Journal Jots – Blog

Grandmothers are just “antique” little girls.

—Author Unknown

Oh my, did I have fun this week!! You see, I had my precious grandbaby for FIVE DAYS AND NIGHTS, and I honestly don’t think my life will ever be the same again.

Yes, I was totally unbelieving when my girlfriends and prayer partners told me I would love being a grandmother. And, yes, I was even skeptical after my precious grandbaby arrived, thinking all my euphoria and giddiness would certainly wear off. 

Only it didn’t. 

And then I thought, okay, I love her to pieces and she is totally adorable, so probably I’ll enjoy this grandma gig, but I will never, ever enjoy having a baby overnight for almost a week. 

Boy, did I have my pajamas on—along with Rory—because I must have been dreaming when I doubted I would enjoy every single, solitary moment of being with this child.

From her grinning and hopping in her crib when she first saw us in the morning till we rocked her on the porch swing at night singing Amazing Grace—my life was that of a 62-year-old “antique little girl,” laughing, running, chasing and giggling more than my granddaughter.

My only regret? Not getting a pic or video of her doing the fat-palms-to-her-cheeks version of Home Alone when she says, “Oh, no!!!” 

BUT … I did get one video of Rory dancing that I am able to share, so you tell me who’s more the giggling/laughing little girl — the grandbaby or the grandma!!

Hugs and Happy Weekend!!

Julie

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!

SUPER CONGRATS TO THE WINNER OF MY REVELL CHAT EXTRA GIVEAWAY — LAURA POL — WHO WINS HER CHOICE OF ANY OF MY BOOKS!!  A HUGE THANKS TO EACH OF YOU WHO CAME BY TO CHAT!!

Then God said, “Abraham …

take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—

and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a

burnt offering  on a mountain I will show you.”

—Genesis 22:1-2

Uh … I don’t know about you, but this has never been one of my favorite Scriptures. I mean, yes, I know it’s meant to be a foreshadow of what God did for us with His Son, so in the spiritual sense, it’s truly a powerful and moving story.

But to my human side, the one that clings to my husband, kids and family? It’s a littttttttttle tough to take and a Scripture I always tended to avoid. So guess what one of the things God taught me was, during my month-long fast in May?

Yep, you got it—the Abraham Factor.

You see, while reading Catherine Marshall’s Something More, I came to the chapter, “The Prayer of Relinquishment.” Giving God our heart’s desire and actively trusting that He knows best and will do the best for us. In essence, it’s becoming as little children who totally trust the Father, not only accepting His will, but embracing it with the mindset that He loves us and will work all things out for our good.

Catherine Marshall carefully points out that there is a difference between acceptance and resignation—“one is positive, the other negative. Acceptance is creative, resignation sterile.” Acceptance opens the door of hope wide, while resignation slams it shut. One says God is good and loves us, the other says He is harsh and doesn’t care.

Neither is easy when it means relinquishing the desires of our heart, but “acceptance” promises that God knows best and will bless our obedience with a greater good. “Resignation,” on the other hand, damages or severs the Father/daughter or son relationship that is so critical to both God and to us.

In the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36), Jesus prayed, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

With this prayer of relinquishment, Jesus laid His will, His desires, His life on the altar just like Abraham, making His will one with God’s. Abraham’s trust in God was so strong, he told his traveling companions that “We (he and Isaac) will worship and then we will come back to you.” As we all know, God stayed Abraham’s hand that day, providing a ram for the sacrifice instead. 

But as Catherine Marshall states, in the case of God’s Son, Jesus’s heart-wrenching prayer “was not answered as the human Jesus wished. And yet power has been flowing from His cross ever since.” She goes on to say that, “that is why it should not surprise us that at the center of answered prayer, lies the prayer of relinquishment.”  I will even expound further and say it should not surprise any of us that at the center of God’s blessings, lies the prayer of reliquishment and obedience.

The prayer of relinquishment. Not an easy one to pray, but one I’ve learned brings the most peace and hope. In my latest release, Love at Any Cost, the hero’s crippled sister Jess MacKenna opens her brother Jamie’s eyes to the notion of trusting God’s will instead of his own:

She glanced up with a smile so full of love, it thickened the walls of his throat. “Promise me, Jammy, you’ll lay your will down for God’s so he can bring us the miracle we all so desperately need.”

Pulse staggering, he stared at his sister, his breathing shallow. Lay his will down for God’s? Pry his fingers apart and let go, just like that? Trust a God he’d never trusted at all, just on a whim? His eyelids weighted closed. No, not on a whim. On a request from the sister he treasured, the mother he cherished, and the friend he respected. The sting of tears burned in his nose when Cassie’s image came to mind. And the woman I love.

His breath caught at the twine of Jess’s fingers in his. “Let go, Jamie, and let God be God,” she whispered, the trace of an imp in her smile. “He does it so much better than you.” 

Yes, He certainly does. A lesson I wrote about in Love at Any Cost, but didn’t fully understand until the month of my fast, when God showed me His desires of His heart for me are far, far more wonderful than my own. And, as my own character taught me from the pages of my very own book — far, far easier when we pry our fingers off and let God be God …

Happy weekend and Hugs!

Julie

GIVEAWAYS!!!! 

1 to 2 PM CST — WED., JUNE 12, 2013:

WHOO-HOO … PLEASE COME SUPPORT ME AT REVELL’S AUTHOR CAFE FOR A SOLID HOUR OF GIRL (OR GUY) TALK AND A CHANCE TO WIN A SIGNED COPY OF LOVE AT ANY COST. ASK QUESTIONS OR JUST LEAVE A COMMENT AND LET’S HAVE SOME FUN!!

But Shhhhhh … FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO COME BY AND MENTION YOU ARE A SUBSCRIBER TO MY JOURNAL JOTS AND/OR THAT YOU VIEWED/”LIKED” MY VIDEO, I WILL ENTER YOU IN MY OWN PRIVATE DRAWING FOR WINNER’S CHOICE OF ANY OF MY SIGNED BOOKS, INCLUDING MY UPCOMING RELEASE, DARE TO LOVE AGAIN, SO I HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!  HERE’S THE LINK FOR WED., JUNE 12, 1-2 PM ONLY:

https://www.facebook.com/RevellBooks

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2013:

WIN YOUR CHOICE OF MY BOOKS ON MY SEEKERVILLE BLOG ENTITLED “WHEN THE PLOT THICKENS TO CONCRETE!” HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

http://seekerville.blogspot.com/

THURSDAY, JUNE 13, 2013:

HERE’S A CHANCE TO WIN A $25 AMAZON GIFT CARD IN A SUMMER READING GIVEAWAY IN WHICH I AND A NUMBER OF OTHER AUTHORS WILL TELL YOU WHAT BOOK WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO READING THIS SUMMER. IT ALL HAPPENS ON THE “BREATH PERFUMED” BLOG AT THE FOLLOWING LINK:

http://breathperfumed.blogspot.com

“Fiction is about intimacy

with characters, events, places.”

— Robert Morgan

I write Christian fiction, and I agree with Robert Morgan’s quote above—to a point. However, he’s missing one very important component, and in fact, THE most important component for a Christian author such as myself.

God.

To me, writing Christian romance is about intimacy, certainly, but intimacy with God. Creating a world where the reader becomes intimately involved with the characters I create—with their struggles, their hopes, their dreams—and through a series of events and places, their burgeoning relationship with God. 

As many of you know, I have spent the last month on a spiritual sabbatical of sorts, seeking God as to what direction I should take with my writing, and I am happy to report that God has brought me back to square one: intimacy with Him!

Ironically one of the ways He has done that is through my rereading of A Passion Most Pure. You see, I’m doing that right now for research purposes regarding a short e-book I plan to publish about writing romantic tension for the Christian and sweet markets. I say “ironically” because A Passion Most Pure was basically my love letter to God way back when I started writing, and just reading it again has reopened my eyes to that precious intimacy I had with God when writing that book.

As some of you may already know, Faith O’Connor’s intimate relationship with God was based on my own relationship with Him at that time, and I can still remember the joy I experienced in writing that novel. My biggest desire in writing APMP was to convince readers that not only is it possible to have a living, breathing relationship with the God of the Universe, but that it is exactly what He wants for each of us! He is looking for men and women with a heart after Him, like David. Not perfect people, but sinners who are emotionally involved with Him, just like He is a member of their family. You know—daughters and sons who will talk to Him almost every minute of every day, get mad at Him at times, yes, but misty-eyed, too, over His goodness to them. In short, men and women who as Matthew 18:3 so emphatically points out, “become like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven.” His “little children,” to be exact, who like toddlers with a father they adore, hang on to His every Word, refusing to make a move without Him. 

I can honestly say that’s how it was for my main character Faith in A Passion Most Pure and for me in writing that book as well. God’s close and intimate presence in my life was as natural as breathing back then, just like the lyrics from the Michael W. Smith song, Breathe. “This is the air I breathe, Your holy presence living in me.” Having this type of relationship with God is the heart and soul of each of my novels and something I never tire of telling. And with God’s help, I hope to continue to do so in all the books I am privileged to write. 

My deepest thanks to each of you who both pray for me and read my books, and my heartfelt promise that all future books (after the Heart of San Francisco series, that is) will focus heavily on how natural it should be to have an intimate relationship with God.

NEWSLETTER CONTEST TO HAVE A CHARACTER NAMED AFTER YOU IS OVER!!

May 31st was the final day to enter, and I’m happy to say there were a lot of readers who took advantage, so THANK YOU for all your hard work and effort. I will announce the winners in my next newsletter sometime this summer, so keep your eyes peeled!

Originally there were only supposed to be three winners, but so many people knocked themselves out for me that I am upping that number to five. The top winner will receive a $50 gift card, a very noticable subordinate character named after them in my next book, Dare to Love Again, and will be listed in the acknowledgments of the book as well as receive a signed copy. Runners-up 2 through 4 will have a bit character named after them and win a signed copy of the book. Then finally, to give everybody a chance — even those who only posted one reivew — the 5th winner will be selected in a random drawing of all entries (and, yes, extra entries will be given for every review posted). The random winner will then have a bit character named after them, too, and receive a signed copy of the book. SO THANK YOU AGAIN TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED!!

Hugs and Happy Weekend!!

Julie