Are You Filling Your Storehouse?

The following paragraph is from today's post at Seek God With Me, my devotional blog.

God’s ways are higher than ours. I can’t predict how God will handle any situation. There are always so many factors involved that I’m not aware of. All I can do is prepare for the situation by getting close to Him in prayer and study the Bible so He can show me things that apply to the situation.

Just like in a novel, danger surprises people in real life. But we can prepare ourselves to handle trouble.

Before you allow your kids to go to the beach, you teach them to swim, you teach them to recognize jellyfish, and you bring a first aid kit. Moms try to prepare for everything, but there are somethings that will surprise even them.

God knows more than we do and will help us if we let Him. Many times we can avoid trouble by listening to God in the peaceful times.

Check out the post about filling your storehouse at Seek God With Me.

Reluctant Runaway by Jill Elizabeth Nelson


A theft from a museum and the disappearance of a woman cause Desiree Jacobs to fly to New Mexico to help a friend. An expert in her field and the owner of an art and antiquities protection business, Desi wants to know how someone was able to steal items from a museum guarded by her company. But more importantly, why?

FBI agent Tony Lucano’s current case may be linked to the same people Desi is after. He struggles to keep his girlfriend alive and out of harm’s way, but with Desi’s compassionate heart and nose for trouble, he’s got his hands full.

I enjoyed the fire between Desi and Tony. He holds back, but the truth of his love for her shows. And when gutsy Desi took matters into her own hands, she made this book a page-turner. The predicaments she found herself in came as a surprise each time.

Jill Elizabeth Nelson has written a unique and engaging story in Reluctant Runaway, Book Two in the To Catch A Thief series. Desi and Tony tackle all kinds of problems and sort through their feelings for each other throughout the three book series.

Artistic Novelist Jill Elizabeth Nelson

Award-winning author Jill Elizabeth Nelson isn't reluctant. She's happy to announce that her romantic suspense novel Reluctant Runaway won the RRT Best Book of 2007. I’ve read it, and I agree that it keeps the reader glued to the pages until the end.

Her novels are wonderful, but her website is also exciting. You can read about what she’s doing lately or click on “Stealth & Wealth” to read about art theft and play a game.

Her blog, Artistic Blogger, is a “blog addressing issues about art, art theft, and the art of fiction.” She reviews new releases of her Christian novelist friends. And she announces book giveaways from time to time.

If you enjoy romantic suspense novels, you’ll want to come back tomorrow to see my review of Jill Elizabeth Nelson’s award-winning novel.

Seeing God Anew

How many times have you passed by someone who is collecting money for a good cause in front of a grocery store?

Did you feel guilty about not dropping some money into their bucket?

Well, that's not the only way you can help people. You can be generous with your money, but you can also be generous with your loving actions.

When I was young, my dad, my mom, brother, sister, and I were going home from some event in the early evening while it was still daylight. My dad stopped our car in the street by the curb to help a young girl who had fallen off her bicycle. She was our neighbor and she'd hurt herself. My dad put her bike in the trunk of our car and helped her into the front seat of our car, and we took her home.

That has always stood out to me as an example of God's love. My dad didn't worry about his car possibly being hit. His concern was for the girl and getting her home.

This is the kind of thing God wants to see us involved with.

While my dad was caring for someone in need, he was teaching his children to love like God loves - with action.

Join me at my Seek God With Me blog for more ways to see God's love in action.

Life with Father, 1947


William Powell took on the role of Clarence Day in this film which displays how the father was always the hero or the head of the house in the 1880s. The mother was the beautiful, dutiful child manager. But Powell’s Day was constantly being outwitted by his devoted wife. It’s always interesting when a father (character) sets himself up to be king of the family, but the wife is really the true ruler.

The stage play, which held the record for the longest non-musical run on Broadway with 3,224 performances, was based on Clarence Day’s autobiographical book. Clarence’s widow was on the movie set to give approval to Irene Dunne’s performance. She even provided jewelry from the real Vinnie for the film, which released in theaters the same year the Broadway run ended.

Elizabeth Taylor brought a wonderful performance as Miss Mary Skinner in her seventh film, which came three years after National Velvet.

The second oldest Day son, John, was played by Martin Milner, whom I remember as Officer Pete Malloy from TV’s “Adam-12”.

Irene Dunne, nicknamed the First Lady of Hollywood, played Vinnie Day, the mother who kept the Day household going. She was nominated for an Academy Award five times, but never won. Her only color film was Life with Father. A statement attributed to Irene Dunne, according to imdb.com, is “Trying to build the brotherhood of man without the Fatherhood of God is like having the spokes of a wheel without the hub.”

For his work in this film, William Powell won the Best Actor award from the New York Film Critics Circle Awards in 1947. Life with Father won the 1948 Golden Globes award for Best Score in a Motion Picture.

The film was nominated in 1948 for four Academy Awards, winning none. They included William Powell’s Best Actor nomination; the Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color nomination; the Best Cinematography, Color nomination; and the Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.

When I remember watching Life with Father, I remember the fifteen dollar ceramic pug dog and the “free” suit. I remember the young boy and his first love. I remember laughing at the boy’s determination when it looked like the relationship had no chance of working out. This fun romance with a young hero and heroine was tucked away in a comedy about a man’s ability to rule his family.

Write Place, Write Time

The always informative Kaye Dacus loves to share interesting stories with her Write Place, Write Time blog readers.

Recently, she encouraged everyone to support Sheaf House, Joan Shoup's brand new publishing house, by buying a copy of One Holy Night by J. M. Hochstetler. One Holy Night is the publishing house's debut novel. Other excellent novels on their way are: Michelle Sutton's It's Not About Me and A. K. Arenz's The Case of the Bouncing Grandma. Go to Amazon and order your copy today.

And before that, she told about Lucy Maud Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables. I love the wonderful details and the pictures in her blog posts.

Kaye's easy way with words and her wit comes out nicely in each post. I've read her posts about heroes and about heroines and I plan to read her debut novel Stand-In Groom when it comes out.

She also has an upcoming celebration. She's preparing for her 500th blog post on July 31 and will give away prizes to her readers.

Congratulations, Kaye.

Quieting the Noise

Picture a man standing on a mountain listening for God to speak, but instead he encounters destructive winds, an earthquake, and a fire. Then when the noise has passed, he hears a still, small voice.

In years past, when I've substituted for my children's teachers, I've been in charge of a group of noisy kids. I don't like to repeat myself and try to talk over the chaos, so at times I had to wait for them to notice my silence before they quieted enough to hear me.

We can imagine God as that teacher who waits for us to be ready to listen before He'll speak. Join me at Seek God With Me for my blog post on this subject.

Finding Marie by Susan Page Davis


Marie Belanger’s trip home turns into a dangerous game of hide-and-seek. How will she get home without jeopardizing her family? How will she avert the perils on the way?

Searching for Marie on this maddening trail is her husband Lieutenant Pierre Belanger, and his best friend, Lt. Commander George Hudson. The US Navy had secrets. Secret missions. Information that could kill thousands if it fell into the wrong hands.

But Marie wasn’t told anything the Navy didn’t want her to hear. And she never thought she’d be saving the lives of others by protecting a small secret.

Who is after her? She recognizes faces time and again as they continue catching up to her. But for whom did they work? Is there a safe place to hide?

Marie begins her trip in Japan and travels through six states on her way home to Maine. The people she finds along the way sometimes help her and sometimes endanger her. Whom can she trust?

Writer's First Aid

Interested in a little encouragement?

Kristi Holl has authored 35 books, fiction and non-fiction, including Writer's First Aid. I checked out her blog and found a lot of helpful tips.

She has posts on writing challenges, writing habits, schedules, priorities, and more topics than I should mention in this limited space. I think her series on Facing Your Creative Fears has probably helped a lot of writers who need the push to tackle the fears that keep us from accomplishing the job at hand.

Where do you go when you need a little encouragment? Kristi's blog is a good option.

Worshipping Calves Again?

In the Bible, a golden calf was made to give the people something to worship while they waited on Moses who was taking a long time up on the mountain watching God making the stone tablets with the Ten Commandments on them. When Moses finally came down, he saw the people worshipping the golden calf and got a little upset. Okay, more than a little.

I can just hear Moses fussing at the people. "I turn my back for one minute, and what do you do? Run off and make a golden calf!" Okay, he didn't really say that. It sounds more like somebody's mother.

After Moses got really angry about the sin of the people, you'd think that would be the last we ever hear of anyone making a golden calf.

Apparently, there were a few who forgot that first calf fiasco. Join me at Seek God With Me for the rest of the story.

Eternal Connections

Everyone has a friend, a family member, or someone with whom they can talk about meaningful topics. That relationship is important. It’s a connection with someone who cares enough to listen and share their experiences.

But is it an eternal connection?

My dad’s father didn’t spend a lot of time with just the two of us talking about important matters while I was growing up. I’m one of his thirty grandchildren, so I had a little competition for Papaw’s knee. I remember laughter around the dinner table and him requesting that we all sing Amazing Grace at family reunions, but being a part of a large family meant I didn’t get much personal time with him. I’m sure we’ll get a chance to catch up when I see him again in heaven because I’m sure we’ll both be there.

Can I be sure all of my family will join me in heaven?

Some, yes. Some, we won’t find out until we get there.

If I’m not sure a friend or family member is headed to heaven, how can I bring up the topic with them?

The first thing I’d do is pray. Then I’d work on having conversations with them that will build the relationship into a relationship of trust. After that, you’ll be able to tell how to turn the conversation toward eternal things.

If you see that they’re agitated about where the discussion is heading, back off and listen for God’s guidance. Don’t lose the trust you’ve built.

I know I don’t have to do the work of changing hearts. God will do it. All I’m in charge of is speaking truth in love.

The habit of meaningful conversation will help your efforts to improve your relationships with your friends, family, or anyone you love. Mary DeMuth has made available a package of 150 conversation starters as a download for $5 to help people get into deeper, more meaningful conversations with each other.

If you have trouble getting the conversation going with those you love, give Mary’s starters a try. Her web site has a FREE STUFF page where you can find NINE FREE STARTERS.

The Heiress, 1949

Awkward young Catherine is headed for the life of a spinster if her father can’t marry her off to a decent suitor. However, for her, suitors are hard to come by since she’s without beauty and social graces. When a handsome young hero charms his way into Catherine’s life, her father disapproves of her decision to accept his proposal.

The main question was whether the handsome suitor was attracted to Catherine or to her money. Montgomery Clift acted so well I had a hard time staying on one side of the fence. I rooted for him, and I jeered at him. Clift had been in two previous successful films. With this third film, he became an established star.

The ending was not what I’d expected. And the hero didn’t do what I’d expected. I laughed and quickly rewrote the ending in my mind as soon as it was over.

Olivia de Havilland drew sympathy as hopeful, but confused Catherine. This role was quite different from her sweet Melanie Hamilton in Gone With the Wind ten years earlier. Her range of emotion had me wondering what she’d do next. Her hard work earned her a Golden Globe and the Best Actress award from the New York Film Critics Circle Awards. She also won an Oscar for her work in this film.

William Wyler saw the stage production of this story at the request of Olivia de Haviland and agreed to direct the movie. Among his film successes were Jezebel (1938), Mrs. Miniver (1942), and Roman Holiday (1953).

This movie was set in the 1840’s in Washington Square. Last Saturday, I reviewed I AM LEGEND, starring Will Smith, which was also set in Washington Square.

A New Magazine

While you're out there preparing for a night of fireworks (or picking up the trash in the yard from whatever came back down to earth), don't forget to come back in and check out the new online magazine... Christian Fiction Online Magazine.

The first edition is ready for viewing - and is it exciting!

There are interviews, articles, publisher's corner, an etiquette column, a marketing column, a teen column, a word from a couple of agents, and an article by Jenny B. Jones. And much, much more.

I'm going to love "Ask Ashley". This is a column written by Kristen Billerbeck as seen through the eyes of her character Ashley Stockingdale. It's a column about life, romance, fashion, and whatever else Ashley has to say.

If you love Christian fiction, fun, encouraging articles, and fun, you'll want to check this magazine out every month.

Respect

Most people are familiar with the Ten Commandments, not the movie, the actual commandments, which were written in stone. However, not everyone who knows about them knows their connecting truth.

As a whole, they have a common purpose: to teach us how to show respect to God.

Think about how you'd feel if an enormous amount of people - people you love - started saying your name as a cuss word. How would you feel if after ten years of cooking for your family, they still wonder if you can put together a decent meal? God has provided for his people for thousands of years and we still wonder if He can help us with our needs.

Today's blog post at Seek God With Me discusses how we can turn away from our fearless disrespect for God.

Are You Like Me?

I took another quiz!



I found out that I'm just like many thousands of others who took the quiz. Apparently, there are a lot of creative people out there. Is that why there are so many garage bands and unpublished authors?



So, here's to you! Be creative and share with your friends. Get involved with others who love to create. Encourage others. Be passionate.




I'm a Talent!

You're a risk-taker, and you follow your passions. You're determined to take on the world and succeed on your own terms. Whether in the arts, science, engineering, business, or politics, you fearlessly express your own vision of the world. You're not afraid of a fight, and you're not afraid to bet your future on your own abilities. If you find a job boring or stifling, you're already preparing your resume. You believe in doing what you love, and you're not willing to settle for an ordinary life.

Talent: 59%
Lifer: 46%
Mandarin: 49%

Take the Talent, Lifer, or Mandarin quiz.