Tips from the Pros: Cheri Cowell (Christian Authors Network)
It may look as though I’ve gone missing lately. In truth, I’ve been busy serving and teaching in Estes Park, Colorado at the Colorado Christian Writers Conference. There, I had the opportunity to teach a class titled “Book Proposals, Queries, and One-Sheets” and another called “Master the Memoir.” But today, I’m back in Florida and also over at the Christian Authors Network blog, where I’ve posted an interview with the lovely Cheri Cowell. Cheri, a popular author and speaker, has several wise tips to share with us today. Enjoy the interview here. And stay tuned tomorrow here for a Words with Friends interview with another author and speaker friend. Next week: more information on my new...
read morePRAY: Prayer for Those Who are Graduating
Our daughter graduates from high school today. Our family members have started arriving, and I know this day will stand out in all our hearts and minds. Melanie’s the youngest of our five children, nearly ten years younger than her oldest sister. Although we will miss Karissa (serving as a nanny in Southeast Asia) and Andrew (keeping his perfect attendance record at the National Aviation Academy tonight, but coming to her party tomorrow), we are grateful for those who can join us. Of course, I woke up in prayer today for Melanie and her friends from Grace Home Schoolers and the many others who are graduating at this time of year. I’m sharing my prayer with many today! Father God, You are so good and so great. Thank You for bringing us to this long-awaited day. I praise You that you love celebrations and ask us to celebrate Your work in our lives. As we celebrate today, we know we’re really celebrating You and all You’ve done. I thank You, Lord, for Your presence with these graduates at every point, every step, every bend in the road. Thank You for Your tender care and love. Thank You for dying on the cross to bring them to Yourself. Thank You for your mercies so freely poured out. Keep intersecting Your life with the lives of these graduates and allow them to keep running into You. And thank You, Jesus, for Your power in our lives. Thank You that nothing is too hard or too difficult for You. Thank You that when we call, You answer. Thank You that when we come to You in faith, You can give us the strength and the ability to do what seems impossible. Thank You, indeed, that nothing is impossible with You. Thank you, too, Holy Spirit, for Your peace which passes understanding. Thank You for your promise that as these graduates acknowledge You in all their ways, You will direct their paths. Thank You for the individual ways You have shaped them to bring Your name glory; for what once seemed like little that You have used to make much; and for the fact that one day, one year, or one decade from now, none of us will be the same because of Your mighty work and Your manifest wisdom. Thank You for these special graduates who are so dear to our hearts and lives. Thank You that we have the privilege of celebrating with them. In the holy name of Jesus I pray, AMEN. Thanks for joining in my prayer and our celebration. Please share your prayer requests or praises in the comments below or by emailing me through the link at the top of the page. Enjoy your...
read moreREAD: Just 18 Summers by Rene Gutteridge and Michelle Cox
“Don’t forget—you have just 18 summers. Take time to make some memories.” This simple comment by her pastor after a child’s dedication did more than resonate with my friend, author Michelle Cox. It set her heart humming, her mind whirling, and before long, “Just 18 Summers” moved from concept to a parenting blog, a novel, and a screenplay. It seems appropriate that I review the Just 18 Summers novel just before Mother’s Day. This also happens to be the week that our youngest daughter graduates from home high school. Like most parents, I face this milestone with mixed emotions. I’m thrilled for our daughter and the Christ-follower she has become. Not only has Melanie been named the valedictorian of her class at the private school that keeps our records, but she has also received at least three scholarships toward her future studies in Mass Communication/Public Relationships at the University of South Florida. Before she enters college, she’ll serve as a missionary to Nicaragua for five weeks as part of a team sent by Awe Star Ministries. We have much for which to be thankful, and much to celebrate. Because we started her homeschooling career a bit early, this is only our seventeenth summer with Melanie. But that doesn’t take away from the validity of Michelle’s concept or the strength of her novel, written with popular novelist Rene Gutteridge. Just 18 Summers covers four families at different stages and facing different challenges in their parenting journeys. The death of Butch’s godly wife, Jenny, has touched each one. Butch, a contractor, has the challenge of parenting his young daughter without his wife’s wise and loving influence. His employee, Tippy, and his wife Daphne, are expecting their first child and wondering if following all the right parenting rules will give them all the right answers. The Anderson family’s nest is almost empty, but what about their daughter’s choice for a husband? Robin sees him as her handsome prince, but to her parents, he’s more like a pizza-delivering frog. And what about their snooty neighbors, the Buckleys? Is it too late for them to realize the things they valued most may have the least significance? I enjoyed this novel—and not only because I have an almost empty-nest. The chapters flip from one family’s story to another’s, and it took me a little while to keep the characters straight. But this minor issue was more than offset by the way Gutteridge and Cox made me care about each family and their lives. Michelle, author, speaker, and food blogger for Fox News personality Todd Starnes, has authored seven previous books ranging from inspirational to humor to cookbooks. Her nonfiction skills and Gutteridge’s fiction expertise combine well in this novel, which reveals numerous truths about parenting and families without coming off as preachy. If you have or are thinking about having children, I highly recommend both Just 18 Summers as well its companion parenting blog. And watch for my “Words with Friends” interview with Michelle, coming soon. Remember, you have just 18 summers with your child. Read this novel to boost you into using them with purpose and intention. I’m praying you’ll have many happy celebrations ahead. What feelings does the “Just 18 Summers” concept evoke in your heart? How have you found these words to...
read moreWRITE: My Dear Friend (or what to do on your summer vacation)
My Dear Friend, We all remember those “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” assignments. Did my teacher really want to know how many times my brother and I visited the neighborhood swimming pool, weeded the garden, or played kickball? This year, I want to suggest a great way to spend your summer. You’ll find it fun, economical, family-friendly, and best of all, life-changing. I’m sending you this letter because I care about you and your family. I know you’re like most parents: you want what’s best for your kids. You’ve even told me you want to “train them up in the way they should go” (Prov. 22:6). You want them to reach adulthood with the deep desire to follow Christ with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength as well as the tools to carry out that desire. The Shelby Kennedy Foundation is a nonprofit dear to my heart. SKF exists to encourage parents as they disciple their children through in-depth study of the Word of God, Scripture memorization, and prayer. And my friends there have created two fantastic tools to help families make this vision reality. The first is the Sword Study, an age-graded inductive Bible study designed not only to teach the Bible to families of all ages and sizes but to teach them how to apply that study method to any Bible passage. I wish I’d had the Sword Study as a young mom. It would have made a great way for our entire family to study the same passage at the same time. It contains activities and applications designed for each level. And it also includes specific, step-by-step guidance for dads (or moms) to lead the family in discussing and celebrating what they’ve learned every week, no matter how much or how little time the parents has to devote to the Bible study. The Sword Study takes the fear out of family discipleship. If we’re honest, we know such fear exists—but God is never its author (2 Tim. 1:7). And the SKF’s optional competition step, the Bible Bee, provides fellowship, support, and fun—along with some fantastic opportunities to win cash and scholarships. We’re talking $25,000; $50,000, and $100,000 to the top winners at the Nationals competition in Primary (7-10), Junior (11-14), and Senior (15-18) Divisions—not exactly small change. True Confession: I do some writing work for SKF. I’ve even blogged about the Bible Bee before (here, here, and here). But I’m not about sales (I couldn’t even sell Girl Scout Cookies when they were $.50 a box). When you read the Sword Studies, you’ll see little pieces called “Vignettes” between each week’s work. Those are mine. But I don’t make more money if you buy the product. In fact, I write for SKF not because of money, but because of my belief in God’s Word and its power to change lives. SKF has instituted some changes this year to make the Bible Bee more family-friendly, more achievable, and more accessible to families across the globe. Check out the infographic below. Click on the links in this post. And please, not for my sake, but for your family’s, pray about completing at least one Sword Study. Pray about participating in the Bible Bee. The signup deadline is June 30, but if you sign up soon, you’ll...
read morePRAY: Prayer for Those Who are Finding Their Way
By now, most of you have noticed that my PrayerKeeper posts have multiple applications. Posting and praying these has been an interesting journey. The more I concentrate on praying one prayer well, the more I see how many people and situations it fits. I have told my husband that one day, as a very old woman, I may sit in my chair saying only, “Jesus loves you” and “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” That covers the essentials, don’t you think? Today’s prayer is another one which seems to fit many people I know. We’re all finding our way in one area or another. Let’s pray together: Lord God Almighty, the whole earth is full of Your glory. We praise You because You are an amazing God who reigns over all. Thank You for caring, for listening, for loving. And thank You for hearing our prayers. Today, I come to you on behalf of those who are finding their way. Perhaps they are lost sheep who don’t know how much they need You. Pull them out of the underbrush and move them, by Your Spirit and power, onto the path that leads to You. Some who are finding their way once followed You in great delight. But time, circumstances, hurts, and failures have caused them to stumble and even wander far from Your way. Draw them back as a loving Shepherd, lifting them out of danger and pushing or pulling them into paths of righteousness. For their sake, for Your sake, Lord Jesus, bring them back. For those who are finding their way through relationships filled with tension, God, I ask for Your power, Your mercy, Your grace. Cover them as You cover our sin, God. Let Your name be lifted as a light, dear Father, that they may turn to You. And in all these things, all this finding of ways and choosing of paths, God, grant us the desire and power to seek Your first, to acknowledge Your ways as higher than our ways, for You are above all. In Your holy name I pray, AMEN. If you don’t know the way, if you’ve lost your way, or if you’re making a way (or know someone who fits any of these categories), feel free to request prayer in the comments below or by emailing me through the link at the top of the page. I will continue praying for those who are finding their way and continue trusting that He will make their way His....
read moreWelcome
I've asked God to use my writing and speaking to count for eternity. I'm passionate about relationships and creativity.
