Faithchick

thoughts on fall

The beginning  of the school year came in with a rush.  Backpacks.  Uniforms.  Early mornings.  And I love it.  I know.  I'm weird.  But there is something about school supplies and fresh starts that get me excited.  I like the shift from the freeness of summer into the structure of fall.  The lazy hot days into the cool fall nights. With each new season I feel like I get to start over from scratch.  A clean slate, if you will.  And this fall I have one goal (this does not include my to do list...if we start talking about to do lists then I'll get depressed.)  which is to be present.  To be present in this sweet (albeit crazy) life I've been given.

To enjoy my kids. My husband.  My life.  To dive into my relationships with friends.  To enjoy cups of coffee at my kitchen table and soak up hearing my kids read at bedtime.  To complete the first ever girls Bible study at our church plant.  To revel in the fact that I have made it 39 soon to be 40 times around the sun.  I want to remember all I have been given this season and figure out some ways to give some back.  I want to give myself time each day to think about the One who gave me this season and spend some time thanking Him for it. 

And I want to make pumpkin muffins at least once a week.  Because fall screams for pumpkin muffins.  And mostly, I want to remember how blessed I am even amidst the craziness of book reports and worship practice and writing jags and laundry loads.  Because I am.

Susanna Aughtmon is a freelance writer, married to church planter Scott, and mom to three sweet boys, 9 and under.  She likes to spend her free moments trying to resurrect plants in her garden, eating chocolate, reading fiction and checking the comments on her blog, Confessions of a Tired Supergirl.  

A stranger named Jack

Yesterday I had an appointment to meet a stranger named Jack.  For charity, I'd offered up a chance to win a set of my books plus "coffee with the author."  The lady setting this up called a few weeks ago to inform me that there had been a misunderstanding and that she was hoping I could meet with two people because they both really wanted to meet me.  I said sure, that would be fine.  So yesterday was the first one, Jack. 

Admittedly, I was a little nervous.  It's always hard to meet someone you don't know.  Luckily the woman who set this up, Amy, also offered to be there.  But still, I hoped the conversation would go well and that the man would be friendly, etc.  What I'm really trying to say is that I was hoping that Jack wasn't going to turn out to be a freak.

I was eight minutes early, so instead of going in to Starbucks, I circled around and sat in the Home Depot parking lot, fidgeting and wondering if this was going to go well.

Finally the time came, and not being one who is late, I arrived promptly at two at Starbucks...only to find myself alone.  No Jack.  No Amy.  Just me.  So I'm sitting there wondering if I got the date or time or place wrong.

Suddenly my husband comes through the door. It's not the first time we've run into each other at Starbucks.  He's a frequent customer so the chances are good.  He's got this goofy grin on his face and he's like, "Is this RENE GUTTERIDGE?!  THE Rene Gutteridge, world-famous author?!"  OK, I really, really hate when he does this.  It is so embarrassing, which is why he does it.  I said, "Stop it!  Please! Jack is going to be here any second!"  And then he's like, "I'm here!" And I'm like, "I know!  Can you just sit down?"  And he says, "It's me!"  At this point I kind of feel like I'm watching my husband lose his mind right in front of me.  Then he declares, "I'm Jack!"

So my sneaky husband worked with Amy to surprise me with a date!  He donated some money to the charity so we could have coffee together.  Isn't that sweet?? We cracked up at the whole thing.  He saw me go into Home Depot, where he was parked trying to hide.  Then he had to hurry over to Chick Filet so he wouldn't be seen!  And then it took me five minutes to understand I was being surprised!  But it was such a nice surprise.  Turns out Jack wasn't a freak!  He was my husband!

It was fantastic timing too.  Just the day before my novel with Cheryl McKay, NEVER THE BRIDE won won the Carol Award for Book of the Year in Women's Fiction at the ACFW conference!  So he had a present, including Godiva chocolate, to celebrate that too.

The last two days have been filled with blessing, and I can't help but praise God.  He has been with me through the worst of times, but just like Sean, He delights in surprising me with gifts that will lift me up and cause me to smile.

Did I mention I won an award?!  Yeah, I'm kind of excited.  But God already knew I would be!

Warmly,

Rene

 

On Getting Older

On Monday, I get my eyes examined. I have worn glasses since I was in fifth grade, but that was for not being able to see the black board. Now I can't read the fine print on how to use various cleaning products and cook certain foods (were they writing for mice?) As I type this blog, I have taken my glasses off and have my face very close to the screen.

Peri-menopause hit me about a year ago and it has been downhill since then. I will spare you the sordid details, but the point is I Am Getting Older.

This comes as a surprise to no one but me. I remember hearing my mom complain about various aches and pains when I was a kid and thinking I would never be like that. Maybe it is just me, but I thought aging was something that happened to other people.

Nope, it is true. I am getting older and someday I will die. All the Bible verses about how people are like grass and plants that bloom in the morning and are dead by evening apply to me too.

There is a blessing in all this. The aches and pains, the eye sight issue, the fact that the high point of my day is a nap, all makes me look forward to heaven. God is preparing me.  Each day I find myself filled with more longing. I am only 45 so I probably have another 30 to 40 years before I get to see Jesus. All the same, I have the sense that I am getting ready.

They say that teenagers often engage in risky behavior because they don't think they are going to die. Slowly, little by little we shed that delusion and welcome in a sweeter better reality, that yes, we will die, but we will see Jesus face to face in the place where there re no more tears and I suspect everyone has 20/20 vision.

Sharon Dunn has a romantic suspense called Night Prey releasing in December from Steeple Hill. You can read more about Sharon and her books at www.sharondunnbooks.com.

Praying Psalm 77 - Unseen Footprints

This morning I was treated to another enlightening session during my exercise of praying through the Psalms. Psalm 77 begins with the cries of someone who feels that the Lord has abandoned him. He wonders if God has turned away from him, and doubts if God loves him anymore. I can identify with the Psalmist. At times in my life, I’ve felt alone, abandoned by God, bereft of His mercy and love.

Beginning in verse 10, the Psalmist does something important – he makes a determined effort to remember times when God has been close to him. He meditates on God’s works, on times when God has shown His power on this man’s behalf, and on behalf of his people. The next several verses recount God’s dramatic miracles on behalf of the children of Israel.

I try to do the same, but it’s hard! Even though I know God has blessed me and my family, there have been very few dramatic miracles in my life that I can meditate on. God’s way of interacting with me has always been quieter. It’s been less obvious who the Source of the healing was, or the Giver of the gift, or the One who opened the door. Do those times count? Just once I’d like to see the Red Sea part before me, so I have something dramatic to remember.

Then I read verse 19 – “Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen.”

Aha! God has done mighty things for me. He has blessed me abundantly. He has guided me from place to place. He has delivered me and those I love from danger and despair, protected me, comforted me, encouraged me, given me meaningful work to do and then the ability to do it well. His footprints aren’t always seen, but I know He paved the path and set my feet on it.

Thank you, Lord, for your mighty works in my life. Help me to recognize your presence, and give you the credit you so richly deserve. When I feel alone, open my eyes to see you there.

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Virginia Smith is the author of fourteen Christian novels including Third Time's a Charm and Into the Deep, available in October 2010. For a chance to win a preview copy of Into the Deep, visit her website at www.VirginiaSmith.org

The blessing in blessing others

I work with a food shelf ministry at our church called “Fresh Food, Fresh Faith.”   It differs from other food shelves in that we provide only fresh produce.  It’s a wonderful thing to be able to eat fresh garden food—lettuce, tomatoes, peppers—salads!  There are lemons and peppers and onions.  One day we gave out artichokes and a quick lesson on how to cook them.  It’s rewarding to see people get these types of foods, especially those dealing with diabetes and heart disease. 

 

My job is to be a greeter and to collect prayer requests while people are eating the breakfast we provide.  Initially I didn’t have a vision of what my part would be in all of this so I prayed that God make me a blessing to someone each time I go.  And who is blessed the most?  Me.  He’s given me  feelings of joy, introduced me to brave but struggling people that I’ve grown to care for and shown me the gift in James 1:27—Look after orphans and widows in their distress.  When we give, we get.  It’s as simple as that.

 

Judy Baer

After all, tomorrow is another day...

Do you ever get caught up in what you "should have done" or how you might have done something better?  As a perfectionist who takes on way too many tasks and then, regrets how imperfectly, I get to do them, this is where I often get stuck.

But I'm writing a non-fiction book with a very successful friend.  She has created an incredible life for herself and lives well.  She's a personal trainer by trade, but has expanded that business immensely and the best thing she's taught me is that I screwed up yesterday, but today is a new day.  God has wiped the slate clean and it's a new opportunity to try again.  Whether it's cheating on a diet, overspending, not exercising, leaving the housework for later -- today is a new day.  Start fresh and give it to God!  I'm going to. 

www.KristinBillerbeck.com

"Perfectly Dateless" -- one teen's quest for Prom -- available now.

"A Billion Reasons Why" Coming in April, 2011 

Symphony of Rain

I sit in my prayer chair and experience the quiet, intense joy of a cold morning rain. Drops fall steadily against the tree leaves outside my open window. Each drop strikes a leaf with a rhythm all its own, some as light as a newborn’s sleepy coo, others firmly, as a drummer strikes the tightly stretched surface of his instrument. Together they form an intricate song with a thousand different melodies, a riot of nature’s music that somehow blends with perfect precision into a masterful symphony of natural beauty. The sky responds with a distant rumble, as though applauding the rain’s performance.

 

I sit in the comfort of my living room, the windows thrown open to the music of the rain, my face refreshed by the rain-cooled air. I inhale the fresh scent of water from heaven. Surely the power and beauty of a steady rain is a glimpse of eternity. One day, like a raindrop, I will stand in the great assembly and add my small voice to a glorious song of praise, orchestrated by the only Worthy One.

 

 

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Virginia Smith is the author of fourteen Christian novels including Third Time's a Charm and Into the Deep, available in October 2010. Read about her books at www.VirginiaSmith.org