Robin Lee Hatcher's Write Thinking

dig deep & give generously

I haven't blogged about Katrina and her aftermath, mostly because it is too overwhelming for words. I know some people who live in these areas who have no power, no safe water. I have visited New Orleans three times and ache for the loss of an historic city. I am staggered by the loss of life and possessions and safety and health and the huge task of recovery that faces so many.

Blogonational (where I picked up the following information) and others have banded together in a huge blog effort to provide relief for the stricken area. Thursday September 1, 2005 has been designated as Hurricane Katrina: Blog For Relief Day.

I made my first cash donation to the American Red Cross. I always feel that they are a good charity to start with in any disaster. But I'm glad to know of other places to give because this is going to take the effort of Federal, State, and City governments as well as all the private and faith-based organizations who can render service.

If everyone who reads blogs gives just $10, think of the money that could be raised and the lives that could be changed. Please pick a relief organization and give today.  (The organizations and charities listed below the graphic appear via a Relief Roll code provided by the SoCal Bloggers Alliance and is by no means an exhaustive list of worthwhile charities.)

FYI, here are Technorati's flood aid and Hurricane Katrina tags.

caught reading

I almost always have a contest going on my web site. The latest one is a page I borrowed from fellow Christian novelist Karen Kingsbury for photos of readers in action. (I loved seeing Karen's entries earlier this summer; readers were so creative, including one reading in the bathtub!) Because of a crazy travel schedule, I've extended the deadline for entries to September 15. I already posted that info to my web site and it will be in my e-newsletter that goes out this week. Then a friend asked if I had posted it to my blog, too. Well, no. Duh!

So if you'd like to get caught reading a Robin Lee Hatcher novel and have a chance to win a gift bag of Idaho products, send me your digital photo(s). Here is the information:

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Send me a photo of you or someone you know (one person or a group, such as a book club) reading a Robin Lee Hatcher novel. Be creative! Send the photo via email attachment (jpeg, tiff, gif) to 2005contest[at]robinleehatcher[dot]com. Please be sure to use this special email address (replacing [at] with @ and [dot] with a period) and put "Photo Contest" in the subject line.

Your email should include:

• The name(s) of those featured in the photo
• The name of the photographer
• A caption/description of the photo (location, what makes it special, etc.)

Grand prize will be a gift "bag" of Idaho specialty items, including some wonderful huckleberry syrup. There will be five runners-up prizes awarded as well. Photos will be judged for creativity. Photos will be displayed on my web site.

By entering you will be implying permission to use the photo on my web site and/or in printed promotions to booksellers/readers. Photos must be received by September 30, 2005. (This is an extended deadline.)

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This has been a fun contest, and I hope this extension gives more readers a chance to enter now that summer is over and the kids are back in school.

-rlh-

helping hands

It's been awhile since I pointed my readers to a devotional from John Fischer, but I don't want to miss sending you to this one:

It keeps coming up. Every time I’m around someone who is uniquely prophetic in their gifts, or every time I read a forward-thinking book or article I find someone saying that the future of evangelism in the world is going to ride on the wings of service. The gospel is going to go forth via helping hands. It’s as we reach out to meet the needs of people that we will find opportunity to tell the simple story of Jesus and His love.

The Jesus movement of thirty-five years ago was all about Jesus and saving people’s souls. It was about filling up the emptiness inside left by drugs, sexual experimentation, failed social utopia, and a great sense of disillusionment and helplessness. In the years since, Christians have become preoccupied with politics and power – as if we could usher in the Kingdom of God through the halls of Washington or hold back the forces of evil at the polls. All this came with lots of talk and attention in the media – attention that has come at a price in regards to the reputation of Christians, and by way of association, the gospel.

This is why I believe prophetic voices are urging Christians to stop talking and start serving humanity....

Read the rest of The Gospel via Helping Hands.

-rlh-

run and not get weary

A few weeks ago, I commented in this blog about a worship song that really ministered to me. I searched around the Internet for it, but I didn't have enough to go on other than that the lyrics came from familiar verses in the book of Isaiah. Well, this morning we sang it again, and this time, I made sure to jot down the title (They That Wait) and artist (Kevin Prosch). I'm disappointed that the only album the song appears to be on is Kiss the Son which is only available in a cassette. I'm a CD and iPod kind of gal. Nothing to play a cassette tape on anymore, not even in my car. I looked for it used on Amazon.com and came up empty, which is highly unusual. Sigh. Maybe I'll have to order the songbook and learn to play it on the piano or keyboard.

Anyway, here are the words. Wish you could hear the melody too. It rocks.

They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength.
Run and not get weary walk and not faint.

Do you not know, have you not heard, My father does not get weary
He’ll bring passion to a willing heart
Even the youths get tired and faint but strength will come for those who wait!

They that wait on the Lord will renew their strength
Run and not get weary walk and not faint.
© Kevin Prosch 1996 7th Time Music

The Lord speaks to me often through music. Certainly He has spoken to me through the words and melody of this particular song. Thank you, Kevin.

-rlh-

fact and fiction, part 32

Another entry has been over on Fact and Fiction — The Forgiving Hour:

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
(Romans 8:28, NASB)

Anyone who has ever experienced the betrayal of a spouse involved in an extramarital affair has reason to wonder if the above verse could possibly be true. I know I would have questioned it in the summer of 1974, had I been a believer at that time (I came to know Christ a year and a half later). Little could I conceive of a day when God would take the pain of that experience and use it for good. And how He would do that was also inconceivable. After all, I was years away from thinking about writing a book, let alone seeing one published.

Read the rest of the post in today's entry on Fact and Fiction.

-rlh-

author intrusion interview

Lisa Samson over at Author Intrusion conducted an interview of me for her blog this morning.

You know, in my entire 21 1/2 years as a published author, this was the first interview where I was asked about the color of my hair or the cleaning up of messes. Check it out.

-rlh-

charis connection post

My first contribution to Charis Connection, Affirmation, has been posted today. Hope you enjoy reading it.

-rlh-

a funny for your day

Today's Shoe was too good not to share. I got this from this Yahoo link:

this and that

The Fair

I love the fair. I always have. Food Row. The exhibits. The animals. The rides. The people. Monday at the Western Idaho Fair is kids day. No smoking and no drinking allowed on Monday, and for a $15 wrist band, all the rides you can manage between noon and 6 p.m.

So off I went yesterday with family in tow: Daughter #1 with her children (Granddaughter #1 and Grandson #2). Son-in-law #1. Daughter #2, who is six months pregnant, with her children (Grandson #1, Granddaughters #2 and #3). Photos are of Daughter #1 with her nieces.

Temps were soaring near 100 degrees. I started not feeling well soon after we arrived, kind of dizzy and faint. I thought I must be dehydrated and kept drinking water and drinking water. The feeling that I might pass out never really went away and after three and a half hours, I knew I needed to leave. Daughter #1 told me to take my blood pressure when I got home. Ye gads! No wonder I didn't feel well. It was 87 over 70 with my pulse at 105. Good thing I've got an appointment for a physical next week. (P.S. BP is normal this morning and pulse is down where it should be too.)

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New Survey Released

The Barna Group, a research and media development organization located in southern California, has released its latest survey results. The report examines 28 faith factors among people in the 86 largest metropolitan areas and 27 most populous states. Check out Godless Hollywood? Bible Belt? New Research Exploring Faith in America’s Largest Markets Produces Surprises.

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Here's Where I'll Stand

Yesterday, I sent an email to a group of 12 Christian women writers. This is a tight-knit group who meet annually and have established a wonderful bond of trust and vulnerability. The trials and tribulations that have come into our lives in the past few years would make anyone weary. Serious illnesses of family members. Death of a loved one. Job losses and money concerns. Writing struggles. Marital strife.

Several of these women have joined me in my annual through-the-Bible reading, and yesterday we arrived at Jeremiah 29. This is what I posted to them:

There aren't very many Christians of any length of time who haven't heard the Scripture from Jeremiah 29:11. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” To which we say, Amen.

My True Identity Bible has this commentary on Suffering connected to this verse: “Have you ever felt that God had it in for you? When everything in your life feels like it's crashing down around you, you may conclude that either (a) God doesn’t exist or (b) He's out to get you. Neither is true. Whenever a difficult circumstance occurs in your life — whether it's a trial to enrich your character, suffering to display your commitment to God, or discipline as a consequence for your sin — God's goal is not to crush you but to restore you. You can trust that God will bring about good for you. You have a hope and a future with Him.”

To which we say, Amen.

... Even if the only group I had to pray for was [this one], it could feel daunting. Every family represented by the women who are part of [this group] has been under siege, it seems. But our God has plans to prosper us and not to harm us. We have a hope and a future.

And that's where I'm standing today. In hope. In Christ.

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Back to the Book

Today it's back to serious, serious writing on Diamond Place. Speaking of which, I don't think I've shared the preliminary cover art so here it is. I love it!

I need to write like a fiend this week and next. I'm only two weeks and three days away from the Vineyard Women's Retreat where I'm the speaker, and right on its heels comes the ACFW conference in Nashville. Like it or not, some preparations for speaking and traveling must be done, which will intrude on my writing time.

I want to finish the first draft of the book before I begin traveling, but I concede it may not happen. Still I'm hopeful. It is not an impossible goal.

Now, off to work.

-rlh-

fact and fiction, part 31

Believe it or not, I have finally gotten around to making another entry over on Fact and Fiction, the story of my writing life/career. This entry gives a glimpse of five months at the end of 1998 as I worked on five different books in various stages of production (from proposal to page proofs).

i'll pray for you

Dan at Cerulean Sanctum has a great post today about the bad habit so many have of telling someone "I'll pray for you" and then forgetting it as soon as we hang up the phone or walk away or close the email.

I have learned (and continue to learn) that same lesson. Even in public places, I often say, "Would you mind if I pray for you now?" And I cannot think of a single time when anybody has said, "Not here" or "Do it later." In email requests for prayer, I stop myself from typing, "I'll pray for you" until I actually have closed my eyes and prayed for the person and the situation. Or sometimes I'll type out a prayer into a return post so they can receive the prayer with their own eyes.

In the '80's, my home church was pastored by a man who always did this. He cared about people he knew and about total strangers. He could be in the grocery store check out line, and he would engage the person in front of him or behind him in conversation. And if something came out that revealed a problem, i.e. "My child is having trouble in school" or "My wife just left me," he would take their hand and pray for them right then and there. Not in a pushy, showy, preachy kind of way. It was all about caring for the other person.

I have a little prayer notebook where I jot down the needs of others, and I try to remember to find out what happened in different situations. But to be honest, I'm pretty lousy at following up (or even when I do, about writing the answer in the prayer book). I also have a prayer basket in my office. Because of the type of women's fiction I write (stories that deal with infidelity, broken families, alcoholism), I often receive letters from readers who tell me personal stories of pain ("my son is an alcoholic, and your novel gave me hope"). These letters go into the prayer basket after I write on them what I'm asking God for on that reader's behalf.

I have a wonderful prayer team that prays for me, my family, and my writing ministry. I send them bi-weekly prayer bulletins with my prayer request. A new team forms every August, making a commitment to pray weekly for one year. Occasionally, I hear from someone who says they aren't sure they should continue because they sometimes forget to pray weekly. My response: "Hey, if you only pray for me 30 times instead of 52, I'm still enormously blessed." Many of the prayer team members have been a part of this ministry from the first year I realized I needed that spiritual back-up for my writing. I frequently hear, "I have been so blessed by doing this." They say they've been built up and encouraged as I share my needs and my praises with them and as they go to the Father in prayer on my behalf. Isn't that just like God? When we pray for others, we receive a blessing too.

Since the advent of the Internet and e-mail, I know of countless people with cancer and marriage problems and joblessness and a host of other kinds of needs. Sometimes the sheer volume of needs leaves me feeling overwhelmed. There is so much and I'm only one person and how could my prayer change anything. Well, that's something else I learned from that same pastor back in the '80's. God tells us to pray, but the results are up to Him, not me. We aren't required to pray elaborate prayers. We only need simple words, obedience, and childlike faith.

There have been some hard things happen in my life, times when the prayers of others have literally carried me through, times when I didn't have the strength or the clarity of thought to be able to pray my own prayers. I can tell you that those who stood in the gap for me have blessed me beyond measure. I'm so grateful for them.

When he finished, one of his disciples said to [Jesus], "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." (Luke 11:1, TNIV)

Note that Jesus wasn't asked to teach them how to pray. He was asked to teach them to pray. The how isn't the tricky part. It's the doing that trips most of us up.

Lord, teach us to pray.

In the grip of His grace,
Robin

go and tell

"If a person doesn't share his faith, it's probably because he doesn't have any."

My pastor read that quote this morning. He thought it may be Spurgeon who said it. Regardless of the source, I think it's true. If you believe in something or someone, if something or someone has made a difference in your life, how can you not talk about it with others?

If you see someone in danger of blindly going over a cliff, aren't you willing to say or do something to stop them?

In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Hovering around him were mighty seraphim, each with six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with the remaining two they flew. In a great chorus they sang, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty! The whole earth is filled with his glory!" The glorious singing shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire sanctuary was filled with smoke.

Then I said, "My destruction is sealed, for I am a sinful man and a member of a sinful race. Yet I have seen the King, the LORD Almighty!"

Then one of the seraphim flew over to the altar, and he picked up a burning coal with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, "See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven."

Then I heard the Lord asking, "Whom should I send as a messenger to my people? Who will go for us?"

And I said, "Lord, I'll go! Send me." (Isaiah 6:1-8, NLT)

This isn't the first time I've posed this thought in this blog, and it probably won't be the last: If Christians are living like the rest of the world (the people who don't know Christ), what message do we have to share with them? What hope can we give them? If being a Christian doesn't change us, what has belief done for us? We are called to be a peculiar people.

Purify me, Lord. Purify my unclean lips and my imperfect life, so then I may be ready to go as a messenger to others. Send me where You will.

In the grip of His grace,
Robin

lazy and hazy

August. Those lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer. They are in full evidence here in my part of the country. I went to a meeting at the church last night, one that normally has over 200 (maybe closer to 300) in attendance. My guess is there were 50 tops. People off on vacation before the official start of school. People off to a leadership meeting in California. People off to opening night at the Western Idaho State Fair. People just hot and tired and not leaving home.

My writing has been almost non-existent this week. Life has intruded, time-wise and emotionally as well. Groan. I'm hoping today will get me kick-started on the w-i-p (Diamond Place, April 2006, Revell) — especially since I plan to go play at the Fair on Monday. One thing I did accomplish: I got a proposal off to my agent to submit to one of my publishers. Whew! Felt good to get that checked off my To-Do list.

Having no brilliant thoughts to enter in my blog — and thinking there is a good chance my blog readers are all off playing in the lazy, crazy, hazy days of August, too — I'm going to opt for an easy entry. I'm going to answer Friday's Feast #60 on this Saturday morning:

APPETIZER:
Do you get excited when the season begins to change? Which season do you most look forward to?

Yes, I do. There is something about the different smells and colors of each season. Winter is my least favorite season. I guess I would choose late summer/early fall as my favorite time of year. Right now in Boise, we have hot days (mid 90's) but cool nights (low 50's). So the windows are open as we sleep, letting in the crisp fresh air. Wonderful. Boise also enjoys long Indian summers, usually until almost Halloween. Spring would be my second favorite time of the year as the promise of new life buds all around.

SOUP:
What day of the week is usually your busiest?

Wednesdays. I try to make that my appointment day. Doesn't always work, but that's what I shoot for. When it works out, I only have one day a week when I'm out and about and away from the computer. Sundays are my least busy. A few years ago, I realized I was becoming a workaholic. I would get home from church and discover nothing on TV I wanted to watch and slowly I would gravitate to the computer and writing. So I decided I wouldn't write on Sundays. I can play on the computer, blogging or working on graphic designs or anything that I take creative pleasure in — except writing because that is my "day job" and Sunday is my day of rest. I just about always end up taking a nap!

SALAD:
Would you consider yourself to be strict when it comes to grammar and spelling? What's an example of the worst error you've seen?

Yes, I would consider myself strict, although this blog wouldn't always prove that. I tend to write and post to the blog without going over and over the words first. So my errors often make it through. Worst error? Hmm. Don't know if I can think of one. But one of my pet peeves is how often I hear people use "myself" instead of "me." And I hear it everywhere, including the highly educated. "When the meeting is over, please see either John or myself for a sign up form." Argh! Can't they hear how wrong that is?

MAIN COURSE:
Who has a birthday coming up, and what will you give them as a gift?

Granddaughter #2 is the next family birthday on the horizon. She will turn four. She's getting a Care Bear and a children's computer game of some sort. I'll be traveling on her birthday, so her mother is already in charge of the presents.

DESSERT:
If you could have any new piece of clothing for free, what would you pick?

Oh, I would go for a designer made pantsuit, the sort of thing Laura Bush often wears. She always looks so classy. My work attire is loose-fitting and ultra casual. Capri pants in the summer. Sweat pants in the winter. T-shirts most days. We attend a casual, come-as-you-are church, so dressing up for me is usually a pair of nice jeans and actual shoes rather than the flip-flops I wear out to the mailbox. But when I attend writer conferences or speak to Christian women's groups, I love to get out my "dress clothes" and prove that I clean up pretty good. {{grin}}

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Well, there you go. Now it's time I get to writing on my w-i-p.

Happy Saturday.

-rlh-

be enough, Lord

I recently discovered Dan Edelen's blog, Cerulean Sanctum. He has an excellent post this morning to begin my Friday: Lord, To Whom Shall We Go?

So I'm making that my morning prayer: Lord Jesus, be enough. Be all that I need from the start of my day to the moment I close my eyes and even after as I slumber. Be enough to fill any empty places in my heart. Be my Father. Be my Husband. Be my Provider. Be my Protector. Be my King. Be my Friend. Whatever it is that I need or think that I want, let me turn to You for satisfaction and fulfillment. Jesus, be my All-in-All. Amen.

-rlh-

family

With the blogosphere exploding daily, it's possible for me to read thoughts by Christians of every color and stripe. More than at any time in history, followers of Christ can understand the theology of various believers and denominations.

It shouldn't take any regular readers by surprise to know that I am an evangelical Christian who believes the Bible is the written Word of God. Stealing the title of the biography about the Vineyard church movement, I am in "the radical middle." I believe reading, knowing, meditating on the Bible is an integral part of a believer's life. I also believe in the miracles of God, that the gifts of the Spirit are still operating today. I believe we need both and that Scripture supports both. I understand that there are dangers of legalism on one side and dangers of emotionalism on the other side. As in all things, I believe we need balance in our Christian walk. If forced to label myself, I would say that I'm an evangelical Charismatic.

This past "school year" I completed a nine month systematic theology study. It was an awesome experience. I wish I had done it many years ago. What was particularly wonderful was observing how others in the study interacted. Calvinists and Arminians and all who fell in-between exchanging why they believed what they believed based on Scriptures. The spirit was one of brotherhood, of love, of a desire to understand.

So I was thinking this morning about how God blessed me early in my Christian walk, giving me a love for all of those who call Jesus Lord and Savior and accepting them as part of the family of God even if we disagree on points of doctrine. (I believe there are only a few doctrine that are "deal breakers," beliefs that would cause me to think we are not of the same faith; not all who call themselves "Christian" believe in the absolutes as I see them.)

I was a born-again believer of just a couple of years when a city-wide evangelical outreach campaign took place. Organizers grouped volunteers by neighborhood. I ended up working with a Pentecostal believer; a woman from a denomination that taught "no make up, no slacks, no birth control"; and a Quaker believer. So there I was with one woman who praised and prayed with lots of hopping around and arm raising and another who believed that all worship and all the sacraments were enjoyed internally, in the heart.

But you know what? We all loved the same Lord. We weren't so very different. Not really. One was loud and exuberant. One was quiet and solitary. The other two (counting me) fell somewhere in-between. But our desire to please the Lord was the same. We loved Jesus. It was this experience that caused me to believe that God allows all of these different denominations in His church to fit our personalities, to meet our needs, not His.

I'm grateful for that foundational experience, because through the years, it has allowed me to worship with all believers. I won't budge on the Trinity, that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone, and a few other rock bottom Christian beliefs. But I don't care if you aren't comfortable with contemporary worship music or wearing make-up or dancing. If my sister or brother finds greater intimacy with Christ in a liturgical setting, praise God. I'll read those words from the prayer book and let the truth of ages past touch my heart. Or if my sister or brother in Christ wants to jump around, waving flags, or fall face down on the floor, then praise God. I will observe their worship and delight and pray with them.

If you call Jesus your Lord and Savior, then you are part of my family. We may not always agree on every jot and tittle of doctrine, but I'll love you. I'd better. I'm going to spend eternity with you.

In the grip of His grace,
Robin

christian carnival #83

I love the Christian Carnival. It's always a delight to find a new blog where someone shares from their heart about their faith.

one woman's inspirational

Pardon my rambling thoughts this morning. My brain is churning, and words are going to go onto this screen as they come to me.

Every so often, discussions erupt in the general writing world about "inspirational" novels. Readers and writers who are not of the evangelical Christian persuasion object to the fact that there aren't "inspirational" novels published for or about Catholics, Hindus, Jews, New Age, etc. Actually, there often are books published that feature such characters, but they are not a defined market as is the CBA market. (The CBA, made up of Evangelical Christian booksellers and publishers, has been around more than 50 years.)

First of all, let me say that few (if any) of the Christian writers I know refer to themselves as "inspirational writers." We know that what we write is Christian fiction. That's our worldview, our belief, our passion. However, the common use of the word "inspirational" to describe our books has made it impossible to completely avoid the term. I have won many awards for my Inspirational fiction, but they all come from secular, not religious, organizations. I can't say for certain how far back said term goes, but Romance Writers of America presented "Inspirational Awards" to Christian romance fiction back in the mid-1980's.

Readers seek books that affirm their worldview and belief systems. Of course, we enjoy books that reveal other cultures and customs and religions. I personally loved the novel, The Kite Runner, about a Muslim in Afghanistan. And what appealed to me the most about The Kite Runner was the thread of redemption that ran through it. Redemption, of course, is a huge part of the evangelical Christian faith. So when I read that book, while learning new things about another culture and another faith, the novel also affirmed my Christian worldview.

I can understand the frustration of readers who would like to find more "inspirational" fiction about their own faiths. What I cannot understand is why they level their displeasure at the CBA publishers for not publishing said books. It's unrealistic to expect Evangelical Christian publishers to release books that aren't written from an evangelical Christian worldview. Evangelical Christians are the target audience. CBA publishers don't target readers who are Hindu or Jewish or New Age for the same reasons a romance publisher doesn't target readers of horror or sci-fi. Because that wouldn't be good business. CBA publishers know the readers they are publishing their books for the same way marketing giant Harlequin knows the readers they are publishing their books for.

Following another vein being discussed about Christian fiction, Angela Hunt has beat me out of the gate. I invite you to read: The Desert - Gritty Enough.

The only thing I would add to her excellent post is to mention the awesome book by Francine Rivers, Redeeming Love, as an example of just how gritty and real and deep CBA fiction can get. For anyone who thinks Christian fiction readers are afraid of such fiction, make note that Redeeming Love hasn't left the bestseller list since 1997 when Multnomah first published the book. This story is about a girl sold to a pedophile who is later forced into prostitution. Even after finding a man who loves her, she returns more than once to a brothel.

Anyone who says that Christian fiction is about perfect characters and that flaws are only alluded to and not explored in depth hasn't been reading much of the fiction being released in the CBA market today. Edgy, gritty Christian fiction about complex characters who are flawed and entirely human abound. I write novels about imperfect Christians because that's the only kind of people I know. And the Christian novels I read are filled with flawed characters who reveal their deepest, darkest thoughts and emotions. I would run out of room if I tried to list all of the CBA authors who are writing such books.

Author BJ Hoff has a wonderful post along the same lines over at Charis Connection. I invite you to read: Writing Grace.

I wrote 30 books for the general ABA market. I was free to use curse words (I did to some extent), name intimate body parts (I avoided for the most part), write sex scenes (I did), etc. But I was not free to write about my Christian faith except in very general, euphemistic terms. As my faith and my relationship with Jesus deepened, so did the need to write more openly about what mattered most to me. Which is what drew me to write for the CBA — the freedom I was offered by the CBA publishers to write about adultery, family secrets, alcoholism, rebellion against God, etc. To tell stories about realistic characters struggling with real-life issues.

So when I hear griping that a writer can't use curse words in CBA-targeted fiction, I want to tell them first that restrictions and requirements are everywhere in publishing. They're just different, depending upon the market they are writing for.

And speaking of writing, I'd better go do some.

In the grip of His wonderful grace,
Robin

Quote of the Day

"Shakespeare's name, you may depend on it, stands absurdly too high and will go down. He had no invention as to stories, none whatever. He took all his plots from old novels, and threw their stories into a dramatic shape, at as little expense of thought as you or I could turn his plays back again into prose tales."
— Lord Byron, letter to James Hogg, 1814

great new blog

Charis Connection is a new blog for readers and writers of fiction written from a Christian perspective. For anyone who doesn't know (I didn't), Charis means grace.

The contributing authors (multi-published, award-winning, best-selling novelists) include: James Scott Bell, Jack Cavanaugh, Brandilyn Collins, Athol Dickson, Patricia Hickman, Liz Curtis Higgs, BJ Hoff, Angela Hunt, Randy Ingermanson, Jane Kirkpatrick, Dave Lambert, Deborah Raney, Lisa Samson, and yours truly. My first post won't show up for about another ten days, but I don't want you to wait to read what these other authors are posting. Their columns will edify you, challenge you, entertain you.

Enjoy!

-rlh-

the potter's hands

In chapter 64 of Isaiah, God is identified as the Potter who shapes the clay.

Sometimes the squishing and molding and pounding isn't too pleasant to go through, but the Potter is shaping me into a beautiful, serviceable vessel. I am the work of His hands. There is comfort in knowing that the storms and trials of this life will be turned to good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.

This morning, I also read these verses:

For this is what the Lord says:
"I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried on her arm
and dandled on her knees.
As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you…"  (Isaiah 66:12-13, TNIV)

Isaiah foresaw restoration for Israel the same way I foresee restoration for things in my life. God promised to comfort His people — of which I am one — the same way a mother comforts her child. He is my comforter. God holds me close, pressed up against Him like a nursing baby. He extends peace to me like a river.

I was reminded that outwardly I may be experiencing conflict and chaos, but inwardly I can trust the Comforter to hold me close. Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” Amen. I have the peace of Christ that passes all understanding.

In the grip of His wonderful grace,
Robin

ben stein's final column

A friend sent me the following piece, Ben Stein's final Monday Night at Morton's column (E! Online, December 2003). I thought this was so good, I wanted to pass it along to my blog readers. Since it is more than a year and a half old, you may have read it before, but it's worth reading again.

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How Can Someone Who Lives in Insane Luxury  Be a Star in Today's World?

As I begin to write this, I "slug" it, as we writers say, which means I put a heading on top of the document to identify it. This heading is "eonlineFINAL," and it gives me a shiver to write it. I have been doing this column for so long that I cannot even recall when I started.

Lew Harris, who founded this great site, asked me to do it maybe seven or eight years ago, and I loved writing this column so much for so long I came to believe it would never end.

But again, all things must pass, and my column for E! Online must pass. In a way, it is actually the perfect time for it to pass. Lew, whom I have known forever, was impressed that I knew so many stars at Morton's on Monday nights.

He could not get over it, in fact. So, he said I should write a column about the stars I saw at Morton's and what they had to say.

It worked well for a long time, but gradually, my changing as a person and the world's change have overtaken it. On a small scale, Morton's, while better than ever, no longer attracts as many stars as it used to. It still brings in the rich people in droves and definitely some stars.

I saw Samuel L. Jackson there a few days ago, and we had a nice visit, and right before that, I saw and had a splendid talk with Warren Beatty in an elevator, in which we agreed that Splendor in the Grass was a super movie.

But Morton's is not the star galaxy it once was, though it probably will be again.

Beyond that, a bigger change has happened. I no longer think Hollywood stars are terribly important. They are uniformly pleasant, friendly people, and they treat me better than I deserve to be treated. But a man or woman who makes a huge wage for memorizing lines and reciting them in front of a camera is no longer my idea of a shining star we should all look up to.

How can a man or woman who makes an eight-figure wage and lives in insane luxury really be a star in today's world, if by a "star" we mean someone bright and powerful and attractive as a role model?

Real stars are not riding around in the backs of limousines or in Porsches or getting trained in yoga or Pilates and eating only raw fruit while they have Vietnamese girls do their nails. They can be interesting, nice people, but they are not heroes to me any longer.

A real star is the soldier of the 4th Infantry Division who poked his head into a hole on a farm near Tikrit, Iraq. He could have been met by a bomb or a hail of AK-47 bullets. Instead, he faced an abject Saddam Hussein and the gratitude of all of the decent people of the world.

A real star is the U.S. soldier who was sent to disarm a bomb next to a road north of Baghdad. He approached it, and the bomb went off and killed him.

A real star, the kind who haunts my memory night and day, is the U.S. soldier in Baghdad who saw a little girl playing with a piece of unexploded ordnance on a street near where he was guarding a station. He pushed her aside and threw himself on it just as it exploded. He left a family desolate in California and a little girl alive in Baghdad.

The stars who deserve media attention are not the ones who have lavish weddings on TV but the ones who patrol the streets of Mosul even after two of their buddies were murdered and their bodies battered and stripped for the sin of trying to protect Iraqis from terrorists.

We put couples with incomes of $100 million a year on the covers of our magazines. The noncoms and officers who barely scrape by on military pay but stand on guard in Afghanistan and Iraq and on ships and in submarines and near the Arctic Circle are anonymous as they live and die.

I am no longer comfortable being a part of the system that has such poor values, and I do not want to perpetuate those values by pretending that who is eating at Morton's is a big subject.

There are plenty of other stars in the American firmament. The policemen and women who go off on patrol in South Central and have no idea if they will return alive. The orderlies and paramedics who bring in people who have been in terrible accidents and prepare them for surgery. The teachers and nurses who throw their whole spirits into caring for autistic children. The kind men and women who work in hospices and in cancer wards.

Think of each and every fireman who was running up the stairs at the World Trade Center as the towers began to collapse.

Now you have my idea of a real hero.

Last column, I told you a few of the rules I had learned to keep my sanity. Well, here is a final one to help you keep your sanity and keep you in the running for stardom: We are puny, insignificant creatures.

We are not responsible for the operation of the universe, and what happens to us is not terribly important. God is real, not a fiction, and when we turn over our lives to Him, he takes far better care of us than we could ever do for ourselves.

In a word, we make ourselves sane when we fire ourselves as the directors of the movie of our lives and turn the power over to Him.

I can put it another way. Years ago, I realized I could never be as great an actor as Olivier or as good a comic as Steve Martin--or Martin Mull or Fred Willard--or as good an economist as Samuelson or Friedman or as good a writer as Fitzgerald. Or even remotely close to any of them.

But I could be a devoted father to my son, husband to my wife and, above all, a good son to the parents who had done so much for me. This came to be my main task in life.

I did it moderately well with my son, pretty well with my wife and well indeed with my parents (with my sister's help). I cared for and paid attention to them in their declining years. I stayed with my father as he got sick, went into extremis and then into a coma and then entered immortality with my sister and me reading him the Psalms.

This was the only point at which my life touched the lives of the soldiers in Iraq or the firefighters in New York. I came to realize that life lived to help others is the only one that matters and that it is my duty, in return for the lavish life God has devolved upon me, to help others He has placed in my path. This is my highest and best use as a human.

As so many of you know, I am an avid Bush fan and a Republican. But I think the best guidance I ever got was from the inauguration speech of Democrat John F. Kennedy in January of 1961.

On a very cold and bright day in D.C., he said, "With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth...asking His blessing and His help but knowing that here on Earth, God's work must surely be our own."

And then to paraphrase my favorite president, my boss and friend Richard Nixon, when he left the White House in August 1974, with me standing a few feet away, "This is not goodbye. The French have a word for it--au revoir. We'll see you again."

Au revoir, and thank you for reading me for so long. God bless every one of you. We'll see you again.

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Thanks, Ben.

-rlh-

christian carnival #82

More links to some great Christian thought, both lighthearted and serious, hosted by the Bloke in the Outer. Come have a look.

God's favor

In a comment to my post, a jumble of thoughts, Pam said:

How do you personally reconcile the two thoughts -- embracing trials and praying God's deliverance? I grew up in a church that strongly teaches pain and suffering are to be endured - almost to martyrdom, as some sort of penance, even as a way of offering a prayer up for others (i.e. if I have brain cancer I should just suffer and offer it up for someone else's salvation). Now that I more fully understand what Jesus did for us, I don't go along with that. I've learned to pray God's word into my life and others. But some of the teaching on "favor" seems to go overboard the other way. Just wondering about your thoughts on that...

Tough question that I'm not sure I can answer in a morning blog. More like a book is needed — along with a great deal of study — to do an adequate job. You see, embracing trials and praying God's deliverance are both true. As believers we need to be discerning. Through my years as a Christian, I have heard the prosperity gospel preached and I have heard teachings on walking in divine health and a host of other things. Christian maturity teaches us to test what we hear with the Word of God. The whole Word. We should not take one verse and make a doctrine out of it. We do so at our peril.

I think the greatest problem we Westerners have with this is that we associate an "abundant life" (God's favor) with a prosperous life and/or a life without physical or emotional trials. I don't believe that a study of the Bible reveals that as true at all. As long as we live in a fallen world where sin and disease are unloosed, we will have trouble. Jesus Himself told us so: "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33, TNIV) Jesus said we will have trouble, and He didn't say that the instant we pray we will be taken out of that trouble. He said we'll have trouble but that He has overcome the world. So we take heart in Him, even as trouble swirls around us. The Word also teaches that God goes before us and behind us and on all sides. He is always with us, even to the end of the age.

I do not believe Scripture teaches us that we are simply to endure hardship. Persevering is so much more than merely gritting ones teeth and getting through another miserable, hard, awful day. Martyrdom isn't the goal. The abundant life is having joy, no matter the outward circumstances. I believe that if Western Christians took a look at our persecuted brethren in countries around the world that are hostile to Christianity, where believers are put to death or imprisoned for their faith, we would have a better understanding what the true "abundant life" is.

The Word tells us to pray about everything, to pray without ceasing, to pray with belief. Our responsibility is to pray for the sick. It's God's responsibility whether or not that prayer is answered with healing or not. If there is anything in this life I am sure of, it's that nothing happens to me that isn't either caused or allowed by my Heavenly Father for my benefit. He causes or allows people or circumstances to enter my life so that I will continue to be refined, continue to be honed to be more like Jesus. That's the reason I was born: To become molded into the image of Christ, day by day by day. I won't get there until I'm in heaven, but I should be moving in that direction all the time.

Pray for patience, and I can guarantee you that God will send people into your life who will test your patience to the very limits! Because how else can we know that we are patient unless our patience is tested? Pray for wisdom, and your wisdom will be tested. Human nature tends to object to those lessons. Usually when we pray for something, we already have in mind the way we think God should answer us. I've rarely seen God work in the way I've figured out that He should.

A few years ago, when I was in a very hard place in my life, I stood in my office, crocodile tears splatting onto the floor mat under my feet, and I whispered, "Why, God? Why is this happening to me?" (Meaning, of course, that "I don't deserve this!") In a voice so full of love, He spoke to my heart, Why not you, beloved?

That's right. Why not me? Who am I to tell the God of the Universe how He should use me or teach me or refine me?

Did Jesus deserve the cross? No, He even prayed that the cup might pass from Him. Prayed so hard He sweat blood. (I've never prayed that hard. I'm like the disciples who couldn't even stay awake and watch for one hour.) But ultimately His prayer was "Not My will but Thine." He went to the cross and died — and all along the path to Calvary, God showed His favor to His Son. And because of it, I will spend eternity with Him.

Yes, I believe in God's favor. I just don't think it always looks like we think it should.

In the grip of His grace,
Robin

happiness, joy, contentment

Wow! To the very jumbled thoughts in my last post, I would like to add Christian Conservative's excellent comments in his post on Christian Happiness:

It is true that by default human beings seem to enter the world with the expectation that life is supposed to make us happy, as if it is a birth right. So we are shocked when we experience hardship and trouble.

Treat yourself to the entire post. It's worth it.

-rlh-

a jumble of thoughts

The Kingdom of God is such an upside down place, so contrary to the "norm" that we are taught in Western culture. Ads on TV tell us to do things because "we're worth it." Subtle or not so subtle messages tell us to think of ourselves first, to take care of #1. We can get pills that will make us thinner, able to avoid having children, able to have sex. Quick fixes to avoid pain and problems abound.

But God says to persevere in the midst of trials. He calls us to embrace the trials, problems, pain. We're called to praise Him in all things. We aren't to look for the quick fixes but to go for the long haul. And so I've been pondering the study of Hebrews that we're doing on Sundays:

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2, TNIV)

The race I'm in was marked for me. It's my race, and I'm to persevere in it while keeping my eyes on Jesus.

Having completed a 9 month study of systematic theology, I discovered that I fall kind of in-between the Calvinist and Arminian camps. I see the truth of both in Scripture, and so often I have to simply concede that both are true and trust God. For instance, He is in control and yet He gives us free will. I don't quite understand how that works. I just know it does.

Last week I mentioned a song we sang at church. I searched high and low, but I cannot find who sings it. I believe it must be an oldie. However, this morning, I arrived at the verses in Scripture that the song was taken from. If you've walked with the Lord for any time at all, the verses will be familiar to you:

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31, TNIV)

Isn't that beautiful. My Father never grows weary. I do, but He never does. And He will renew my strength (while I'm persevering in the race). I can soar on wings of eagles.

Speaking of words to a song and of trials and of persevering and of thanking God in the midst of whatever (good times or bad), we've sang Blessed Be Your Name for the past two Sundays. That song so perfectly fits everything I've said above. I have it on the Newsboys' album, Devotion, but there are probably other artists who perform it too:

blessed be Your name
in the land that is plentiful
where your streams of abundance flow
blessed be Your name
 
and blessed be Your name
when I'm found in the desert place
though I walk through the wilderness
blessed be Your name
 
every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
when the darkness closes in, Lord
still I will say
 
blessed be the name of the Lord
blessed be Your name
blessed be the name of the Lord
blessed be Your glorious name
 
and blessed be Your name
when the sun's shining down on me
when the world's 'all as it should be'
blessed be Your name
 
and blessed be Your name
on the road marked with suffering
though there's pain in the offering
blessed be Your name
 
You give and take away
You give and take away
my heart will choose to say
Lord blessed be Your name
 
I will bless Your name, Lord

Plentiful land or wilderness, I will bless the name of the Lord. Amen.

In the grip of His grace,
Robin

writing right

At church this morning, the lady who sits in the row behind me most Sundays asked if I was gearing up for the retreat next month (I'm the retreat leader). I told her I was focused right now on getting a book written in August. She said, "A whole book?" and I told her it was a novella. From there she asked the usual questions about how I plot and how I come up with ideas, etc. And the answers were so boring. "Well, it varies from writer to writer. There is no one way to do it."

How unsatisfying that must be to the curious, but it's the truth. There is no definitive answer. There is no right way to write. What matters is the finished product, not how a writer gets there. There are writers who write rough drafts of a whole novel in a week to ten days (something like 10,000 or more words per day). Then they start layering and adding and layering and fixing and layering. I tend to fall into the camp of those who write pages that are pretty much finished the day I write them and will just need a final proof and polish. So my words per day output is more along the lines of 1,000 to 2,000 (the latter being a great day).

I've said before that a lot of the questions writers asked other writers is not for learning more about the craft of writing but a deep desire to find an easier way to do it. And there is no easier way. Honest. If you naturally are plot-focused, chances are you wish you could just sit down and create the way those blasted seat-of-the-pants writers do it. And if you are one of those SOTP writers, you probably wish you were a detailed plotter. Wouldn't matter. It would still be hard.

Best advice I can give aspiring writers is to just write. Whatever way it works for them is the way a writer should do it.

One question that always surfaces at some point is about inspiration. "What inspires you to write?" Deadlines. Paying the mortgage. Buying groceries. A writer writes. A bookkeeper keeps books. Same song, different melody. They just do it. You cannot wait for inspiration to keep books if that is your job, and you cannot wait for inspiration to write if you're a writer. You have to write until you get through the garbage to unearth the pearls. Inspiration doesn't find you. You find it.

Good advice for me as I get more into book #3 of the Hart's Crossing series. Yesterday I spent hours reading info about Little League baseball. How big of a part will LL baseball have in the novella? Probably not as big a part as the time devoted to research would indicate, but it's all part of the job.

I'm feeling eager for morning. I'm ready to get moving on this story, and I hope to make this week a super productive one.

-rlh-

true security

A friend of mine burned a disk of favorite worship songs and sent it to me. It is now playing in my iTunes, and I'm feeling loved. Loved by God and also by a precious friend who took the time to create this for me. I am blessed.

In my through-the-Bible reading this morning, I arrived at Isaiah 31:1.

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,
who rely on horses,
who trust in the multitude of their chariots
and in the great strength of their horsemen,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel,
or seek help from the Lord. (TNIV)

And the question, of course, is: Where am I looking for my security? Horses and chariots? The strength of men? Am I trusting in my job? (Given I'm a self-employed writer in an up-and-down industry, that would be insane!) In my family and/or friends (even the wonderful friend who made this music CD for me)? In the money I have in the bank?

If I'm not looking to the Lord for my true security, I'm setting myself up for woe (Merriam-Webster defines "woe" as "a condition of deep suffering from misfortune, affliction, or grief; ruinous trouble; calamity, affliction"). I don't know about you, but I'd just as soon avoid woe as much as possible. But sometimes misfortune, affliction, grief, ruinous trouble, and calamity happen. But guess what? Jesus is still my true security. I can cling to that.

Beyond the Shadows, a novel about alcoholism and its devastating affects on a marriage, had an underlying theme of hope. This morning, I went and revisited some of the verses I used as I wrote that book.

When I have no hope, this is where I am:

Job 17:16 —  No, my hope will go down with me to the grave. We will rest together in the dust!

Psalms 143:4 — I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.

But Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith, is my true security, and so He is where I put my hope:

Psalms 25:5 — Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.

Hebrews 10:23 — Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

Hebrews 11:1 — What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.

Job 11:18-19 — You will have courage because you will have hope. You will be protected and will rest in safety. You will lie down unafraid, and many will look to you for help.

In an insecure world, it's comforting to know that the Lord never changes. I have courage because I have hope, and I lie down unafraid. It's a beautiful thing to rest in the Lord, even in the storms of life.

Where are you looking for security?

In the grip of His grace,
Robin

P.S.

Hmm. Guess I could have saved myself a rant and just sent y'all over to read BJ Hoff's excellent post on Grace Notes about this same topic. If only I wasn't behind on my blog reading...

-rlh-

thoughts on writing

Hmm. Ever notice that when life gives you a sucker punch, blogging and blog reading are just not real high on your priority list? Well, if not, I don't think you've really experienced a sucker punch in the game of life. And since this week hasn't been one of my better weeks, I am living dangerously close to the "ranting" edge.

Yes, I think I will rant. In order to appreciate my tirade, for those of you interested in writing and/or reading Christian fiction (which most of my blog readers are), "Go read this wonderful post by Angie Hunt!"

I think Angie is onto something. There is a lot of prideful behavior being flung around the blogosphere under the guise of "improving" or "challenging" the