has blessed me with very talented people who were able to catch His vision and develop some very beautiful, eye-catching covers that reveal the heart of my books! Amazing!

One thing that I have prayed for this book is that God will give the designer exactly what He wants for its cover. I have even prayed that He will wake her up in the middle of the night with the design if that's what He needs to do! LOL! I cannot wait to see it!

GIRLS OF INTEGRITY!

Hey Everybody,

The GOI conference was amazing! We had so much fun! Danya, Misty, and I met some wonderful people, and we were so blessed by the entire event.

Over 100 girls came out in some very wintry weather to experience worship, Bible study, and fellowship with other teens. There were several different churches from the area represented, and despite over 4" of snow on the ground and continuing to fall, nothing stopped the conference from coming together!


Danya and Misty are a great worship team. Those two girls love Jesus and they really led all of us in the spirit of true worship. Hearing all of the girls singing together--one voice, one spirit--on "Heart of Worship" was just incredible.

My prayer for all of the girls is that they chose to be followers, not just fans, of Jesus Christ! If you didn't make that decision at the conference, let today be the day!

Stuff

Hey Everybody,

I did watch AI last night, but I've just got too much going on this week to deliver a run-down. I thought there were a few stand-outs, however, David Archuleta (of course) and David Cook--WOW! I was blown away by his arrangement of Lionel Richie's "Hello." What is so funny is that when my husband and I were in college, he was coming from a Lionel Richie/ Air Supply music background, and I was coming out of a Pat Benatar/Van Halen background, and so we laugh about that sometimes, and here this young man is, putting the two together. I believe that Randy called the arrangement "brilliant" and I would have to agree! So that's that. I didn't see the girls tonight, so someone will have to fill me in. Julie, that would be you! :)

We have the Girls of Integrity conference this weekend and I am pumped! We are so excited. I already love those girls in Evansville, and I can't wait to share with them how much Jesus loves them!

Book update: We are on our way! I talked with the cover designer, Kandi, today and we batted around some ideas (mostly her ideas--I know my limits!) All of my covers have been cleverly designed by very talented people and I happen to think that they are TERRIFIC! Eye-catching is what I'm going for. To me, the cover is one of the most exciting things about publishing a book. What I am loving about TATE PUBLISHING is that this is the first time I have ever spoken to the person designing my cover! So it was really an exciting part of the process! Anyway, I can't wait to see what she comes up with. I'm praying as she asked me to: That the Lord would just direct her.

We are studying Exodus in Sunday school right now, and you know, that is a clear example of God's direction in the building of the temple. Every color, every dimension, and every arrangement was clearly directed by the Lord. The artisans, builders, and crafters just did as they were told. That speaks volumes to me right now, and I pray that Kandi would be listening closely as God dictates what He wants on the cover of Season of Change.

oh--another update--I tweaked the subtitle: Parenting your Middle Schooler with Passion and Purpose

Thanks for reading my sporadic blog!