Journal Jots – Blog

Welcome to my Journal Jots blog! This is a broad mix of what’s on my mind, allowing me to feel a little bit closer to some of the most important people in my life—YOU! From news on sales, freebies, giveaways, new releases, and excerpts from works in progress … to my thoughts on my walk with God, daily devotionals, or photos of my family, this is where you’ll find the most current glimpse into my books and my life. I invite you to subscribe in the “subscribe” box on the right side of this page to automatically receive an email whenever I post a blog. Till then, God bless and HAPPY READING!

FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2015

by Julie Lessman | Mar 14, 2015

Age wrinkles the body.

Quitting wrinkles the soul.

— Douglas MacArthur, American General

Wrinkles. We don’t like them in our clothes, our bedspreads, our skin or in our lives, but they’re kind of like age and taxes—there’s no getting away from them.

Even Jesus didn’t like them, looking for a glorious Church in Ephesians 5:27 that didn’t have “spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

Ah, if life were only as wrinkle-free, a polyester existence we could toss into the dryer with a fabric softener sheet and it comes out pressed and smelling sweet! As far as clothes and bedspreads, we can alleviate wrinkles easily enough—an iron, a hot dryer—and things don’t look too bad.

Even with physical wrinkles, as gravity pulls me kicking and screaming towards old age, I have managed to fight back. Longer naturally curly hair in my original shade of brown, a Beach Body cardio video that in no way implies I can strut on a beach, and Neutrogenia Anti-Wrinkle cream that I swear is plastic surgery in a tube.

But life itself? The things that are supposed to go a certain way and don’t? Ah, a wrinkle of a different rumple, I’m afraid. Take my last two days, for instance. Please! 🙂 You know how it is when you forget you have a load of clothes in the dryer for a day or two and finally go to fold them and they look like a 110-year-old Shar-Pei at the end of a long day?

Yeah, that was a little like my last 48 hours. I found out that my husband and I we’re the victims of identity theft/fraud regarding our tax return, learned that a dear friend had to call in hospice for her husband, gashed my leg with a huge hole that bled for two days, and then my daughter called me sobbing over a deep disappointment that was the straw on the camel’s back. Add to that edits on my novel that were not going well, and I should be a basket case right now. A “laundry basket” case, to be exact, because for me, the last two days had more wrinkles than that Chinese dog I mentioned above.

But the beauty is, that being the CDQ that I am (caffeinated drama queen) who also has MSD (Martha Stewart Disease, a condition that requires perfection), I have an Anchor, a Stabilizer, a Lifeline to cling to when life gets a bit turbulent, and we ALL know it will.

Again and again.

So, in the midst of this emotional trauma, I wondered as always, just what in the name of sanity do people DO when they don’t have God to turn to on laundry day?

Because He is not only our Tide, our bleach, our Downy softener, He is …

Our Source

We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do.

He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow

through us,nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God,

robust in love. —Ephesians 4:14

Our Strength

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.

—Psalm 46:1

Our Comfort

For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ,

so also our comfort abounds through Christ.

—2^nd Corinthians 1:5

Our Hope

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him,

so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

—Romans 15:13

And our Dry Cleaner

Lifting the stains from our soul, drying our tears,

pressing out the wrinkles of our lives,

and leaving us with that sweet, clean scent that smells like hope.

Oh, my, where would we be without Him?

I’ll tell you where—at the bottom of a deep, dark, musty hamper, with a crumpled-up life that truly stinks.

Nope, not me. How ‘bout you?

Hugs and Happy Laundering!

Julie

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Friday, March 6, 2015

by Julie Lessman | Mar 7, 2015

For where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also.

—Luke 12:34 NIV

So … where is your treasure?

You know, if anybody had asked me that question a few years back, it would have been a no-brainer. Because the natural answer that comes to mind for most people is that our treasure is in our family and those we love, right? But are we so sure that’s the answer?

I’ll be honest, when I first got published seven years ago, I didn’t realize it at the time, but my “treasure” was in my writing because suddenly I had a contract for three books and deadlines galore, so I had to focus on that, many times to the exclusion of my family.

Or so I thought.

It wasn’t until I had an eye-opening conversation with my daughter when she was in college that I realized she resented the time I devoted to “my other family,” the O’Connors. The moment I learned that, I started praying about it and then took great pains to change my focus from the books to my family. For instance, anytime my daughter would walk into the room, I would immediately shut my computer and talk to her because I never wanted her to think the books were more important than her. And I’m ashamed to say that my husband went biking alone more times than I can count because I had a deadline, which is something else I worked to change too. Thus my 8-month sabbatical last year, when I pulled back to devote myself more fully to God, family, and writing for the sheer joy of writing.

And it worked! Suddenly my family came into sharper focus, like a lens to a blind eye, and I realized my priorities were askew. That’s the day my writing stopped being my treasure.

But God wasn’t through with my education yet.

Nope, he showed me something interesting, another translation of our Scripture quote above, which is as follows:

The place where your treasure is,

is the place you will most want to be and end up being.

— Luke 12:23 Message Bible

Translation: WE GIVE OURSELVES TO WHAT WE TREASURE.

Whoa! Suddenly my treasure was in my husband, my kids, my grandkids, my family, and my friends, but guess what? If they are my treasure, then I want to be with them and love them as well as I can. The problem is I can’t without God.

Because it was God’s Word that taught me to not “exasperate my children” —Ephesians 6:4.

It was God’s Word that taught me to “be subject to my husband” — Ephesians 5:22

And it was God’s Word that taught me to be a “friend who loves at all times” — Proverbs 17:17.

So guess what? Even if our treasure is in our family and friends, we are at risk because we cannot be all we need to be for them unless we do it God’s way. And we cannot do it God’s way unless He is our focus, our source, our motivation.

Our “treasure.”

The place we want to be and end up being … and the thing we give ourselves to.

For the first time in my life, I can honestly say that I long for that more than anything in this world. More than writing, more than success, more than my family. Because I now know like I have never known before that treasuring Him above all else is the only way to treasure those we love and those things we love to do.

So I leave you today with the pray of my heart for myself and for you:

Lord, please—let our treasure be in You first and foremost, so we can be all we need to be for those we treasure on earth.

Hugs,

Julie

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Saturday, February 28, 2015

by Julie Lessman | Mar 1, 2015

For the king trusts in the Lord;

through the unfailing love of the Most High

he will not be shaken.”

—Psalm 21:7

Who do you trust in life?

I mean, think about it. What human being do you really and truly trust to have your best interests at heart?

For me, that would be my husband, who has demonstrated time and again that he loves me just as I am despite all my flaming flaws. No matter tears, temper, ugly moods, bad decisions, warts, weight, or wrinkles, the man has my back—always. Which means just being around him calms me down, allows me to be who I am without pretense—no sparkle or shine if I don’t feel like it, no makeup, and sometimes no shower. Let’s face it—the man is saint. Is it any wonder I love him?

Now I realize that not everybody has someone they can trust like that, but if that’s the case—I have good news for you! God is a Person (three in one, actually) that you can trust like that.

And if you do have someone on this earth like that, I have even better news! You, my friend, know the freedom involved when you can trust someone so completely. Which means the leap to trusting God should be that much easier, right?

Should be. But not always. At least not for most human beings, myself included more times than I can count. So when I read the following paragraph in a book I’m reading called Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Timothy Keller, it gave me pause. Mr. Keller says that the book of Job asks the following question:

“Is it possible that a man or woman can come to love God for Himself alone so that there is a fundamental contentment in life regardless of circumstances (Job 1:9)? By the end of the book we see the answer. Yes, this is possible, but only through prayer.”

Wow—for some reason, that really struck me. So here’s what I wrote in the margin of the book:

Loving God for Who He is alone = contentment no matter what.

I don’t know about you, but that challenges me because that is what I truly want in life. Suddenly all of the trials, hurts, failures that have made me sad over the last year come into focus as blessings in disguise because each and every one have brought me closer to God. Closer to the rock-solid truth that nothing on this planet—not true love, not children, not success, nothing—can give me the peace and contentment I long for. A peace and contentment that is found only in Him.

Him. The Great Equalizer for those who are blessed and for those who are not. The only source of true contentment for those who have realized their hopes and dreams … and for those who have not.

Which means that when the next disappointment or hurt or trial comes our way, it does not have to define, stifle us, control us. Not if we let the reality of His “unfailing love” outweigh the reality of our circumstances. Trusting that no matter what, we can be content in the knowledge that He is not only fully aware of where we are, He is right there with us as well, commanding our circumstances to line up with His plan to prosper us and not harm us, a plan to give us a hope and a future.

A hope and a future that is abundantly, exceedingly more than we hope, think, or pray. Because I have discovered in a deeper realm than ever before, that loving Him, trusting Him, is not only our “hope” and our “future” … it’s the only ones that will ever make us happy.

Hugs and Happy Weekend!

Julie

COMING APRIL 2015!!!

WITH THIS KISS HISTORICAL COLLECTION, including Grace Like Rain, a novella about Blake “The Rake McClare” from the Heart of San Francisco series, so check back for when and where.

FREEBIES & SALES:

A LIGHT IN THE WINDOW IS ON SALE ON KINDLE FOR ONLY $1.99! My Irish love story, A Light in the Window—winner of three awards—is over 80% off right now, so please take advantage! Here’s the video my hubby did for A Light in the Window with my daughter as the model for both the book and video, so take a peek. ALITW Video.