“Faith is the highest passion in a human being.”
—Soren Kierkegaard
HAPPY FRIDAY!! Well, another week has flown and with it all my time to reallllly focus on a Journal Jot, so today will be a bit of a hodge-podge because I have to leave for a mammogram in exactly 45 minutes!! So I decided today would be a good day to post a blog I wrote on “passion” since I am, after all, Miss “Passion With a Purpose,” as my tagline so boldly points out. But first, a few housekeeping things …
Firstly, today over in Seekerville, we have Cathy Gohlke, two-time Christy award-winner who has just written a breathtakingly beautiful historical fiction novel called Promise Me This, and I “promise you this” —it’s a novel and post you don’t want to miss!! Cathy has penned an incredible post-Titanic love story that will steal your heart. Leave a comment today only, and you might just win this amazing book, which I have deemed as THE BEST book I have ever read in the CBA. Here’s the link—go see Cathy, please!!
http://www.seekerville.blogspot.com/2012/02/guest-blogger-cathy-gohlke-road-less.html
Secondly, you only have SIX MORE DAYS to vote in the Family Fiction Magazine Reader’s Choice Awards, so do not miss out on supporting your favorite authors!! And if you DO vote, I am running a newsletter contest where you can win a signed copy of A Love Surrendered PLUS a $25 Amazon.com or CBD.com gift card just for doing so! Simply let me know via e-mail or through my website, and you will be entered in my new contest. PLEASE NOTE: You do NOT have to vote for me to be entered in this contest NOR tell me who you voted for, so take advantage of this opportunity to support your favorite Christian authors across all genres!!!
Here’s the link:
http://www.familyfiction.com/news/vote-in-the-2012-familyfiction-readers-choice-awards/
WINTER NEWSLETTER HAS BEEN SENT!!! If you signed up for my newsletter and have not received it yet, please let me know through my website or through Facebook. You won’t want to miss it because it contains both an excerpt and the cover for A Love Surrendered. And if you don’t get the newsletter and want to, all you have to do is sign up for it at http://www.julielessman.com/sign-up-for-newsletter/, and I will send it to you.
FINALLY … A CHANCE TO READ A “NEW, NEVER-BEFORE-READ EXCERPT from Steven’s story, A Love Surrendered and maybe win a copy of any of my books including A Love Surrendered. It’s happening at a blogaversary celebration of which I am a part TOMORROW, Saturday 25 through March 2, so be sure to drop by to leave a comment. Here’s the link and hope to see you there!!
http://hardcoverfeedback.blogspot.com/2012/02/1st-blogoversary-grand-finale-excerpt.html
COVER FOR A LOVE SURRENDERED!!! Interested in seeing the cover for A Love Surrendered and other new Revell releases?? Well, hop on over to Relz Review for a sneak peek, not just at my new cover, but at covers for upcoming releases by Laura Frantz, Maggie Brendan, Sarah Sundin, Dan Walsh, Lynette Eason, Melody Carson, Serena B. Miller, Steven James and Laurie Alice Eakes. Here’s the link:
http://relzreviewz.blogspot.com/2012/02/coming-in-late-2012-from-revell-books.html
And now, I leave you with my Seeker blog entitled: A Passion for Passion!
Okay, yeah, big surprise—I’m writing about “Passion.” Why, you ask, other than the fact that I’m a hormonal Baby Boomer? Well, because it’s important—in our relationship with God, with our family AND in our writing.
Okay, I’ll admit it—there are times when my passion for my husband may wane a bit. Especially over his inability to sink a dirty T-shirt in the hamper when the man can swoosh a basketball through a hoop with his eyes closed. I mean, come on! What’s that all about?
But there are two areas where I unequivocally do NOT waver in my quest for passion: with God and in my writing. And, quite frankly, as Christian fiction writers, that’s the way it should be. Because nothing is better than the merge of passion for God with passion for our craft. Kind of like hot fudge glazing vanilla-bean ice cream—God’s anointing makes our writing all the sweeter, all the more “moan good.”
Now I wish I could claim the distinction of being the one who first pressed the limits of passion in Christian romance, but that honor belongs to God. Have you ever read “Song of Solomon”? YIKES! Keep a fan handy. That is one passionate account—of God’s love for Israel, His love for the Church, and in its pulse-pounding sensuality, a metaphor of just how crazy He is about each of us. Which got me to thinking. Why is passion so all-fire important to Him?
Good question. And one He makes no bones about in His Word. You see, I have this weird habit of writing favorite Scriptures (or ones that apply to current problems of mine) on index cards and carrying them around or tucking them as bookmarks into my Bible. And you know what I realized just the other day? Most of my index cards talk about passion and fervor for God! Check it out:
They sought God EAGERLY, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side. 2 Chronicles 15:15
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe he exists and that he rewards those who EARNESTLY seek him. Hebrews ll:6
For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are FULLY COMMITTED to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9
The effectual FERVENT prayer of a righteous man availeth much. James 5:16
Eagerly. Earnestly. Fully committed. Fervent. Passion in all its glory. And it’s important to God, so it should be important to us. With Him … and with our writing.
So what does that mean? Well, for me, it means that before my fingers even shadow the keyboard, they need to shadow the pages of my Bible. And before one single, solitary e-mail is answered, I need to answer my God when He asks “Do you love me? Will you spend time with me?” And it means that before I lose myself in writing a love scene that will make me swoon, I need to first swoon over the Love of my life. Because without “passion” for Him, my passion is flat. So I pray—DAILY—for passion and fervor for God.
I truly believe that then—and only then—will my passion flow … for contests … and revisions … and that proposal I need to get in the mail. Because true passion in writing for Him comes, first and foremost, from passion FOR Him.
Hugs,
Julie
