Spiritual Sunday "Masterpiece"

Charlotte and Ginger host these awesome Spiritual Sundays

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.  ~St. Augustine

You know what's so cool? That somehow...and I'm not sure how....but He's changing and shaping me to be different than I've been. He's taking all those broken pieces....and messes and no matter what happened....what I lived...what I learned...His gentle touch is changing everything...and making it into something good. Somehow He's smoothing out the rough edges....taking out the shame.....scraping off the fears. He's replacing all the despair with joy.....the hopelessness with purpose and the fear with love. I see it now...how each one of us is His masterpiece. 

Pick me up like a paintbrush God....Dip it in the colors of my life. Paint your picture.....

Spiritual Sunday "Hope"

Chalotte and Ginger host these great Spiritual Sundays. To join in just post and add your name at  http://bloggerspirit.blogspot.com/

"When you say a situation or person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God."  Charles L. Allan 

In April 2008, something happened....triggering memories I had fought hard to forget....

I started writing.....needing to get those memories out. I wrote in the third person.....in the dark...sometimes all night.....and most of the day.  I forgot to eat....even forgot to feed the kids. I struggled with why God would let me remember when I wanted so much to forget. I ran in the hills near our home....in the rain...in the heat.....everyday......desperate to outrun the pain.. There I heard His gentle whisper....'you're stronger now.....it's time to tell.' 

More than 400 copies have sold.....it won a national book award and was one of three books that recieved an honorable mention to The Word Guild's highest award. It's in nine bookstores in the province where I live and available in five hospital libraries.  I've recieved tons of gifts, dolls, jewelry, cd's, books, notes, emails.....people telling me....my story....my words....inspired them....gave them hope....

Janet

Wow. What an awesome book! I read it in two days. I"m not a reader so for me to read it that fast it has to be good. I was reading at work on nights and I had to get up and go to another room at one point, tears were falling down my face...your book has helped me to open up and gave me so much hope! It has made a difference in my outlook on my situation. 

Lisa

I got your book yesterday afternoon...I read late into the night and this afternoon....yours is such a beautifully written book, one that resonates with me on so many levels. I loved the descriptions, felt like I was right beside you, experiencing every situation with you. At times it was hard to breathe. Other times, I was moved to tears. Many times I was frightened for your safety, touched by your endless bravery. And then I was inspired.....I found the detail of the coaching advice affirming the very processes I am currently working on in order to change my own negative belief systems. I don't believe in co-incidence, your book came to me as a message of hope.  

Wanda

.....as I read your book...hidden wounds over my own wounded past began to surface and I KNEW that I would have to deal with them. I had come such a long way (I thought). I had written books about the healing of a soul....but reading through the section covering the time with your counselor, I felt I was there and she was gently leading 'ME' out of a dark hole into the light. Your book will touch many lives....I know...it has turned my world upside down. 

 
I had kept the secrets......choosing to live with the crippling shame and fear rather than to tell.....worried what others would think.  But I learned  - He redeems everything....and uses our worst experiences to bring hope....

My daughter fiddled around and made a short video trailer for my book. It's her first attempt. Funny thing.....I won't let her read my book until she's 18. She's only 14. 

Thankful Thursday

Winter tires me.....I feel restless. I just want to get out and be in nature....in the woods....in the hills....feeling the warm sun...smelling the earth....away from the noise of everyday life. But it's cold...really cold....

But I am thankful for so much like.....

-we're only two months away from spring. yeahhhh. 
-it's lighter outside in the mornings when I take the girls to school.
-we're all pretty healthy considering so many around us are sick with colds, flus etc. 
-the warmth of His love is equally as good in the winter as it is all year round. 
-and being inside gives me time to write - something I love to do.