What's Twenty Years?

Courtesy of e-vint.com

I'm working on a new writing project (you can learn about it under my new "books" tab, above) that is set during 1926--the height of America's "Noble Experiment," better known as prohibition. Most of you know that for the past few years I've been buried up to my elbows with writing a series based during 1906. This is a whole new world for me.

How tough can it be, I asked myself. What's the difference between 1906 and 1926? It's only twenty years, right?

ONLY twenty years? What was I thinking? The changes that occurred between 1906 and 1926 make me dizzy with wonder. Fashions, attitudes, politics, technology--everything changed.

I mentioned that to a friend recently and she laughed. "Think about what's changed for us during the last twenty years!" I hadn't really considered it, but if you remember back to 1991, the world was pretty different. Computers had become relatively common, but e-mail was still a new technology. My first experiences with the internet and "world wide web" were in the mid-90s. Cell phones were around, but they were--remember this?--for CALLING people. Could we have imagined the changes the next twenty years would bring? Email, google, FaceBook, Twitter, texting...(ahem) sex-ting? Online bullying? On-line education? Googling?

Styles have also changed. Remember oversized sweatshirts in neon colors worn with matching slouch socks over black leggings? Grunge? A few years later, bare midriffs were all the rage.

Scary! So, what's twenty years? A whole new world. It makes me wonder what 2031 will look like.

I think I'd better go clean out my closets.

Free e-Books including LEOTA'S GARDEN by Francine Rivers

Publishers keep surprising me by offering great Christian fiction e-book novels for FREE on Amazon and other on-line booksellers. One of my absolute favorite books is available right now: Leota's Garden, by Francine Rivers. If you have ever read Francine Rivers before, you know that she is one of the best Christian fiction writers in the business. Leota's Garden is a tender story involving an 84 year old grandmother who teaches her grand-daughter how living a good life is like cultivating a garden.

You can also register to win a complete library of Francine Rivers' books--learn more at the Tyndale blog.

Other Christian novels being offered free this week:
Triumph of Grace by Kay Marshall Strom
She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell
Whisper on the Wind by Maureen Lang
Michal by Jill Eileen Smith
Riven by Jerry B. Jenkins
The Secret: Seasons of Grace (Book One) by Beverly Lewis

Good Advice: Make the Boss Look Great

 Many years ago, someone gave me a piece of very good advice: "The trick to success in the working-world is not to make yourself look good--it is to make your boss look great." When you make the boss look great you become an invaluable asset to him/her. I'm not talking about flattering the boss and making them "feel good" so they grant you favors. Instead, you focus on the supervisor's goals and tasks and find ways to make him or her more successful (careful not to take the acclaim for yourself).

This worked like magic for me in several jobs. Bosses loved me, not just because I did my job, but because I made them look good in the process. It helped me rise above other employees who focused only on their own interests.

Now, as a writer I am considered self-employed. But there's a twist (we writers love twists). As a Christian writer, I consider God to be my boss. 

In our worship service this past Sunday, our talented worship team led the congregation in the song "From the Inside Out." It talks about the struggle in giving God control over our lives. A few of the lines struck me as very poignant.

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing You praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame

...And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise

Normally, I think of "bringing praise" as when I tell God how wonderful I think He is. But now I stumbled over those words, "BRING You praise." What does it mean to bring Him praise?

Could it be more like that old piece of advice? Our job as Christians is not to make ourselves look good (that's pretty tough), but to make our boss look great--to bring HIM praise. Not just our praise, but those who view our lives. We cannot add anything to God's majesty and we do not earn His grace through our actions. But, we can make it our life's goal--the cry of our heart--to bring Him the praise.

It's time to make our boss look great. We know there's no one greater. 

Green--The Color of Praise

I live in a very green part of the world here in the Pacific Northwest, and though I find myself complaining about the rain, I admit that I love the "green-ness" that it brings.

One of my all-time favorite musicians, Rich Mullins, put it best. "I'm amazed when I remember who it was that built this house...Look down upon this winter wheat and be glad that You have made, blue for the sky and the color green that fills these fields with praise."

I may just go out and splash in a few puddles, remembering to thank God for the blessings He pours out on us--paticularly, the color green.

The Color Green, by Rich Mullins 1993.

And the moon is a sliver of silver
Like a shaving that fell on the floor of a Carpenter's shop
And every house must have it's builder
And I awoke in the house of God
Where the windows are mornings and evenings
Stretched from the sun
Across the sky north to south
And on my way to early meeting
I heard the rocks crying out
I heard the rocks crying out

Be praised for all Your tenderness by these works of Your hands
Suns that rise and rains that fall to bless and bring to life Your land
Look down upon this winter wheat and be glad that You have made
Blue for the sky and the color green that fills these fields with praise

And the wrens have returned and they're nesting
In the hollow of that oak where his heart once had been
And he lifts up his arms in a blessing for being born again
And the streams are all swollen with winter
Winter unfrozen and free to run away now
And I'm amazed when I remember
Who it was that built this house
And with the rocks I cry out

Be praised for all Your tenderness by these works of Your hands
Suns that rise and rains that fall to bless and bring to life Your land
Look down upon this winter wheat and be glad that You have made
Blue for the sky and the color green

Be praised for all Your tenderness by these works of Your hands
Suns that rise and rains that fall to bless and bring to life Your land
Look down upon this winter wheat and be glad that You have made
Blue for the sky and the color green that fills these fields with praise

Comparing Japan's 9.0 quake to 1906 San Francisco

After all of the research I did on the 1906 San Francisco quake for my novel Shaken, I am always fascinated when I hear about other earthquakes around the globe. The footage from Friday's earthquake and tsunami in Japan has been absolutely heart-rending to watch.

Here's how this new quake stands up against the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The 1906 quake happened before modern monitoring techniques, but scientists estimate it to have been a magnitude of 7.7. Just today, the USGS has updated the reporting of the earthquake near Honshu, Japan to a 9.0 magnitude quake, making it the fourth largest earthquake in the world since 1900.

As of a few days ago (when they were still calling this a 8.9 magnitude quake), the USGS reported that a quake of that size was 700 times the strength of Haiti's 7.0 quake. That would be equivalent to 30 of the 1906 San Francisco quakes.

Of course, in 1906 people feared fire, looting and epidemics in the aftermath of the earthquake. Today in Japan, those fears are eclipsed by the looming threat of nuclear radiation. The people of Japan will continue to be in our thoughts and prayers in the days to come.

If you would like to read more comparisons between the Honshu, Haiti and San Francisco quakes, check out this CBS news report. If you would like more information on earthquakes in general, including lists of the world's largest and most destructive quakes, I would encourage you to check out the USGS earthquake site. They even have a feature that can send immediate reports of earthquakes around the world to your email inbox.

Friday Book Pick: LOVE AT LAST SIGHT by Kerry & Chris Shook

Our culture loves romantic books and movies that end with that "happily ever after" moment.  However, most (if not all) married couples soon realize that while romance creates moments of happiness, it doesn't guarantee the "ever after" part. Kerry and Chris Shook, founders of Woodlands Church in Texas, are the authors of Love at Last Sight: 30 days to grow and deepen your closest relationships. Instead of focusing on that first moments of attraction, Love at Last Sight offers 30 lessons (spread over a month) designed to strengthen the here and now of your relationships.

Each short chapter--designed to be read one per day--offers personal stories, tips to strengthen relationships and a challenge that will help you to go deeper with those you love. Not exclusive to marriage, Love at Last Sight also discusses friendships and family ties.

This book would be a great start for a couple considering marriage, as well as a useful tool for jumpstarting relationships that have waned over time.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free (from WaterBrook Multnomah's Blogging for Books program) 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.”

It's Dr. Suess' birthday! Which Book is Your Favorite?

In honor of Dr. Suess' 107th birthday, I tried to figure out which of his children's books is my all-time favorite, but it was a harder choice than I had first imagined. I love the Sneetches, the Grinch, The Cat in the Hat, Fox in Socks, the 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins... and so on. I'm not sure there's any way to choose!

One of my fondest "Suessian" memories was my attempt to share my love of Suess' Cat in the Hat with my daughter. She absolutely HATED it. She also despised Curious George, Eloise, Pippi Longstocking and so many other traditional children's books. Why? Because the main characters make bad choices. If you want to see my sweet uber-rule-following daughter's hair stand on end, just try to read her a book (or show her a movie) where the main character disobeys. Her favorite movie character was always the Little Mermaid, but she would make me skip over the part where she disobeys her father. Her favorite book character was Madeline--probably something about those neat, orderly lines in which the girls walked.

I haven't figured out why this bothers her so much, but it has since she was a teeny-tiny thing. I guess that's good for us as her parents. And yet, so many chilren's books focus on characters who make mistakes and learn from them. It's a relatively painless way for us to teach our kids (and ourselves) why its important to make good choices. Well, painless unless you're my daughter, I suppose.

Are there book characters that make you uncomfortable? And what's your favorite Dr. Suess book?