Perfect Timing

I cannot begin to tell you what goes on in my brain when things don’t go as planned. My publisher has encountered some production slowdowns, which has put my book’s publication date father out in the future than originally planned. Of course, my little paranoid brain starts too think evil thoughts, such as, “Oh, what if he secretly hates the book and thinks he made a mistake?” or, “What if God has been fooling around with me and really doesn’t want me to do all the things I thought He had called me to do?” You know how we humans are—me especially. I lack faith.

Anyway, for those of you who don’t know, my husband and I have just started a commercial cleaning business. We don’t have enough clients to hire employees, so we’re doing all the work. I began to think last week (probably as I was cleaning a toilet) that if my book had been published in August, as originally planned, or in December as was the second plan, I would not be able to help Greg in this endeavor. I would have been traveling, trying to sell my book and speak at schools, libraries, and youth groups. God knew Greg would need me to work with him now, hence, no book. If you are wondering why my book hasn’t come out yet, don’t blame my publisher, blame Greg and Weston Commercial Cleaning, Inc.

Also, Greg and I only have one car. We need another if I want to travel to sell my book—preferably, a bigger, older SUV or truck that we can use to haul all the cleaning equipment. My mom just called today, and told us that they are moving my grandparents into a special living facility that allows them to live independently, but takes them to all their appointments. Hence, my mom no longer needs her ancient Ford Explorer, which they have been using to haul my grandfather’s mechanical wheelchair around. She does not want to pay the insurance on it anymore, and she was wondering if she could gift us the car as long as we took over the insurance and let my uncle use it to cart my granddad around on occasion. I burst into tears when my husband told me. You see, I’ve been praying that God would give us a car because I knew I would need it. God tends to give us what we need when we need it, so I really am hoping that my book will come out soon.

Back to my mantra: God’s timing is perfect. Mine is not.

For more information on my debut novel, A Prophecy Forgotten, check out my website at http://www.elysianchronicles.com.

January 8, 2007 Daily-ish readings

Readings: II Samuel 22-23, Psalm 145, I Corinthians 11
II Samuel 22: I sometimes forget how dangerous it must have been for David when Saul chased him around Israel for years. Here, David records a song he wrote about God once he had been delivered from Saul's hand. He describes his experience fleeing from Saul as "waves of death" swirling around him, "torrents of destruction" overwhelming him, and the "cords of the grave coiled around" him. I often wonder how he maintained his faith in God when he prayed to God night after night, and God seemingly did not answer. Again, timing is key. David survived and became king.

January 3, 2007 Daily-ish Readings

Readings: II Samuel 18-19, Psalm 143, I Corinthians 9
II Samuel 18: Absalom, David's own son, created an army and tried to take David's throne through force. (He also killed one of David's other sons in earlier chapters.) When Absalom is finally killed, David's reaction is not joy. He reacts with deep mourning, yelling, "O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I had died instead of you--O Absalom, my son, my son!" Not being a parent, I can only imagine the anguish of David, both in having to endure the horror of having his own son try to kill him, and in hearing of his death. I think this must be how God feels about us. It must pain Him to watch us turn against him and die against Him. David's outburst reminds me of Jesus, knowing that Israel's religious leaders in Jerusalem would succeed in getting him crucified, said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"

Happy New Year!

Well, 2007 is finally here. I'm not usually one for New Year's Resolutions, mainly because I don't keep them, but I am going to list a few just for fun.

1. Achieve and maintain a body weight of 135 pounds.
2. Finish Out of the Shadows, A Prophecy Forgotten's sequel.
3. Sell 10,000 copies of A Prophecy Forgotten.

And now the "you must be dreaming" resolutions:
4. Appear on Oprah.
5. Hit the New York Times Best Seller list.
6. A movie contract would be nice, but I'll settle for an option....

By the way, check out my new first chapter. I made a few adjustments.

For more information on my debut novel, A Prophecy Forgotten, check out my website at http://www.elysianchronicles.com.

January 2, 2007 Daily-ish Readings

Readings: II Samuel 16-17, Psalm 142, I Corinthians 8
I Corinthians 8: The Christians in Corinth struggled with eating meat, not because they were PETA activists running around preaching animal rights, but because the meat sold at the market had first been sacrificed to idols. (Here of course is a funny point of contention. I guess the meat was laid in front of the idols, and since they didn't eat any of it because they're stone, the meat was then taken and sold at market. It must be cost beneficial to have a stone god where you get all of your sacrifices back.) Eating the meat bought at market was considered an act of worship of the god. (By the way, the patron goddess of Corinth was Aphrodite (Venus), so they had other rituals...) Christians were unsure if they should eat the meat because they did not believe in the gods, so therefore eating meat sacrificed to a god that doesn't exist shouldn't be a problem, but some of them considered themselves worshiping the gods simply through the act of eating the meat, and couldn't mentally separate it.

Paul's advice? Technically it's fine to eat the meat. God knows you are not worshiping the idols. However, because some people felt so guilty about it, they should not eat the meat. Here's the interesting thing. Paul says that those Christians were weaker than those who had a fuller understanding of God and knew that eating the meat was fine. An interesting concept--legalism is the result of weak faith.

However, Paul then says that those who were not weak were under the responsibility of making sure not to let their freedom cause someone else to stumble. That's the part of the chapter I always forget...

December 11, 2006 Daily-ish Readings

Readings: II Samuel 10-11, Psalm 138, I Corinthians 5
II Samuel 10-11: I hate II Samuel 11. It's one of the most depressing chapters in the Bible. Shakespeare had nothing on tragedies. This is the chapter where the great and powerful King David, a man after God's own heart, sleeps with another man's wife, has the other man killed by commanding Joab to send him to the front lines after she becomes pregnant, and marries the girl. I kept reading the chapter over and over again trying to figure out a way that David might have been innocent, but I can't find anything. The guy is an adulterous murderer.

And David went to heaven. So many times, we think we are righteous--or made righteous--by our works, i.e. the good things we do. That's not how God works, however. Paul, in Hebrews and in Galatians, tells us that we are made righteous by our faith in him. (That's what "justified" means: made righteous.) David the adulterer and murderer was made righteous by his faith in God and was forgiven by God. So tragic as this chapter may seem, it really does have a happy ending.

Out of Seclusion & Writing!

Well, I’ve finally taken myself out of seclusion. I timed the whole thing just right, as I came down with some really bad bronchitis/pneumonia thing and had to take these massive antibiotics. The side effects of these were scary. I think the pharmacy’s instructions said, “If you have bad dreams and wake up in the middle of the night, call you doctor immediately.” As someone who suffers from night terrors where I wake up in the middle of the night screaming anyway…. On top of coughing up chunks of green phlegm, my computer couldn’t access the internet for a week. My husband and I finally got it up and running today.

I see light at the end of this accursed sequel writing tunnel. I’m so excited. Hopefully, I’ll be done with it before the end of the year. Cheers!

For more information on my debut novel, A Prophecy Forgotten, check out my website at http://www.elysianchronicles.com.