Of October, Chemo, and Books

October brings some startling colors and fragrances. I'm wondering if our remaining, struggling tomatoes on the vine will ripen. We have homegrown, hothouse tomatoes: they redden only after plucked from the vine and plunked in the window sill.

To business: Paramount Craft Show FRIDAY, OCT 7 at PARAMOUNT HEALTH CARE, 1901 Indian Wood Circle in Maumee, Oh. Time is from 9 am until 2 pm. Lots of MADE IN USA quality gifts and good food too. I'll have all my books in print available to sell below market cost. New ones are anthologies with fun stories and fun devotionals. The titles are Heavenly XOXO for Women and Heavenly Humor for the Teacher's Soul. I still have copies of past favorites including Little Whiskers of Wisdom, as well as devotionals for stepmoms and the popular Snakes, Snails, Puppy Dog Tales for animal lovers.

If you can't make it to the Paramount Show, the Swanton Craft Show is scheduled for Saturday, December 3 from 10 am until 4 pm at Swanton High School.

All will happen for this author as long as my chemo hasn't got me curled up in a recliner whining about who ever came up with IV NAPALM as a cure for anything. I'll be donning an appropriate head cover and have some fun stories to tell from this summer's breast cancer journey. There are laughs along the way, believe it or not.

Shameless Advertising

Okay. One more piece of shameless advertising.

Heavenly Humor for the Teacher's Soul has been released by Barbour Publishing. All you teachers out there will enjoy these funny true stories and words of encouragement. You might even think someone's been reading your mail. This book makes a great gift for teachers come (dare I say it?) Christmas. Copies available in stores, on-line, and from yours truly. Thank the Lord for good teachers; some of them take a real hammerin'.

NEW BOOK RELEASE

HEAVENLY XOXO FOR WOMEN has been released by Barbour Books. I have two stories in the collection, and two friends and fellow writers from the NW Christian Writers also have stories in this hardbound gift book for women. I think you'll enjoy this collection.

No Princesses Here recounts the true story of my Aunt June. Born a Japanese princess, she eventually left all she knew to come to USA. What a Great Idea! chronicles the antics of my husband in our 30+ years of marriage. For those of you who know Mark, none of this will surprise you. For those of you who don't know him, you're in for some laughs.

HEAVENLY XOXO FOR WOMEN is available from bookstores, or a copy can be ordered on line.

Flower Power?

Our hibiscus tree produces big, beautiful blossoms as pictured here. They're huge things and brighten up the whole room. The bad news? We get one bloom at a time. I think we're on #3 for the spring. But the real kicker? They're big and beautiful for all of 24 hours. That's it. We enjoy them for a day and then they fold up, hang down, and land on the carpet in a shrivelled up lump.

Does it make me think of a verse of scripture? Mais oui!

"The grass withers," Peter wrote, quoting Isaiah, "and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever." (See 1 Peter 1:24 and Isaiah 40:8.) The emphasis isn't on flowers, but on the mighty Word of the Lord. Earthly beauties come and go, falter and fade. But the Word of God?

It's got staying power. SDG.

SPINELESS JELLYFISH

We seldom hear the once ultimate insult, "you spineless jellyfish!" I don't know if it's because so many of us are spineless in the bravery department, or because we know that, even though they may be spineless, those jellyfish have painful stings. OUCH!

In the Alliance Life magazine this month, missionary doctor Dan Nesselroade and his wife, Marci, wrote of their busy lives working at the Koutiala Hospital for Women and Children in Mali, W Africa. One line of their brief report grabbed me. "Nothing puts steel in my spine like watching God do things that only God can do."

Sometimes we need to just "stop, drop, and roll" around in the amazing ways God works in our lives. Doing the things He alone can do.

Feel like you're needing some steel in your spiritual spine? I do. So I'm going to watch for things God alone can do. SDG.

The Day of Small Things

Last week another year of MOPS ministry concluded at our church. As a MOPPET worker, I met an assortment of 4-going-on-5-year old children. Some Wednesdays we were overwhelmed with the number of children in our care. Their imaginations, their transparency, and their changes and growth in just 9 short months boggled my mind. Their antics kept us on our toes; their comments and observations made us laugh. On our last day, we had notes from many of the moms of these preschoolers thanking us for caring for their children while they enjoyed some "mom time," as one called it. What a blessing to read over and again that not only did these moms enjoy their time at MOPS, but their children did too. One little boy, who may grow up to be an artist, often started his time making cards and pictures for his mom. Week after week he consistently included his dad too. Both dad & mom received loving creations from his small hands. God asked his people, "Who despises the day of small things?" (See Zechariah 4:10.) He makes it clear that "small things" aren't so small when He is in the mix. Small children value the truly valuable more than we know: fun with friends, learning about God, parents who love them. Most of us won't make headline news or do anything big. But that's okay. God doesn't despise our day(s) of small things. He started it all with 3 small words: "Let there be..." (Genesis 1:3) and there was. SDG.

Snakes, Snails, Puppy Dog Tales

Thanks to those of you who voted for my book for a Small Christian Publishers book of the year award. I didn't win, but one of the authors who won had a book published by the same publisher for Snakes.... Kudos to Rick Bates and his staff at Crosslink Publishing. For those of you who are authors in search of a quality publisher, check out this publishing house. And thanks again to those of you who voted for my book. "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you...the hand of the LORD has done this (Job 12:7, 9 NIV). SDG. 5-7-11