Journal Jots – Blog

“Uh-oh, “DEMERITS!!”

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— Aunt Julie, former teacher

Oh boy, as my Aunt Julie used to say whenever I would blow it — “Demerits, young lady, demerits!”

And, boy, do I deserve those demerits for missing a Journal Jot this week, but I have a good excuse, I promise! I had the best of intentions, truly, as Keith and I packed up to go on a week-long biking trip last week, but Internet was scarce and so was the time to devote to it. Then last night when we got home, I was WAY too tired after plowing through a week’s worth of e-mails till after midnight and WAY too backlogged today to remedy the situation properly, so PLEASE forgive me!! I will have to serve my time on Desert Island this week (Aunt Julie’s place of punishment for bad behavior when she taught 2nd grade) until I can give you a glimpse of where we went THIS Friday, so stay tuned, okay? 🙂

Hugs,

Julie

And this world may push, may pull,
But your love it never fails,
You lead, I’ll follow, Your hands hold my tomorrow,
Your grip, Your grace, You know the way …

—You Lead, lyrics and music by Jamie Grace

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NEWSFLASH:

WHOO-HOO!!!! A Love Surrendered has been released as an e-book and is available RIGHT NOW on Amazon, CBD, Barnes & Noble and most other e-book providers. Be sure to check out the reviews because they are blessing the socks off of me!! And those of you who pre-ordered the paperback need only be patient for three more weeks till the official release date of October 1^st.

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And now … let’s continue with our regularly scheduled programming …

You know, before I began writing novels, I used to love to entertain and garden. Most of you are already aware that I have MSD—Martha Stewart Disease—meaning I was totally over-the-top about anything I put my hand to. “Was”?? Ahem … excuse me … “am.”

Take entertaining, for instance. Yes, I actually did pipe guests’ initials into their twice-baked potatoes, always served fresh lemon green beans in little bundles with real lemon napkin holders that I sliced and routed from actual lemons and always drew a dinner-plate layout of just where and how the food would be placed on the plate. Champagne cranberries were always placed in gored-out orange halves edged in a pretty pinking-shear design, Chicken Wellingtons (pastry puffs stuffed with chicken concoction) always had holly leaves hand-cut from dough and painted with green foodcolor and topped with real cranberry berries.

My dinner parties were famous with my friends, especially at Christmas when I’d shore up the center of my long dining-room table with a lavish display of real Christmas tree boughs, white twinkle lights, curly gold ribbon, silver and gold beads and a pretty gift item for each guest interspersed within. One New Year’s Eve, the gift was a tiny gold frame with a hand-picked Scripture for the new year scripted on parchment. Another time, I made tiny gold flowerpots with Christmas fruit and greenery dusted with snow. Yet another year I wrapped the small gifts in silver and gold paper and bows, strewn through the greenery as part of the design.

Of course, the highlight of the centerpiece was this tall, two-foot pewter-like reindeer with spikes at the tips of ten antlers where pillar candles would burn and slowly drip onto the greenery base throughout the meal. The guests would be mesmerized by the dripping wax and beautiful stalactites it formed. Throughout the season, I’d relight that same centerpiece for at least four more dinner parties and by the new year, it was an ice-scape of magical beauty.

The most outlandish dessert I ever made was a three-chocolate, toasted almond-encrusted bowl to put white chocolate mousse in. Pressing aluminum foil into a cereal bowl to garner its shape, I would then streusel dark chocolate over the inverted foil, put it in the freezer for a few hours, then streusel milk chocolate, into freezer again, then streusel white chocolate and whole toasted almonds before it went back to the freezer for a third time. Mind you, this was JUST the bowl for the dessert! I made white-chocolate mousse from scratch to put in it and positioned the whole nest on top of a pool of raspberry coulis. The mousse was then topped with fresh raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries as well as a tall, sweeping cookie straw. It took me two days to make it, but the look on my guest’s faces was well worth it!

And don’t even get me started on gardening … I had no less than TWELVE berms of flowers in my yard and actually won a gardening contest. Here are some pictures taken way back then at our other house, and by the way — my talented hubby designed and built that S-curve deck!! I was psycho over perennials, and I can still see Keith’s face when I’d pull into the driveway after shopping. He’d glance up from washing his car, and I’d drop my head in shame. “Uh-oh, what did you buy, Julie?” he’d say in that threatening tone, and I wouldn’t answer him. “Open the trunk,” he demanded, and I would shake my head. “Open the trunk now,” he’d repeat, and I had no choice but to flip the latch. There in the well of my trunk would be gardener’s ransom of perennials that I’d bought from some lady in a truck off the side of the road. “You have a serious problem, Julie, you know that?” Keith would say and then shake his head with a smile. “What am I going to do with you?”

Well, you will be happy to know that all that passion for entertaining and gardening is a thing of the past because it now goes into my books instead. But … in honor of my total anality for entertaining and gardening, I am now going to share the BEST chicken recipe you will ever make that my family and friends go ga-ga over AND the BEST gardening tip I have ever heard of or done.

I love roses. But not just any roses. Nope, I love the Jackson and Perkins pink hedge roses that bloom profusely from May through frost, and the first place I ever saw them was alongside the parking lot at Maritz Travel where I worked. Someone told me that I could propagate these same rosebushes on my own by merely planting a cutting (approximately 4-inch cutting with bloom and leaves) from any bush, stick it in the ground, water it, cover it with an inverted glass jar and seal the bottom perimeter with mulch. No way, I thought to myself, but what did I have to lose? So I contacted the head of maintenance for Maritz who was a friend of mine and asked him if I could take about ten cuttings from the abundance of rosebushes around the parking lot. “Of course,” he said, and so I did. Would you believe each and every one of those cuttings were a bonafide and healthy rosebush the next year? When we sold our house, the yard was FULL of pink roses all season long. Now I’m told you can do this with any rose, anywhere, but I think the J&P hedge roses are best, so give it a try—it will blow you away!! Oh, and the best part is SEPTEMBER is when you need to do this!!

So … how does my MSD and lemon napkin holders and glasshouse roses relate to our Scripture today? Well, a few days ago I got really stressed over looming deadlines and so much to do with promoting two books and writing another plus Aunt Julie and then preparing for a biking trip Keith and I plan to take down the road. Suddenly, I lifted my eyes to heaven and said, “God, I can’t handle the stress of all of this, but You can and You have NEVER let me down before. I have never been late with a book deadline, never stumped by a plot dilemma and never failed to do a task You’ve called me to do. So I am not going to worry about these deadlines or my dissatisfaction with how the book is going or worry that Aunt Julie might have a relapse. Nope—it’s all Yours, God—take it! You lead—I’ll follow! So when I heard that song in the car right after that, I started laughing. And then those silly glasshouse roses from long ago popped in my head, and it all sorta came together.

Yes, life chews and withers us like insects and drought wither roses, and then when the overload of worry and anxiety threaten to “cut” off our peace, God picks us up, sticks us in His soil, waters us with His grace and covers us with His Holy Spirit, keeping us warm and vibrant and growing through the bitterest of winters. And when those bitter winds subside and the warmth of spring begins to thaw and melt those iceberg anxieties, we are stronger and healthier and able to bloom and grow and bring beauty to His world.

The trick is—He leads, we follow. Which means when life gets too bitter and heavy with the weight of despair or worry, turn it over to Him and His promises to keep you in “perfect peace” through all of life’s trials. To let him cover you with His love and grace and warmth—just like those roses under the glass, protected and nurtured and loved by the Master Gardener Himself.

THIS WEEK’S GIVEAWAYS AND OTHER DETAILS:

BE SURE CHECK OUT MY WEBSITE CALENDAR FOR THE FOLLOWING ITEMS AND TEN GIVEAWAYS SCHEDULED!! NOTE: Due to a really hectic schedule, I am cutting WAY back on my blog-interview giveaways, so check out my website calendar for the few that are scheduled. Here’s the link:

http://www.julielessman.com/julies-calendar/

COME SEE ME … OCTOBER 5TH IN FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.!!! (DETAILS AT THE END OF THE BLOG GIVEAWAYS LISTED ON MY WEBSITE CALENDAR LINK ABOVE.

BLOG GIVEAWAY …

 SEPTEMBER 11-18, 2012: Win your choice of any of my books including A Love Surrendered and my Christmas e-book A Light in the Window: An Irish Christmas Love Story at a blog interview/giveaway on CHRISTIAN BOOKSHELF REVIEWS blog at:

http://christianbookshelfreviews.blogspot.com/

Following is my chicken recipe, so enjoy! HAPPY WEEKEND and don’t forget to bloom where He plants you!!

Julie

 Chicken Suisse

(serves four) 

Cooking time: Approximately 30 to 45 minutes on the stove, medium-low

—4 whole chicken breasts (skinless & boneless)

—a stack of approximately 5-6 slices of Swiss cheese, cut into four strips

—6 tsp. flour

—1 tsp. paprika

—½ stick butter or more

—1 to 2 cups dry white wine (I use chardonnay)

—2 chicken bouillon cubes toothpicks

Hammer chicken breasts flat with meat mallet (I put wax paper over breast, then whack it). Place cheese strips inside breast and tightly close with toothpicks. (Note: If you want bigger breast portions, you can toothpick two half breasts together rather than just one breast rolled over, as I have indicated here.) Roll chicken in mixture of flour/paprika and brown in butter. Drain butter and add 1 cup wine and bouillon cubes. Cook over moderate heat for about ½ hour, basting chicken frequently and adding additional wine if liquid thickens and cooks away, which mine usually does. And it’s nice to have extra sauce to drizzle over final product.

Marcy stood at Mrs. Gerson’s kitchen window, in bleak harmony with the rivulets of water that slithered down the pane. It was a slow and steady rain, endless weeping from a gray and dismal sky, and Marcy felt a kinship with it. It showed no signs of letting up, much like the grief in her heart over the loss of her husband. A silent mourning over a spouse who was still very much alive, but whose love was as cold and dead as any corpse.

—A Passion Denied, by Julie Lessman

Ever feel like that? In bleak harmony with the rivulets of water that slither down the pane? Endless weeping from a gray and dismal sky?

Ironically, that’s exactly where I am this morning, sitting outside on my lower deck in the midst of a gray and misty morning. There’s drizzle all around me, weeping from the sky and from my eyes.

Why? I’m not really sure. Maybe it’s because I’ve just been through a week of emotional overload with Aunt Julie, who, I am THRILLED to say, is now back home at Delmar, pneumonia-free and pretty as a picture in her new hairdo, doing better than any of us dared to hope. I always smile and shake my head, because never have I met a more resilient woman. On the verge of death this last week, doctors and nurses told us she had only hours to live—THREE different times, up and down—and the prognosis was so bad that we made funeral arrangements. But God intervened and there is no way I cannot adequately express my appreciation for all of your prayers and support during one of the hardest times I’ve had in a long while. God bless you all—faithful Aarons and Hurs to my Moses, holding my arms up to a God who delivers.

So I should be jumping for joy, right? AJ is out of the woods, A Light in the Window went live for preorder on Amazon (more on this below) and it’s FRIDAY, for pity’s sake—my favorite day of the week! And yet the one song that keeps circling in my brain as it rains all around me is As My Guitar Gently Weeps by George Harrison.

Go figure.

I’m guessing that once I got off that emotional roller-coaster with AJ, my head was dizzy and my legs awobble, sapping my energy and leaving me wrung out. Not exactly a good state of mind for facing impending overdue deadlines where nearly two weeks were snatched from my calendar. That’s the bad news.

The good news? Nothing leads me to the throne of God more than an emotional collapse, where I cling to a Savior who doesn’t just comfort my soul and dry my eyes, He “puts my tears in a bottle,” as Psalm 56:8 says and “rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” Psalm 34:18.

Ah, yes, “crushed.” Or a little blue … or a little tired … or a little overwhelmed.

Most of us really don’t like to cry because we associate it with pain, sorrow or depression and yet there are those good times too—laughing so hard you cry, tender moments that have you tearing up, crackers in the eyes for sympathy purposes, or even those lip-trembling Hallmark commercials, which get me every single time. Of course, I’m a natural weeper, I suppose because I’m SO full of passion and drama and emotion that sometimes I just need to come down from that mountain and weep. You know—crawl up into the lap of a loving God and lean on His strength, His peace, His hope? And, oh, yes … His amazing love and grace … surrounding me like the tender arms of a husband—strong, protective and sure.

Reminding me—All. Over. Again.—that there is no place on earth I would rather be than in the lap of the Father, relying on Him instead of myself.  Sinking into that warm, safe cloud of His “everlasting” and “unfailing” love, where I am the “apple of His eye.” It’s there where something amazing and truly supernatural happens. My focus is clear despite the blur of tears because I suddenly remember with total clarity and confidence that in the midst of all that saltwater, He has never let me down. Not once.

Not as a lonely, single 23-year-old estranged from her family.

Not when my father died after God healed our relationship.

Not when my marriage was hanging by a thread.

Not when my son was diagnosed with cancer.

Not when a tumor took my appendix and eleven inches of colon.

Not when my car was totaled with me in it on the way to a prayer meeting.

Not in the face of two total rewrites on plots my editor challenged.

Not when Aunt Julie almost died last year and finally survived hospice.

And not last week when she faced death once again.

Nope, He was always there, always comforting, always carrying my load. Always loving me through the trials and tribulations in my life.

And for that alone, the tears are worth it, prying my fingers loose from the busyness of life and making me focus on the faithfulness of Jesus. Because I am of like mind with Emma Malloy in A Heart Revealed when she says:

“No one escapes being hurt in this life, Sean, because unfortunately, we live in a fallen world. But please believe me when I say . . .” Her voice gentled, as soothing and peaceful as the patter of rain on the marble sill. “There’s a great gift in pain.”

Oh my, yes, and it’s called joy and hope and peace when life forces us to cling tight to the Lover of our Souls Who turns our “wailing into dancing” and “clothes us with joy.”

Have a great week and may all your tears be tears of joy over the goodness of God in your life.

HUGE FAVOR!!!! When you get a chance, PLEASE hop on over to Amazon.com to “LIKE” (and preorder if you want!) my new e-book, A Light in the Window, which features my daughter Amy as Marceline Murphy O’Connor on a cover my talented husband designed. Here’s the link and THANK YOU!!

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Window-ebook/dp/B0091JZXXK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1346429237&sr=1-1&keywords=a+light+in+the+window+by+julie+lessman

GIVEAWAYS!!!

Join me and a host of other contributing authors for a FACEBOOK PARTY ON TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 (8 PM EST, 7 PM CST, 6 PM MST AND 5 PM PST) where you can win books, gift certificates or a Beautiful Pearl Necklace.

I am privileged to be one of many authors who are part of the fabulous new devotional called Mother of Pearl, which celebrates the collective iridescence of motherhood. Margaret McSweeney presents a collection of heartfelt vignettes from authors who communicate the importance of the unique relationships between mothers and their children, between granddaughters and grandmothers and between children and the mother-figures in their lives.

Check out the Pearl Girls Faceback page at: http://www.facebook.com/PearlGirlsCommunity.

Then show up at the Facebook party at the following link for lots of fun and prizes!!

http://www.facebook.com/events/442400879145523/

Hugs,

Julie