Colorado and American Christian Fiction Writers

LAKE DILLON


The week of September 12th was exceptional for me. I spent several days with a friend of mine in Denver and the Rocky Mountains. This picture of Lake Dillon is what it looked like outside our mountain condo. All of us need an opportunity to relax and fill our creative wells, our spiritual wells, and our friendship wells. If we don't take time to do these things we can become dry as the desert.

Following those great few days in the mountains I attended the American Christian Fiction Writers Conference in Denver. I've been to this conference several times before and always learn something valuable. But this time God knocked my socks off. He was in every conversation and I recognized this.

My roommate, Vicki, my buddy Serena and I had a great time reconnecting. I got to meet several of my blogging buddies at http://www.inkwellinspirationals.blogspot.com and I would encourage you to drop by and visit all of us. I enjoyed meeting editors, attending workshops, volunteering, and participating in a great family reunion of writers who dream big, have a passion for Jesus, encourage each other, and persist despite obstacles large and small.

I returned home exhausted and bleary eyed, coughing and sneezing, and couldn't hear well for 24 hours because my ears were effected from the flight.

THAT'S WHAT I CALL LIVING!

Streams in the Desert

My family and I had walked through a spiritually devastating desert for several years. My oldest daughter had been diagnosed with a severe learning disability known as NLD (non-verbal learning disability similar to Asperger’s Syndrome). For more information you can go to http://www.nldline.com/ On top of that she’d developed a complicated depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. She was eleven years old and in fifth grade. My youngest was eight at the time and so very scared about what was happening to her big sister.

This month my oldest will turn twenty and the severity of the problems continue but we are learning to trust God no matter what. Without Christ in our lives, our church, and many friends, I can’t see anyway we would have made it this far. But I’m a big believer in the power of prayer and in the power of hope. I even have a carved sculpture in my office that simply says, HOPE.





Several years ago, Robin Lee Hatcher, recommended I buy a copy of a daily devotional originally published in1925. That devotional is titled, Streams in the Desert, written by L.B. Cowman, and updated in modern language by James Reimann. Streams in the Desert is relief for the parched soul.

Yesterday was September 7th (Labor Day) and I posted over at http://www.inkwellinspirations.blogspot.com/ You might want to check that out as this is a continuation of that post. Streams in the Desert, begins with Psalm 46:1- God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. The first sentence: “Why didn’t God help me sooner?”




And then later the text continues.

"I once heard the following statement from a simple old man, and I have never forgotten it: "When God tests you, it is a good time to test Him by putting His promises to the test and then claiming from Him exactly what your trials have made necessary."

The text continues again: "There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is simply to try to get rid of the trial, and then to be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever before experienced, and to accept it with delight as an opportunity of receiving a greater measure of God's divine grace.

"In this way, even the Adversary becomes a help to us, and all the things that seem to be against us turn out to assist us along our way. Surely this is what is meant by the words "in all these thing we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us." (Rom. 8:37). A.B. Simpson Page 342.


Let me say it can be very hard to learn lessons when our children are suffering. I don’t even want to think about learning a lesson in those circumstances. I just want results. Fast! But looking back over the past nine years I have learned much. Okay, what you may say have you learned through this long, long, trial that still persists? Here’s my short list:
1) Patience
2) Prayer
3) Persistence




My long list begins something like this:
1) The need to let God work in a situation that I feel I need to control. That’s a tough one.
2) Wrestling God for a blessing and what that really means.
3) The need to REALLY take care of yourself even when things are awful because a long term illness of any kind will exhaust you as a caregiver and parent.
4) Hanging on to hope when you can’t find it.
5) Asking friends to stand in the gap and pray when you can’t pray one more word.
6) Finding peace in the Word, on a walk, in prayer, or in "being still."





Through all our trials as a family Christ has always been there for us even when we didn’t know it or feel his presence. Think about your trials and your “dry times.” What was it that you thirsted for? How did God provide?

Every morning on my way to work I pass a fountain that says: “Thirsty and ye gave me drink.” I roll my window down and listen to the calm of the water. It’s really nice when I get a red light and can enjoy it for a minute longer.

Psalm 46:1- God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

A Week of New Stuff

Hi Gang,

I actually got out of town this weekend and got some much needed R&R at Lake Cumberland in Kentucky. What a relief! You know how you just keep going and going and take care of everyone else but yourself? Well that's been me for a long time, and this summer it seemed that I wasn't making much progress on taking care of me, but that changed this weekend.



It started out with a migraine headache. Ouch! My gal pals gently settled me in the back seat of the car, and I wore my sleeping mask to keep the light out. Yep, I use one of those when the light is unbearable. It helps. I woke up about 2 hours later, a little south of Lexington and an hour after that we entered a great cabin at Woodsen Bend. The weekend was filled with laughter, boating, swimming, sunning and lots of eating.



Please stop by and visit the new http://www.inkwellinspirations.blogspot.com/ I think you'll find it interesting and you'll find me there too! Also, if you get the chance drop by and visit my agent's new site at http://livingwordliterary.wordpress.com/

ENCOURAGEMENT

It’s important to keep putting one foot in front of the other during difficult days as well as good days so that you are consistently moving forward and not backward. If your life experience is anything like mine it’s possible that you hit a snag once in awhile. That snag may be small: you forgot your haircut appointment, or that snag could be huge: your doctor just delivered some bad news and you need surgery. Whatever the situation may be it’s imperative to surround yourself with encouragers, those people who lift you up in prayer, make you laugh when life is gloomy, and are willing to take you out to dinner and buy you a meal, or at least dessert.

Encouragement is a conscious act of sincere spirit boosting that if practiced daily will turn into a wonderful habit that others will appreciate. The smallest act of encouragement from my perspective is the smile. Yes, the smile. Ever walk past someone who says hello, flashes those pearly whites, and seems to have the world at their feet? That could be you! Encouragement is contagious, just like smiles and laughter.

So I encourage you today to take a step foreword and practice the art of the smile. Not only will the receiver be blessed but you will be blessed as well.

INTERVIEW

This is an exciting week for me. Lots is happening and I'd love for you to stop
byRomance Writers on the Journey - http://romancewritersonthejourney.wordpress.com
where Keli Gywn has posted an interview regarding my writing journey. It's so much fun. I hope you'll drop by and read it and possibly win a prize.

Keli has interviewed many writers and debut novelists so there is a lot of information including articles you may find very helpful.

Have a great week and stay tuned for more exciting news. :)

MENTAL

There's a new show coming to television on May 26th called, Mental. When I heard this I thought maybe someone finally figured out a way to depict the reality of the mental health system and bring some much needed publicity to a subject that people don't like to talk about until it effects them or their loved ones. And then most be people won't talk much because of the stigma associated with mental illness.

Typically, and too often the news focuses on the horror stories and not the day to day courageous struggles and triumphs of people coping with the challenges of invisible demons that can make life miserable. (I encourage you to visit http://www.ocfoundation.org/ and meet some real heros and heroines. Check out the Organized Chaos website where you can learn a lot from teens and young adults).

Monk is probably the best show I can think of that tackles the challenges of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. Yet the people dealing with OCD don't always do as well as Adrian Monk. The torturous thoughts that plague some people aren't laughable, but laughter can help us feel better. More shows like Monk might make it easier to discuss other mental disorders as easily as headaches and back pain. That's one way we can help fight stigma.

The New Yorker's, Nancy Franklin, reviews 'Mental' at this link: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/television/2009/05/25/090525crte_television_franklin

If she's right, then a great opportunity was missed to make a difference. If you get a chance, watch it, and see what you think. Maybe there's still hope.