ReChopping

Awhile ago we had lots of rain move through our area and our yard was looking great—when we could keep it mowed. The rain spaced itself so we had a hard time getting out to cut it before it grew too tall, and that resulted in lots of cut grass laying in rows across our yard. We didn't notice it too much the day the grass was cut, when it was still green, but the next day it was quite obvious. The cut, dead grass had turned brown and it was ugly. Not only that, but it was heavy enough that it would have hindered the growth of the grass it was on. So my wonderful husband rechopped the cut grass, cutting it finer and spreading it more so it would act as mulch and not be too heavy for the grass beneath it and kill it.

...and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. ~John 15:2b

I think God does that in our lives at times. After a time of growth, He goes through and does some mowing. The mowing might not feel so good as we go through it, but we look better for it. Then, when it's done, we breathe a sigh of relief and think 'phew! That's done for awhile.' We forget that the first mow after a period of heavy growth leaves swaths of dead, brown clippings. If they're allowed to stay as they are, they'll begin to do damage. Instead of acting as mulch and encouraging more growth, they'll act as a hindrance and stifle growth. So God rechops them. He cuts the clippings up finer and spreads them so they can help keep moisture in the soil of our hearts and help us grow more. His rechopping removes the ugly brown streaks of dead grass and turns it into something good and beneficial for us.

Growth is good. Sometimes that growth is mowed and used as mulch to encourage even more growth and to keep us from looking overgrown and ratty. We need to let God mow in our lives, and when He comes and rechops, be thankful and look forward to the results. More growth and beauty, too.
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Liz Johnson was here this last week and gave away a copy of her debut novel, The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn. Tina Russo of the Seekers, is the winner! (and SOMEday Tina will have her own debut novel to give away!) Congratulations, Tina!

Thanks so much, Liz! It was wonderful having you here! And congratulations on your debut novel!

Yesterday I posted on Adding Zest about Blue-footed Boobies and what they teach us about marriage. If a clumsy little bird like a Booby can do this, I betcha we can too. ;-)

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Betty Bee and the Long Tongue

Happy Friday! Yesterday I spent mangling my brains at Facebook and Twitter and I think I won. There's a Twitter button in my sidebar now and I created both a page AND a group for Adding Zest. Why both? Because I'm still figuring things out as I go and I didn't know which one I was supposed to do. *eye roll* I'm determined to learn these things. LoL.

SO, I needed some light fiction for today! Shirley is hosting Fiction Friday for us at Sunny Glade --be sure to join us there for links to more fiction! We'd love to have you! =)

Today's light fiction is my first attempt at a children's story...


Betty Bee and the Long Tongue

Betty Bumble Bee settled onto a clover blossom and dropped her head onto her front legs. As she watched the honey bees scurry from flower to flower she became sadder and sadder. Oh, how she wanted to be like them: so slim and trim and so useful. Everyone loved the honey bees because they made honey. They could zip through tight spaces and always had such fun. Betty Bee wanted very much to be a honey bee instead of the bumble bee she was.

Josie Butterfly swooped in for a fast landing. “Hiya, Betty Bee. Why are you just laying here and not gathering pollen?”

“Because I’m sad.” Betty Bee turned her head away so she wouldn’t have to see a honey bee working on a nearby dandelion. “Besides, why should I worry about it when the honey bees are on the job? They can do a much better job of it than I can. I wish I were a honey bee instead of a big, bumbling, bumble bee!”

Josie slowly fanned her wings as she thought. “Betty Bee, don’t you know that honey bees are picky? They need nectar to make honey.”

Betty Bee stroked her antenna. “So?”

“So they won’t go to a flower that only has pollen and no nectar, which means that some flowers would never get pollinated if it weren’t for you bumble bees because bumble bees need both pollen and nectar to feed their babies.”

“They still make honey and look at them, they’re so cute.”

Josie shook her head. “There’s more to life than being cute.”

Betty Bee flicked a leg and sent an aphid flying off the clover blossom.

“Betty Bee, stick out your tongue,” Josie said, her middle legs propped on her abdomen.

“What? Are you crazy?” Betty Bee asked.

“Just stick out your tongue, Betty Bee.” Josie insisted.

Betty Bee rolled her eyes, but stuck it out. It was long!

“God gave you a special tongue so you could reach into flowers that honey bees can’t.” Josie thought that was so neat she did a loop-de-loop right over Betty Bee’s head.

Betty Bee stuck out her tongue again and studied it with her many eyes. “Yeah, I guess that is pretty special.” She said, sounding a little happier.

“It sure is!” Josie said as she settled back onto a nearby flower. “But there’s something else that’s special about you.

“Really?” Betty Bee asked.

“Really.” Josie replied. “When it’s too cold for honey bees, guess who’s out here pollinating flowers?”

Betty Bee hesitated and thought back to the last cold day they’d had. The only other bees she’d seen that day were fellow bumble bees. “Um, bumble bees?” she asked uncertainly.

Josie clapped her hands. “Right! You bumble bees don’t mind the cold but honey bees can’t stand it. If it weren’t for you bumble bees some flowers wouldn’t get pollinated and that would be really sad.”

Betty Bee stood up and bumbled about a little, buzzing in her happiness.

“Oh, and that reminds me of something really, really special about you, Betty Bee!” Josie danced around on her clover top. “You know how so many people like tomatoes?”

Betty Bee stood real still, listening closely. The family that lived nearby loved tomatoes, so this was really important to her. “Yeah?”

“Guess who needs to pollinate tomato blossoms so they grow the tomatoes?” Josie asked, so excited she fluttered above her flower.

As Betty Bee thought hard she buzzed… and buzzed some more. Soon her clover blossom was vibrating. “I don’t know, Josie. Who?”

Josie giggled. “Bumble bees do! God made them so they can buzz enough to get the tomato pollen to drop down to where it can be reached. Isn’t that wonderful?”

That made Betty Bee so excited she flew off her flower and did a double loop around Josie. “God made me special so I could do a special job!” she shouted to all the other bees, who stopped their gathering and cheered for her.

“I’m Betty Bumble Bee and I love being me!” she sang as she zoomed into a tomato blossom and began her happy buzzing. “Just don’t forget the ‘Bumble’ part,” she giggled, “that’s the most important part.”

“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;” Ephessians 4:11-12 (NAS)

I hope you enjoyed Betty Bee!
Don't forget to check out this week's author, Liz Johnson and be sure to leave a comment to be entered in the book giveaway!

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with Liz Johnson

Yesterday we met debut author, Liz Johnson, who has a Love Inspired Suspense novel just hitting the shelves. She's also giving away a copy here at Patterings, so be sure to leave a comment on this post or yesterday's, with your email addy so I can track you down if you're the winner. The book drawing is open until Saturday evening when I'll let my favorite random number generator pick the winner. I'll announce the winner on Sunday.

Liz, welcome to Patterings! Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a child of God and always loved by Him. I am a daughter, sister, and aunt to the most wonderful family in the world. I am a full-time publicist, a sometimes writer (not nearly as regularly as I should), and an even less frequent jogger. I live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and I enjoy theater, ice skating, volunteering in my church's bookstore, and making frequent trips to Arizona to dote on my nephew and three nieces. I’m a sucker for stories of true love with happy endings. The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn is my first novel, and I blog about my adventures (and often misadventures) in writing at www.lizjohnsonbooks.com.

What did you do to celebrate your first book being published?
I just keep celebrating with friends every chance I get! I was traveling with friends and coworkers last July when I got the call that Steeple Hill was publishing my book. We went out to eat in Orlando and I think it’s likely we scared our cab driver with our excited laughter and endless chatter. Then when my contract arrived, I danced in my foyer with my roommates. But my big celebrations haven’t happened yet! In July I’m going to dinner with some friends at the Cheesecake Factory (a favorite!) to celebrate my book release and my birthday! Then I’ll be headed home to Arizona to visit my family the end of July and the wonderful ladies at my home church are planning a little get together for the release. Celebrating with friends has been amazing, and I’m so blessed to have friends and family who want to party with me. But I confess that the release of the next book might be a bit of a celebrating let-down. :)

Wow! Have fun!
Which character in your novel most interested you while you wrote? Why?
Oh, definitely Kenzie! She really cracks me up. She’s forever putting her foot in her mouth and reacting on emotions, then realizing she’s made a mistake. I love her reaction when she asks Myles if the mountain lion they’re staring down won’t attack if they’re really quiet. He looks at her and says, “Well, we’re not being very quiet, are we?” Her shock is so genuine, and still makes me giggle.

When did you first discover that you were a writer?
I think it was less of a specific discovery than it was a process of figuring out what was really on my heart. I’ve been writing short stories and novels (a term I use very loosely in this case) since I was 7. It’s always been a part of my life. But I don’t think I realized how much I wanted to be a published author until after college. Before that I was just playing around. When I started getting serious about my writing and took classes to hone my skills, I discovered that the story ideas just kept coming. And I’m thankful they haven’t stopped.

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?
I’d like to claim the title of Most Undisciplined Published Author. I hear author friends and role models talking about how they write every day and usually get a few thousand words written each session. Not me. I definitely go in spurts, and I really struggle to set aside time to write—especially with a hectic day-job. One thing that really helped in getting The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn written was an accountability buddy. Every morning at work, my fellow publicist Kelly Blewett would ask how much I’d written the night before. Knowing I had to ‘fess up to her gave me the motivation I needed to get from the dreaming to the writing stage—and it earned her a spot on my dedication page and her dog Henry a role in the book. The only other thing I’ve found to really help is having a writing buddy. One of my friends is an editor, and we get together every Monday night to write for an hour. (On nights that Castle is on TV, we always finish on time and watch our favorite mystery writer solve a crime with his detective muse.) Lately we’ve also been putting our lunch hours to better use. When I told my mom about 2 years ago that I was going to start writing with Jess, she laughed at me. She thought we’d spend the whole time chatting. Sometimes we do. :) But not always. In fact, we went to Estes Park, Colorado, last March on a writing retreat. We rented a cabin, set up a schedule, and both wrote well over 10,000 words, finishing our works in progress.

Thank God for friends like that! =)
Are there certain foods or snacks keeps the words flowing for you?
I figure I’m sedentary enough when I’m writing, I don’t need to be snacking, although peanut butter m&m’s somehow always make me a happier writer. But I’m generally pretty thirsty, so I keep the diet dr. pepper flowing. It’s quite the wonderful caffeine kick when my plot needs a jolt.

Tell us the range of the kinds of books you enjoy reading. (And please don't tell me it's the Classics after I confessed to you how many of those I've read! LoL)
Until recently I didn’t realize how varied my reading habits really are. I was ordering an old book online, and my roommate commented that I like a lot of different types of books, which is so true. I love Christian fiction and read a ton of it! Of course, I work in the publishing industry, so I get to read a lot of books for my day job. Some of my favorite Christian authors are Cindy Woodsmall, Tamara Leigh (Splitting Harriet is one of my all time faves!), and Gilbert Morris’s The Appomattox Saga. I definitely try not to limit my reading to only authors that I know and love. There’s just never enough time to read all the books that I want to. In the mainstream arena, I’ll pick up anything by Meg Cabot—I love her YA books! And while I am trying to read more classics from authors like L.M. Montgomery, Jane Austen, and Louisa May Alcott, my nightstand is currently playing host to two other Steeple Hill authors Betsy St. Amant and Camy Tang, The Death and Life of Gabriel Phillips by Stephen Baldwin, and my all-time favorite, The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. I keep mentioning it in interviews, and it reminded me how much I love it, so I pulled it out for a re-read. My second favorite book ever is The Princess Bride by William Goldman. If you’ve never picked it up, you’re missing out. Hugely entertaining, and snort-inducing hilarious.
And that’s just on the fiction-front. I read lots of nonfiction by authors like Mark Batterson, Max Lucado, and more.

What lesson is the Lord teaching you right now or recently taught you?
In general, I think the Lord is trying to teach me contentment with where He’s placed me in all areas of my life. But I’m not always a great student. :) He’s busy working on getting my heart in just the right place so that I find daily joy in Him, not my circumstances. We’ll just have to see how that ends up in a future book. His lessons in my life always do find their way into my writing.

What would be your dream vacation?
No contest. Prince Edward Island with a little trip over to Halifax, Nova Scotia to see the maritime museum with the Titanic exhibit. I’m a huge Anne of Green Gables fan, and I can’t wait to see Anne’s land. I made a promise to my mom years ago. I can’t even remember when I first brought it up … maybe as early as high school. I told her when I sold my first book, I’d take her on a trip to PEI. Well, here I am one contract later, and I’ve discovered there isn’t quite as much money in being published as I once thought. So I amended my promise. Told Mom I’d take her after the next book. I can’t wait to ride bikes on the beach, see the rolling green hills, and imagine where Anne and Gil were the first time they realized they were in love.

Oh yeah! Prince Edward Island! When I was little we'd go up there...many moons ago! LoL
What is the quirkiest thing you have ever done?
I don’t know about the quirkiest … hmm … I’m pretty strange all the way around. I will say that several months ago I borrowed the Phantom of the Opera soundtrack from the library, downloaded it to my ipod and spent weeks singing along to it. At home. At work. At the gym. I’ll just say that I started getting really strange looks while I was on the elliptical. I can’t believe there are people out there who don’t like “Past the Point of no Return” being sung very badly! And even after public humiliation, I blogged about it at www.lizjohnsonbooks.com. Apparently I have a high tolerance for being mocked.

Thanks so much for being here with us, Liz! Enjoy your celebrating and know we're looking forward to your next book, too! *grin* (In other words, as my friends are prone to say, get back to work. LoL) I've loved the time I've spent visiting your blog--it was just the laugh and relaxing I needed! I love your sense of humor! =)

You can purchase The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn from Amazon and CBD as well as at Wal-Mart and other stores.

To keep up with Liz visit her at her website and her blog, Liz's Diary.

Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into the book giveaway!

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Meet Liz Johnson

I'm thrilled to be able to introduce you to today's author, Liz Johnson. This is a very special book--it's her first one and I'm anxious to read it.

Liz is giving away a copy of her debut novel, The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn so be sure to leave a comment for her, with your email addy so I can track you down if you're the winner. The book drawing is open until Saturday evening when I'll visit my favorite random number generator and the winner will be posted on Sunday.

After graduating from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff with a degree in public relations, Liz Johnson set out to work in the Christian publishing industry, which was her lifelong dream. In 2006 she got her wish when she accepted a publicity position at a major trade book publisher. While working as a publicist in the industry, she decided to pursue her other dream-being an author. Along the way to having her novel published, she wrote articles for several magazines and worked as a freelance editorial consultant.

Liz lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she enjoys theater, ice skating, volunteering in her church’s bookstore and making frequent trips to Arizona to dote on her nephew and three nieces. She loves stories of true love with happy endings. The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn is her first novel.


The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn
Myles Parsons is just another inmate in Kenzie Thorn’s GED course until he kidnaps her, offering only a feeble explanation–that he’s actually FBI Special Agent Myles Borden. Terrified, Kenzie doesn’t want to believe his story of being undercover to protect her. Moreover, she can’t believe that someone might really want her dead.

But just when Myles thinks he has her out of harm’s way, his plans start to fall apart. He attempts to take Kenzie to a safe house—but the stubborn woman won’t go! So together they must uncover the clues that will reveal a most shocking perpetrator. All the while Myles tries to keep his distance from Kenzie … but finds himself falling in love.

Here's and excerpt of The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn

Mackenzie Thorn looked up just in time to see two men walk into her classroom. One of them, a guard, nodded at his coworker stationed inside the door, and kept his hand at the elbow of the taller man beside him. This man, clad in an orange jumpsuit sporting the initials ODOC—Oregon Department of Corrections—swaggered into the classroom, head held high, windswept brown hair falling over his collar. The intensity of his blue eyes struck Kenzie immobile for a moment as they approached.
"Ms. Thorn," the guard began.
Kenzie shook her head to clear her thoughts before holding up one index finger to the guard. "Just a moment, please." Turning to the two men sitting at the first table on her right, she said, "Mr. Ramirez, Mr. Chen, please pass out workbooks to everyone." The two men began their task while she moved to meet her new student.
"This is Myles Parsons. The superintendent's office said to put him in this class."
The guard made no apologies for bringing in a new student five weeks into their six-week GED session. Decrees from Superintendent JB Ryker's office were law inside these walls. The inmate would just have to try to keep up.
The man's piercing blue eyes bore into her face, seeming to study every crevice. She knew for a fact that her face was not that interesting. Mr. Parsons's face, on the other hand, was well worth studying. The crooked bridge of his nose had been broken at least once, but the imperfection was intriguing rather than off-putting. His wide mouth and pink lips pulled into a smirk, exposing his arrogance. Running thick fingers through his shaggy brown hair, he continued staring back at her, something few of her other students had ever dared to do.
Suddenly she realized how incredibly inappropriate she was being and ripped her gaze away from his handsome face. "Welcome to our GED prep class, Mr. Parsons."
"So you're Ms. Thorn?"
"Yes, I am. You seem surprised."
"I am." The man certainly did not mince words. "I expected someone more…" He stretched to his full height, which was at least a foot taller than her. "The way the others talk, I expected someone more intimidating."
Despite her skittering pulse, she quirked the corner of her mouth into a partial grin. "Trust me, Mr. Parsons. My tests are plenty intimidating. You may take a seat now. Third row on the left." Effectively dismissing him, she turned to the rest of the class and began teaching the basic fraction lesson.
Myles Parsons gazed at Ms. Mackenzie Thorn. Obviously frustrated by her wild, curly hair, she shoved it behind her ears, giving herself streaks of white where the chalk from her fingers lingered in her curls.
Her passion for the mundane principles of fractions astounded him. Her voice, like a melody, rose and fell as she singsonged through adding and subtracting the tricky numbers.
He shook his head to clear away the distractions of her intense gray eyes. He chastised himself for his own bad luck to end up inside these walls. Her pretty face wouldn't be enough to make his current mission worth it.
Somehow, he'd let his FBI supervisor, Special Agent in Charge Nathan—Nate—Andersen, talk him into taking this assignment. An assignment that could be summed up in two words: Kenzie Thorn.
When Nate received a tip two weeks before that the governor's granddaughter was in danger working inside the Oregon State Prison Complex at Evergreen, Myles had wondered about the validity of the tip. But Nate believed it, and he'd assigned an agent to the inside to protect her. As the youngest special agent stationed in the office, and one of the few without a family, Myles was the obvious pick to go behind bars to protect Kenzie.
Protect her from what, he wasn't sure.
But as long as he was on this mission, he'd keep an eye on her. He'd do his job and do it well.
Kenzie—Ms. Thorn, as he was going to have to think of her—turned around at the front of the class and flicked another streak of white through her hair, rambling on about finding the lowest common denominator. His mouth quirked up at the corners of its own accord at her spunky head bob, and he had to fake a sneeze in order to keep from laughing out loud.
"You're smiling awfully hard for a man who is five weeks behind the rest of the class, Mr. Parsons." Ms. Thorn's voice was soft, and she leaned closer to him, suddenly at his side. She smelled like citrus, like lemon and lime mixed together. Relishing the crisp scent in a room full of mostly unwashed bodies, he looked up into her stormy gray eyes. A row of freckles at the top of the bridge of her nose softened her hard glare, and he physically had to fight a smirk in response to her childlike cuteness.
One thing was quite certain. She wasn't going to erase his smile standing this close to him.
An intriguing contradiction, her piercing eyes and gentle face tempted Myles to turn this exchange into a flirtation. Shoving those thoughts away, he focused on the mission, knowing he had to keep his mind alert for any signs she might be in danger.
Finally, the class ended, and Kenzie took a moment to let her head rest on her desk, trying to clear her mind from the terrible day she'd just had. The day started with Cory Johns, one of her favorite students, cheating on his third and final try at the GED exam, forcing her to fail him. Any hope for a change in his life after his release went in the trash with his exam.
The next class brought her new student, Myles Parsons, whose cocky smirk and arrogance made her bristle every time she looked in his direction. He raised his hand to answer almost every question she asked, and even worse, he was always right!
Eyes closed and forehead still leaning on her arm draped over the papers littering her desk, Kenzie took the opportunity to pray for her students.
God, please give me the words to reach these men. To give them some hope and skills for when they are released. I pray for the families that are eagerly waiting for their return. And, Lord, I pray specifically for Cory Johns. I pray that he will find another way to earn his GED and support his family. And I ask that You give me a special dose of patience for my new student. Please help his attitude to change toward me and this class. Thank You for Your many good gifts. In Your name, Amen.
Just as she dragged her head from its resting spot, a noise in the doorway caught her attention. A handsome man with sleek silver hair filled the entire doorway.
"Mac!" she cried, jumping up from her seat and throwing herself into the man's waiting embrace. She clung tightly to him as he almost squeezed the breath out of her. "What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."
"You know how it is." He chuckled, a smile spreading over his face. "Sometimes the governor's schedule changes." He gave her another quick squeeze before stepping back to really look at her.
His gray eyes, so much like her own, assessed her carefully and he frowned. "You look tired. Is this position too much for you?"
Kenzie resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He said the same thing every time he saw her. "I've been here for two years. I'm doing okay."
"Are you taking care of yourself?"
"Of course." She looped her arm through Mac's and smiled into his loving face. "I've missed you, Grandpa." She rarely called Mac "Grandpa," and since he was elected governor nearly six years before, she could count on one hand the number of times she had done so. But today she needed to be reminded that she was loved by her father's father, the man who had loved her as a daughter, ever since she lost her parents all those years ago.
Mac squeezed her tightly to his side and kissed the top of her head. "Sweet pea, you have no idea how much we miss you in Salem. I can pull some strings to get you a position at a school there. You'd make a wonderful kindergarten teacher. This place is rough. It's not good for you."
"It's okay. I'm okay. They need me, and to tell you the truth, I think I need them, too." Kenzie smiled and snuggled a little closer to his side. Mac had always been able to right the wrongs in her life, protect her from the boogeyman, dry her tears. He was larger than life when she was a child, and his presence today almost wiped away thoughts of concern over her new student.
She looked around Mac's arm and spotted his usual entourage. "Harry. Buzz." She nodded at each of the men standing just inside the doorway. Harry was built like a bulldozer and Buzz like a long-distance runner. They were part of the best security detail in the state, and Kenzie had grown fond of them through the years, as they protected Mac. "Candace." She acknowledged Mac's personal aide, a tall blonde standing beside Buzz.
Candace looked up from the notes in her daily planner. "Good afternoon, Kenzie." She offered a brief smile, then returned to keeping Mac on schedule.
"Well, you'd best show me around your classroom." Mac's voice was gruff, but held a grin.
"Sure. There's not much to show really. We have tables where the students sit. Our bookshelf is pretty meager, but the prison library has a good selection that I sometimes assign for additional reading, for those that need the practice to prepare for the exam. And of course, my desk."
As Kenzie pointed out the tables, sparse bookshelves and her own desk, Mac walked around the room, glancing at the mathematic posters, the only decoration on the gray walls. He glanced twice at a particularly colorful formula, hand-drawn, on a large white poster board, but he didn't comment.
"How's the program?" he finally said.
"It's wonderful. Since you authorized this pilot program two years ago, we've had more than two hundred inmates earn GEDs. We have almost a two-thirds pass rate. You don't have to worry about us right now. But maybe—"
"You're a good kid, Mackenzie Thorn." He cut her off before she could confess that she was hoping the state legislature might be able to allocate more funds. Distracted by his use of her full name, she forgot what she was going to say. No one called her or Mac by their shared first name. After complications with their first and only pregnancy, Kenzie's pa...

You can purchase The Kidnapping of Kenzie Thorn from Amazon and CBD as well as at Wal-Mart and other stores.

To keep up with Liz visit her at her website and her blog, Liz's Diary.

Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered into the book giveaway!
Tomorrow is an interview with Liz--see ya then!

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Puddled Ducks

Cara Putnam has been in the author spotlight this last week and Carly Kendall is the winner of the Cara's new release A Promise Kept. Congratulations, Carly! And a big thank you to Cara! :-)
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Driving past an empty field one day I saw a pair of ducks floating in a puddle. I wanted to stop and tell them that there was a beautiful farm pond only half-a-mile away, but I realized the silliness of the thought even as I sped past.

I think I'm like those ducks--contentedly sitting in my muddy puddle, satisfied with so little when God has so much more for me. I sit and twiddle my toes in mud instead of moving to the place God wants me to be—a place of blessing and great riches. A place where God can use me.

Why do I do that? It's easier to stay in my cozy hole than it it to face the unknown. It's easier to sit in my puddle than to spread my wings and fly to a spot I've only heard is 'just over there'. It's easier to mind my own business than to possibly embarrass myself.

I cannot know the riches of His glory while sitting in my little mud puddle. I need to move to the pond God has for me in order to experience the surpassing greatness of His power. Father, open the eyes of my heart that I may know the hope of Your calling.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened,
so that your may know what is the hope of His calling,
what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.”
Ephesians 1:18-19

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Plagued By a Piece of Cake

This week Sherri is hosting Fiction Friday for us over at A Candid Thought. Join us there for links to more fun fiction! Also, Cara Putnam is in the author spotlight here this week she's giving away a copy of her new release, A Promise Kept. Be sure to leave a comment on Tuesday's or Wednesday's post to be entered in the drawing.

Now that our Vacation Bible School is over for our church, our eyes are fixed on the upcoming World Changers trip. This year 3 of my kids will going with 60+ others from our church youth department for a week of work. This is a highlight of their year and they're excited!

Throughout the summer many others are going on missions trips, and as you know, missions and missionaries are near-and-dear to my heart. So, for today's Fiction Friday, I'm posting a piece to remind us to pray for those going on missions trips.

Plagued By a Piece of Cake
***Thursday***
I'm so excited I can't sleep. Tomorrow we leave on our missions trip and I can't wait. Cindy, my team leader, keeps asking me if I'm sure I want to do this. I keep telling her I love people and new experiences. This is going to be a fabulous two weeks, I just know it.


***Friday***
This place is beautiful! Palm trees line the streets and snow capped mountains are in the distance—just gorgeous! We're spending the night in a dorm that missionary kids live in during the school year and it's not much different than my college dorm. There's even a t.v. in the living room area, and we had meatloaf for supper. I don't see what the big deal was about and why we had to sit through all that orientation. Tomorrow we travel to Chillanes where we'll work on their church. This is going to be a piece of cake.


***Saturday***
I thought we were going to die on the bus ride here! The driver was a madman! He flew around hairpin curves and wove in and out of traffic. He used his horn more than his brakes and he couldn't even stop someplace decent for us to use the restrooms. I have never seen, or smelled, such a disgusting place! The toilets were overflowing, there were no toilet seats, and you had to bring your own tissues in with you. When I started gagging Cindy led me around a hill so I could squat. If I hadn't been so desperate I would've waited for someplace with clean toilets.

It turns out Chillanes is a dirty little town. We're staying in rooms at the school where there's no glass in the windows and no running water: only a smelly outhouse.


***Sunday***
When I mentioned the accommodations to Cindy today, she said, “I kept telling you this is how it would be and you kept telling me you could handle it.” She makes me so mad! There's been dirty kids hanging on her, and she acts like she loves the food. At lunch we got potato soup and bread, and supper was a huge plate of rice and beans with some cooked bananas thrown across the top. Of course, Cindy smiled and cleaned her plate. Everyone loves her—I just don't get it. Tomorrow we start work.


***Friday***
I am so tired I don't know how much I'll be able to write.
The work is harder than I thought it would be and people are always nagging me about being too stand-offish. I work hard, but I can't stand the food, and I'm starving. The dirtiness of the everything is just gross, too. I'm glad the kids don't pester me anymore--their sticky, grimy hands give me chills just thinking about them! The adults are better, but they don't try to talk to me anymore, either. I smile at them and say, 'hola', but they just smile and go talk to someone else. I don't get it.


***Sunday***
We went to another church today, even higher in the mountains and dirtier than this place. I forgot my candy bars and didn't get to eat anything all day. One of the old ladies there gave me some of those baby bananas. I smiled and said thank you, but I couldn't eat them after seeing her dirty fingernails. I threw them out as soon as I could. Later on she wouldn't even look at me but went and sat near Cindy. Of course Cindy put her arm around the lady and gave her a hug. How can she do that?


***Wednesday***
I shared a candy bar with one of the cleaner girls today. She laughed and ran off to share it with her friends. I was so weak I stayed in bed almost all day. Two more days here and then we go back to the city to fly home. The other girls are talking about how much they'll miss the people here, but I don't know why. I tried making friends with them, but even tonight they didn't want anything to do with me. And they say I'm standoffish!


***Friday***
Finally! We're back in civilization! I almost ate myself sick at supper. They served hamburgers and nothing ever tasted so good!

The people here are so much cleaner and friendlier. Why couldn't that village be like this? They don't treat me like I have the plague here-- I don't understand why the village people did.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This was great fun to write because I wove bits of real events in with the fiction. Chillanes is a town in Ecuador, although my description here is NOT accurate of the town, but I wanted to use that town name because two of my favorite missionaries live there--they had a profound influence on my life, whether they know it or not, and I love them greatly.

This sort of thing happens quite often on missions trips--unfortunately--but it doesn't have to! Loving people speaks through our actions and crosses all language barriers. I've seen missionaries kill the language but still have a great ministry because of their love for the people. It all comes down to love--God's love in and through us.

Remember to pray for the missionaries you know, as well as those going on missions trips this summer!

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Absorbing Heat

I watched the sugar dissolve as I stirred up another batch of hummingbird feed and marveled that it didn't all dissolve until I heated the mixture. Sure, I could've let it sit on the counter for a couple hours, but I wanted to get the food out to my hummers as soon as possible, so I popped the mixture in the microwave for a quick heat so the sugar would be absorbed by the water, making tasty food for my favorite little birds.

It made me think of my dad--he's declared that hummers like his feed mixture better than what my mom fixes. Wanna know his secret? He super-saturates his mix with extra sugar. He pulls out a little saucepan and heats the water and sugar to make sure it all gets absorbed by the water, then he cools it and fills the hummer feeders. And it's true—hummers love being at his feeders.

My Heavenly Father does something similar with us, His children. He turns the heat up under us so we can absorb more of Him and be better and sweeter feed for others. Without the heat, we wouldn't absorb Him as quickly, nor as much.

For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison. 2 Corinthians 4:17

So when the heat gets turned up in your life remember there's a reason for it and absorb all you can.

Don't forget the book giveaway that's going on this week!

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