Remembering God

I don't know about you but there are times when my faith walk has been a little dry. I don't want it to be, but I have had times, sometimes seasons, where I felt spiritually dry and in those times I find myself losing my awe and wonder towards God. If you have been there, you know that not only can it be a frustrating time but also a time when your faith can really start to wane and become lukewarm. Your relationship with Christ becomes nothing more than going through the motions and if we are not careful, those dry seasons become more frequent, eventually leading to a disconnection from God. 

Image credit: armyofcompassion.com

I recently found myself in the early stages of one of the dry seasons. I had been doing so much travel for work (which I love, by the way) that I found myself giving up my time with God in the mornings so I could catch a couple of hours of extra sleep. The days were long and intense that by the time I got back to my hotel, all I wanted was a meal and a coffee and a non-fiction novel to zone out (preferably Christian romance but that's just me.) I started to feel restlessness stirring but in my tired state, I didn't connect the dots enough to know that I needed some time with God to refresh. It was mid trip in Orlando that I was introduced to an exercise during my work training that not only helped me reconnect, but it bought back my awe and wonder.


One morning we were given a sheet of paper that had the letter of each alphabet listed with three lines under it and we were asked to list down all the characteristics of God against the alphabetical letter. Who is God? How do we define His character? His heart? We were told we had three minutes and we had to write the characteristics of God and who He was to us as quickly as possible. Once we had written them down, we all stood for combined worship and during worship we were asked to call out the names and characteristics in alphabetical order. It was slow to start, but then everyone got into it:


Awesome.
Advocate.
Beautiful.
Beloved.
Counselor.
Courage.
Champion.
Deliverer.
Defender.
Everlasting.
Everything.
Freedom. 
First.
Guide. 
Heartbeat.


The list went on and on. As we stood there, about 25 of us in total, reading out the characteristics of God as we saw and felt them, tears streamed down my face. As I listened to people around me sharing how they saw God, and as I called out some of my own words, my heart beat wildly in my chest because I reminded of who He is. The words spoken out were a glimpse of the One who made me and loves me. I was reminded that He is everything and that He is more than enough, something I had unfortunately lost sight of for a little while because I had been so focused on myself. As we stood and fixed our eyes on the Cross, I was reminded that it is about Him and only Him. It reminded me that He is my beloved. My advocate. My freedom.


We are often encouraged to remember the good things that God has done, but how often do we stop and remember who God actually is? How often do we stop and just sit in awe and wonder at who He is, not what He has done? It reminded me of all the things that He was and how much He loved me how much He did, and continues to do for me. It reminded me that the heart of God is one that leans towards me and the character of God is one of such integrity and righteousness and faithfulness that He couldn't possibly let me down, no matter how much the enemy tried to convince me otherwise. Most importantly it reminded me to shift my focus back to where is should be; on Jesus. 

Since that day, my worship and my time with God has shifted and I am focusing more on Him. On the days when I am off to a slow start, I recite some of those words and remind myself that He who was Awesome and Faithful and Loving on that January morning in Orlando is still just as faithful an d awesome and loving. On the days when my heart is a little heavy and my mind is roaming, I make myself go back to the heart of worship and reflect on the awesomeness and wonder of God. So if you are struggling to get going today, can I encourage you to spend some time writing down all the characteristics of God and reading them out aloud to yourself, because we all need a little reminder sometimes.

Leila (Lays) Halawe is a Sydney based coffee loving nonfiction writer and blogger. She has published a short devotional, Love By Devotion, and shares her views on life and faith via her blog page Looking In. You can connect with her via Facebook at Leila Halawe Author and via Twitter at Leila Halawe.

Word for the Year

Photo courtesy of Supertrooper at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Word for the year?

Huh? Explain that to me.

That was me a few years ago. Here I was in my late forties and I’d never heard of the thing. Why limit your year to a single word?

A few of you might be asking the same questions.

I read a little about it. And tried it. And have continued the practice for the last five years or so.

Why?

“Each year, you should choose a word to represent the year you have in front of you.”¹

Claire Diaz-Ortiz explains the rationale behind the concept: “Thing long and hard about one word that will serve as a guidepost for what you want to do and be in the year to come. One word that will remind you of what’s important when you need it most.”²

I like that: a guidepost.

I tend not to think too much about it, rather talk to God and meditate on a word for a week or so. Often He gives me one of those “Aha” moments that provides clarity.

In 2015 my Word was “ADORATION” and last year it was “DELIGHT”. As I’ve drawn closer to the Lord these past few years I’ve felt an increasing desire for more of Him and less of me which probably best sums up the last two Words. I’ve so enjoyed delighting and figured there was so much more for me to experience that I was expecting I would stick with the same word for 2017.

As I prayed and meditated on it last week I stumbled across a line in a prayer I read:

“If I’m going to be in a hurry about one thing this year, may it be to linger longer in Your Presence. Everything else will fall into place.”³

I stopped. Re-read this line a few more times as I prayed and then I had a new Word for 2017. Can you guess what it is?

Linger!

It’s a great word. How much do we enjoy lingering on a great cup of coffee or fabulous dessert or a piece of music? But how much time do we spend simply lingering in the Lord’s Presence to savor Him? Not what He can give us but Him, His face, His person.

Those who lingered

As I reflected more on that line above, people in the Bible who spent time lingering in His Presence came to mind.

Joshua

“And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses. All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.” (Exodus 33:9-11 NKJV)

Joshua lingered in the tabernacle. Even when Moses, his mentor, left it. It changed him. So much so it was Joshua, and not Moses, who received the honour of leading the Israelites into the Promised Land.

Anna

“Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty-four years,[a] who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36-38 NKJV)

These are the only three verses in the Bible about Anna. She was a woman who lingered in the temple. And served God with fasting and praying. The Lord honoured her by allowing her to see Jesus, the infant.

Mary of Bethany

“Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.” (Luke 10: 38-39 NKJV)

Mary lingered at Jesus’ feet to hear Him speak.

How can we linger in His Presence?

In these first two weeks of the year I’ve found lingering in His Presence harder than I anticipated. Simply sitting in silence (sometimes), with worship music (sometimes), eyes shut or open, has been hard. But what I have acknowledged is that I’ve turned up each day.

Reading His Word is important and giving myself time to reflect and meditate on it has been very helpful. When I walk one of our dogs each morning I recite verses I’ve memorised and a current one is that wonderful one from Joshua:

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” (Joshua 1:8 NKJV)

Great verse isn’t it?

I’ll report back during the year with how my lingering has been going.

Do any of you follow such a practice? Perhaps you have a verse or a “theme” for the year that you might like to share with us all.

Wishing all of my ACW friends a wonderful God-filled 2017.

Notes: 1.  “Design Your Day”, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Moody Publishers. 2016. Pg 15. 2. Ibid pg 15-16. 3.“Everyday Prayers”, Scotty Smith, Baker Books, 2011. Pg377.

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. Angelguard was recognised with the 2014 Selah Award for Speculative Fiction.You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter

Intensive Care

I don’t remember the exact moment I knew I wanted to be a nurse, but I was probably around 16 years old. In saying that, nursing was in my blood and I think I was actually destined to be a nurse from birth. My favourite aunt is a nurse and her favourite aunt (my great aunt) was also a nurse. However, when it came time to attend University, I chose a Bachelor of Commerce instead of a Bachelor of Nursing. Don't ask.

I lasted six weeks.

I then married my high school sweetheart and in quick succession we had four beautiful children. We planted a church, and for ten years I pastored alongside my husband. Unfortunately pastoral care wasn’t exactly a good ‘fit’ for my personality! I wanted people to hurry up, take my advice and get better. I wanted their hurts fixed. I wanted them to feel good. Kind of like a nurse really! If you're read any of my comments on this blog you'll notice I tend to be rather opinionated and I probably should just start every comment with the words "sorry if I offend." 

So in 2006, the year I had all four children in primary school, I made the momentous decision to return to full time study and fulfil my lifelong ambition of becoming a nurse. All it took was one brave decision and I found myself enrolled at the local TAFE.

Fast forward eight years.

One diploma, one degree, one Graduate Year and one Post-graduate Certificate in Critical Care later, I started work in the Emergency Department – a long-held dream.

Then on the last day of January last year I woke with the realisation I was one month into a new season with no idea how I was going to fill my spare time. After so many years of study, I was at a loose end. Not being one to sit down and smell the roses on my days off work (I don't enjoy gardening at all!), I needed a new project. 

Just as I knew I was always called to be a nurse, and I have always known that I would one day write a book. For as long as I can remember, writing a novel was something I wanted to do and knew I would do. I just didn’t know how! After jealously watching my friend Meredith Resce write successfully for the past twenty years, I realised it was time to stop wishing I could do the same thing, and just do it! In Meredith's words I just had to start writing. So I did.

The first draft was written some months later and it was terrible. As in really terrible. The end product was a poorly written “Christian romance” where my non-Christian female heroine had a Pentecostal-like salvation experience in the last chapter. It was so preachy I almost gagged myself as I was writing it. Can you imagine the poor readers if the book had ever been published?! I thought I had an evangelistic message to deliver and by heck, I was going to make sure I delivered it, even though I obviously didn’t have the gift of evangelism! Or clearly, of writing good Christian fiction.

So it was back to the manuscript to delete almost half of it, re-write it, tweak it and edit it. Then I prayed a lot, wrote some more and the end result was a very, very different book a few months later. And not a Christian romance after all.

You see, the experts say to "write what you know", so I did. I wrote about the nursing stories I’d experienced first-hand working in the intensive care unit. Many of the scenes in Intensive Care are actual events that have happened to me, and some of the minor characters are my real-life colleagues! 

Then I followed the next bit of advice from the experts and I “wrote what I liked to read”, which in my case was romance. Medical romance therefore became an obvious fit. Added to that is my love of our country and it made sense to write about nurses in rural, regional and remote locations within Australia.

However, in my opinion, the experts missed one important element I think is essential for Christian writers: it is also important to write what God is calling us to write. I know personally speaking, as soon as I had all those three elements in place, the words flowed and the story was written.

Although I’ve written a medical romance for the mainstream market, I believe the end result is actually a sweet romance that could sit as easily in the Christian market as it could in the mainstream market. I guess time will tell! While I don’t have any overt Christian elements in my book, as a faith-filled believer my world-views will hopefully shine through in my writing. You might even see the theme of forgiveness that threads its way through the storyline. My non-Christian beta reader certainly picked up on it and commented.

Intensive Care touches on issues of infidelity, grief, abortion and loss, and focuses on the need to forgive before you can move on. It has plenty of medical scenarios, plenty of emotional moments and a happy ever after ending without my hero and heroine ending up beneath the bed covers.

Intensive Care has been published by Momentum, the digital imprint of Pan MacMillan Australia. It has just been released as an e-book and is available where all e-books are sold. I'm currently half way through writing a follow up to Intensive Care, titled Emergency Response which is a love story between Kate's brother Nathan and Kate's friend Mackenzie - you'll meet them all in Intensive Care.

I've also written another medical rural romance, titled The Peppercorn Lease and this is with publishers at the moment - I'm hoping one of them loves it enough to say 'yes'.

Blurb for Intensive Care:

Escaping to the country was meant to be easy…

On the surface it looks like busy Intensive Care nurse Kate Kennedy has it all: a long-term relationship, a great career and a sleek inner city apartment. But appearances are deceiving, and in one fell swoop everything comes crashing down around her. In a moment of spontaneity, Kate leaves her city life and takes a new role as Nurse Unit Manager at Birrangulla Base Hospital, but her dream move proves harder than expected.

Local café owner Joel O’Connor finds himself increasingly drawn to the gorgeous new nurse, but like Kate, he’s been scarred by love and isn’t looking to jump into anything. Yet their chemistry is hard to deny and after a near fatal incident, Joel and Kate find themselves opening up to one another.

Just when Kate thinks she’s found love again, their fragile relationship is thwarted by their pasts. Can they both let go of their guilt and grief to move on to a bright new future?

To read the first chapter, click here.

About Nicki Edwards:

Even twenty-five years of marriage, travel, children, study and work wasn’t enough to keep Nicki busy. In January 2014 she woke up and decided to fulfil a lifelong dream – to write a novel.

Nicki calls herself a city girl with a country heart. Unfortunately the only way she can escape to the countryside of her dreams is by living vicariously through the lives of the characters in the rural romance novels she loves to read. If she could spend her days dressed in jeans and boots out on the farm surrounded by horses, dogs, cows and sheep, she’d be in her element.

When Nicki isn’t dreaming, reading or writing about rural life, she can be found in her scrubs in the Emergency Department where she works full time as a nurse. 

Observing Lent

By Ian Acheson

Photo courtesy of FreeBibleImages.org

I’d never given Lent much thought. For some reason, I know not why, I’ve thought it an outdated practice that Catholics observed. Typically, it appeared to be reduced to “what are we giving up for Lent?” In my overly judgemental moments I found it strange that apparently non-pious people chose to participate in such a “custom”.

I observed Advent for the first time the Christmas before last and found it a wonderful practice in drawing closer to the Lord each day. I love learning and discovered so much in those 20 or so days. Plus I found my desire for intimacy with the Lord increased.

During the course of January and early February last year, the Lord gave me one of those gentle nudges that got me thinking about Lent. At the same time, I noticed a Lent study by Ruth Haley Barton, whose book, “Invitation to Solitude and Silence: Experiencing God’s Transforming Presence” I had just finished and so enjoyed. So I promptly ordered that study.

In addition, another Bible teacher I follow, Margaret Feinberg, mentioned she was planning something exciting for Lent. So I was hooked.

 “’And yet even now,’ says the Lord, ‘return to me with all your heart …’” (Joel 2:12)

Six weeks to focus more intentionally on the Lord sounded like a good plan.

What is Lent?

Well I didn’t know until I started the journey.

Ruth’s study provided some lovely insight that Lent “derives its structure and themes from Christ’s forty days’ in the wilderness, where He fasted and prayed and faced Satan’s temptations.”¹ Okay, didn’t know that.

I particularly loved Ann Voskamp’s description in a post she wrote at the time:

Ann’s chatting to her brother on the phone answering his question:

“Okay … Lent. It’s the preparing the heart for Easter. Like going with Jesus into the wilderness for forty days, that we come face to ugly face with our enemy. Our sacrificing that we might become more like Christ in His sacrifice.”

So it’s the letting go of our stuff, whatever that may be, so we’ll be even more desperate for Jesus to fill us.

Ha. I like that.

Fast forward to now

Observing Lent last year strengthened me in ways that I’ve only appreciated since it ended. Part of my experience was reading the entire Bible, which I’d never done. It left me with the enduring thought that God is just crazy about us and is never far away. I’ve been able to hold on to that through those discouraging days we all encounter when He seems especially distant.

So I’m doing it again working through a wonderful duo of books by Henri Nouwen, reading through the New Testament, and setting aside time each day just being still with the Lord.

But tell me, what are you doing for Lent?

Wishing everyone a Jesus-filled Easter.

Notes: 1. Lent, A Season of Returning, Ruth Haley Barton, Transforming Resources, (Week 1)

Ian Acheson is an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first novel of speculative fiction, Angelguard, is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter

Noah

By Andrea Grigg

If you haven’t come across it yet, here’s the movie trailer ...

I was supposed to follow on from Catherine’s post on Wednesday, had it all scheduled, but then this came up.

There has been so much controversy over this movie. I’ve read a number of posts, all of them scathingly negative, bar one. So I had to see what all the fuss was about. Here are my thoughts.

1. It’s a Hollywood movie, not a Biblical documentary.

In my estimation, it would be (maybe) 20% biblically accurate. Parts of it are unexpected to say the least and the rest is pure fantasy. The rock people confirmed that for me! And once that was established, it gave me a better filter for the movie.

2. The movie is not written from a Christian worldview.

Noah doesn't have a relationship with God like he does in the Bible. In fact, God is referred to as The Creator, which to me, makes Him more impersonal. Noah senses he needs to build the ark because of dreams, not because of God’s personal direction.

3. Noah is not the same character as the one in the Bible.

Noah is portrayed as ruthless and lacking in compassion. He understands why The Creator would want to destroy man and he will do whatever it takes to make it happen – even to the detriment of his own family. Noah doesn't know God on an intimate basis and I suggest that once more, it’s the writer’s point of view coming through.

4. It’s a dark movie.

It’s not an uplifting cinema experience even though we know the ending (which again, isn’t completely accurate concerning Noah’s family). The costumes and surroundings are drab, which is to be expected. There is rain, mud, and cries for help, but … the darkness also has a positive aspect. It shows how a life without God is hopeless and full of despair.

Positives?

• At one point, Noah tells the creation story to his family as written in Genesis. The visuals are excellent.
• I loved the arrival of the animals.
• I found my heart overflowing with thankfulness for the life I have with Jesus
• It made me go back to the Bible to compare what I’d seen with what is written in scripture – how good if unbelievers feel prompted to do the same or at least ask someone about it?
• I'm glad I have seen it so that if anyone (particularly a non-Christian) asks about it, I can have an informed discussion rather than one based on someone else’s opinion.

I'd like to suggest that instead of jumping up and down with indignation, we approach this movie with an open mind and a good dose of common sense. Hollywood is Hollywood. Let’s use it as simply another opportunity to share the good news, because after viewing Noah, that’s what hit me the most. We have life … we have hope … we have Jesus. Hallelujah!

About Andrea Grigg
Andrea writes contemporary romance. Her second novel Too Pretty will be released on August 1 by Rhiza Press. Her first novel A Simple Mistake was a finalist in the CALEB Awards 2012
Andrea would love to hear from you via her website or Facebook page:
http://www.andreagrigg.com/https://www.facebook.com/author.andreagrigg

I'm Important!

By Iola Goulton

Well, not really. But Klout says I am—at least, I’m more important that Steve Laube (prominent literary agent for Christian authors), Amanda Luedeke (marketing guru at literary agency MacGregor Literary, another prominent agency working with authors in the Christian market) and as important as Emily Rodmell (acquisitions editor for Love Inspired novels). I can prove it: here is the screen shot of my Klout score on 18 October:

And here are screen shots for Amanda, Emily and Steve:

Am I really more important, more influential, than these people? I don’t think so.

Klout is supposedly a measure of influence on the interwebz. It analyses engagement on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ to measure influence (the ability to drive action in others). I joined Klout because a book blogger programme I’m a member of required a Klout score over 30 to get review copies. At that point my score was around 25, but it’s slowly increased to its current high of 55.

I recently read an article debating the accuracy of the Klout score and hinting at the possibility of gaming the system. A quick Google search showed how easy this can be.

It’s easy to get caught up chasing the numbers—how many Facebook friends, how many Likes on a Fan page, how many Followers on Twitter, how many subscribed to our blog and (of course) our Klout score.

But this isn’t what’s important.

What’s important is that we love and care for our families and friends.

What’s important is that we love God and are seeking to live according to His purpose for our lives.

What’s important is that we remember who we are in the eyes of God, who loves us more than we can ever imagine (and fiction authors can imagine a lot!). He sent His Son to die for us. He waits for us, His bride, to return to Him. And He does all this without regard for what we do—or how high our Klout score is.

(By the way, my Klout score has since dropped since I wrote this. Never mind. I'm still important to God.)

I am a freelance editor specialising in Christian fiction, and you can find out more about my services at my website, or follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest. I love reading, and read and review around 150 Christian books each year on my blog.