Smart About Life

Okay, this is too exciting! I'm inviting you to an unusual event. One that came out of the creativity of a bunch of ladies just yesterday.

I am inviting you to join me, my Bible study group and our special guest, Deborah Dunn. She's the author of a book called
Stupid about Men: 10 Rules for Getting Romance Right.... She and I connected on Facebook. We got to chatting and came up with a fun idea. That fun idea blew up into an actual event.

Deborah offered to visit with our group on a phone conference. We thought that would be really fun and interesting. It would add a lot of oomph to the study we were doing using her book. WELL, then things took a creative turn! So we decided to invite other ladies. Now we thought it would be one or two, maybe a few, that would join us just because it would be fun and different. But then...Deborah mentioned she'd like to record it and introduced us to her recording friend, Rosey Dow.

So here is the result of that fun conference call yesterday. We turned our small group Bible study into an event for women all over our city. And then it grew to women all over the country. Why? Um, Why Not? We realized that, as women in a crazy and frenetic culture, we don't have the time to meet with our friends like we used to do in years past. We wanted to find a way to do that, to socialize and to encourage each other. So we're throwing a party. One that meets the deep need to connect to other women in this disconnected time.

Deborah Dunn is going to share about how to have better relationships with the men in our lives. Now we are inviting anyone who wants to attend because, well, why not? :-D So please come and join our Bible study May 7th at 7 p.m. Mountain Standard.

Smart About Life Event :-)
It's a one hour, fun teleconference for the ladies to visit with Deborah Dunn, author of Stupid About Men: 10 Rules for getting romance right. . . as she presents how to have better relationships with the men in our lives. Then we'll have a time to visit and catch up with gals we don't have enough time to visit normally. Friends welcome!

There are 3, count them-3, options to participate!

1. We invite any women in the area on May 7th at 7 p.m. to come to a potluck dessert social (bring simple desserts, who needs to clean up?) Dessert social will be held after the teleconference with Deborah Dunn, author of Stupid about Men: 10 Rules for Getting Romance Right.... To be held at Atonement Lutheran Church in Missoula, MT. It's behind the Southgate Inn on Brooks.
(Potluck desserts can be dropped off in the Fellowship Hall while we enjoy the teleconference.)

2. Anyone unable to come to Atonement Lutheran can dial into the number at 7pm on May 7th and listen in to the conference from anywhere in the country.
Phone number for listening:
305-908-8631
Use Conference ID: 585956# (you hit the pound key after.)

GREAT IDEA HERE **Some of our friends that are not in Missoula are inviting their friends to have dessert and join the event in small groups at their homes. We know of 2 already! They're just planning on putting it on the speaker phone and sharing dessert while they chat afterwards. How cool is that?! Feel free to have your own fun small group dessert social. Why not?

3. OR--anyone can pull up the website and join us by listening in too. Remember it is May 7th at 7 p.m. Mountain Standard.
The link will be http://SmartAboutLife.com
This link is just for the teleconference on that evening. You can find more about Deborah Dunn and her work at:
www.deborahdunn.com
www.blog.deborahdunn.com

This started as creative way to have a different Bible study for us, but it's turned into an awesome event. (It's totally free too because it is really is just our regular Bible study bringing ladies together in this fractured world to support our marriages and relationships.) Come and have a great time visiting, learning and then eating together.

Thank you! (And I'm bringing cookies.)
Angela

A Flickering Light and Aurora by Jane Kirkpatrick

Summary for A Flickering Light:

Returning to her Midwest roots, award-winning author Jane Kirkpatrick draws a page from her grandmother’s photo album to capture the interplay between shadow and light, temptation and faith that marks a woman’s pursuit of her dreams.

She took exquisite photographs, but her heart was the true image exposed.

Fifteen-year-old Jessie Ann Gaebele loves nothing more than capturing a gorgeous Minnesota landscape when the sunlight casts its most mesmerizing shadows. So when F.J. Bauer hires her in 1907 to assist in his studio and darkroom, her dreams for a career in photography appear to find root in reality.

With the infamous hazards of the explosive powder used for lighting and the toxic darkroom chemicals, photography is considered a man’s profession. Yet Jessie shows remarkable talent in both the artistry and business of running a studio. She proves less skillful, however, at managing her growing attraction to the very married Mr. Bauer.

This luminous coming-of-age tale deftly exposes the intricate shadows that play across every dream worth pursuing—and the irresistible light that beckons the dreamer on.

For your copy of A Flickering Light: Click here.



For your copy of Aurora: Click here.



Summary for Aurora:

Wrap yourself in a fantastic journey, a remarkable commitment, and a spare and splendid story.

Master storyteller Jane Kirkpatrick extols the beautiful treasures, unknown to a wider public, rediscovered in the Old Aurora Colony of Oregon’s lush Willamette Valley. The people and legacy of Aurora, a utopian community founded in the mid-1800s, will stir your imagination, hopes, and dreams; and remind you that every life matters—that our lives are the stories other people read first.

~Featuring~

Unique and treasured quilt pattern variations

More than 100 photographs, many never-before published, from 1850 to today

Cherished stories from Aurora descendants

Rich images of fine crafts from the Aurora Colony and private collections

An introduction by renowned American artist John Houser

Aurora is about the difference every ordinary life can make—and a beautiful celebration of a time and place in which people expressed their most cherished beliefs through the work of their imagination and hands.



Author Bio:

Jane Kirkpatrick is a best-selling, award-winning author whose previous historical novels include All Together in One Place and Christy Award finalist A Tendering in the Storm. An international keynote speaker, she has earned regional and national recognition for her stories based on the lives of actual people, including the prestigious Wrangler Award from the Western Heritage Hall of Fame. Jane is a Wisconsin native who since 1974 has lived in Eastern Oregon, where she and her husband, Jerry, ranch 160 rugged acres.

The Lemonade Stand Award

L. Diane Wolfe nominated me for the Lemonade Stand Award. That was so sweet of her.
Thank you :-)

Now it is my turn to nominate!

1. Post the logo on your blog
2. Nominate blogs with great gratitude/attitude
3. List and link your nominees
4. Alert them of their nomination on their blog


My nominees for The Lemonade Stand Award are (in no particular order):
Missy Tippens
Jennifer Hudson-Taylor
Christy LaShae-Smith
Belinda Peterson
Mindy Obenhaus

Elisha's Bones by Don Hoesel

Angie's Take: This book surprised me. I am not a huge fan of First Person but I love archaeology and adventure. But even the heavy First Person voice of Elisha's Bones hasn't daunted me. I am totally enjoying chasing around the world with Jack Hawthorne and Espy (Esperanza) who is his former fiance'. We've been to Egypt, Venezuela, and a town called Lalibela that I'd never heard of before. I loved learning about 9 churches carved out of solid rock! We've flown together, ridden down rocky, narrow mountain roads and explored Mayan ruins in search of Elisha's Bones and the mystery that surrounds them. Now we're barely surviving in Australia! But friends all around us are dropping from bullets and mysterious car accidents--even bad guys that intended to kill Jack and Espy are falling in the beach sand. What else??

Elisha's Bones feels like a good adventure in the vein of National Treasure and Indiana Jones. I think you'll enjoy it too.




Book Summary: The bones of the prophet once raised the dead to life . . . but they vanished from history in a whisper. Now Jack Hawthorne, part-time skeptic and full-time professor of archaeology, is enlisted to sift them from the sands of time.

Bankrolled by a dying man of unlimited means, Hawthorne's hunt spans the globe and leads him into a dealdy conspiracy older than the church itself.

And he soon discovers those sworn to keep the secrets of the bones will do anything to protect them.

Get your copy here.

Author Bio: Don Hoesel, when not writing, works in the communications department of a large company. He holds a B.A. in Mass Communication from Taylor University and has published short fiction in Relief Journal. don lives in Spring Hill, Tennessee with his wife and two children. Elisha's Bones is his first novel.

Do Your Homework

Funny thing is I'm not saying this to one of my six kids anymore. I'm saying it to myself. I started the classes to get my certification in life coaching last week. I really look forward to opening my practice in the fall with a huge grand opening party. In the meantime, I found out that I will need to give 20, count them, 20 sample sessions to earn the hours I need for certification.

Actually, I think that's going to be fun and interesting. I have been mentoring and peer counseling for years. Now I'll take that a step farther in my new business, Gems of Wisdom. I'll be teaching online classes as well as one-on-one personal coaching.

Today, the assignment was to uncover unique character traits, skills, strengths and talents. Nothing out of the usual, but how many of us really ever sit down and ponder who we are and how that might help someone else?

I've decided to create a plan for giving away those free sample sessions required for my certification. I'm thinking of here on my blog and over on my website.

I'd love feedback on that idea. Would a fun contest or a "comment and be put in a drawing" entice you? Would you want to have a free one hour life coaching session as I work toward certification?

As I learn more about the process and procedure, I'll figure out the when and how to give these away. I know I have to have all of my sample sessions done before the end of September. Probably sooner since I will be in Denver for the ACFW conference for nearly two weeks.

So tell me, is this of interest to you? What would you discover about your own strengths, skills, talents and unique character traits if you had to do my assignment right now?

Angie

Boneman's Daughters

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing


Boneman's Daughters









Center Street (April 14, 2009)

by Ted Dekker





Angie's Take: I like the urgency and detail in Ted Dekker's book, Boneman's Daughters. He creates very believable characters in a very short time. Quite suspenseful and riveting.


Get your copy here.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Ted is the son of missionaries John and Helen Dekker, whose incredible story of life among headhunters in Indonesia has been told in several books. Surrounded by the vivid colors of the jungle and a myriad of cultures, each steeped in their own interpretation of life and faith, Dekker received a first-class education on human nature and behavior. This, he believes, is the foundation of his writing.

After graduating from a multi-cultural high school, he took up permanent residence in the United States to study Religion and Philosophy. After earning his Bachelor's Degree, Dekker entered the corporate world in management for a large healthcare company in California. Dekker was quickly recognized as a talent in the field of marketing and was soon promoted to Director of Marketing. This experience gave him a background which enabled him to eventually form his own company and steadily climb the corporate ladder.

Since 1997, Dekker has written full-time. He states that each time he writes, he finds his understanding of life and love just a little clearer and his expression of that understanding a little more vivid. Dekker's body of work encompassing seven mysteries, three thrillers and ten fantasies includes Heaven's Wager, When Heaven Weeps, Thunder of Heaven, Blessed Child, A Man Called Blessed, Blink, Thr3e, The Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, White), Obsessed, Renegade, and Chaos.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Would you kill an innocent man to save your daughter?

They call him BoneMan, a serial killer who’s abducted six young women. He’s the perfect father looking for the perfect daughter, and when his victims fail to meet his lofty expectations, he kills them by breaking their bones and leaving them to die.

Intelligence officer Ryan Evans, on the other hand, has lost all hope of ever being the perfect father. His daughter and wife have written him out of their lives.

Everything changes when BoneMan takes Ryan’s estranged daughter, Bethany, as his seventh victim. Ryan goes after BoneMan on his own.

But the FBI sees it differently. New evidence points to the suspicion that Ryan is BoneMan. Now the hunter is the hunted, and in the end, only one father will stand.

First Page Lightning: Adding Power with Rhetorical Devices

Today I have the lovely Margie Lawson with me to share some incredible teaching. Margie knows how to add adventure and ramp up life as much as she does writing. This photo above is right after Margie and her hubby, Tom, flew me around Denver in their experimental plane that he built! Come join us on the writing adventure today :-)

Take a moment and read a little about her and the special possibility to win a lecture packet today and then jump into this one day class below. When you ask a question or make a comment, Margie comes and visits to answer :-) Just love that. So watch the comments today for even more.
Welcome, Margie!
Angie

Margie Lawson —psychotherapist, writer, and international presenter—developed innovative editing systems and deep editing techniques for writers.

Her Deep Editing tools are used by all writers, from newbies to NYT Bestsellers. She teaches writers how to edit for psychological power, how to hook the reader viscerally, how to create a page-turner.

Over three thousand writers have learned Margie Lawson’s psychologically-based deep editing material by attending her full day Master Classes. In the last five years, Margie presented forty-four full day Master Classes, in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

You may WIN a Lecture Packet!

For every 25 people who post a comment today, Margie will draw a name for a Lecture Packet giveaway, a $20 value. Winners may choose a Lecture Packet from one of her on-line courses:

1. Deep Editing: The EDITS System, Rhetorical Devices, and More -- May 1 - 30
2. Writing Body Language and Dialogue Cues Like a Psychologist-- May 31 - June 13
3. Powering Up Body Language in Real Life: Projecting a Professional Persona When Pitching and Presenting, June 14 – June 27
4. Part 1: Digging Deep into the EDITS System, October 4 – 17
5. Part 2: Digging Deep into the EDITS System, October 18 – 31
6. Defeat Self-Defeating Behaviors, January, 2010
7. Empowering Characters' Emotions, March, 2010

Strap in for the flight to write! And we have lift off...
First Page Lightning: Adding Power with Rhetorical Devices By Margie Lawson


You all know the three-second-rule. Right?

When you meet someone new, that’s how long it takes to form an impression. That all important first impression. That hard to reverse first impression. That colors-your-perception-forever first impression.

Three seconds.

Look. Blink. Smile.

Your three seconds are up.

Writers have a similar challenge to make a positive first impression on agents, editors, and readers. They have a first sentence challenge, a first paragraph challenge, a first page challenge . . .

The first few pages of most novels are the most rewritten. Writers scrutinize those pages. They revise, rethink, rework, rewrite, reject-and-start-over.

Having analyzed the first several chapters (and beyond) of over a thousand novels, I know what components add power to openings. Many writers overlook one of those options--the power of rhetorical devices.

My research reveals that some New York Times bestsellers almost always use the more obscure rhetorical devices in their first few pages. Harlan Coben almost always uses ANAPHORA in the first few pages of his books. In some books, he uses anaphora in his opening paragraph and several more times in the first chapter.

Lisa Gardner and Stephen White often use anaphora and epistrophe in their opening chapters too.

In my Deep Editing course, I teach writers how to use THIRTY rhetorical devices. I’ll introduce three of these devices in this blog. ;-))

We’ll dive into ANAPHORA first.

ANAPHORA – Using the same word or phrase to START three (or more) consecutive phrases or sentences.

From Harlan Coben’s NO SECOND CHANCE, opening paragraph:

I know that I lost a lot of blood.
I know that a second bullet skimmed the top of my head . . .
I know that my heart stopped.

Two more examples from the first chapter of NO SECOND CHANCE:

I remembered waking up that morning . . .
I remembered looking in on Tara.
I remembered turning the knob . . .

I longed for the numb.
I longed for the comatose state of the hospital.
I longed for that IV bag . . .

Here’s an example of using anaphora to start phrases. It’s from Harlen Coben’s THE WOODS, Chapter 1:

I have never seen my father cry before—not when his own father died, not when my mother ran off and left us, not even when he first heard about my sister, Camille.

Look what Harlan Coben accomplished in that line. He slipped in backstory. But with anaphora, it’s fast and smooth and intriguing.

Here are two examples of ANAPHORA, from Allison Brennan, FEAR NO EVIL,
Chapter 1. It’s two paragraphs.

Fourteen years ago she wanted the exact same thing as Lucy--to get out from under her parents thumb. But that was before she'd decided to become a cop. Before she realized how truly dangerous the city could be. Before she realized that justice wasn't always swift, that the system didn't always work.

That some murders would never be solved.

Stephen White used anaphora eight times in BLINDED. The example below is from Page 1:

It may sound goofy, but I also believed that on good days I could smell the spark before I smelled the fire and I could taste the poison before it reached my lips. On good days I could stand firm between tenderness and evil. On good days I could make a difference.

OKAY! What makes ANAPHORA powerful?

The rhythm . . .
The auditory echo . . .
The repetition of the message . . .

Anaphora speaks to the reader’s subconscious.

Using anaphora makes the read imperative.

Let’s look at another rhetorical device. EPISTROPHE. This one is even more obscure than anaphora. I’ve found 20 times more examples of anaphora, than epistrophe. Yet, it’s equally powerful.

And it’s as fun to write as anaphora. I used epistrophe to draw you into this blog. It’s in my second paragraph, and in my sixth paragraph.

EPISTROPHE – It’s the opposite of anaphora. Using the same word or phrase to END three (or more) consecutive phrases or sentences.

When you meet someone new, that’s how long it takes to form an impression. That all important first impression. That hard to reverse first impression. That colors-your-perception-forever first impression.

They have a first sentence challenge, a first paragraph challenge, a first page challenge . . .

Here are more examples of EPISTROPHE from bestselling authors:

From Michael Connelly, the opening lines from THE BRASS VERDICT:

Everybody lies.

Cops lie. Lawyers lie. Witnesses lie. The victims lie.

A trial is a contest of lies. And everybody in the courtroom knows this. The judge knows this. Even the jury knows this. They come into the building knowing they will be lied to. They take their seats in the box and agree to be lied to.

The trick if you are sitting at the defense table is to be patient. To wait. Not just for any lie. But for the one you can grab on to and forge like hot iron into a sharpened blade. You then use that blade to rip the case open and spill its guts on the floor.

That’s my job, to forge the blade. To sharpen it. To use it without mercy or conscience. To be the truth in a place where everybody lies.

Here are the first four paragraphs of HIDE by Lisa Gardner.

My father explained it to me the first time when I was seven years old. The world is a system. School is a system. Neighborhoods are a system. Towns, governments, any large group of people. For that matter, the human body is a system, enabled by smaller, biological subsystems.

Criminal justice, definitely a system. The Catholic Church—don’t get him started. Then there’s organized sports, the United Nations, and of course, the Miss America Pageant.

“You don’t have to like the system,” he lectured me. “You don’t have to believe in it or agree with it. But you must understand it. If you can understand the system, you will survive.”

The family is a system.

LISA GARDNER used the word SYSTEM eight times. Plus—one use of SUBSYSTEM.

She nails the reader again and again and again with that regimented word, system. And she brings it home with her last sentence: a spotlighted, stand alone sentence.

The family is a system.

There’s a page break after that line—then the story kicks in with a vengeance. ;-))

I’ll share one more rhetorical device – SYMPLOCE.

SYMPLOCE uses a combination of anaphora and epistrophe – in the same sentences.

The SYMPLOCE example below is from Christa Allan. Christa attended my Early Bird master class for ACFW in 2007. This is her prologue for her recently contracted first book, WALKING ON BROKEN GLASS.

PROLOGUE, by Christa Allan:
If I had known children break on the inside and the cracks don’t surface until years later, I would have been more careful with my words.

If I had known some parents don’t live to watch grandchildren grow, I would have taken more pictures and been more careful with my words.

If I had known couples can be fragile and want what they are unprepared to give or unwilling to take, I would have been more careful with my words.

If I had known teaching lasts a lifetime, and students don’t speak of their tragic lives, I would have been more careful with my words.

If I had known my muscles and organs and bones and skin are not lifetime guarantees that when broken, snagged, unstitched or unseemly, can not be returned for replacement, I would have been kinder to the shell that prevents my soul from leaking out.

If I had known I would live over half my life and have to look at photographs to remember my mother adjusting my birthday party hat so that my father could take the picture that sliced the moment out of time- if I had known, if I had known- I would have been more careful with my life.

KUDOS TO CHRISTA ALLAN! I’m looking forward to reading WALKING ON BROKEN GLASS. It will be released in the spring of 2010.

With anaphora, epistrophe, and symploce—once you’ve established the repetition three consecutive times, you can play with it. You don’t have to stop at three. You can have a sentence or two following the last repetition, that don’t carry the repetition. The last sentence could pick up the repetition and end with a rhetorical punch.

Anaphora, epistrophe, and symploce are three of the thirty rhetorical devices I cover in the Deep Editing course I offer on-line in May. Deep Editing has three power-loaded tracks: Deep Editing, the EDITS System (deeper than in ECE), and more deep editing goodies like my Five Question Scene Check List. ☺

This blog focused on using rhetorical devices to add power to first pages. They can be used to add power anywhere. Writers could use this stylistic power at the opening of any scene, at turning points, before a page break, at the end of a chapter.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN!

If you have an example of an obscure rhetorical device in your work, please post it.

If you’d like to write an example of an obscure rhetorical device, one you may decide to use in your WIP, please post it!

Post a comment - and YOU COULD WIN A LECTURE PACKET!

Lectures from each of my on-line courses are offered as Lecture Packets through Paypal from my web site. For more information on my courses, lecture packets, master classes, and 3-day Immersion Master Class, visit my web site: www.MargieLawson.com .

The WINNERS will be drawn at 9PM Mountain Time tonight. I’ll post the winners on the blog.

Thank you for joining us today!

All smiles…………Margie
www.MargieLawson.com

New to the City Life Center in Missoula

After losing 35 pounds myself, I was super excited to cheer on my friend, Karla, as she lost and lost and lost. She's such an inspiration that people have been flocking to her. One of the main reasons? She not only lost the weight, she went through personal training certification to help other people.

Karla is one of those people that have taken an experience and turned it into her own Gems of Wisdom. She is busy teaching other people how to fill their own treasure chests (just like I wrote about in my book.)

Now I have the honor to introduce her new Montana-based fitness business! Please join me in congratulating and celebrating how God is using Karla's brokenness to shine brightly for good.
Angie

KARLA ROSENBAUM
ISSA CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER
What: Small group fitness classes.
When: Starting Monday April 20th
Time: 5:30 or 6:30 A.M. Monday-Wednesday-Friday
Where: The big gym at the City Life Center
Cost: The introductory cost is $100/6 week session
Why: Because you deserve it!

Whether you are just beginning a healthy lifestyle or you are trying to achieve aggressive fitness goals, Karla has been where you are. As a college volleyball player and track athlete, Karla knows what it takes to be at your peak fitness level. She also knows what it’s like to struggle with her weight and win. Less than two years ago she weighed in at 275.4 pounds
and has, to date, lost nearly 100 pounds! If you have the will, she can help you find the way. Besides personal training, she volunteers hundreds of hours each year coaching youth sports, teaching kids about good nutrition and helping to organize corporate fitness challenges.

If you are ready to make a change, email Karla today.
E-mail: GetFitWithKarla@gmail.com

KARLA ROSENBAUM IS A CERTIFIED PERSONAL TRAINER

What people are saying working with Karla:

“Karla is so positive in her approach that it is a joy to exercise!”
Jean—Boot Camp Participant

“Karla pushes me farther than I think I can go and I love it!”
Jan—Small Group Participant

“I was a bored gym rat when I started working with Karla. She keeps my workouts new and different. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.”
Jodi—Email Client

The only one that can change you, is you!

Easter Tea

Our family traditions tend to involve Afternoon Tea and that includes Easter :-)

This started many years ago on a vacation to Victoria, B.C. Who knew then how important the special meal at Bouchardt Gardens? Our family fully fell in love with the finger foods and specialties of English style tea.

It's interesting how food is the central element to any celebration. I take great pleasure in making everything by hand. It usually takes me days to prepare.

This year, I've had to make some hard choices in how I spend my time as I build the foundation for Gems of Wisdom, the business. I capitulated and have created the majority of the Easter Tea from things I bought. I've even let people help me this year.

The focus is going to be on lots of fresh berries and fruits. The savories are the absolutely must have Scotch Eggs, egg salad and cucumber finger sandwiches. The dessert is a store bought angel food cake filled with blackberries and strawberries and then dolloped with a light, quick lemon pudding sauce. I even found orange sliced pound cake to serve as the tea bread. Then I picked up tiny peach tarts, strawberry/rhubarb tarts and lemon hot-cross buns. Family are bringing more fun foods.

You know what? It's going to be a gorgeous Easter Tea and I am going to be thrilled to celebrate the reason for it--Christ's resurrection, with a much more accepting and relaxed heart. I didn't have to do it the way I've always done it. Sometimes it's worth finding a new way in order to put important things in order.

I'd say that was a good choice :-)

Happy Easter!
Angie

Carded at 44!

Yep. You read it right. On Saturday the little gal checking me out of the grocery store carded me. I was still loading my groceries onto the belt. She asked me for my ID. I stopped and said, "ID?" Now I'm thinking, I haven't written the doggone check yet!

I look up at her and she points at the tiny dessert wine I'd planned for our anniversary dinner. I follow her pointer finger to the bottle, and look back at her with a blank stare. She says, "I need to see your ID."

"But I'm 45!" (Okay, I will be in June.)

She stares me down. "ID please." She doesn't budge. She won't check another item until I produce.

"Okay, but I really am." At this point, I'm about falling on the floor laughing but I'm trying really hard to be a good customer. After all, she's doing her job and doing it well! I guess the policy is to card anyone who appears under 35.

She glances at my MT driver's license and says, "At first glance, you don't look it."

I go on merrily putting my groceries on the belt. Who wouldn't? Oh but there is a little zip in my zapper. The last time I was carded, I was 32. That was how many years ago?

She apologized as I left.

"Oh no, you made my day." And I zipped myself home to giggle with my hubby. (He didn't believe me, lol.)

Have you had something unexpected give you a little pep after the winter doldrums?

Do share :-)

Gems of Wisdom Prototype Jewelry Set

Serious excitement!

I just received the prototypes for the necklace, earrings and bracelet that partner with my book, Insanity Rules: Gems of Wisdom. They are beautiful! The designer even drew out a schematic of which gem is which!

If you haven't heard about them yet, there are 16 gems in the book. Each correlates to a concept and you earn a gem at the end of each chapter. The final chapter, 17, is the treasure chest filled with all your Gems of Wisdom. The gemstones act as memory anchors and as a meditation/prayer focus. I felt led to use the concept straight from the Bible in Leviticus chapter 38. Aaron wears 12 gems on his priestly garments on God's command to remember each of the tribes and who he is praying for when he approaches the Holy of Holies. Then over and over in the Bible, stones are used to build places of remembrance for things God has done or taught or shown.

I found historical, scientific and/or symbolic information about every stone used in the pages of Insanity Rules; Gems of Wisdom. I wrote the topics around those research discoveries. Then I studies up on pirates so I could designate one or a few to represent those negatives we have to overcome.

I have to tell you that the research on Insanity Rules: Gems of Wisdom was so fascinating that I had a hard time getting back to writing! I loved all the true stories I found. It was so hard to choose. But ultimately, the people I interviewed and wrote about seemed to click with a certain gem and a certain pirate in my mind. They flowed into a natural partnership.

Speaking of partnerships, I am thrilled that the company and designer helping me to create this premium line of gemstone prayer/meditation jewelry supports fair trade beads and silver from Third World women. They purchase genuine gemstone, hand-made ceramic, sterling silver etc. from Africa, Greece, Thai Hill Tribes and more. Additionally, Pamba Toto specifically supports two orphanages in Kenya! I fell in love with the purpose of this company as I have fallen in love with the unique artisan workmanship and the women that run it.

So for instance, the sunstone represents the chapter on shame. But you earn it when you battle the negative attitude or behavior (portrayed as a pirate.) What once you internalized as shame is now shimmering as a gem of wisdom from that experience, and something you can draw on to help others.

The treasure chest in chapter 17 is filled with the gems of wisdom you collected on the journey. And the jewelry has a treasure chest charm to represent your success! I just love the little charm that the designer, Colleen Briggs of Pamba Toto Jewelry, found for me. There's an optional silver cross charm as well.

I'll post photos soon. I hope within a few days because I would love your feedback, but also because I already have orders for several pieces and those folks have no idea what they look like. (You'll love them!) One more special feature is that each piece is a one of a kind work of art and includes a registration/creation number for collectors. Though there will be pieces that are higher priced because of the genuine gemstones and sterling silver, still there will be affordable pieces for any budget. I am thrilled about that fact!

I could go on and on in my exuberance tonight, but I'll wait for more when I can post some photos :-) Ultimately, I am so excited to see the beginning fruit of my dream. Right on the edge and ready to take off.

Now for the hard part, picking the information for the new website!

Thank you for sharing my joy today!
Angie

Clutter Free Christianity

Angie's Take:
One quote stood out to me from chapter 4. It fits so well with everything we deal with in our lives. All the injustice and wrongs we feel and experience.

See how this quote feels to you from page 59: Whenever someone wrongs you, that person becomes indebted to you -- whether or not he or she realizes it. As long as you hold on to that psychological "account receivable," you become emotionally bound to that other person, wondering when and if that debt will ever be satisfied. Forgiveness of your offender's debt is the only way you can ever free yourself and regain control over your life.

I reread that quote a couple of times as I realized I did not want to be emotionally bound to my offenders. Do you? A very worthwhile read. I'm using it right now as a Bible study.

Summary
When did the Christian life become so complicated?

Your greatest desire is to please God, but with each passing week, your spiritual to-do list grows longer. As you strive to fulfill a never-ending inventory of requirements for being a godly parent, spouse, voter, employee, and more, you feel increasingly disconnected from the God you’re trying to serve.

It’s time to cut through the clutter and get to the heart of what it means to please God. In this liberating look at the core principles of faith, Dr. Robert Jeffress reveals the truth about what God really wants from you–and what He wants to do for you.

Through solid biblical teaching and practical insights, Dr. Jeffress points you toward a revitalized faith centered on becoming more like Jesus in action, attitude, and affection. You’ll learn how to partner with God in the process of spiritual transformation as you choose to follow Christ in forgiveness, obedience, trust, contentment, service, and prayer.

Through a renewed focus on experiencing the kingdom of God right now, you’ll find your to-do list shrinking and your spiritual life deepening. It all comes with embracing Clutter-Free Christianity.
Includes a Bible study guide for personal growth and group discussion.


Author Bio:

Dr. Robert Jeffress is the senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas, one of the most historic churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. The author of sixteen books, he is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition, live broadcasts of Dr. Jeffress’ weekly messages reach millions of listeners and viewers each week, while his daily sermon series airs on 1,100 television stations and cable systems nationwide. Dr. Jeffress and his wife, Amy, are the parents of two adult daughters.

Hindsight

Being right in the situation feels overwhelming. Do you keep going? Do you make a different choice? Is that time wasted?

Back 10 years ago, I thought the work I did with my youth group was totally wasted. I didn't see the fruits of my labor and felt like I hit brick walls at every turn. I didn't think I was meant to be in that place at that time.

Oh aren't we short-sighted sometimes. sigh. I was.

Several days ago, I ran into a young lady from that youth group at my gym. We had such a nice chat. I'd have been happy and left without another thought except how nice it was to enjoy her company after 10 years. (Sure we'd run into each other, but always in a rush.) Now I had the opportunity to see into her life again, meet the woman the girl had become.

As I left she stopped me. She told me how she had always wanted to thank me for the hard work of coordinating and caring for 48 people on the youth mission trip to St. Louis for the ELCA Y2K (youth gathering 2000.) She even told me that 3 other gals talked about that trip with her often through the years. She passed on a few simple stories I tucked away in my heart.

I smiled and thanked her for letting me know it mattered to them. I turned to leave. Maybe all those years ago weren't so wasted after all.

She went on to tell me that it had made a major difference in her life and the lives of the other young ladies, so much so that they still felt the effects all these years later. Their friendship cemented on that trip. They have supported one another through high school, college and now into the work world because of that youth group experience.

I stopped and turned back. I'd had no idea.

Did it affect your faith? I asked. I held my breath and wondered if I pushed too hard. Did it matter now? Who had this young woman turned out to be?

She thought about it. Not just a momentary pause, but a full take stock moment. Then she looked at me and said, Yes.

I realized how important it was to never expect change in the immediate present. I think we all want that microwave response to the work we do while we are in the situation. But maybe the ingredients need to steep a while to release all the flavor just like these girls needed to grow their friendship and mature. God gave 4 young ladies a little bud that blossomed into a lifetime of love.

Hindsight? Yes, it was worth it even if I didn't know and didn't see it at the time. Those brick walls I kept running into turned out to be building a safe haven for teens. The Master Mason knew what He was doing even though I couldn't see His grand design while I stood in the middle of it.

Have you ever experienced something like that? Tell me about it.

Angie