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Not Good Enough

February 2, 2017 by Marlene Bagnull

puppy-cropped“Not good enough.” I heard those words frequently when I was growing up. It seemed no matter how hard I tried, I was not good enough.

I remember my mother telling me, “Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you.” Not true. Words can and do hurt and, sadly, I carried many of them into my adult life. Perhaps you, too?

I was almost 40 when I finally learned the difference between the condemnation of the evil one and the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

So there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus.  For the power of the life-giving Spirit—and this power is mine through Christ Jesus—has freed me from the vicious circle of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2 TLB

What joy to know that God loves me, really loves me, even when I mess up.

Still, even today, the old “not good enough” tape can begin to play if I’m not vigilant.

And there’s some truth in the lie. I know I’m not good enough, not smart enough, and yes, not patient enough especially when it comes to mastering technology. But then, do any of us ever master what is constantly changing?

Yesterday and today I spent over three hours each day on the phone with the printer and in Quark trying to fix the line-up of pages 8 and 9 of the brochure for the Colorado Christian Writers Conference. Yes, as one friend urged, I could have paid the printer’s art department to do it. But then I’d have to pay them to do the same for the Philly brochure. The only way to finally solve the loss of time and money that happens twice a year when it’s brochure time is for me to fix the file myself in Quark so I have a template for future brochures.

I confess – I’ve not been patient the past two days. (See my “Pray for Patience?” post.) I’ve grown increasing impatient, and not just with myself but also with the six different techs I talked with.

After six time-consuming revisions, I’ve finally gotten the columns on pages 8-9 to line up as closely as I’m able. They’re still a hairline off, but I’m refusing to accept the “not good enough” lie. Why? Because wisdom (I believe) says it’s more important to move on to the rest of what needs to be done rather than be controlled by an ego that tells me I must be perfect.

My point in all this? I know there are many of you who will never submit the manuscript you’re working so hard on because you’re listening to the lie that it’s “not good enough.” Friends, let’s all learn to do our best and leave the rest to the Lord. It’s a far healthier and happier place than allowing ourselves to be in bondage to a perfectionist spirit that will always insist that we’re “not good enough.”

Thank You, Father, for Your grace, mercy, and love.

Posted in God's promises, Writer's Life | 8 Comments »

Pray for Patience?

January 31, 2017 by Marlene Bagnull

“I don’t pray for patience!”

I’ve said it. You probably have too. It’s the testing we know accompanies an answer to that prayer that we long to avoid. I mean, be honest. Do you enjoy being tested?

The past week I’ve certainly been tested as I’ve worked on the 16-page brochure for the May 17-20 Colorado Christian Writers Conference. Quark, my desktop publishing program, chose to be especially quarky. Text boxes refused to accept text, deciding instead that they were  image boxes. The program crashed more times than I can count. That’s really not surprising considering that the auto backup that was supposed to save just the two latest copies ended up saving 169 (yes, one hundred and sixty-nine) versions of the brochure.

Then, after the copy was written and entered, the real “fun” began with formatting and spacing issues. Especially challenging was the workshop grid that had to be split into two pages (through 8 boxes of text) even though it will be printed on a fold.

split-pages

Yes, computers and the not user-friendly programs I need to use (that often make me feel stupid) could have been the cause for a great amount of hair loss this past week especially since I was on deadline.

And yet, I heard myself praying for patience – and for peace.

Father answered! Yes, my patience continued to be tested, but His peace got me to the finish line.

The brochure is at the printer and is online (click here). And amazingly I have enough work done on the website to open secure online registration at 12:01 am (EST) February 1. Thank You, Father!

Whether it’s planning a conference and designing a brochure, beginning (and finishing) a book, or facing the often intense challenges and heartaches of day-to-day living, our patience (and faith) will be tested. But let’s choose to rejoice for He is able to use our struggles to make us strong in Him.

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. – Romans 5:3-4 TLB

* ~ * ~ * ~ *

I’ve not forgotten that I also direct the July 26-29 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference. All the keynotes and continuing sessions are in place along with about 33 faculty. Soon, I trust, I’ll be able to start the 16-page brochure process all over again for Philly. Yes, I’m gonna need lots and lots of patience and peace and prayer!

Posted in Colorado Christian Writers Conference, God's promises, Pondering Biblical Truth | Leave a Comment »

Conquering the Deadly Ds

January 22, 2017 by Marlene Bagnull

Discouraged faceSomeone has said you’re not a professional writer until you’ve received one thousand rejection slips. One thousand! That’s a lot of disappointments, especially if, like me, you’ve struggled all your life with feeling rejected.

“Why, God? Why aren’t you opening the doors?” It’s a legitimate question; but if we listen closely, we may find the tone of our voice bordering on a whine.

Diagnosis? Disappointments have made us vulnerable to discouragement. Left unchecked, doubts will get a stranglehold on us next. Then despair will follow as the Deadly Ds disable us. I know. I’ve been there. [Yes, I’ve gotten over one thousand rejection slips, but I’ve also made over one thousand sales and have published nine books.]

The Evil One knows where you’re most vulnerable. The more he sees you as a threat, the more fiercely he will attack. Can we recover from the Deadly Ds? Of course, as long as we submit ourselves to the care of the Great Physician. But we must remember that the virus will always be latent. We need to faithfully follow the Doctor’s orders:

Be careful—watch out for attacks from Satan, your great enemy. He prowls around like a hungry, roaring lion, looking for some victim to tear apart. Stand firm when he attacks. Trust the Lord.
1 Peter 5:8-9 TLB

New WHA coverThe above excerpts from chapter 26 of my book, Write His Answer – A Bible Study for Christian Writers, ring as true today as when first published 25 years ago. Click here to read the entire chapter, “Conquering the Deadly Ds.”

Far too often I see gifted writers give up –  writers who I truly believe are called by God to write His answer. That’s why I keep on keep on directing two Christian writers conferences. May 17-20 is the 21st year for the Colorado conference; July 26-29 the 34th year for the Philly conference.

About half of the faculty for Philly is chosen, but I’ve not yet begun updating the Philly website. The faculty of 55 agents, authors, and editors is in place for the Colorado conference. Click here to see who is coming.

2017-co-banner-pines-and-mountains

I’m still choosing the 57 workshops we’ll offer in Colorado, but the 8 continuing sessions are in place. Click here for descriptions of each as well as the bio of the instructor.

 The Chase (for novelists & screenwriters)
D.J. Williams – Executive Producer, Director, Author

You Can Indie Publish & Market Your Book
Sarah Bolme
Director, Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA), Author

Writing Powerful Narrative Nonfiction
Sherri Langton
Associate Editor, Bible Advocate & Now What? ezine
Freelance Writer

Writing that Changes Lives
Bill Watkins
Author; Senior Editor, BroadStreet Publishing Group

Develop and Market Your Nonfiction Book
Mike Loomis
Book Developer, Editor, Ghostwriter, Literary Agent

Reaching Women through Writing & More
Linda Evans Shepherd
Author, Speaker, Publisher
Founder/Director, Advanced Writers & Speakers Assc. (AWSA)

Market Your Message without Selling Your Soul
Eryn Lynum
Author, Marketing Specialist

The Courage to Write
Judith Couchman
Author, Speaker, Writing Coach

Let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up.
Galatians 6:9 TLB

Posted in Colorado Christian Writers Conference, God's promises, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Writer's Life | Leave a Comment »

Watching Father Work

January 14, 2017 by Marlene Bagnull

DSC_4378

I love watching Father work!

Presently (January 14) there are 49 on faculty for the May 17-20, 2017, Colorado Christian Writers Conference with more to be added. So far that includes 6 agents, 18 editors, 14 authors, and 11 other professionals.

I’m working on the brochure and have spent the afternoon beginning the process of updating the website. If we have your USPS address, you will hopefully receive our 16-page brochure by mid-February. I’m working to open secure online registration by February 1.

Pray for me, please. Even though this is my 21st year directing the Colorado conference and 34th year directing the Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference it doesn’t get any easier. But then Jesus never promised following Him would be easy. What He has promised is always to be with us. We can trust that what He calls us to do, He will equip us to do.

I cling to His promises as the challenge of planning two conferences often threatens to overwhelm me and make me doubt I have what it takes. The hardest part, the same as with writing a book, is getting started. Well, finishing what we start is tough, too!

Do you feel called to “write His answer” and yet struggle with self-doubts? Truthfully, through working with hundreds of writers through the years, I find that those who really have a gift with words and a message that needs to be published are the ones most likely to be crippled by self-doubts.

I shudder when I think of how many times I almost gave up writing because my self-doubts were so loud and insistent. Why would anyone want to read what I wrote? What made me think that I could write for the Lord? I wasn’t qualified! How could He possibly use someone who was only a high school graduate? I felt ashamed and woefully inadequate.

How it must have grieved the Lord when I failed to see that the Cross turns my minus into a plus – when I believed the lies of the evil one instead of His promises. And how much time I wasted in my self-centered and selfish focus on my doubts instead of on the needs Father was calling me to address through the words He would give me if I would just trust Him.

Today I was reminded of the November 2010 ASSIST News interview, “Author of End Times Political Thriller Hits New York Times Best Seller List with His Latest Middle Eastern Novel.” Talking about the decision to write his first novel, Joel Rosenberg said:

Failure has a way of focusing the mind and I’d come off of ten years of political failure in Washington DC and I thought, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me. I’m a Rosenberg, yet I am not a lawyer, a dentist, a doctor, an acupuncturist, a chiropractor, an accountant or even a stockbroker.

I’ve got no financial genes and I can’t do anything practical. I write ‘Op-Eds’ that people don’t read. I write speeches people don’t listen to; the only thing I know how to do is write and clearly badly. But these are my loaves and fishes and I don’t want to be a failure; I want to be a blessing.

So, I told the Lord, ‘I want to be a servant of yours, Lord Jesus, so could you take these loaves and fishes, limited though they be, and would you break them, and bless them, and somehow feed people with them.’

It was then that I got this idea of writing a political thriller; a Middle East-based terrorism story that would have the Gospel woven into it. I wanted it, as readers got deeper into the book, to see the spiritual temperature rise. But the problem was that I didn’t know how to write a novel as I’d never written one before. I’d never even taken a class on writing a novel and I didn’t even like to read novels. So that was a problem.”

Click here to read the rest of the interview. You’ll be encouraged.

New WHA cover
Are you struggling to see Father at work in your life? Are you battling self-doubts, writer’s block, rejection slips, procrastination? My book, Write His Answer – A Bible Study for Christian Writers, has 33 chapters of answers I found during my journey of publishing 9 books and making over 1,000 sales to Christian periodicals. And to my amazement it’s been in print for 25 years! Click here for excerpts and ordering info.


Father, thank You for calling us to do what seems impossible and for Your faithfulness to do exceedingly, abundantly beyond as we choose to listen to You and not to our doubts.

2017-gp-banner-to-use

Yes, I’m trusting Father will enable me to pull the Philly conference together, too. About half of the faculty is in place.

Posted in Colorado Christian Writers Conference, Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference, Overcoming self-doubts, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Impossible or Possible?

January 9, 2017 by Marlene Bagnull

Possible And Impossible Keys Show Optimism And Positivity

Time does fly! Already the first week of the new year is history.

Did you accomplish what you hoped to get done last week? Or, like me, did you encounter frustrating obstacles? I definitely could have done without sitting in the dentist chair for FOUR HOURS! Still I’m grateful for the amazing technology that made it possible for the dentist to save several teeth.

Yes, technology is amazing, that is, when it’s working! I lost more hours trying to resolve a computer issue. I finally found Microsoft’s number and called. The tech was able to fix one problem, but he said he needed to transfer me to the next level of support to fix the other problem. The cost – $500. So much for the “free” support I thought came with my new subscription to MS Office 365.

I was again reminded again of the apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 12:10 (TLB):

When I am weak, then I am strong –
the less I have, the more I depend on him.”

My paraphrase:

“When I am tired and overwhelmed,
confused, and frustrated,
and when I do not feel smart enough
to figure out a feature on my Smartphone
or find the answer to a computer error message
then I can know His strength.
The less energy, time, wisdom,
and computer expertise I possess,
the more I depend on Him.”

How I thank God for His promises. They are my “faithful armor” (Psalm 91:4) when the evil one tries to convince me something is impossible.

And I’m so thankful for the prayers of friends and Father’s amazing answer when a nephew I hadn’t heard from in over 50 years called. He spent almost five hours with me working on my computer remotely and resolving problems. I am so, so grateful, but not just for his expertise. It was wonderful to connect with him again after all these years.

I had hoped to begin updating the websites for the May 17-20 Colorado and July 27-29 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference. That didn’t happen. But I’m choosing to trust Father and His timing and enabling.

How about you?

New WHA cover
“Marlene Bagnull understands that walking in obedience isn’t easy. When you question your call, want to quit, and feel like God could never use you, pick up this book. You’ll find a soulmate in these pages, a friend, someone who has walked and is walking this path of being a writer for Him. You will gain wisdom, be encouraged, and find the strength to keep going.”
                    ~ Susan M. Cameron, Author

Click here for excerpts and ordering info.

cwmg-2017
To give your work the best opportunity to get in print, invest in The Christian Writers Market Guide 2017. I love the new easy-to-read format. Copies are available through Write His Answer Ministries at $5 off the retail price of $22.99. Click here to order.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Preparing to “Write His Answer” in the New Year

December 31, 2016 by Marlene Bagnull

a-full-inboxIf your inbox is like mine, it was stuffed with pre-Christmas enticements to buy stuff we really don’t need. And now, pre-New Year, you’re also probably overwhelmed with requests for year-end donations from numerous ministries and organizations. The needs are legitimate and dear to my heart.

No child should go to bed hungry, much less starve to death. No child or adult should be sexually abused or homeless. Human trafficking and the persecution of my brothers and sisters in Christ – the persecution of any person for we are all created in God’s image – is deplorable. How the Father heart of God must break.

It’s all too easy to wring our hands in despair when, instead, we need to clasp them in prayer. And then we need to put them to work on our keyboard starting and finishing what He is calling us to write.

An army of Christians committed to “write His answer” can make a difference – a H U G E difference if we don’t get discouraged and give up.

Father has given us a blueprint for our writing ministry in Habakkuk 2:2. I encourage you to end 2016 or begin 2017 by making time to study the Scriptures that amplify each section of this passage:

And the Lord said to me,
Write my answer
Make it large and clear
Write so that anyone can read it
At a glance
And rush to tell the others

You’ll find the references by clicking here. To listen to me presenting this Bible study at a seminar in CT, click here.

Father, You know how easy it is for us to feel overwhelmed by the needs around us. And You know how we doubt ourselves and the gifts You have entrusted to us. Please forgive us and help us to “write Your answer” in the new year.

_________________

Other ways you can prepare to make a difference through your writing in 2017:

    • Order the entire 2016 Greater Philly Christian Writers Conference as MP3 files on two DVDs. Through next Saturday, January 7, I’m offering 20% off the already low price of $99. That means for only $79 (I’ll pay the shipping) you’ll have over 100 hours of instruction from our outstanding faculty. Click here for the order form and click here for the 2016 brochure for more info.
    • CDs from the 2016 Colorado Christian Writers Conference can be ordered through January 7 for 20% off the price of $6 each for 1-9 CDs. Orders of 10 or more are 20% off the $5 each price. Click here for the order form and click here for the 2016 brochure for more info.
    • Put the May 17-20 Colorado or July 26-29 Philly conference on your calendar. I’m working to begin uploading info to the websites hopefully next week. (The websites presently have 2016 info.) With over 500 prospective faculty on my Excel spreadsheet it’s easy to become overwhelmed. It’s also exciting – very exciting – to experience His enabling to do what I could never do in my own strength.
    • cwmg-2017To give your work the best opportunity to get in print, invest in The Christian Writers Market Guide 2017. I love the new easy-to-read format. Copies are available through Write His Answer Ministries at $5 off the retail price of $22.99. Click here to order.
    • Join a Christian writers critique group. The new market guide lists groups around the nation. For helps for critique groups (including forming a group), click here. If you live in the Philadelphia area, click here for info about the group that meets in my Lansdale home one Thursday morning a month or call me at 484-991-8581 for info about the women’s critique group that meets bi-weekly on a Thursday evening in my home. Being part of a group is an important key to growing as a writer.
  • If you do not have my book, Write His Answer – A Bible Study for Christian Writers, or if it’s been some time since you’ve done this study, I encourage you to order a copy. Click here for the 176 page paperback or here for the Amazon ebook.
    New WHA cover5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommend This Study
    By WriterGirl on December 30, 2016
    Format: Paperback
    I completed this study some time ago and recently decided to purchase a new book. This study has helped me to focus on the steps necessary to move closer to achieving my writing goals. The questions challenge me to press through to achieve the next goal. I have built a firm biblical foundation for a steady and successful writing career thanks to this study!

    Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of-infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. 
    Ephesians 3:20 (TLB)

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

Looking to the New Year

December 30, 2016 by Marlene Bagnull

pen-calendar-to-do-checklistDo you make New Year’s resolutions? I used to, but I found that I broke them as quickly as I made them. The result? It was all too easy to become discouraged and give up.

So…I changed my approach and set goals instead of made resolutions. That’s not a bad thing to do. As someone has said, “Aim at nothing and that’s exactly what you will achieve.” Still goal-setting can also bring me to a place of frustration. It’s often difficult for me to determine whether my God-sized goal is really what He wants me to do.

Yes, I know that “his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of – infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes” (Eph. 3:20 TLB). But the key, I believe, is in praying for His will and surrendering our desires, thoughts, and hopes to Him. It is asking, “Father, what do You want me to do in this new year? What do You want me to do today?”

What might the Lord do in my life and yours if daily we chose to make our first priority that of “obeying God with deep reverence, shrinking back from all that might displease him” (Phil. 2:12)?

What if we allowed Him to be Lord of our to-do lists and did what He wants us to do rather than asking Him to “bless” what we want to do?

What if we made a habit of asking, “What would Jesus do?” and then did it? Is this really possible for people who are goal-oriented and strong-willed? (Okay, stubborn is probably a more accurate word!)

“For God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants” He promises in Philippians 2:13 (TLB). Wow! That’s a promise I long to grab hold of today and each day of the coming new year!

New WHA cover
This book can change your life.
It not only gives ongoing encouragement
to respond to God’s call to write,
but helps you keep on writing.
Lee Roddy, Best Selling Author

In print 25 years, several free chapters at
http://bit.ly/2h1qgs2 and ordering info.
Only $10 plus shipping. It is also available
as an eBook through Amazon.com.

Posted in Goal-setting, God's promises | Leave a Comment »

Beyond the Manger

December 24, 2016 by Marlene Bagnull

Mary Joseph Jesus RS

How tiny and helpless
how wonderfully human,
yet so mysteriously divine,
was the Baby born to Mary.

How great the promises
of who He was,
of why He had come,
of what He would do.

But did Mary know,
did Mary see,
beyond the manger—
to the Cross?

Did she know
that He would bear
our grief and sorrow,
be wounded and bruised
for our sins?

Did she know
He would be chastised
that we might have peace,
and lashed
that we might be healed?

This Christmas
will we be drawn
just to the manger
or also to the Cross?

manger cross

Posted in Pondering Biblical Truth | Leave a Comment »

Peace at Christmas – When Families Don’t Get Along

December 20, 2016 by Marlene Bagnull

Christmas peace

It’s been over 35 years since the traumatic Christmas Eve I wrote about below. Thank You, Father, for bringing Your peace to these strained relationships and for the assurance that my mother and stepfather are now home with You. Please bring Your peace – Your shalom – to families in conflict. Restore estranged relationships and help us to love others as You love us.

~ * ~ * ~

How fast the year has flown, I reflected as I took the photographs off the mantle to decorate it for Christmas. A charred mark on the paneling behind one of the photos instantly reminded of a Christmas when our home had been anything but peaceful.

My mother and stepfather were visiting. The relationship was strained, but we had been trying to keep the peace. On Christmas Eve the tension erupted into a bitter argument. The smell of burning wood stopped me from saying things I would have later regretted. A candle had tipped over on the mantle causing the paneling right near the thermostat to smolder. Trembling with fear of what might have been, I soaked the wall with water and later hid the damage with a photo. The damage in the relationship with my parents was not so easily hid.

Painful memories have a way of refusing to stay camouflaged. At Christmas we are forced to face the fact that all is not always “calm” and “bright” in our relationships with a brother or a sister, a parent or a child, an in-law or cousin. This season of joy can turn into one of misery as we have no choice but to spend time with people who go out of their way to avoid us the rest of the year.

When our homes are filled with conflict, what can we do to have “peace on earth, good will to men”?

1. Keep our eyes on the One whose birth we celebrate. The Gospel of John opens with the poignant words: “His life is the light that shines through the darkness–and the darkness can never extinguish it” (John l:5 TLB). The reality of that first Christmas was not just the angels’ song, but Herod’s decree that every baby boy two years old and under be slaughtered (see Matthew 2:16). The shadow of the cross was already hanging over the Holy Family as they fled to Egypt.

Jesus never promised us problem-free relationships, but He has promised to give us the wisdom to know how to love those who may be anything but lovable. Difficult relationships do not have to spoil the joy of Christmas if we follow Jesus’ example and respond with love and forgiveness.

2. Try not to put unrealistic demands on ourselves. Christmas Eve I typically am still racing to complete my “to-do” list and end up too tired to enjoy Christmas much less to cope with difficult family members. We need to learn when to make a good night’s sleep a priority so that we’re able to handle added emotional pressures.

3. Avoid having unrealistic expectations of others. It is unlikely that people who have been less than pleasant throughout the year will suddenly become nice just because it is Christmas. Yes, I believe God works miracles, but it is just as great a miracle to learn not to set ourselves up to be hurt through our unrealistic expectations.

I cannot remove that charred area of paneling without replacing the entire wall, but it can serve as a reminder that if I want peace in my family, it must begin with me. Truly, “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself” (2 Cor. 5:19 NIV). Because Christ came, we can be reconciled to one another.
___________

The above article was first published in the December 1986 issue of Decision. It has been reprinted by Our Family, Messenger of St. Anthony, Christian Standard, Sunday Digest, Family Forum, The Gem, and ASSISTnews.net.

To encourage you to write about a God who is real,
who is reachable, and who changes lives
CDs of two workshops I taught this spring at ECPA.

Only $6 each – including handouts!
Click here to order securely online. (Scroll down to #8 & #9.)

#8 CD – Writing Articles that Touch Lives
If we hope to touch lives through the articles we write, we need to know the Lord, know what His Word says and means, know ourselves, and know our audience. Practical pointers for writing powerful, life-changing articles. You’ll discover the Habakkuk 2:2 blueprint to effectively “Write His Answer” and learn how to pass the “So what?” test.

#9 CD – Hook ’em from the Get-Go; Hold ’em to the End
With other 1,000 sales to Christians periodicals, Marlene has developed a checklist to help you create, rewrite, and edit your articles so that you can be certain you’ll hook ’em from the get-go and hold ’em to the end. You’ll learn how to capture and how your reader’s attention and how to use a checklist to polish your articles until they shine.
 
Hot-off-the press!
The Christian Writers Market Guide 2017
Includes “Topics and Types” indexes
to help you find markets for your articles.
Retail – $22.99
Special price – $17.99
Click here to order securely online.

Posted in Our Christian witness, Pondering Biblical Truth | Leave a Comment »

O Holy Night – Marlene’s Christmas Message

December 18, 2016 by Marlene Bagnull

nativity-lt

The pain of childbirth
had been intense
yet now was forgotten
as she held the Babe close.

He was so tiny, so helpless,
so dependent on her & Joseph
for everything He needed.

How could it be
that in her arms she held
the Promised One –
the Savior of mankind?

But it was true.
She had not known a man.
God had chosen her
to bear His Son.

The cave was dark
except for the star above.
The future was unknown,
but God was with them.

 

The miracle of the Incarnation, the Word made flesh – it really happened! A young girl, about the age of my twelve-year-old granddaughter, was given the responsibility, privilege, and joy of giving birth to God’s Son and raising him to manhood. She experienced the heartache of watching Him writhe in agony on a cross and seeing his broken body laid in a tomb. But death couldn’t hold Him! He came back to life and He is coming again. Perhaps soon!

 

God was with Mary, and He has been with us throughout this year. Through joy and through sorrow He has been faithful to hold us close. I’m so grateful for the 53 years Paul and I have been married. His loving support is what undergirds Write His Answer Ministries. This was my 20th year directing the Colorado Christian Writers Conference; my 33rd year directing the Greater Philly conference. Amazing! I’ve had the privilege of helping two authors get their book in print this year, and two critique groups continue to meet in my home. Maybe next year I’ll get back to the books I know He is still calling me to write. For now, I can do more for His Kingdom through “encouraging and equipping others to write about a God who is real, who is reachable, and who changes lives.”

 

We continue to thank God for the home He has given us within walking distance of Deb and Rob and our three grandchildren. We’re grateful for how the walls of our home have expanded to comfortably embrace our son, Rob, daughter-in-love, Nicole, and their two dogs. We’re also grateful that our oldest daughter, Sharon, finally was approved for disability. God has carried her and Howard through the past two difficult years that Howard has been out of work. Howard recently applied for disability. Father, please grant him favor.

 

As the unknowns of a new year stretch before us and our nation, may we be drawn closer to the One who loves us so much He sent His Son.

Posted in God's promises, Pondering Biblical Truth | Leave a Comment »

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