Word Praize

If the Shoe Fits

Marilynn Griffith sent me a nice Thanksgiving gift last year, a copy of her latest gospel diva read- If the Shoe Fits.

Summary:
Shoe designer, Rochelle Gardner's love life is raining men, honey. She
has a deacon on her right, her baby daddy on the left and a young
waiter trying to push himself up the middle to her heart. Which man
does God want her to be with, if any?

This novel is too many things and a touch too close to my own love dilemmas. (Y'all know about it!!) Anyway...

After
reading the first few pages I called Mary. Called her. Y'all I don't
have time to call people about their books anymore. But I had to call
her and tell her. That this novel is her upside down and sideways. Mary
is funny, smart, on point, crazy, God inspiring, just too many things.
And I love this story. I love washing the feet--something we do every
Mother's Day in my home church. I love the rituals. The cool things the
Sassy Sistahood get her into. This book is light and fun and a good
pick me up on a cold, toe curling, man-hating da

Now in its second printing. You can If The Shoe Fits (Steeple Hill Cafe) right here.


Dee Stewart is a christian entertainment publicist, book enthusiast, and speaker. You can find her at Gospel Fiction.

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Connect the Dots

No New Year’s resolutions for me. Rather, at the beginning of each year I take some time to reflect on the previous year and pray for the year ahead. When I do this I usually come away with renewed determination to complete any unfinished tasks God has previously assigned and work toward the new ones He has set before me. However, in the past, things have not always gone the way I had planned and I found myself getting frustrated. If I can be totally real, sometimes I still do. Then I think about the men and women of the Bible who at times were given a set of instructions but not the final picture. When God leads us to do things for Him, He won't, in many cases, show us all the steps in between. We won't know everything up front! I used to feel as if He wasn't there when this happened. I now know that when God sets us on a path and doesn’t connect the dots of that journey, He's giving us a chance to exercise our faith. His Word tells us to "walk by faith, not by sight" (II Corinthians 5:7). God doesn’t always show us how something is going to be completed, but we know that if God assigns us a task (places us on a path), He will guide us toward completion. In the words of Stormie Omartian, He gives us just enough light for the step we're on. The road ahead may be fog-covered to us, but God has a clear vision. He will connect the dots and reveal the full picture in time.

Mata Elliott is the author of forgivin’ ain’t forgettin’. Read an excerpt.

And visit her website www.mataelliott.com. Don’t forget to sign the guestbook—she would love to hear from you!

Today's Holy Moment

Submissions are being taken for this year's faith in fiction short story contest. In conjuntion with Relief Journal, the Daily Sacrament Short Story contest is now underway.



Related Articles:

Relief Journal/F*i*F “Daily Sacrament” Short Story Contest

Quick Question: Have you found a holy moment today?

Come by my site, GospelFiction to countdown last year's best Christian fiction novels, and celebrate Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King with some fantastic christian reads.

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Stanice Interview Un-interrupted

1.  Why did you decided to share so much of yourself and your past in "I Say A Prayer For Me?"

I believed I had no choice.  It just started flowing like that.  I tried to hold back but couldn’t.  It was against my new nature.  I had been groomed by Dorine and the others in the 12-step experience to unmask, get real, and only in getting real with God, myself, and others, would lasting recovery be possible. 

In treatment, they called me Secret Squirrel…I mean at first I thought it was a Black thang – don’t tell what happens in your household or your life…but now that the Lord has enlarged my territory, it’s a universal misnomer.  Don’t tell.  But I found out that I was as sick as my secrets.  Secrets grow in the dark but die in the light of exposure. 

When I was about 3 months clean and sober, I heard my mentor, Dorine, sharing over a microphone to an audience of hundreds at a convention, that she had been raped as a child.  I was like, how could she say that about herself.  But I also saw the freedom that was in her step, in her countenance, at the core of her being and I wanted that freedom. 

It was then at thirty-something years old that I told her, in the hotel room after the talk, that I too had been raped.  I had never told anyone that since it had happened when I was 14 years old.  I cried and she held me and told me, “Stanice, they were some sick men to do that to you.  It’s not your fault.  You will see, it’s gonna be alright.”  Thus, was my second taste of freedom from the bondage of my past.  The first was when months before I had said Yes to Jesus as my Lord and Savior. 

Plus, the Word… I believe my ministry’s foundation is build solidly on two specific scriptures. (1) Revelations 12:11. ¹¹They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb  and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

And (2) Jeremiah 29:11-14, For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity.

God did that so I must tell my stories.

2.  Was writing a part of your healing process?

Yes, no doubt. And still is a part of my healing process.

3.  What advice would you give to other recovering addicts?  Survivors of abuse?

Allow God’s love to lift you and a lot of time He uses people to show you what His love looks like, feels like, is like.  Pray and develop an intimate, personal relationship with God.  This comes with practice… like with playing the piano or developing your vocal range, practice…practice praying, practice meditation which is listening to God…He speaks through nature, people, His Word, in a baby’s smile, in getting through one day clean and free from active addiction or alcoholism.  I would also suggest praying and asking God to plant into your life positive people who will uplift you, believe in you even though in the beginning of the recovery process you may not be able to.  That’s what I did and He brought people into my life like my mentor from the beginning, Dorine, who is still my mentor and mimicked for me what a whole and healed life looks like and I wanted that for myself.  Her life made me thirsty for a new and better way to live.  Survivors of abuse the same thing… I am a survivor of heroin and abusive relationships--- sexual and physical abuse, and emotional… the key is forgiving so one can move on with their life.  Letting go the resentments.  Resentments are like stabbing yourself over and over again and waiting for the other person to bleed.  You gotta let go.  Also let go of the secrets.  I was raped at 14 and did not telling a living soul until I was 34 and only after I heard my mentor confess that she had been raped.  That’s a long time to carry that much pain—ALONE.  It was like cancer eating up my soul…which led to the drugs, abusive relationships, everything harmful that I had come to believe that I deserved.  But it was a lie from the pit of lies.  I did not deserve what happened to me and the men who raped me were sick and their act upon me evil.  I was damaged but I am not damaged goods as I had come to believe.  And that’s where the love comes in.  it lifted me out of that pit of despair.  My relationship with God through Jesus Christ freed me from all that bondage, and infused me with hope and promises that God has kept and makes me want to stay clean and free as much now as I did 21 years ago when I first got clean and sober.  I want to see what the end will be—already my latter has been so much greater than my former.

4.  Do you have any resolutions for 2007? 

Yes, to go to that next level with NO FEAR!  To take God at His Word—period.  To not look at the circumstances that may be surrounding me but ONLY at what God says…and He says, Stanice, I alone know the plans I have for you, plans for prosperity and not disaster.  Plans to give you a future and a hope.  That’s Word!  Jeremiah 29:11-13 which is one of the scriptures that my ministry is built on… the other is Revelations 12:11 – We overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. 

5.  What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Writers Write.  There is a paradigm that I share during my writing workshops or private classes with writers.  If the desire to write is not accompanied by the act of writing then the desire is not to write.  Also, hone your craft.  Writing is rewriting and rewriting and tightening and writing some more…and this is an awkward sentence, but I’m carrying it like we are talking across the table from one another—So I’m saying learn your craft.  The art of story.  Also on my website at www.stanice.com, I have hundreds of links to resources for writers, as well as a Q&A column for Writers.

6.  When I get to heaven God will say...

Girl, I knew that if I kept inflating your lungs you would eventually get it—get me—know me—trust me—let go and let me.  We knew it—Jesus, The Holy Ghost and I.

7.      What is your website address?

  www.stanice.com and www.myspace.com/isayaprayerforme 

Write Time

Working Full-Time and Writing
(or for any busy writer)

As always, remember that these tips won't all work for everyone, so pick and choose what's right for you.

Sorry I’m a little late this month, but better late than never, right?

How to keep learning when you're crazy-busy, part one:

Best-selling suspense author Brandilyn Collins once said that she is constantly learning the writing craft. This made an impression in my heart like a seal in a glob of wax. This kind of attitude from a successful writer reminds me that there's always more for me to learn.

Writing books. Everyone has a stack that people have recommended to them. Dig in.

However, if you find a book isn't doing it for you, don't waste time. Chuck it and start another one. Life is too short to waste on a non-useful book.

Research books. I also read books related to my brand and my genre. Since I write chick lit, I read other chick lit books, both Christian and mainstream. Since I write Asian American characters, I’ve picked up a few Asian American studies books.

If you’re targeting a certain genre such as contemporary romance, then read those books, if only to figure out what the editors are looking for.

It’s also possible to see how far the editor or publishing house will push by reading their books and studying the issues dealt with, the level of violence or sexuality, the language allowed.

Writing magazines. Short articles are gems because you can usually finish in about 5-10 minutes.

Writing workshops on CD or MP3. More about this in part two next month.

How to find time to read?

Sometimes you have to just carry the book or magazine around all day with you and read in five-minute spurts--while waiting to pick up the kids from school, during commercials, etc.

I keep a writing magazine in the car so that anytime I'm surprised by a random segment of time, I have something productive to read.

I am not ashamed to admit it, I keep a writing magazine and a writing book next to each toilet in each bathroom in my house, so that no matter where I’m sitting, I have something to peruse. I also stick a magazine next to the couch in the TV room so that I can sift through the articles during commercial breaks.

These scenarios are where the short articles in a magazine come in handiest. Often a chapter in a writing craft book is just too long.

You can also set aside one hour a week (actually schedule it in your planner so you don't skip it or do something else) for reading a writing book or magazine.

One option is that if you have a lunch break, read a writing magazine or book while you eat. Sure, it’s not very sociable, but not eating lunch with your coworkers a few times a week isn’t going to make you a pariah.

If your kids have a nap time or a quiet time, or even during a time out, read an article or a chapter in a book. Or if they have a program they’re engrossed in, snatch a few minutes to catch up on your magazine articles.

Look for times during your day that you can sneak in a few minutes to read. Sometimes those few minutes aren’t really long enough to zip to your computer and churn out a paragraph, but they’re long enough to skim an article.

Next month: Workshop CDs and tapes.

Camy Tang lives in San Jose, California. She previously worked in biology research, and she is a staff worker for her church youth group. She runs the Story Sensei critique service, and her Asian chick lit novel releases in September from Zondervan.

A New Year Prayer for You

Heavenly Father, I come to You

In the precious name of Jesus

To pray on behalf of my brothers and sisters

Who need You as another new year shines upon us.

Father, it is my prayer for 2007 that

My readers will prosper, be in good health, even as their souls prosper,

And be especially sensitive to Your voice

As Your encouraging Word fulfils and satisfies their hunger.

I ask today that Your Word and Your Will

Be prominent in the lives of every boy and girl,

So that they can be used by You in a way

That will make You clear and visible to this dying world.

We have been translated from the power of darkness

Into Your marvelous light.

Therefore, Father, keep us mindful through this new year

To do all things decent and in order in Your sight.

Thank you for the unlimited opportunities before us

That we have to raise and  praise Your Holy Name,

And for grace and Your Son Jesus

So that we can effectively teach others to do the same.

I lift up this prayer Father, in the name of Jesus,

Whose I am and whom I serve, Amen.   

©2007 by Kevin Wayne Johnson.

KWJ commentary:  I love you all very much and thank you for your continued support of the Give God the Glory! series of books and devotionals.  Keep me in your prayers in 2007 as the book series expands into the Walmart chain (Eastern region) this month and internationally through key relationships that come my way.  Together, let’s continue to Give God the Glory!