The Richest of Foods

By Cindy Williams | @nutritionchic 

Last Christmas was special. My whole family gathered together at our childhood home – a place of great beauty, good memories and peace. We dragged the dining room table and chairs to the end of the lawn and sat under the red flowers of the Pohutukawa tree dining on the richest of foods.

Afterwards, we lazed on the lawn in the sunshine enjoying the satisfaction of a good meal, enhanced by our body pumping out endorphins, the natural opioids often called the ‘feel-good’ hormones. Our body and souls were satisfied.

The loneliest day

This Christmas, some will eat the richest of foods and yet still their soul will be starved: those who have wealth but no wisdom, fame but no faith; those who are grieving or lonely or in families of anger and abuse. For some, Christmas day is the loneliest day of all.

As authors we can suffer that dryness of soul – as we stare at a blank screen, as we read yet another rejection, as we resist that cruel thought: ‘You’re wasting your time.’

'My soul will be satisfied with the richest of foods' Ps. 63:5 

Psalm 63 gives the solution to all whose soul is in a ‘dry and weary land.’ It tells us to praise God, lift up your hands to Him, and sing songs of praise. In a time of distress, when we are awake with anxiety through the watches of the night, remember God and praise him - even if you don’t feel like it. It is not called a ‘sacrifice of praise’ for nothing!

If you set your mind to do these things, the word of God promises you will be satisfied as with the best Christmas meal ever.

May you be richly blessed this Christmas as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

 About Cindy Williams 

With degrees in Nutrition, Public Health and Communication Cindy worked for many years as a dietitian for sports teams, food industry, media, and as a nutrition writer and speaker.

Her first novel, The Pounamu Prophecy, was short listed for the 2016 Caleb Prize. She writes stories of health, history, food and faraway places at www.nutritionchic.com.

Cindy lives in Sydney with her husband and son, writing stories of flawed women who battle injustice... and sometimes find romance.

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How Well does the Bible use the Five Senses?

By Cindy Williams | @nutritionchic 

How well does the Bible use the five senses? Being written by God, it should do pretty well, and from the very first chapters, it does!!

See 

Genesis 1 is full of seeing. Six times ‘God saw that it was good.' Actually, on the final day he ‘saw all he had made, and it was very good.’ Most authors write the seeing sense without effort. Often we use this sense exclusively and it makes our writing one dimensional – just as life would be if you could only see and not hear, smell, taste and touch.

Touch 

Genesis 3 gives us touch and taste. Eve tells the serpent that God had said they must not touch the tree in the middle of the garden or they would die. Great tension – will they touch the tree? We know the answer!

Taste 

Eve sees the fruit is pleasing to the eye and she eats it. We can imagine how delicious it tasted – no cold room storage, no pollution, no pesticides! There’s a lot of talk about eating the apple, and then a line when God tells the serpent that from now on he will eat dust. Not quite such a good taste!

Hear 

Adam and Eve hear God walking in the garden. I wonder what that sounded like? God calls to Adam and he answers that he heard him in the garden and he was afraid. Why? If you don’t know you will have to read it for yourself but here’s a hint: it sends every kindergarten scripture class into fits of giggling.

 Smell 

In Genesis 2 God breathes into Adam’s nostrils but it’s not until God smells the pleasing aroma of Noah’s burnt offerings that we get the first reference to smell. For the rest of the Old Testament it’s pretty obvious that burnt offerings are God’s favourite smell. (Not for the same reason as we slaver over the BBQ!)

What about the New Testament? What is God’s favourite smell here? We are! To God we are ‘the aroma of Christ’ and through us ‘he spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Jesus.’ 2 Cor 2:14-15. Have you ever thought of your writing as a beautiful fragrance?

The Winner

And now for the winner of funniest smell reference in the Bible: Jesus tells them to roll the stone away from the tomb where Lazarus has lain dead for four days. Martha, in her anxious, practical way, says, ‘By this time, he stinketh.’ (Jn. 11:39 KJV). Love it!

What's your Favourite?

Throughout the Bible there are calls to ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’, to hear his voice, to touch his hands and feet. There are flashes of lightening, rumblings and peals of thunder’; there are golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints’; there is honey sweet to the taste. 

God made us with five senses and He has made sure to use them all in His amazing book. Do you have a favourite ‘sense’ Bible verse?

 About Cindy Williams 

With degrees in Nutrition, Public Health and Communication Cindy worked for many years as a dietitian for sports teams, food industry, media, and as a nutrition writer and speaker.

Her first novel, The Pounamu Prophecy, was short listed for the 2016 Caleb Prize. She writes stories of health, history, food and faraway places at www.nutritionchic.com.

 Cindy lives in Sydney with her husband and son, writing stories of flawed women who battle injustice... and sometimes find romance.

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God Keeps His Promises

By Cindy Williams|@nutritionchic 

In my school scripture classes I am teaching the children that ‘God keeps his promises.’ We are looking at Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and seeing that God keeps his promises no matter our human foibles and failings.

I smile when I read about Sarah and Rebekah ‘helping God out’ with his promises. As if He needs help! Yet aren’t we all tempted sometimes to do this, especially when the years pass by and he doesn’t meet our deadlines and ultimatums!

God’s Promise of Land 

This week I am teaching the children about how God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, and from him came the twelve tribes which eventually (around four hundred years later) settled in the land that God had promised Abraham.

The glory days of Israel, of David and Solomon, came and went. The kingdom split. The ten tribes of Israel were taken by the Assyrians (2 Kings 17:20-23), the two tribes of Judah by the Babylonians (2 Kings 25:8-12). A remnant of Jews remained and after seventy years some returned to Israel. Jerusalem and the temple were rebuilt and for several centuries existed in relative independence. Then the Romans took over and in 70AD destroyed the temple and city. The Jews were scattered and Israel was no more.

What happened to the promise of land? For the past two thousand years it would have been hard for Christians to believe God would keep this promise. There was no Israel. Then came 1948. In a day, at the stroke of a pen, the land of Israel existed again. Has this happened to any other nation? No matter your politics, this is surely a sign of God’s faithfulness in keeping his promises. 

God’s Promises for You 

What promises has the Lord given you? Promises for your writing, promises for your family, promises for your health? Thank the Lord for them and claim them using his word - ‘For the word of God is living and active (Heb. 4:12). Be persistent. Be patient.

If you have never sought a promise from the Lord, pray and ask for his special promise for you. He is a loving father who loves to hear us call to him, who loves to bless us and who always keeps his promises.

 About Cindy Williams

With degrees in Nutrition, Public Health and Communication Cindy has worked for many years as a dietitian for sports teams, food industry, media, and as a nutrition writer and speaker.

Her first novel, The Pounamu Prophecy, was short listed for the 2016 Caleb Prize.

She writes a blog - www.nutritionchic.com - stories of health, history, food and faraway places.

Cindy grew up in a culturally rich part of New Zealand, singing the songs and hearing the stories of Maori. She lives in Sydney with her husband and son, writing stories of flawed women who battle injustice... and sometimes find romance. 

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Beautiful Writing

By Cindy Williams @nutritionchic 

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech. (Psalm 19:1-2)


They say that to be a good writer you need to be a good reader. I love reading but my literary diet has been almost vegan-like: restricted mostly to nutritional science, Christian fiction and non-fiction, and the Bible. I have been woefully starved of literary classics and so, in pursuit of a balanced literary diet, I decided that this year I would read every one of my son’s prescribed texts for IB Literature.

The reading list arrived and I eagerly read the reviews for each one: Sophocles’ Greek tragedies – great! ‘Woman at Point Zero’ – prostitution and female genital mutilation… gulp. ‘The God of Small Things’ – child sexual abuse and an anatomically detailed sex scene… gulp, gulp. ‘Perfume’ – mass murder of virgins… a deluge of disappointment drowned my eager anticipation.

Was the Christian school really going to make teenagers study such themes? Was there no good literature with uplifting themes? Was I just an over-protective and out-of-touch mother?

 ‘But the writing is so beautiful,’ said my friend, commenting about 'Perfume'.

Is beautiful writing a good enough reason to read it, I wondered. Over the summer I read two of the prescribed texts, plus another with more hope filled themes. All three had beautiful writing that made me sigh with delight.

“How about peaches, dear?” murmurs Madame Manec, and Marie-Laure can hear a can opening, juice slopping into a bowl. Seconds later, she’s eating wet wedges of sunlight. (All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr)

His feet were short and broad, and when he stood or walked his heels came together and his feet opened outwards as if they had quarreled and meant to go in different directions. (Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe)

 The jam was still hot and on its sticky, scarlet surface, thick pink froth was dying slowly. Little banana bubbles drowning deep in jam and nobody to help them. (The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy)

I have concluded that beautiful writing is like the honey that my mother mixed with crushed panadol when we were ill. Themes and images that we might normally avoid slide into our mind on the sweetness of the writing. On the flip side, beautiful writing eases the way for non-believers to consider the life giving themes of the Bible.

 As Christian readers let us be eager to consume a healthy literary diet with plenty of themes that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.

 As Christian writers let us pray and ask our Lord, the ultimate author, to bless us with his creativity so we can write words as beautiful and uplifting as those he pours forth from the heavens.

 About Cindy Williams 

With degrees in Nutrition, Public Health and Communication Cindy has worked for many years as a dietitian for sports teams, food industry, media, and as a nutrition writer and speaker.

Her first novel, The Pounamu Prophecy, was short listed for the 2016 Caleb Prize. She writes a blog - www.nutritionchic.com - stories of health, history, food and faraway places.

Cindy lives in Sydney with her husband and son, writing stories of flawed women who battle injustice... and sometimes find romance.

The Power of Books to Influence - Cindy Williams

By Cindy Williams

What stories have influenced your writing?

Last weekend I did a prayer ministry course with Elijah House. As we learned the many ways in which we are shaped by our early childhood experiences I thought about our childhood reading experiences – how do they influence our writing?

My first favourite book was Dr Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat which, I am told, I could recite word for word. Even after fifty years, seeing the pictures and reading the words elicits a wonderful sense of security and delight.

A few years later I voraciously devoured every Famous Five and Secret Seven book I could find. My friend and I would roam the neighbourhood looking for suspicious neighbours and mysteries to solve. Mostly we just got in trouble for trespassing!

That sense of adventure continued with the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series. I was so keen that I even entered a competition where a boy (yuk!) and I had to eat from each end of a chocolate bar faster than any other ‘couple’. The sacrifice was worth it – the prize was a Hardy Boys book!

As well as adventure I was drawn by the food of the Famous Five. Those picnic baskets filled with cold ham, sandwiches, cherry cake and homemade lemonade; and those cups of hot cocoa, crusty bread, hunks of farm fresh cheese and chocolate sponge cake after an adventurous night out: these too elicited warm, wonderful feelings.

Later, while writing (as a dietitian) about food in a far less evocative way, I discovered Francine Rivers’ The Mark of the Lion series. The main character inspired me with how to live as a Christian amongst those who don’t believe. The stories gave me guidance and hope – and plenty of action and adventure!

Then I found Frank Peretti’s books, This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness. These came along just as I was learning about the power of spiritual warfare, and both inspired and encouraged me.

I am regularly sent books to review for the Historical Novel Society and I have been wondering why I struggle to read many of them, often chiding myself that I am not ‘literary’ enough. But I have realised that what many of these books lack is a message of hope.

In recalling my favourite books from the past I realise that I am drawn to books that have adventure and challenge, and are uplifting and provide hope. I have written two novels that, at first glance, seem completely different. In fact they contain all the elements that I like to read about. Just as a prayer ministry course can provide insight into why we behave in certain ways, so this exercise has given me insight into what I am drawn to write.

Which books have shaped your life? What inspires you? The Lord has given each of us different experiences, different interests and different writing styles. The one thing we have in common is that as Christians we are able to bring God’s light and hope into a dark and needy world. When we are obedient to write what the Lord has laid on our hearts we can trust that He will use it to bless someone in some way. Embrace your uniqueness, refine your writing craft (perhaps by coming to the Omega Writers Conference) and pray that God’s will is done with whatever you write.

My Very Non-Christian Writing Group

By Cindy Williams

Writing a novel is like having an assignment with no deadline. So when I arrived in Sydney six years ago one of the first things I did was join the NSW Writers Centre and a writing group.

A new country, a fresh start: this was my chance to get serious about the novel I had been struggling over for the past ten years.

I arranged to meet a prospective writing group and arrived with a sample of the 20,000 words I had so far written clutched in my hand. Would they like it? Would they like me?

My heart sank as I read my piece and had a chat to the two women, not because they didn’t like my writing but because they did. They were as different from me as I could imagine; I could not possibly be in their writing group. I reassured myself that my Christian themed novel would definitely put them off.

A few days later they contacted me to say they would love to have me join their group and I fell to my knees in prayer.

'Surely you don't want me to be with a group of atheists?' I told God. 'It's a Christian book. Wouldn't it be better to be with other Christians?'

The only answer I got was 'Join the group.' Reluctantly I obeyed.

I have so often found that the Lord's plans are very different from my logical reasoning, and sometimes pleading debates, over why my way would be better. It has happened enough times that I would not dare trust my logic over the Lord's guidance. I can look back and see what blessings came out of obedience, and how I would have missed them by insisting on my own way.

So for the past six years I have spent every Tuesday afternoon with a group of encouraging, ruthlessly honest, and talented writers. Sometimes they read out graphic bedroom descriptions with far too much anatomical detail. Often they expound their political and world views which are so opposite to mine. Sometimes they ridicule the church and Christians, and I wonder if they have forgotten that I am one. But none of it bothers me. This group has taught me to write so much better. When something is wrong, they tell me. When the writing is good, they tell me, and it silences that insecure inner critic.

They are in my mind as I write my Christian messages and themes - What will they say about this? How can I write this so they will not recoil? It is the ultimate testing ground for a book targeted at the general public. Often they have raved over a sentence or phrase, proclaiming it as so peaceful, so beautiful, and I smile to myself that it has ministered to their hearts without them realising it is from the very God they say they don’t believe in.

For the past three years my writing group has journeyed with me telling the story of Leah, a Samaritan woman who had five husbands. This week they heard of her encounter with the Messiah at Jacob’s Well. The atheists were dismayed at the Christian turn of the story while another, who is culturally Jewish, wondered who this Jewish Messiah was. I could have become defensive, thinking that surely they should expect a story from the Bible where a woman meets Jesus to have some Christian concepts. But their comments were valid: they needed to be led up to this point more clearly than I thought I had done. My assumptions as a Christian are different to theirs and for that insight, I am grateful.

I have come to treasure my Tuesday afternoons. Not only because it forces me to write at least 1000 words a week but also for the friendship and encouragement. Yes I am still anxious when I read out something clearly biblical; I am not at all an enthusiastic evangelist. But it makes me pray for these men and women and I trust that God has a purpose for me being there despite my fears.

As a child growing up in a culturally rich part of New Zealand Cindy enjoyed writing, not copious screeds, but short intense pieces that brought tears to her eyes and made people think.

Then she became a dietitian – all science and seriously researched facts. She completed a Master of Public Health and a Graduate Diploma in Communication and spent many years as a corporate nutrition consultant encouraging and inspiring people to live a healthy life.

She writes a nutrition blog and was short listed for the 2016 Caleb Prize for her debut novel ‘The Pounamu Prophecy’.

Cindy lives in Sydney with her husband and teenage son.