Good-bye 2010

It is 9 a.m. on the morning of December 31, 2010.  This has been a very busy year! My son graduated High School and Air Force BMT (boot camp) this year. My daughter got all A's in 9th grade and acquired a boyfriend and a learner's permit to drive. I went on my first mission trip.  My job situation went from good to bad to worst to no job to new job. Two dogs died. I published 4 books. Best of all my wonderful husband has been a steady constant. My rock.  I do not think I could have gotten through this year without him. No, I know I couldn't.  I love him. 


I've been contemplating...no that's not the right word...I've been talking to God a lot lately about the direction for my life.  There are so many things I want to do.  The things I want, are they what God wants? I pray often, God, you put these desires in me, you gave me these abilities, put them to use!  I feel stuck behind a desk, chained to a paycheck.  My heart is not in my job, the thing I do 40 hours a week to pay the bills.  There is so much to do, so much that needs to be done, serving my God.  I often feel like I'm being wasted.  I would love to volunteer at Accept Pregnancy Center and Matthews Hope and so many other things, but my time is spoken for.  I want to write more.  I have a list of story ideas that I feel are trapped inside me, waiting to erupt onto the page.  I, I, I.  


My husband and I were involved in several Bible studies this year.  The main idea that I gleaned was 'go where God is working and do that'.   Often we pray, God what is your will for my life?  What do you want me to do?  The answer that keeps popping up is 'go where God is working and do that'.   Yet, here I sit, frustrated because I know where God is working and I want to go and do that.  


I pray that in 2011 my chains to my job will be broken and I can go and serve God where He is working.

Free ebooks

For all of you out there who love to read but do not have a lot of money to spend, I have a great offer.  You see I am a writer struggling to get read.  Not a great sentence, I know, but that is my position.   These days pretty much all writers must do their own publicity.  Have you ever tried to get published by a traditional book publisher?  ARGH!  I love to write.  Not so good at promoting myself.  However, if I ever want to be successful, make enough money to write full time, and boy do I, then I must promote my own books.  


So here is the deal.  If you will go to www.smashwords.com or to one of the links to my books at the top of this blog, purchase any one of my ebooks and write a review (a positive one of course), then I will immediately generate a coupon for you to receive the rest of my ebooks for free.  Not a bad deal huh?  4 books for the price of one and all that is required is a little tiny bit of your time.  Please only one coupon per person, but please tell all your friends and they can get the same deal. The least expensive book is $2.75.  The total for all four books is $18.72.   Where else can you get 4 new books for $2.75?


 So run to Smashwords.  When you've done your part, sign your name on your review and leave me your email on this post (I'll delete it as soon as I see it).  I will e-mail you back with the coupon codes.  Thank you and happy reading!!!!   

APC project

  Ah, Christmas has come and gone once again and it is time to get back to work.  Like a lot of writers, I have a full time job to pay the bills.  I also have a husband and children so obviously I do not have as much time to write as I would like  Sometimes while at work I stare at my computer and wish I didn't have to work. That wish was granted to me briefly earlier this year.  It was definitely a mixed blessing.  My hours were cut from 5 8-hour days to 4 8-hour days.  This gave me an entire day to myself and on the downside, 1 less day of pay.  Financially, it was not a good thing.  Personally, it was a great thing!
  My church supports and helps operate the Accept Pregnancy Center in Winter Garden, Florida.  One day a week they have classes for the women, which earns them shopping time in their small store filled with donated clothing and much needed diapers.  The center needed help one day a week. This was the same day of the week that I now had off.  I jumped at the chance to help. After a few hours at the center, I would then go sit in a park and fire up my laptop to write.
  Fast forward a few months. I'm back to working 5 days a week. My Sunday Bible Community (Sunday School) had begun making cards to send out to anyone either in the church or friends and family who needed encouragement or had something to celebrate.  We then learned that the Accept Pregnancy Center was having financial difficulties.  These are difficult times and donations are down everywhere.  We came up with the idea of making more cards and selling them to support the center.  The cards consist of drawings made by our children 6th grade and down.  Those pictures are scanned into a computer, Bible verses and words of encouragement are added and, viola! beautiful, personal greeting cards.

  This is an example of one of the cards. The inside has butterflies and a flower and reads "The Angels in heaven rejoice in your baptism"  So far, we have 11 designs, all of which can be customized to fit the needs of the recipient. 

  Interested in supporting this wonderful organization?  Like to learn more about the Accept Pregnancy Center?  Click on the link at the top of the page (http://www.acceptpregnancy.org) and also leave me a comment if you would like to order the cards.  They are $1.00 each or $8.00 for a box of 10 (envelopes included).

I hope everyone has a prosperous and joy-filled New Year!!

Meaning of Christmas

  What does Christmas mean to you?  Is it the presents, giving, shopping, decorated trees?  Could it be spending time with friends and family, sharing laughs and memories? Perhaps it is watching the children's faces as they sit in Santa's lap and tearing off the brightly colored paper from boxes under the tree?
  For others, Christmas is a time of sadness and loneliness. Their spouse or parents having just passed away. A time of waking up alone on Christmas morning with no gifts and no tree. For many, it is a stressful time because they do not have the money to buy the presents their children want, much less a tree to decorate or the gas money to visit family, much less money to pay the heating bill.  Some people simply dread the thought of spending time with their relatives because they know there will be arguments and drunkenness.
  This year, Christmas is a little of both for me, a time of happiness and a time of sadness.  I cannot wait to see my children and watch their faces as they merrily unwrap gifts, eat the cookies I baked for them, and beg me to take them shopping with the money they got from grandparents.  This is also a Christmas of a big first and a big last.  You see, my son joined the Air Force after his Junior year in High School.  He left for boot camp right after graduation.  I have seen him once in the last 5 months.  Tomorrow, he will be home for Christmas.  I am so excited to see him, all grown up and in his uniform.  The pride and love I have for him is inexplicable and overflowing.
  The sadness comes with the knowledge that he will be leaving again in a week.  I do not know when he will return.  He finishes tech school in the spring and immediately leaves for South Korea.  He could be there up to 3 years.  It is very hard to let go, but I am going to make the best of it.  You see, I have hope. I know, no matter what, we will see each other again.
  Contrary to what I stated above, Christmas is not about any of those things.  It is all about Jesus. We do not know the exact date that Jesus was born. Personally, I do not believe it matters.  What is important is that Jesus came to this earth and he died for all of humanity because He Loves Us!  Christmas should be about celebrating the fact that we are loved. The fact that Jesus Christ was born, born to die, born to be raised again, and to live forever with his Father, God, in heaven, born to wait for us to be with him - Forever.
  So, no matter what your circumstances are this year, celebrate. Celebrate that you are loved by our Heavenly Father.  Celebrate that we are only here on this earth for a short time, and circumstances are temporary. Money and circumstance should not dictate whether to love. Celebrate and love one another as Jesus loves You!

Today's thoughts.

Generally speaking, writers write because we have words in our head.  Some have a specific message they want to get out to a specific audience.  Some have an interesting story to tell.  For as long as I can remember, I have had words in my head.  I was what you would call a daydreamer.  I would take a child's "what if" and turn it into a running dialogue in my head that would last for days or even weeks.  In elementary school I began to write the daydreams down.  I paid attention in English and Literature classes. When we were instructed to read certain books and told to write essays on them I was one of the few people who enjoyed it. I loved Red Badge of Courage, the Scarlet Letter, and Huckleberry Finn, to name a few.  As I got older I read the classics.  It took me a year to read through Les Miserable and then Moby Dick, the first I loved, the latter not so much.

I can't remember when I started telling myself stories to fall asleep, however, that's how the writing in my adult years began.  The "daydream" turned into a real dream that I continued for several nights. I thought it was interesting so I began writing down my dreams.

My life changed, my faith evolved and my thoughts and dreams began having a theme, a message, something worthy of sharing. My thoughts now evolve around past experiences, good and bad and my believes and hopes for the future. The "what ifs" have meaning now and I try a little harder to share my faith and hopefully encourage others to ask "what if?"

Ebook site.

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