Written before God

It's 1:01AM on Tuesday morning and I still need another seven hundred words in order to reach my daily word count. (Can you tell I'm on major deadline?)

The book I'm writing now, Within My Heart, has been an especially hard one to write. Not that any of them have been easy, but it feels like I've been writing this book forever. I know these characters through and through. I even know the next several scenes and have details summarized in bullet points (I love bullet points) on my desk to my right. I rarely know upcoming scenes in this much detail (and really get perturbed at writers who do...ahem...Tracie Peterson!). On top of the individual pages of scenes, I have sticky notes––a writer's best friend––plastered at odd angles with other details jotted down. Little nuances or character thoughts that I need to be sure to include and will, no doubt, forget if I don't make written record.

As I stared at these handwritten pages a few minutes ago, eating the last of the Sweet Potato Souffle we had for Thanksgiving (don't ask me how my gravy turned out, but if you're hanging wallpaper this week, I'm your gal!), I couldn't help but think of how my life is already "written" before God. He sees everything, my entire life, from start to finish.

"You saw me before I was born.

Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed."

Psalm 139:16

That's comforting to me. Reassuring. To know that God knows what's coming down the pike, even though I haven't a clue.

Last Thursday was our first Thanksgiving without Mom. It also would have been her seventy-fifth birthday (which I might have gotten in trouble for telling you if she was still here). My family was together, we had a wonderful time, but the day was bittersweet without Mom. There are moments when I still can't believe she's gone, then others when I can almost see and feel her (through sanctified imagination) in "present" heaven, praying us home.

Shortly before she went to be with the Lord, she and I were talking in the sunroom, laughing and reminiscing. She looked at me and smiled and simply said, "The shoes!" I started giggling, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

When I was junior in high school, I was going on a date and needed black heels to wear with a black dress. I went to the mall and being the frugal shopper that I was, I found the most gorgeous pair of black dress shoes. And they were only $19.00! My budget was $20, so score! I bought them and took them home to show Mom.

She didn't say a word until a couple of weeks after the event (which I can't even remember what it was now) when she showed me the receipt––that I had signed, mind you. The shoes weren't $19.00. They were $49.00! And that sweet woman had let me keep them. (For those of you who are younger, that's like $1497.62 in today dollars.)

Mom told me there in the sunroom that day that she still had that receipt. Dad found it a couple of weeks ago when he was going through the dresser drawers, and he brought it to me at Thanksgiving. Mom had kept it all those years, with a handwritten note on it. So precious...

It's nearly 2:00, and my "remaining seven hundred words" are calling. So off to write, while knowing full well that God already knows the remainder of my story. And yours.

*******

My family, last Friday, at (and with) Jack Daniels in Lynchburg, TN. We had a blast. Afterward, we had lunch at Caddywhampas, a local restaurant. They serve cornbread in tiny iron skillets with a side of molasses butter. Just what we needed after that light meal on Thursday!

A Southern Thanksgiving without Jack Daniel's?

I’m headed to the grocery store this morning, Thanksgiving dinner menu in hand and hoping to avoid some of the last minute chaos and leg wrestling that will no doubt ensue in frozen food sections across America tomorrow.

Here’s my list that I made last night as Joe, Dad, and Kelsey were watching the Titans game. I literally “ducked in” to make the list, then ducked out again to continue writing:

Turkey/Brisket

Dressing

Sweet Potatoes

Gulliver’s Corn

Green Beans

Chef Hat Rolls

Frozen Fruit Salad

Gravy

Cranberry Sauce

Bread n’ Butter pickles

Mashed Potatoes

Pumpkin Pie

“Better than Sex” Chocolate Dessert

"___________________"

We’ll spend Thursday (and a chunk of Wednesday) cooking and baking all the above, getting everything ready for the Thanksgiving meal—that will be consumed in twenty minutes!

As I’m looking over the list this morning, I see people—precious people in my life—behind every menu item. For years now, my husband Joe has prepared the turkey, which I love. The more in the kitchen, the merrier! And he does such a good job too. This year he’s also cooking a beef brisket on his “Green Egg” outside. Delicious!

Our daughter and son (pictured right) with our two nephews at the Thanksgiving meal, circa 1992

The Dressing is Mom’s recipe (and her mother's), which I know so well by now that I just throw stuff into the Dutch oven and give it the final “taste test” before baking. The Sweet Potatoes is Aunt Lyda’s recipe (the recipe with pecans and caramelized brown sugar on top, no marshmallows for this crowd). Dad’s actually driving to Fayetteville Thursday morning to get Aunt Lyda and bring her back here for the meal with us. Can’t wait to see her again.

Gulliver’s Corn is Mom’s recipe, and it has cream and butter and other “heart attack on a plate” stuff in it, but hey…we have it once a year! The green beans are always fresh, and we snap them together the night before. Chef Hat Rolls are Kelsey and Kurt’s favorites, their special request. The Frozen Fruit Salad is Mom’s recipe and I love it because I can make it today and forget about it, which I usually do until half way through the meal. Henceforth, the above list that will stay faithfully tacked to my fridge until everything’s on the table and accounted for.

I still remember the first time I made gravy with Mom by my side. How is it that mine still didn’t turn out as good as hers, and she was right there with me? The Cranberry Sauce is the only dish I prepare that I don’t eat. I love cranberries but am not a fan of the sauce. Go figure… But my family loves it so it’s on the list. Bread n’ Butter pickles are a request from Joe. His family used to have these with their meal, so we’ve incorporated them into ours. Mashed Potatoes is on the list because my nephews, Doug and Dillon, love them, and they’re coming (along with my brother, Doug and his wife, Jackie) from Atlanta to join us.

Lastly, but most importantly, are the desserts. Pumpkin Pie’s a must, and it’s an old recipe from the 1800s that calls for scalded milk and sorghum molasses. Yum! I’ve been baking that for years. Next is the “Better than Sex” Chocolate Pudding dessert. I’m not sure if my family requested that this year because they love it, or they just love saying the name.

The “____________” in my menu represents the dessert I want to make that Doug and Jackie and the boys really like, but that I don’t know the name of yet. Which reminds me, I need to call my sister-in-law…

Our daughter and son (pictured right) with our two nephews, Thanksgiving 2009

In the end, my menu is really all about family, which is what Thanksgiving Day is about too. And it’s not just “blood relation” family, but the people with whom we share our lives. As I eat the meal on Thursday, savoring the different tastes, I’ll be remembering people--those still with me and those already Home--and will be thanking God for them.

I can’t sit down to a big meal like this anymore without anticipating the wedding feast we’ll share in the presence of the Lamb in the new Heaven some day. Prayerfully, some day soon! Food isn’t just for here, folks. And aren’t we thankful!

Oh, and what does Jack Daniel's have to do with Thanksgiving? Friday, the family's going to Gattistown (about an hour from Nashville), where my dad's family is from. We're going to see where the old home place used to be, visit the graveyard where family is buried, then we're going to Jack Daniel's Distillery (in nearby Lynchburg) for a tour. I wonder if they still give samples... I've actually been to the distillery before. A Southern rite of passage, I guess. Then we'll hit the antique shops in downtown Lynchburg. Let the fun begin!

Blessings to you this Thanksgiving!

Confessions of a closet dancer

I love Dancing with the Stars. Okay there, I said it! And aren't you relieved that it's me watching others dance and not me doing the dancing.) My sweet Mom got me started on Dancing with the Stars a few years ago. I actually made fun of the show the first season...until I watched it! I've been a fan ever since. Mom and I used to watch it "together" via phone. My husband, however, is not a fan, which of course encourages my daughter and me to sing the show's theme music every chance we get. :)

By chance did you catch Susan Boyle singing on last week's show? If you didn't, take three minutes to enjoy her gifted voice and the beautiful choreography!

Somedays are "dancing" days for me. Days when things go great and everything just seems to fit. My son had one of those days yesterday and called to share it with me (thanks, Kurt, love you buddy and really enjoyed that phone call). Then there are other days when dancing is the last thing on my mind.

I read from Streams in the Desert every morning and so does my dad. He and I talk several times a day now, and when we chatted last night, he shared part of yesterday's reading that was especially poignant for him. It was for me too. Here's a snippet:

When James and John came to Christ with their mother, asking Him to give them the best place in His kingdom, He did not refuse their request. He told them that the place would be given to them if they could do His work, drink His cup, and be baptized with His baptism. (See Mark 10:38)

Are we willing to compete for God's best, with the knowledge that the best things are always achieved by the most difficult paths? We must endure steep mountains, dense forests, and and the Enemy's chariots of iron, since hardship is the price of the victor's coronation. Arches of triumph are made not of rose blossoms and strands of silk but of hard blows and bloody scars. The very hardships you are enduring in your life today have been given to you by the Master, for the express purpose of enabling you to win your crown.


If you've not read Streams in the Desert (by L.B. Cowman), I encourage you to pick up a copy. I've read it several times through the years. It's a staple in my devotional library that I keep returning to.


Here's wishing you a dancing day today. But if it's not, remember that those life bumps are there for a reason, and God won't waste a single one. And ah...for you Twilight fans out there, I already have my ticket for New Moon this Friday. Can't wait! Wish we could go together!

GivingHopeCards.com

Have you ever received a card from a friend and just held it for a moment, staring at the love penned on the inside but also at the love that went into the making of that card.

A friend of mine recently made a trip to India and while she was there, God placed a dream--and a calling--on her heart. A calling to make a difference in the lives of the people she was caring for. Here's a snippet of that dream in Roxy's own words...

Selling my inspirational handmade greeting cards was motivated by my trip to India.  While working in the WINGS Orphanage in Ongole, I fell in love with the children and learned their life stories.  Many had no parents and some, like Adam in the picture above standing between his mother and me, are in the orphanage because their mothers are widows and cannot provide for their family.

I have a dream of turning my love for making handmade greeting cards into a business that will support these widows and one day provide a way for them to join me in this venture and be able to support themselves and their families.

In my store you will find my handmade greeting cards. A significant portion of the profits currently goes to benefit these women and their children.  It is my prayer these cards will give HOPE... Help Others Prosper Eternally.

  

Last week, my husband Joe, my Dad, and I had the pleasure of meeting our friends Kurt and Roxy Picker for a "working/dreaming" lunch, and Roxy shared her dream with us. I say it was a "working" lunch because my husband's field is marketing, and Kurt and Roxy were looking for some direction in what steps to take next. Little did we know, but God was already working behind the scenes!

Take a look at some of the cards Roxy makes (click pictures for larger view, then hit your "back" button on the browser to return):

My sweet Mom received soooo many cards (a lot of them from you, dear readers, thank you) before she passed, and those tangible reminders of your love and prayers made all the difference in her journey Home. We would read them aloud together then I'd place them where she could see them. When I was in Atlanta recently, I counted four large baskets overflowing with cards sent to Mom and Dad--several of them handcrafted by Roxy.  

I placed my order for an assortment of cards a few minutes ago and can't wait to get them and start using them. But even more, I'm excited about Roxy's dream of making a difference in the lives of widows in India, and of God using handcrafted cards to craft fresh hope and a more promising future for these women.   

Loving my rainy day in Nashville and curling up with my blanket to write...

(Pictured above: Me and Roxy following our dreaming lunch)

If this side of eternity is so beautiful...

Can you imagine how breathtaking heaven will be? I snapped these pics just a moment ago. It's the view from our back deck.

Wherever in this world you are, I hope you catch a glimpse today of the boundless beauty and wonder that awaits those who believe and trust in the Lord Jesus.

Besides the Bible (of course), the best book I've ever read on our forever home is a book aptly entitled Heaven by Randy Alcorn. I'm reading it for the third time right now and my hope for what awaits is becoming more real than ever.

Take two minutes and listen to Randy share a little about what God has planned for believers in the life after. This book is easily in my top five all time favorites!

And one more thing...have you heard Carrie Underwood's new song Temporary Home? If not, treat yourself!

Seeing old friends and new, and taking notes from a farmer

Joe and I are back from homecoming weekend at Harding University

(our alma mater) and we had a wonderful time, and some great couple time together. I came home fairly "spent" after several speaking events and booksignings but it was a good kind of tired. I had no clue that author and friend Christine Lynxwiler (pictured right) was going to be there too (she's an Arkansas gal), so visiting with her was an added bonus!

After speaking Thursday evening during a massive storm with tornado warnings (bless you brave souls who ventured out--I really enjoyed our time together, especially the Q&A and follow up), I met with students and faculty of the English department on Friday morning, then with a book club later that afternoon. These book club women are wild! And such fun.

When I heard the laughter coming down the hallway, I knew I was in for a fabulous time! Thanks, ladies, for making me part of your group! Wish I could meet with you each month.

The "wild and wonderful" women of Harding

Cindy Payne and me (Cindy's father, Jimmy Allen, was a favorite professor of mine while at HU. Cindy, loved our visit!)

As soon as we walked into the student center Thursday evening, guess who we saw! Brianna who we went to church with in Greeley, Colorado. Homecoming weekend was full of those "Oh hey, I know you!" moments and they were great.

It was also one of those times when God gives you perspective.Countless times I was asked why I majored in business instead of journalism, and why I wasted all those years working in business when I could have been writing. Long story short, I answered because I couldn't have written the stories I write without having lived some first. Which is true. But it's also because God, in His perfect timing, hadn't brought me to this place in my life yet.

Ecclesiastes 11:5 says,

"Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother's womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things."

God's ways--how He moves us in and out of each other's lives--is a mystery. Yet we know He never wastes anything. All the years I spent coordinating corporate conferences, working in banking and in academia, all those years spent raising children and being a wife and mother, in leading women's ministries...God is using all of those experiences to shape my characters and stories. And I wouldn't change a thing.

I'm grateful for all the people in my past (and present) who challenge and encourage me to follow God's lead, no matter where that takes me. As I say often when speaking, "There's nothing better than being centered in the middle of God's will for your life--whatever that means--and nothing more miserable than being outside of it."

One more verse that applies to me in a big way this morning is the verse right before the one above:

"Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.

If they watch every cloud, they never harvest."

In the margin of my Bible, I have written: Same for my writing! So get to work!

If you're reading these words today, I'm praying for you. Praying you'll accomplish what the Lord has placed on your agenda today (whether it's on yours yet or not), and that He who does all thingswill give you perspective and encouragement in your journey. (Me and my husband, Joe, pictured above.)

Visiting my Alma Mater

(I posted this on my Tuesday blog on Writes of Passage, but forgot to post it here as well. Too busy writing...and packing!)

I'll be in Searcy, Arkansas this weekend visiting Harding University, my college alma mater. It's Homecoming weekend, and I'm excited to see college friends and walk those once-familiar paths.

I'll be speaking several times and having book signings so it will be a "working" weekend, but also lots of fun. If you're in the area, I'd love see you! Check the Homecoming weekend schedule here.

I made a quick run to WalMart yesterday--well, it wasn't exactly quick, though I did stick to my list--and snapped this picture on my way home...

This snapshot doesn't do the scenery justice. I love fall. It's my favorite time of year. I love the candy corn, the pumpkins, pumpkin pie, yellow and orange mums, the turning of the leaves, caramel apples, caramels wrapped in that thin cellophane that drives Jack nuts, crackling fires in the fireplace...I could go on. But I've got lots of words to write yet today so...off to it!

Wishing I could share my candy corn and caramels (literally, so I'd stop eating them!)...

Seeking His Presence

This will be quick because I'm in Atlanta visiting Dad, and we're headed out on some errands then coming back to clean out the garage. Lots of boxes and lots of stuff. We're having a great time together and I'm enjoying sorting through the memories.

I was reading in Exodus last night (sometimes I'm just drawn to that book) and came across something that Moses said that I'm praying for myself today, and for you (33:14).

Moses asked the Lord, "Then show me your glorious presence." When you have a chance, read back through that section. It's powerful and so encouraging. Never forget, God knows your name and your circumstance, and He yearns to hide you in the cleft of the rock and show you His glorious presence.

Here are some quick pics of our family during Dad's recent visit to Nashville when we went out to eat. We so love that man! He's doing well, missing Mom still, as we all are, of course, but he's finding grace and strength in his own cleft in the Rock.

(Click on pics to make them larger)

I'm adding an addendum to today's earlier post...

I asked God this morning to show my Dad His glorious presence, to remind Dad of Mom's love for him and of God's abiding presence in his life, and look what we found among the boxes in the garage...

This was written by Mom on the side of a box containing cards and letters that Dad sent to her throughout the years. Who knows when she wrote it, probably in 2007 when they moved from their former home to this one. So precious. And see what the other side said below...

Not sure if you can read it but it reads "Momentoes of Days Past, I love you, Douglas, always will! J.B." My mom's name was June, and Dad always called her "Junebug." ;)