Balancing when your life is spinning

Sometimes life throws us off-balance. Everything can be going along fine and then--in the blink of and eye--we are sent spinning off into chaos at a dizzying pace.

My 8-year-old daughter knows a thing or two about spinning and balance because she is ballet-obsessed. She already takes three hours of dance instruction each week, but it doesn't stop when she leaves the studio. She doesn't walk around the house--she leaps. If we go to the beach, she balances on her toes in the waves. She choreographs pretend ballets as she cleans her room. I've even caught her practicing "arm movements" during homework.

In order to help with spins, her dance teacher taught her a technique called "spotting." To keep from getting dizzy (and wobbly) during a spin, dancers focus their eyes on a certain spot in the room. They keep their gaze glued to that one spot while their body turns. When they can no longer see it, they whip their heads around rapidly and refocus on the same spot. The have a cute game in class where the teacher puts on some bouncy music and the kids spin (while spotting). After a specified number of turns, they stop and try to balance on one foot. It's humorous to watch, but as they perfect their spotting technique, their balance gets better.

My daughter can now do those amazing turns all the way across the floor, like a carefully controlled spinning top. I've learned to jump out of the way when I see her spinning down the hallway at home.

God gave us a similar technique to help us regain balance in our lives when our world seems to be spinning out of our control. Scripture calls it, "fixing your eyes." The book of Proverbs says, "Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways." (Proverbs 4:25-26 NIV).

The book of Hebrews even suggests what we should use as our fixing "spot": "And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith." (Hebrews 12:1b-2a NIV).

So, if we keep our eyes fixed on Him during the turning and spinning of our lives--we should better be able to keep our balance. We will still fall sometimes, even the best dancers do. But as we keep practicing, we know our balance will improve.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

Look full in His wonderful face.

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

in the light of His glory and grace.

(Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, Helen H. Lemmel 1922)

Love at First Moo?

Here we are at another Valentine's Day and the jewelers and florists are sure to be doing a brisk business. But this past Friday, I heard about what had to be one of the most original Valentine's gifts of all time. My friend Kerry posted this to Facebook--"Only Jeff could find a two day old calf with a heart for Valentine's Day!"

Now, I know a lot of women would look at the adorable photo and think, "Awww, so cute--but my sweetie better not even DREAM of getting me a cow."

But Jeff and Kerry have a small farm and three wonderful boys. The calf is a natural and appreciated addition, I'm sure. And with those big brown eyes, long lashes and that heart-shaped spot on its forehead, I'm sure it was love at first sight for Kerry. Way to go, Jeff!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Friday Book Pick: The Damascus Way by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke

The roads in Judea, Samaria, Galilee and Syria were treacherous and travelers risked bandits, murderous zealots, and sandstorms as they struggled to reach their destinations. But, on the road to Damascus--everything changed.

The Damascus Way is a sweeping saga that gives readers a glimpse into the uncertain lives of the people of "the Way," the first century followers of the risen Christ. Authors Davis Bunn and Janette Oke show how this new faith brought not only persecution to the early church, but also miraculously transformed former enemies into family. The lives of Roman centurions, Syrian traders, Judean merchants and Samaritan slaves are bound together as they travel the Roman roads that unite their lands.

Young Julia, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, is horrified when she learns that she and her mother are, in reality, her father's second family and that her father never actually married her mother. Jacob, one of her father's caravan guards and a follower of The Way, is also searching for his place in the world. The two meet when they both become reluctant couriers for the communities of believers--a task that puts both them and their families at risk from the temple priests and Pharisees, such as Saul of Tarsus, who seek to rid the land of this dangerous new movement.

The Damascus Way is the third book in the Acts of Faith series. I read it without having read the two previous books and had no difficulty following the storyline. Readers who have read The Centurion's Wife and The Hidden Flame will likely enjoy seeing the continuation of some of the familiar characters from those books. Now that I've finished The Damascus Way, I'm eager to go back and read the first two books of the series. The authors painted such a vivid scene that I feel like I've just gotten back from my own journey and I'm still shaking the sand from my shoes.
  
The Damascus Way is currently listed at #2 on the CBA best seller's list.  

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free for the purpose of review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Bawl, Pray, Study...

"Who cares about spelling? It doesn't matter!" My 11-year-old son flung his spelling book onto the kitchen table.

Can you believe he said that to his mother--the writer?

Dad brought out the big guns. "We warned you all week to work on this. If you don't get an 80% or better on tomorrow's test, there will be NO video games this weekend."

The evening was already drawing to a close and my son could barely spell any of the words on his list, much less 80% of them. He knew he was doomed to fail. He didn't care about the grade, but he did care about his precious game time.

So, he pulled out his own weapons. Tears. Whines. Angry outbursts. Stomping feet. Of course, he got himself banished to his room. This was going to be a loooooooong weekend.

Surprisingly, the next day he popped out of school with a grin on his face. "I did it! I got 88%!"

My mouth dropped open as I took the paper from him and scanned it. "How in the world did you do that? Last night you couldn't spell any of them."

He looked a little sheepish. "Well, I bawled. And I prayed. And I studied."

His honesty brought a smile to my face. "Bawl, pray, study. Sounds like you found a system that works for you. Are you going to do that again next week?"

"Well," he took the paper back and shoved it into his book bag. "Maybe I'll skip the bawling part. I think I'll just pray and study."

I'm going to try to keep that in mind the next time I'm faced with a challenge that seems impossible. I'll try to skip the bawling, and just pray and study.

1906 Film: A Trip Down Market Street

The internet is an amazing tool for the historical fiction writer. I've found wonderful old books, photographs, newspaper clippings, personal letters and journals. Some of my favorite finds are videos. But, since I'm writing about the early 1900s, they can be tough to come by. Moving pictures were still in their infancy.

One of the most spectacular (from a history perspective) is a film called "A Trip Down Market Street." An early filmaker captured this footage from the front of a San Francisco cable car in 1906, just prior to the massive earthquake/fires that consumed much of the city. It is eerie to watch the people going about their day-to-day lives, blissfully unaware of the disaster that is about to befall them.

The video is also a treasure because of the details it shows: clothing styles, demographics of the people on the street (mostly men) and the wide variety of transportation options (horses, wagons, automobiles, electric trolleys, cable cars, bicycles and foot traffic). What an amazing wealth of information. (It's silent film, so you'll have to use your imagination to furnish the clopping hooves, the "ding-ding" of the cable car and the rumble of the automobile engines.)



A recent 60 Minutes report was aired about the history of this film. A film historian dug into the past and unearthed some previously unknown details about it. He was able to pinpoint the date and time of filming as only a few days before the 1906 earthquake (instead of 1905 as previously believed). And even though the street looks frantically busy with automobiles zig-zagging through traffic, the historian compared license plates and determined that only a few automobiles are represented. Perhaps the traffic was staged to make it look even busier than reality.

I am not allowed to imbed the 60 minutes footage here, but you can see it on Youtube. If you are a history nut like me and have 12 minutes free, make sure and go watch it. It's amazing.

My Interview About Mount Hermon

If you have followed my blog for very long, you know that I am a huge fan of the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference held each year over the Palm Sunday weekend. I'm preparing for my third conference this year.

Yesterday, I popped onto the Mount Hermon blog to check out a new post and came face-to-face with... MY FACE! Aack! I had forgotten about the roving interviews that had been taped last year and it was a bit of a shock to see myself on-line. But after watching it, I decided to go ahead and post it here, as well. I stand by my words from last year. In three years, I've gone from dream to reality. The first year I walked in tentative and overwhelmed. This year, I've signed with an agent and am (hopefully) on my way to a novel of my own. If you dream about writing--this conference can show you how to make it a reality.



And that new writer that I spoke of? She's going with me this year to see for herself.

Here are some of my previous blog posts about my experiences at Mount Hermon.
Arriving at Mount Hermon, 2009
Mount Hermon (continued), 2009
Surprises from Mount Hermon, 2009
Laughs from Mount Hermon, 2009
From Peace to Panic in 10 Seconds Flat, 2010
Mount Hermon, Here I Come 2010
Updates from Mount Hermon 2010
More from Mount Hermon 2010
Heading Home 2010

Friday Book Pick: Calico Canyon by Mary Connealy

So, are you in one of those regions of our country that are buried in snow? Are you feeling a little stir-crazy? Or snow-crazy? I just found the perfect book for you. Historical romance author, Mary Connealy has a gift for weaving together romance and humor. And her book, Calico Canyon is all about being snowed-in with those you love... or maybe those you hate.

Grace Calhoun, on the run from an abusive and vengeful foster father, stumbles into the life of Daniel Reeves--a widower raising five rowdy boys. The two take an immediate dislike to each other, but through a bizarre turn of events are forced into a marriage. Snowbound in the isolated Calico Canyon of Texas, will the pair, and the five boys, find a way to face life together? 

For those of you who have been snowbound for a few days, the story of these seven people trying to survive an entire winter trapped in a canyon might make you count your blessings! So, if you can dig your way out and get to the bookstore or library, look for this book. If you still can't find your car under the snowdrifts, maybe you'd better download it in e-book form.

Just in...I usually refer you to Amazon because of their great prices--but I just spotted Calico Canyon on sale at Christianbook.com for only $3.99. I'm going to go looking for a few more of Mary Connealy's books. I can't wait to read more of her work.

Have a great weekend, everyone. And throw a few snowballs for me!