New Book Reaches Out to Every Female, No Matter Her Age

Virginia Smith has done an amazing job of blending humor and pathos, self-assurance and fear, modern female business sense and ancient maternal instinct in the character and story of Allie Harrod. This second book of the “sister-to-sister” series AGE BEFORE BEAUTY reaches down and finds corresponding emotions in the hearts of every female, no matter what her age. I loved STUCK IN THE MIDDLE and this book leads us deeper into understanding how the home life of a child affects his or her emotions and choices throughout life. She shows us very beautifully, as Jesus did in His stories, that trust in the love of our heavenly Father is the only solid rock on which we can stand.

About the book:

Desperate to stay home with her baby, Allie Harrod launches a new career. Sure, she dropped out of Girl Scouts because she was lousy at cookie sales, but makeup is different, right? She'll do anything to make enough money to cover her share of the household bills, but how can she focus on her business when her list of problems is growing? None of her pre-baby clothes fit, her checking account is dwindling, and her mother-in-law has decided to move in! To top it off, her husband's attractive coworker suddenly needs his help every weekend. Middle sister Joan insists that God has the answers to all her problems, but Allie isn't so sure. Can she really trust him?

You can view a book trailer at Ginny's Web site.

About the author:

Virginia Smith left her job as a corporate director to become a full time writer and speaker with the release of her first novel Just As I Am. Since then she has contracted ten novels and published numerous articles and short stories. She writes contemporary humorous novels for the Christian market, including Murder by Mushroom, Stuck in the Middle, and her newest releases, A Taste of Murder and Age before Beauty.

In March of 2008 she was named "Writer of the Year" at Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. An energetic speaker, Virginia loves to exemplify God's truth by comparing real-life situations to well-known works of fiction, such as her popular talk, "Biblical Truths in Star Trek."
Visit Ginny's Web site.

Ginny's book is on a "blog tour." You can visit the other blogs participating in the tour:

Christian Work at Home Moms

Lynda Schab's On the Write Track

A Mom Who Loves Reviews

LillePunkin

The Life of a Home Mom

Frugal Living

Gone Frugal

Bibliophile's Retreat

Sips 'n Cups Cafe

I Need to Read

Projecting A

Kindred Thought

Jennifer Tiszai

Stamped with Grace

Amy Barkman

Book Bargains and Previews

My Reading Room

Mountain Breeze Writer

Christian Book Scout

Books, Movies, Chinese Food

Edgy Inspirational Author

Pix-N-Pens

Relz Reviewz

Vicki Tiede's Grace Lessons

Camy's Loft

Cara's Musings

Jill Elizabeth Nelson's Artistic Blogger

Sherry Kyle

AusJenny

My Friend Amy

Write by Faith

MY VALENTINE

This week I found a humorous spiritual autobiography I wrote several decades ago when Gary and I had been married a little over a year. Re-reading the stories made me laugh sometimes and sometimes made me cry.

Gary Barkman is my third husband. I was his third wife and we both were afraid to ruin our friendship by getting married. But that was 27 years ago next month and we’re not worried anymore.

I used to think that the only differences between men and women were physical ones. Boy was I wrong! Gary was greatly relieved when he took a course that taught us some basic differences. He attributes to that course the fact that he is my last husband instead of just the present one. The first breakthrough we had was that “men think in headlines and women think in fine print.”

Think about it:
Her: How was your day?
Him: Fine.
Her: What did you do?
Him: Work.
Her: What did you have for lunch?
Him: Food.
Her: What kind of food?
Him: A sandwich.

If the occasion arose the other way around:
Him: How was your day?
Her: Great! Helen and I are becoming good friends. You know, she’s the one at the office who (explanation of Helen). And then I met Anne for lunch. We went to the Chinese restaurant and I had (description of food). And I did twice as much work as this time last month; I think I’m really catching on to this new job (explanation of new job as opposed to old job.)

But that occasion would probably never arise – well, the monologue by her will most likely be given but not the question, because he can tell by looking that her day was ‘fine’ and that’s all that is important.

I have made several observations about men over the years and still believe most of what I wrote 25 years ago – at least for my generation of males.

Men assume that drink carrying (coffee, tea, cola, etc) is a favorite pastime of wives.
When they stay home alone with their children it is babysitting.
When they run the vacuum cleaner, it is ‘helping’ the female.
When they cook a meal it is on Valentine’s Day.
They like to buy presents for females.
They like to look at females.
They fear females are a superior race and spend a lot of energy pretending that fear does not exist.

There is something I have not figured out about being female.

Him: Do we have anything to drink?
Me: (determined not to move out of my chair) Yes.
Him: What?
Me: (gripping the edges of my chair) Pepsi, tea…
Him: No coffee made?
Me: No. (digging my heels into the floor. )
Heavy silence permeates the room for several minutes.
Me: (feeling like a traitor to my very self) Would you like me to make some coffee?
Him: If you want.

I don’t want. But the invisible rope drags me into the kitchen. What is it? Cultural conditioning? Hormones? Lack of iron? When I hand him the cup, he says “Thank you, Sweetheart.” And I feel some strange sort of satisfaction inside. Is it just me or part of the mystery of femaleness?

I appreciate Gary because I never had to earn his approval by being a good housekeeper or having a perfect figure. One morning during a period when I didn’t work outside the home and he worked hard everyday, I noticed him picking up a pair of dirty socks and putting them on. When I asked why, he looked uncomfortable and confessed he hadn’t had any clean ones for three days.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked with tears of remorse.
“I know you had more important things to think about.”
How can you respond to a husband like that except to love washing his socks?

When he was a volunteer fireman, he came home one day after he and another of the crew held phone duty. He relayed their discussion about God. At the end of the conversation, the man said, “You sound like you’ve got it all together.” Gary answered, “No, when you think you’ve got it all together, you’re in trouble. You’ve got to stay like a little child, always ready to learn something new.”

That’s about as ‘all together’ as most of us humans ever get.

Gary and I had some pretty rough times in our relationship from marriage year 3 until marriage year 23 when he got on his knees and asked me to marry him again on our 25th wedding anniversary in 2007. I said “Yes.” And for two years he courted me and restored the love and respect I started out with.

I’m more proud of my husband than ever. Since his paralysis over a year ago, he has had a wonderful positive attitude, determined to find things to joke about, and made sure everybody knows “God didn’t cause this; the devil did. But one way or another God is going to get some glory out of it!”
I just thought he was great 27 years ago. Now he is my hero.

I dedicated that never published autobiography “to my husband because - of all the mistakes I’ve made in life, marrying you was not one of them.” How true that was!

On our first anniversary Gary, who mostly communicated in grunts, pointed fingers, and held out coffee cups wrote me a letter. In it he told me what our year of marriage had taught him about love.

"Love is not a state of mind. Love is giving of yourself.
Love is caring. Love is letting the other person speak when you want to talk. Love is helping someone learn how to love again. Love is giving, a giving that comes from the heart. It is the opening of the heart to someone and leaving yourself wide open to them. Love is a beautiful, precious, and wonderful Gift."


Happy Valentine’s Day!
May God bless us all with the gift of His Love that allows us to love others.

LIVING PARABLES

It is interesting to me that last week I wrote about what being Colonists in the Kingdom was all about because immediately after that post, I saw the Kingdom Colony in action here in my own community. The very next day an ice storm hit and most of the area had no electricity for days. That meant no heat for the majority of families. We lost water for over a day and when it came back on, it was not drinkable. We lost phone lines. After six days electricity was restored to my home, after seven we got phone – and internet – back, and after eight days water was declared safe to drink.

I have to admit that I kind of enjoyed the challenge of learning to cook on a gas grill while dressed in many layers out on my porch. (Especially when it resulted in things like perfect scrambled eggs and homemade potato salad). Reading by candlelight made me admire my pioneer ancestors. Being woken up by the cold and forcing myself to stay awake until the propane heater brought the two rooms we had blocked off livable again made me appreciate heat that one can sleep through without fear of dangerous fumes. We were very blessed by having a propane heater, a gas grill, lots of propane – and a generator for the last three days.

But the thing I loved most about our crisis was seeing the Kingdom Colonists in action. Neighbors on our street came and cleared away the tree limbs and ice that blocked what would be an escape route if we needed one. Neighbors from another town came and chopped down dangerous limbs over our yard and driveway – and hauled them away. Those neighbors were not employees paid by anyone to do that, just volunteers we’d never seen before that would take no pay for their help. Neighbors from other states called on our cell phones to make sure we were okay. Neighbors from our church brought drinkable water from their well. We found out that neighbors we still have not met told our children they would come to our town to check on their parents if needed. Neighbors that are our children brought in food and fuel supplies. And a neighbor who happens to be my sister sent money to cover the extra costs incurred.

I was sorry that the training event where I was to present a ninety minute power point presentation on “Become A Living Parable” had to be cancelled. BUT I was thrilled to see Living Parables in action all around me.

On our local radio station here in Danville, KY and on the radio station in nearby Stanford (and probably others that I just haven’t heard about) the personnel not only kept the public informed about progress and shelters and available help; they took calls of people with needs and calls of people saying they were on the way to meet those needs. They too calls from the lonely, and they calmed the anxious and depressed, and asked that people who lived nearby visit and comfort and share with them. I never heard so many “God bless you’s” and “Keep praying’s” on public communication vehicles (and these were not “Christian” radio stations). I didn’t hear the call where a woman phoned in with complaints – but I did hear the call when she phoned in to apologize for her previous impatience and expressed her gratitude for all the crews working 24/7 to help restore her losses. That and many other calls including other thank you's and prayers for work crews brought tears to my eyes.

Many people who had generators or alternate heat sources took others into their homes. I heard of one lady who worked at a bank in Frankfort and saw an elderly woman of another race looking sad and shivering. On questioning, she discovered that the woman and her husband were without heat or electricity or propane heaters or any alternate shelter. The bank employee, who lived alone, took that elderly couple into her own home for two days until their power was restored.

When Jesus and a lawyer agreed that the great law is ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself,” the lawyer asked “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered by telling the parable that we know as “The Good Samaritan” where a Jewish man was in trouble and two people of his own race passed by without helping him before a Samaritan provided all he needed. Then Jesus asked the lawyer, “Which of the three was neighbor to him?” and the lawyer answered “He that showed mercy on him.” Jesus said “Go and do thou likewise.”

That was the parable that I saw come alive in my community and region recently; that was the Kingdom Colony at work. I hope I never forget it and am at some time in a position to also become a Living Parable to many.

“Go and do thou likewise!” (Luke 10:25-37)

THINK KINGDOM

THINK KINGDOM !

If you are a Christian, you are a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, a COLONIST of that Kingdom in whatever country on earth you happen to live.

Your loyalty is to the Kingdom of God. Your rules and principles are to be His rules and principles.

The following definitions of a Colonist are taken from Myles Munroe’s book “Kingdom Principles.” The words in italics are mine.

1. A colony is a group of citizens established in a foreign territory to influence that domain for their home government. YOU are here as part of a group to influence wherever you are and who ever you are with - for God’s will and purpose.
2. A colony is a foreign territory inhabited by citizens charged to influence that domain with the culture and values of their government. THIS WORLD is the foreign territory – the whole world, not just our own nation. Colonies are everywhere that the citizens of the kingdom are living. You are charged with influencing the world around you with Kingdom values.
3. A colony is the presence of a distinct cultural citizenry in a foreign territory governed by the laws and culture of their home government. The country you live in may say it’s legal to do many things that your home government, the Kingdom of God, says are not legal. You are a presence here and now to BE GOVERNED BY THE KINGDOM laws and culture.

The apostle Peter says we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth, a holy nation and royal priesthood. Paul said that the world was crucified to him and he to the world. (I Peter 2:9-11; Galatians 6:14)
Jesus said He came to preach the Kingdom and that those who sought it first would find everything else they need provided for them. John says it’s God’s will that we prosper and are healthy even as our souls prosper. Hmm, wonder if our souls not seeing ourselves as Kingdom citizens first of all is a clue to why we’re not receiving everything we need? (Matt. 4:17,23; 6:33; III John 2)

Citizenship in any country is automatic if you are born there. You were born into the Kingdom of God when you accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, and received the new life He died to give you. You are first and foremost a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.

It is time for the Body of Christ to stop seeing themselves as separated by nationality, race, gender, doctrines, or politics and recognize their common citizenship in the Kingdom of God. Time to recognize that we are Colonists of the Kingdom of Heaven. Time to recognize it and act like it!

Ask our Heavenly Father to help you see the Body of Christ the way He does…one nation inhabiting many places all over the globe. Start thinking about what we’ll look at next – your part in the responsibility of the Royal Family.

Think KINGDOM!

New Year's Resolutions

My New Year's resolution made shortly after midnight on January 1, 2009, was to update my blog weekly. It is now January 17 and I am finally updating it for the first time since November.

Perfect opportunity to feel like a failure, right?

Recently I recognized that I've been engaging in the ministry of the devil. You probably are going down a mental list of obvious sins of the flesh or sins against others and wondering which I've committed. But those things are not the main ministry of the devil.

We see that ministry exposed in Revelation 12: 10 & 11: And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven 'Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony...'

The main ministry of the devil is accusation against the believer. If he can get you to believe yourself to be incompetent, you will be. If he can make you feel unworthy to receive from God, you won't receive. If he can make you believe you are outside of God's love, you won't experience it.

My engaging in the ministry of the devil has not been accusing others but listening to his accusations against me - and repeating them to my self and others.

Right now, I repent. I am a new creation in Christ Jesus and since His mercies are renewed every morning - each day can begin a New Year for each of us.

Isn't our God awesome?

Here are my New Year's resolutions:

1. I will NOT say demeaning things about myself.

2. I will write on my blog and anywhere else no more and no less than our Lord gives me wisdom and direction to write - when He says to write it.

3. I will continue to trust Him for healing, finances, and direction because I believe He IS my Shepherd - my healer, caregiver, provider, and leader.

4. I will remind myself how important prayer is...it is meeting with God to show Him love and respect, to receive reminders of His love for me, to formally put my faith in His promises, and to allow Him to use me as a bridge for Him to walk into the lives of others.

5. I will continue to trust the One who is Love Himself to work through me, who am part of His Body in the earth, to touch others and work miracles in their lives.

6. I will praise Him for Who He is as often as I can.

7. I will believe His Word instead of the world, the flesh, and the devil. I'd love to hear your resolutions. Pray for me to receive strength from Him to keep mine and I'll pray for strength from Him for you to keep yours.

HAPPY NEW YEAR IN HIS LOVE