DEVOTION: Be Still.

By Leila Halawe

“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalm 46:10

Have you ever found yourself frantically rushing around trying to get yourself organised when your ears prick up and you think you can hear someone calling you? You slow your movements down, eventually coming to a complete stop and try to listen as hard as you can. I was in this very situation last night as I went to meet a friend of mine for dinner. She told me to park my car in the parking garage under her unit block and told me she would meet me downstairs at the elevator and walk me up. After parking my car, as I started making my way to the lift, I thought I could hear my name being called. I kept walking, but again, I heard this little voice calling my name, so I eventually stopped walking and just stood where I was, looking around to work out if there really was someone calling me. As I stood there for a few seconds, the voice got louder and I realised that it was my friend walking through the garage, calling out my name trying to work out where I was. As it turned out, she was waiting for me at the lift and when I didn't get there as soon as I should have, she realised that I was heading towards the wrong lift and went looking for me. 

My walk with God feels like that sometimes. When I find myself a little disconnected from God, or find myself feeling a little independent, I start making my own plans and walking them out. And without fail, I start to hear my name being called in some way, shape or form. It generally isn't an audible voice, more of a stirring, or a restlessness within that something isn't right that makes me slow down a little to work out what it is and where it's coming from. It eventually brings me to a complete standstill and when I finally stop, I start to hear the gentle whisper of God. 

We read in Proverbs 16:9 that a 'man's heart makes his way, but the Lord directs his steps.' Isn't that typical of us? I don't know about you, but there have been many times, too many to count, where God has had to step in and redirect my steps to align with His plans and purposes. There has been many a time when I haven't stopped long enough to listen to God's gentle whisper telling me which way I should go, instead barrelling on ahead and hitting multiple roadblocks along the way. We can often think that we know what's best, or what we need, but the truth is that we don't know best. 

Because only God knows best. 

God knows what we need. 

God knows when we need it.

God knows how He will provide it.

We can often forget that God created us and already knows the future. He has the victory already, which means that we have the victory through Jesus, so following His lead is the wisest thing to do. We just need to stop and be still. 

Seek His face.

Seek His heart. 

Seek His voice. 

When we put our faith and trust in Him, we won't be let down. In fact, when we put our trust in Him, we can be sure that we will be guided down the right road. That doesn't mean that the path He leads us on will be painless, or trouble free, or full of constant joy and happiness. No, we will all face those things, sometimes more than once and sometimes for long seasons, but when we walk the path He sets us for us, we can be guaranteed that He will go before us and sustain us. We can go the extra mile knowing that He will be there to lift us up. Knowing he will provide for us. Knowing he will be our comfort when the road is too hard to walk.

We just need to be still and know that He is God. Not was, not will be, IS. No matter what, He is God. 

As we go about our day today, can I challenge us to stop and be still before Him, if only for 5 minutes. Sit at His feet and exalt Him. Praise Him. Worship Him. And let Him be everything He promised you he will be. 

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.

We are a trusting lot

By David Rawlings

The world is currently experiencing a great shift in an element of basic humanity. Something that has underpinned hundreds of generations is eroding. As we see more and more people do this less and less, it’s now becoming a media issue that holds the flitting attention of breathless journalists and seriously-browed newsreaders.

This is something writers naturally do every day. In fact, we spend most our of our waking writing hours doing it. It’s integral to our writing process. We can’t afford to let it go.

Trust.

As I’ve embraced my emerging identity as a writer, I’ve talked to hundreds of authors and found there is a common thread between us all, regardless of whether we’re writing a thrilling whodunit with a clever twist or the story of a waylaid tourist falling in love with an Amish farmer.

Trust.

There are so many ways writers cling to trust as a way to stave off the waves of self-doubt that lap at the shoreline of our confidence.

Trust in the idea. 

Our story sounds great in our head, doesn’t it? If I could find a way to download the story as it resides in my mind, it would be perfect. But who’s to say that it’s a good idea out there in the rough-and-tumble world? I’m sure you’ve felt the fingers of doubt drumming on your thinking as you spruik your story idea to someone and watch them be less impressed than you thought they’d be. I know I have.

Trust in the process. 

Writing is a process as much as it is a creative pursuit. We trust in the way we’ve established our writing regimes – that they deliver the writing in the best way possible. We trust that the twelve months we’ve invested in the story will produce the best story we can.

Trust in the feedback. 

Apart from being trusting souls, writers can also be quite fragile. When our writing goes to others for their input (whether that’s a critique group or friends who want to read your work), we trust that what we get back will be useful, representative of wider readers and give us the feedback we need to improve, deepen or fix our stories. This is such a critical step of trust I wrote about the feedback that I value the most in another post on my blog.

Trust that someone will publish it. 

To me this was painfully obvious in the waiting room for editor/agent appointments at the ACFW Conference in Nashville. I sat with dozens of writers who all looked like an angry Principal had called them into his office. Talking to them, I heard some great stories, read some amazing turns of phrase and saw the potential in their writing. 

But we all sat there as if one knockback after a fifteen-minute speed date with an agent would blow over our writing careers.

 This is one of the biggest trust exercises a writer can undertake. There is no guarantee it will be published – even for experienced, contracted authors. Imagine if other vocations started work on a massive project with no guarantees. “Yeah, we built the $3 billion highway but it turns out the road’s not needed.” But that’s what writing can sometimes be.

Trust that someone will buy it. 

If you are contracted or do get published, there is a trust that your hunch (and your publisher’s hunch) is correct. Even if you ARE on print, you are trusting that people will buy it.

Trust that someone will like it. 

As reviews are the lifeblood of an author’s cashflow, we trust that after buying it the reader will like it. If they don’t, one negative review can be enough to knock your self-esteem flat.

But there is one last area of trust that puts these others into perspective and, in a way, removes them from our thinking. As Christian writers, we need to cling to this trust more than anything else.

Trust in the God who gave you a story to tell. 

The Bible is filled with stories of people who overcame enormous odds (and impossible situations) because they trusted God. This is one part of the writing journey that challenges me; around which I need to wrap my rational, logical head. God has given me the idea, the ability, the time, the framework, the network around me and the opportunity to tell a story that will honour Him. Once I deal with this, suddenly the questions that can keep you up at night – “who will publish this?” or “who will buy this?” – are answered. Not directly, but in a “you really don’t need to worry about this” kind of way.

I’ve often heard Christian writing can be more difficult because it’s more niche or less marketable. But I’ve discovered that in one area of writing, being a Christian and a writer is invaluable. I have the ability to trust in God and leave the rest of those trust elements in His hands while I just go about my job of writing.

Do you?

About David Rawlings

Based in Adelaide, South Australia, I am a sports-mad, married father-of-three with my own copywriting/communication business who reads everything within an arm’s reach. I can see a typo from across the room and always – always – make sure my text messages are grammatically correct.

Oh, and I love cooking, comedy and surfing. Over 25 years, I’ve made writing my career and paid the bills with words. It’s not a big leap from the six-year-old writing short stories instead of doing homework.

Why do you write?

Last week, my writing and edits were starting to get on top of me. I was stressed. I felt that my edits were no good, my book would fail, my marketing wouldn’t do any good, etc.

Then I thought to myself, why do I write?

What drives you to put pen to paper?

I write for two reasons,

• I enjoy it
• I really think God wants me to.

Now, do either of those things have anything to do with things like…

• Getting published right away
• Selling truckloads of books
• Fame to rival Richard Castle? ;)

No.

There’s nothing wrong with aiming for commercial success, and I certainly hope to achieve it.

But it’s not my number one goal.

And when you think about it, why would God want me to write? It’s not like He can’t think up His own words. No, God doesn’t need me to write at all. But He wants to take the journey with Him. And He wants me to learn to trust Him.

And what do I define success as, anyway? A relationship of love, trust and obedience with God. That may include a great writing career, a mediocre one or none at all.

My job is to simply do my best, and walk with God through it all.

What about you? What motivates you to write? How do you deal with pressure?

Join the conversation below!

Jessica Everingham is a 25 year-old Australian writer. She prefers the term writer because it’s too hard to say ‘journalist, online training developer and author’ in one sentence.

She loves connecting with readers and writers via Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and her blog.

Her unpublished novel Hating Jeremy Walters was a finalist in the 2015 Frasier Contest, run by My Book Therapy, and runner-up in the 2015 Australasian Christian Writers Contemporary Romance Contest.

 

Book Review: Carry Me Home by Dorothy Adamek

Blurb

Finella Mayfield hates two things: liars and thieves. And she's determined to marry a man who's neither. Chasing her dead father's dreams, the twenty-year-old English bride arrives in Australia in 1875 for an arranged marriage. Anticipating her future as village preacher's wife, she records her thoughts in her Everlasting journal. But instead of her fiancé, Finella is met by Shadrach Jones, a poor farmer sent to collect her from the busy Melbourne pier.
 
This is not what her father planned. And it's only the beginning of the unraveling of Finella Mayfield ~ the bride with no groom. All Shadrach longs for is rows of mustard and chicory. He's busy growing a farm near the Phillip Island fishing village of Cowes, and caring for Molly, his simple sister. Far from the brutal life they remember with their ex-convict father, Shadrach's building something new. But he's also made a promise to a dying friend. To collect and marry the English girl destined to never be a preacher's wife.  Can Shadrach convince Finella she has a future with a farmer?  their future?

My Review 

This is definitely one for sweet romance lovers. The story, written alternatively from Finella’s and Shadrach’s points of view, follows the ups and downs and frustrations of their sometimes tender and cheeky and other times fragile and fraught relationship. Both characters are likeable and engaging and both have deep issues which take the story through many twists and turns. Shadrach’s young sister, Molly, is completely endearing, probably my favourite in the story. There are very emotive issues around her character and a reader should expect to shed tears at a number of points.

The setting on Phillip Island is well described. I could sometimes feel the sand or mud between my toes as I read. And there’s an interesting historical and cultural side story about mutton bird egg gathering, which provides some lightness and a good distraction from the interpersonal conflict and agonising over the outcome of the relationship.

Dorothy addresses the Christian and spiritual values and needs of the characters in a well- balanced, meaningful and sensitive way, which gives a good message without being preachy. The issues of developing trust, adjusting to change, loss and grief, and forgiveness are all woven thoughtfully and realistically into the story, which is still essentially about falling in love.

An excellent first book in a series and I’ll look forward to reading the sequel.  

Carol Preston 

Carol writes historical novels based on her family ancestry in Australia from the First Fleet. They include the Turning the Tide series; Mary’s Guardian, Charlotte’s Angel, Tangled Secrets and Truly Free. Her earlier novels Suzannah’s Gold and Rebecca’s Dream were re-released by EBP. Her new novel, Next of Kin, was released last year by Rhiza Press and her latest novel, Beyond the Fight was released this April. You can see more about Carol and her novels on her website, her Amazon author page or FB author page .

www.carolpreston.com.au

www.amazon.com/author/carolpreston

www.facebook.com/writingtoreach

Book review: The Sea Keeper's Daughters by Lisa Wingate

Blurb:  From modern-day Roanoke Island to the sweeping backdrop of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains and Roosevelt’s WPA folklore writers, past and present intertwine to create an unexpected destiny.

Restaurant owner Whitney Monroe is desperate to save her business from a hostile takeover. The inheritance of a decaying Gilded Age hotel on North Carolina’s Outer Banks may provide just the ray of hope she needs. But things at the Excelsior are more complicated than they seem. Whitney’s estranged stepfather is entrenched on the third floor, and the downstairs tenants are determined to save the historic building. Searching through years of stored family heirlooms may be Whitney’s only hope of quick cash, but will the discovery of an old necklace and a Depression-era love story change everything?

My review: 

This is a fascinating and moving story, combining present day romance and intrigue with an mysterious historical story. They are woven together through Whitney Monroe’s memories and her uncovering of old letters and memorabilia and both the romance and the historical discoveries unfold at a pace which kept me turning the pages.

In trouble with her restaurant business and still struggling with her mother’s death, Whitney responds to a call about her step-father’s (Clyde Franczyk) failing health and heads to Roanoke Island on North Carolina’s outer banks, to the Excelsior building, a once grand hotel she visited as a child. Here her memories of her grandmother, her resentment towards her step-father, and confusion about how to deal with the prospect of taking over the old building, are overwhelming. But these issues are at once complicated by Whitney's meeting with Mark Strahan, and with her discovery of heirlooms and old letters in the hotel. She is drawn into a new relationship and a story from the past, neither of which she can ignore.

I loved the character of Whitney; her real life personal issues, her complex personality. The story is told from her perspective but I had a good sense of the other characters’ personalities through her eyes. The relationships are complex and deal with many human issues; lack of trust, self-protection, learning from mistakes, dealing with bullying, handling conflict, forgiveness and capacity to love,  I thought Lisa Wingate handled these really well and very realistically.

The history around the Roosevelt WPA folklore writers is intriguing and clearly well researched. While this adds an interesting background to the story, it is really Whitney’s reaction to her discoveries, the degree to which they helps her to work through her own past hurts and deal with her current relationships, that makes the story great. It is also through Whitney’s relationship with Mark, and her growing appreciation of a man who has sacrificed much to help others, that she begins to discover her own best self. I loved the progression of personal growth that evolves through the story. 

It was not surprising to me that Lisa has been a recipient of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life. The way she writes about relationships, the effects and consequences of the way people treat each other and the value of honesty, trust and personal sacrifice, is challenging and inspiring.

While this is not an overtly Christian story, there is throughout it an acknowledgement of God at work in the world and in people’s lives, and of His purposes being realised, even though characters may take a long time to see this clearly. I would call this a Christian worldview novel.

The romance had all the twists and turns that romance lovers will enjoy though they may be slightly disappointed at the abruptness of the ending and be left longing for a little more detail. However, there is a surprising and satisfying twist at the end of the story which makes a good conclusion.

I look forward to reading other novels by Lisa Wingate and would recommend this to those who love a good romance, a good yarn with an historical base.

Carol Preston 

Carol writes historical novels based on her family ancestry in Australia from the First Fleet. They include the Turning the Tide series; Mary’s Guardian, Charlotte’s Angel, Tangled Secrets and Truly Free. Her earlier novels Suzannah’s Gold and Rebecca’s Dream have been re-released by EBP. Her new novel, Next of Kin, was released last year by Rhiza Press and her latest novel, Beyond the Fight will be released in April. You can see more about Carol and her novels on her website, her Amazon author page or FB author page.   

www.carolpreston.com.au

www.amazon.com/author/carolpreston

www.facebook.com/writingtoreach