I’m spending time researching and writing by the fire, working on a novel set in Yorktown, Virginia with a privateer hero (he’s quite dashing!) and awaiting galleys for the James Towne story set in 1634 (which my head editor loves). A new title and cover art are in the works for this next novel releasing January 2021.

I’m baking bread which I find very satisfying, not to mention eating it:) Some of you have asked for my favorite bread recipe which I’ll post soon.

I’m listening to old hymns, each a sermon in itself, and also contemporary worship music like O Come to the Altar

I’m looking forward to Easter, a holiday I’ve loved since childhood. It’s also my birthday that week so one year nearer heaven for me!

I’m laughing at memes, remembering ‘a merry heart is good medicine.”

Proverbs 17:22

Evening Prayer by Pierre Edouard Frere

I’m praying, something I’ve never been very good at. My mind is usually out on a ramble thanks to my imagination. I have to work at prayer though it’s easier when people are suffering to persist. Often I feel too deeply for words.

I’m taking lots of walks which I love. Out west we live at the gateway of Olympic National Park so this hike along Lake Crescent is just minutes from our door.

Am I at peace? Absolutely, even if I somehow get the virus and don’t live through it. But that’s okay, too. As a believer, this is my temporary home. I’m made for heaven and dying is the door to get there. I don’t live in fear of it.

‘Do not fear’ is used repeatedly in the Bible, with fear mentioned 68 times in the Psalms. More than 60 times we are told to fear the Lord, a positive spin on a mostly negative feeling.

During this time of change and uncertainty, John 14:27 in the Amplified version speaks to me:

Peace I leave with you; My own peace I give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.

I’m praying for my readers, family, and friends, that we live out this verse, now & always. Wishing you shalom, too, another timely word with a multi-layered meaning far beyond the concept of peace. Psalm 23 is another keeper for we are truly like sheep and He, thankfully, is our very capable Shepherd.

So, shalom, fellow sheep, our good Shepherd has all in hand.

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This summer is a summer to remember. Major remodel. Empty nest. Church search. Parting with 25 years of stuff in order to simplify. Despite working on 2 historical books, I still found myself longing for a Bible study to do on my own. That spiritual hunger is the sweetest of all & God never fails to satisfy & serve up His Word!

I don’t even remember how I stumbled across (divinely timed) Darlene Schacht but her ministry name reeled me right in. How intriguing is Time~Warp Wife? I’d never heard of her before but was soon searching her website. And I had to smile because at the top of her home page in pink (my favorite color) reads BIBLE STUDIES FOR WOMEN. Wow!

I ordered two, Philippians, The Joy of Christian Living and Quieting Your Heart Gratitude Journal. She has many more! Her beautiful images (some are shown above) speak to my heart. She has quite a personal testimony. I can’t wait to read her book about how the Lord got hold of her and transformed her. Wow, again!

I always feel I find these things not just for myself but to share. So if you’re looking for a summer study to do on your own or maybe even lead one and bless others you know, please visit Time~Warp Wife. I’m so happy I did!

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Every once in a while a book comes along that is so God-timed it seemed the pages fell straight from heaven into your lap. This is one of them. My first thought when I looked up the author was, “How can she be so young and have so much wisdom?”

Here’s a small part of what spoke loudest to me. beginning with antique wallpaper…

“Just as the Montpelier restorers knew what Madison’s original wallpaper looked like because of an ordinary family of mice, we are meant to display who the Creator is through our own creating. Through our work, we point to him, describe him, and adorn him. We’re meant to be creative in imitation and honor of the One who is making all things beautiful. Christians, it seems, should be the most creative people, the ones who run straight into the mysteries and wonders of life, the ones who happily delight in beauty and use many mediums to point to the beauty of our King.

I read something somewhere that when you do something that feels like worship, you’ve found your calling. Even from the very beginning, writing felt exactly like worship. Like I was made for it. Like I was hitting an invisible bull’s-eye I’d not previously known existed. Like I was following a pattern. Like my heart was singing.

If creating is worship, it’s only about God. It’s about him, through him, and for him; it’s not for me or about me. There actually were selfish desires attached to my writing pursuits, so in order for me to write as worship, I had to crucify my expectations for results. Those hopes only turned my worship inward and distorted whatever beauty I hoped to create. We don’t create so everyone will look at us; we create so everyone will wonder at the Creator.

When I see beautiful art, when I hear beautiful music, when I see patterns and colors put together in fabrics, when I see pencil drawings or observe someone’s ability to play the piano by ear, I am amazed – not at the person who created it but at the One who created the person.

Their creativity makes me worship.”

~Christine Hoover, author of Searching For Spring

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Thanksgiving has always been a special holiday for me. I’m all about cornbread stuffing and pumpkin pie and delicious leftovers and giving thanks. And then there’s that lovely stretch of December ahead with its carol singing and eggnog and decorating and gift wrapping before we celebrate Christ’s birth. Some Thanksgivings it’s easy to have an attitude of gratitude. All is calm and bright, or mostly calm and bright. But some years…

Some of you have lost a dear loved one, are grieving a broken marriage, have a wayward family member, are alone and lonely, have moved, or are living with a diagnosis or facing surgery. Some of you are on hold or have watched a dream die or let go of a job. The list goes on and on. Struggles and heartaches comes in all shapes and sizes and no one is immune. Sometimes life snowballs and you have more on your plate than a simple Thanksgiving feast.

I think about you and what’s happening for you beyond your reading my books. Each of you have full lives with many facets, books being just a tiny part of that. Some of you have prayed for me and my family when we most needed it. I’m very thankful! I pray for you, too. Prayer does more than we ever realize and goes far beyond the limits of our imaginations.

Whatever our current struggles, they’re not eternal. Temporal but not eternal. Maybe that is the heartbeat of this verse, Rejoice always and delight in your faith; be unceasing and persistent in prayer; in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Amplified version.

Thankful, still.

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I AM WITH YOU. These four words are like a safety net, protecting you from falling into despair. Because you are human, you will always have ups and downs in your life experience. But the promise of My Presence limits how far down you can go. Sometimes you may feel as if you are in a free fall, when people or things you had counted on let you down. Yet as soon as you remember that I am with you, your perspective changes radically. Instead of bemoaning your circumstances, you can look to me for help. You recall that not only am I with you, I am holding you by your right hand. I guide you with My counsel, and afterward I will take you into Glory. This is exactly the perspective you need: the reassurance of My Presence, and the glorious hope of heaven.

Zephaniah 3:17: Psalm 73: 23-26

~Jesus Calling, Sarah Young

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BRING ME YOUR WEAKNESS, and receive My peace. Accept yourself and your circumstances just as they are, remembering that I am sovereign over everything. Do not wear yourself out with analyzing and planning. Instead, let thankfulness and trust be your guides through this day; they will keep you close to Me…You will cease to notice how weak or strong you feel, because you will be focusing on Me. The best way to get through this day is step by step with Me.

Jesus Calling, Sarah Young

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