The Fingerprints of God

There’s nothing that’s quite so arresting as awareness of God around us. I mean really near. Not just the cursory acceptance of the verse “I am with you always”, but the raw knowledge that Someone has direct involvement in our lives.

It can be the evidence in God’s creation – the vast mountain landscapes or torrent seas.

It can be in God’s provision – the great and the small.

It can be in His people, from the touch of a mother’s hand, the laughter of children, or a newborn baby’s cry.

They all speak of God’s ‘touch’ in our lives.

We often think God is far off – up in His Heaven somewhere, but His Spirit is actively at work around us – providing hands and feet through people.

Kind words spoken, a hug of comfort, a phrase of encouragement, another shoulder to bear the burden, and understanding/listening ear.

He’s here. His body.

And it’s absolutely amazing when we step back and ‘see’ them.

God provided it for me in so many ways this week – from a ‘word in due season’ while meeting with Beth Vogt at BRMCWC to a chat with my 5 year old about faith. God was there. Right there- leaving his fingerprints all through my life.

And all through yours too.

Open your eyes and see the wonder of His love and know He is not far off.

He is near.

A New Devotional with a Classic Twist

What’s better than a well-written devotional?

A well-written devotional with Jane Austen flare.

Thomas Nelson’s newest devotional, simply entitled A Jane Austen Devotional,  is a beautiful blend of Jane Austen’s writing and spiritual insight. Excerpts from Austen’s classics are used as examples to address specific biblical topics ranging from jealousy, marriage, patience, and unconditional love. Author Stephanie Woosley brings out the best and worst of Austen’s characters with an underlying current of Christ’s love throughout.

Not only is it well-written, but it is also short enough for a busy woman to handle. It succinct, beautifully-written, poignant, sweet, and at times funny (as only Austen can write).

If you’re an Austen fan, or just looking for a very accessible devotional, I’d recommend this one.

Beautiful.

This Week on Words Seasoned with Salt

On Monday, join me as a display the pictures that inspire my stories. Storybuilding Places. The scenery that builds the set for the characters in my historical, contemporary, and speculative fiction novels.

Wednesday is a devo-writing post about Who is Jesus – Knowing Your Characters from the Inside Out

Stop by Friday for latest news or book reviews.

Don’t forget to Sprinkle God’s Love to a Needy World today. A little seasoning goes a long way when God’s the chef.

Blessings,

Pepper

Your Days Are Numbered

Your days are numbered.

Did you know that?

As in:

1

45

16,782

Numbered.

And not ONE of them is worthless or unimportant.

Psalm 90:12 “Teach us to number our days so we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Whoa. So, how do we number our days? Well, the first few verses in that chapter give us some clues. It’s basically this:

Realizing who WE are and what We’ve done in the light of realizing who GOD is and what HE’S done.

Moses starts the Psalm by talking about the greatness and eternality of God.

v. 2 – “Before the mountains were born
   or you brought forth the whole world,
   from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

So, basically – we must try to see our lives from God’s perspective, since He’s been around a bit longer than we have, and knows a whole lot more than we ever could.

To make sure we get the point, Moses goes on to describe our humanness and mortality.

v. 5 – Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
   they are like the new grass of the morning:
⁶ In the morning it springs up new,
   but by evening it is dry and withered.

Or

v. 9-10 – All our days pass away under your wrath;
   we finish our years with a moan.
¹⁰ Our days may come to seventy years,
   or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
   for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

Pretty gloomy sounding, isn’t it?

Almost in one breath – life is here, then it’s gone.

Does it matter to us?

I don’t know about you, but I struggle with being my own god.

With living my life as if it is going to go on forever, and forgetting why I was created.

I forget that by original design, this world is not my home and the things of it are as frail as a snowflake.

I live my life as if I am the author of my future, the keeper of my past, and the conqueror of my present, but I deceive myself.

The eternal Time Keeper sees the big picture of my life – the good, the bad, and the ugly- and weaves them all together to make me into a child fit for Heaven.

The troubles, the trials, the heartache and pain, serve a grander purpose. Moses’ words help us put grief and trials in their proper place:

See verses 14-17, particularly verse 15:

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
   that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
   for as many years as we have seen trouble.
¹⁶ May your deeds be shown to your servants,
   your splendor to their children.

 ¹⁷ May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
   establish the work of our hands for us—
   yes, establish the work of our hands.

It’s really all about seeing things from the right perspective. Who we are and who He is.

If his ‘unfailing love’ truly satisfies us, then whatever the ‘affliction’ or ‘trouble’, we can ‘sing for joy’ and ‘be glad all our days’, because we recognize the extravagance of the Father’s love.

When we are satisfied with His ‘unfailing love’ – then everything else falls into its proper place. Our deeds and our ‘works’ no longer control us, but are controlled by the Holy Spirit in us.

The number of our days no longer matter – it’s how we fill each one of those days that begins to shape our points of view.

I don’t know about you, but I really need to get my mind off of me – and onto Jesus!

Check out a picture that speaks a thousand words about the Glory of God  by visiting Jon England’s site here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/snappermcgee/4935860312/in/set-72157624710749646/

Truly, this picture looked like it belong with a prayer.

Blessings,

Pepper

Christmas Wishes from my Family to Yours

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

God came wrapped in the flesh of a human child so that humans can become children of God.

YES, Christmas is all about Family.

May you unwrap the gift of God’s love this Christmas and revel in the Father’s grace.

Love,

Dwight, Pepper, Ben, Aaron, Lydia, Samuel, & Phoebe

Christ in the Carols – O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Over the next few weeks, I thought it would be nice to focus on a few popular hymns sung during the Christmas season. Songs we refer to as Christmas Carols. One of my all-time favorite ‘Advent’ Carols is O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.

If you don’t know what Advent means – it’s the term used for the ‘Coming of Christ and is usually celebrated for 5 weeks – from the Sunday after Thanksgiving to the last Sunday in December. O Come, O Come Emmanuel is a perfect hymn for Advent because it is exactly that – a hymn calling from the prophecies of the Old Testament for the coming of the Messiah.

Here are some of the verses:

O come, o come Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear.

Refrain:

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of Hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.Wow! Did you get the power of those words. What a song of celebration and crying out for God’s salvation.

O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

“Free Thine own from Satann’s tyranny

From depths of Hell Thy people save

And give them victory or the grave”

When the Son of God appears – NOTHING will defeat him. And as people who live on this side of the cross, we know that not even death could defeat Christ. Because He overcame the power of sin and death, we can live forever in Him. The gloomy clouds of night have been dispersed…and death’s dark shadows have been put to flight.

Rejoice!

The melody for this hymn is said to have come from a 12 century Latin song. It was translated into English in the mid-1800s. We can rejoice because the Messiah – the Son of God HAS come. We are no longer left captives stumbling in the dark. We can rejoice, because the Light of the World has shone into the darkness and awakened our heart to His marvelous love.

Rejoice!

God Made the Books

My three year old just walked into the room and said, “Mama, God made the books.”

Hmmm…perspective.

Then my 12 year old followed her comment by saying, “Well, actually, God made the trees that made the paper. THEN God made the people to take the paper and bind it into books, after some other people God made, wrote the words on the paper. So really,” he grinned. “God made the books.”

For those of us who are writers (or in other words, those people God made to write on the paper to make books), this is a great perspective to keep in the forefront of our thoughts.

God is the true Author – he just happens to use his kids to write the stories. Without Him, there would be no trees, no paper, no inspiration, no people. In short – nothing!

Or nothing worth writing about.

Just a reminder for those of us who are in the trenches – trying to create something out of chaos. At the bottom, or the root, of it all is God.

Creator

Inspirer

Author

Perfector

Savior

Finisher

Maker of beauty out of chaos…. Something out of nothing. Stories.

A Whisper Heavenward

Sometimes death comes like a bomb, exploding into one’s life and shaking the foundations of who we are, maybe even our faith.

Sometimes it comes like a tug-of-war, wrenched from our grasp despite the strength of our arms and hearts.

And sometimes, it comes like a whisper – drawn from us in a quiet way, quivering our spirits like a full glass of water. Part of us spills out with whys and wonders, but at the bottom of it all there is a peace.

A peace that passes understanding.

Yes, there is weeping, hurt, a deep and aching sadness – but in the end, a knowledge- the One who held that life is STILL holding that life, only in a different place and different way.

I write this note today to celebrate the life of my grandmother who met Jesus yesterday evening.

Here is the dedication to the story I’ve been writing about her life for the past 15 years:

To my Granny Spencer,

whose memories inspired this story and whose life inspired me.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a song for her using her ‘life’ verse; the verse she loved to meditate on,

Romans 8:28, and I had the opportunity to sing it to her over the phone. She liked it

The Author’s Song

When the storms of trouble threaten dreams

or when pain blinds eyes and soul

and when sorrows break our dreams

you will whisper peace be still

You will whisper peace be still

_________

When the lonely nights spread into days

or tomorrow’s hope light fades

when the grip of death is breaths away

You will hold your child safe

You will hold your child safe

For each moment is like paint within your hands to make a portrait

Where the image likens more and more to you

As you work these moments to our good, as you work these moments to our good.

_______

When the weeping lasts all through the night

and the joy comes with the sun

When a prayer awakes hearts to flight

You will sing your songs or us

You will sing your songs or us

Make a picture of the good and bad as we’re molded more like you

Keep our wandering hearts steadfast and true

As you call us to your purposes

As you call us to your purposes

—–

When my final day comes to a close

and my story has been told

May your fingerprints be left behind

as you walk this child home

as you walk this child home

-For a life well-lived to glorify God

In the Valley of the Shadow of QUIT

Okay, so I’m there.

Walking between the mountains of publication, dreams, and reality. If you’re a writer, you’ve probably been there before….counting the cost like clinking coins in a piggy bank. Is it worth it? Can I even do it?

The coins in one jar are stacking up a whole lot higher than the coins in the other.

So…

My oldest started middle school this year, which is a big shift in our family dynamics. I never imagined it would be such a change, but it is. So much homework, organization, planning…and he’s a GREAT self-starter. My fourth child started Kindergarten, and requires lots of guidance in the process. Because my second born son thinks homework is one of the plagues sent by God to the Egyptians, it takes him double the time to get it done. So life has become VERY, VERY busy. The first week and a half of school has been tough.

Did I mention I started a new job? Yep. Full-time tenure faculty position at the university, but that means more responsibility, more paperwork, more administrative duties = less time to write. My imaginary friends are getting mighty lonesome.

Oh, and I put my youngest into full-time childcare for the first time. (drawing in a shaky breath). I’m blessed because she’s doing so well, but there is an added transportation dynamic.

And there’s the responsiblities at church. You know, teaching Sunday School, Children’s Church, Worship Team…etc.

Not to mention my house that is slowly turning into a ‘garage-sell-wanna-be’.

Sorry for the complaints. I’m just walking that path right now and trying to figure out where writing fits into the mix. In all honesty, I can’t ‘quit’ because stories brew in my brain everyday at almost every hour, but the push toward publication isn’t a necessity for me right now. So I’m hovering between two paths and praying for a guide

No, these situations are not life-threatening. Not even really, really bad.

And, this season is just that…a season. And there is a time for every one of them.

The bottom line?

What season is this for me? What choices do I make?

Well, one thing I do know:

The only way through any fog-laden, rocky, crooked valley for a lost sheep

Is to have a Shepherd.

Romancing the Wicked Witch of the West – The Gospel

Oh come on, isn’t she lovely? With skin the color of sweet peas, a voice to scrape paint off the walls, and a nose with enough hook to catch a fish. She’s sweet too. Oh so sweet. Really. Who cares about a girl and her little dog too?

The Wicked Witch of the West is a fantastic heroine, right? Definite romance novel material.

Oh – and what about Senator Palpatine (aka The Emperor) off of Star Wars, especially after his electrifying facial. Mmmhmmm…can we say beautiful. Skin the texture of old leather, eyes the color of dried blood, and what teeth he does have hold a pale yellow candescence. Hunky!

I’ve got it! The Joker. What a great sense of humor, right? Sure, it gets a little out of hand, but that chalky white complexion and pasted grin can sure make my heart flip. And the eye makeup, or the redness around his mouth. Sooo complimentary.  And the laugh? Or the clothes? What’s not to love.

Would it sound very weird if I said – we are all villains?

Yep. Just as beautiful…probably worse, than the three I’ve just discussed. Even at our best, we’re pretty atrocious. We don’t want to admit it about ourselves. We want to believe (or make other people believe) we’re pretty good people – but at the core of who we are, we are irrecovably broken, flawed,…’our righteousness is as filthy rags”.

And yet – we are loved by the most beautiful being in all eternity.

God sees us as we are, in all our disgust, and romances us. Who would EVER read a book like that? Really? When there is nothing loveable AT ALL. What hero would seek out a woman like The Wicked Witch of the West? None in the books I read…unless, the books are trying to point to the greatest HERO of all.

John 3:16 should SHOCK us to our souls. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

God! Loved us THAT much. Loved US. US – those villains with breath to wilt apples, or enough evil to slay people’s thoughts with a glance. US.

God came down from Heaven and romanced the villains. And we weren’t even LOOKING for a love.

 John 3, as Nicodemus visits Jesus by night, talks about how the ‘world’ wasn’t even looking for Jesus. Didn’t even want to see him. Verse 19 says, “men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.”

Evil. Villains. The World. Us.

The people for whom Christ died.

And now for Him We LIVE, because a love like THAT transforms us.

No longer beasts, but because of love – beauty. His love changes our sin-cloaked hearts and shapes them into magnificent vessels overflowing with the possiblities of our Lover.

He inspires, even enables, us to become Heroes in this story he’s writing with our lives.

Oh what a Prince, Savior, Lover of our Souls.