What God's been Teaching me - March

March is . . . gonna be over tomorrow? It doesn't seem quite possible, but the calendar is telling me it's the truth. A lot happened this month in my family. Winter officially morphed into spring. New blossoms are on the trees. God answered prayers in ways we couldn't even imagine, and continued to say 'wait in other areas.

 Meanwhile, the Kansas air transformed from the chilly wintry winds to breath the sweet, warm breath of springtime. And yes, that makes me really happy. Because I love summer and spring means it's on its way here. ^_^ 

This month was busy, but a bit quieter then the first two months of the year. I was able to spend a Sunday visiting with a dear friend, finish up some writing, as well as plan out April a bit . . . because that month is gonna be crazy busy. ;) 

This month I finished up my writing project, I Don't Dance. Why am I mentioning that here after I've already talked about it so much? xD Well, because a lot of what God taught me this month He taught me through my writing of that little book. 

To be honest, the whole writing process of that book had God's hand on it. I never would have told you that I've ever be writing a contemporary romance. Those are two genres I am not a huge fan of. One reason is because it seems like so many of them are cliche or ridiculous. Another reason because I've realized that with every book I write, there are little pieces of me that make their way into each one. And while I was writing historical fiction, that was totally fine. I could hide behind the characters in times gone by. But writing contemporary . . .well, it's not as easy to hide. And those who know you well can pretty easily see where a part of your life impacted the writing. 

I Don't Dance was no exception. One of the main themes of the book trusting God, and being content when He says wait. No, I haven't exactly been struggling with it in the same situation the characters in the story do, but I have been struggling with it. 

And when it got to the point where I was going to send my little book to others to read, I was terrified. This book had so much of what God had been teaching me in it, that it was near and dear to my heart. I couldn't stand the fact that there would be people out there who didn't enjoy it or understand it. And then I realized something . . . God didn't just want me to write a sweet story. He didn't want me to write a story and then keep it to myself. No, He was teaching me to be vulnerable in my writing. To write something I loved and then hand it over to others and know that it's gonna be okay. No, not everyone will like it. But you know what? God guided and directed this story. I'm writing for Him. 

And in the end . . . that's really all that matters. 

God's been teaching me to be honest. With myself and with others. To not hide who I am because I'm afraid people won't understand or accept me. I don't write so that people will like me or my writing. I write because I feel that God has called me to. He's given me the gift, and I strive to use it to honor Him. 

And that writing that I often hid because I was afraid of what people would think? Well, I've begun to realize it's as much a part of me as my family. ;) For so long I've had two different lives. Real life, and writing life. At times they would mesh, but normally they were separate. And this month I've been realizing . . . they're not things that need kept separate. 

My everyday life impacts my writing. Should not then my writing also be a part of that life? Yes, that means people who know me will read my books. Yes, it means they'll probably be able to see more clearly then most where the lines between fact and fiction face. 

And that's gonna be okay. Because I don't need to hide that anymore. 

So what point am I trying to make in all that rambling? ;) Be you. Be honest. Be real. Be vulnerable. Follow what God has given you to do. Go where He's leading. Wait where He says to pause. But never waver in your obedience because you're afraid of what people will think. Trust Him. He's got this. Yes, I applied this to writing, but it can be really be applied to any area of life. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. 

What has God been teaching you? What scripture verse has been an encouragement to you this month? 

Friendship

Friendship. There have been so many things said about it throughout history that I can't even begin to imagine I'm saying anything original.

But that's okay. Because I think sometimes, we need to hear things repeated. Otherwise we forget the importance of them.

Friendship is one of those things. And I think oftentimes, in the buisness of life, we forget that. We take forgranted the friends we have, and it's only when life and change take them away from us that we realize the treasure we once held.

There are always seasons in life. Things will always change. I've been learning that a lot as of late. And I've also come to the realization that in the world we live in, it seems to be an accepted fact of life that as things change, friendships also change. After all, can you expect that the same girl you shared your heart with in highschool will stand beside you in your wedding?
Lives change. Goals change. Perspectives change. Priorities change.

But in all that change, you know what?

Friendships don't have to change.

Or maybe I shouldn't say that. They will change. They will grow. They will become stronger. And true friendship, friendship that is grounded in Christ, like the tides of the ocean, will always remain constant.

And nothing can stop it.

Maybe you're laughing and wondering where in the world I'm getting all this from. Well, first off, I promise I'm not making it up. ;) Let me explain.

Remember the story of David and Jonathan in the Bible? David and Jonathan were friends; close friends. And then Saul, Jonathan's father, began to despise David. And tried to kill him.
But not Jonathan. Jonathan helps David escape. And David promises he'll always do good to Jonathan, and Jonathan's family. Time passes, and Jonathan is killed. David eventually becomes king. And one day, he remembers his promise to Jonathan. And wonders if there is any of Jonthan's family still alive, that he might be kind to them, as he had promised. He asks around a bit and finds out that, yes, there is still someone alive. In fact, Jonathan's crippled son is still alive.
David sets out to find him. And when he does, David brings him into the palace, sits the man at his table, and treats him like family.

Y'all, even in death, their friendship was strong. The covenent they had made during their lives was honred even after one of them had died. And death is the ultimate change, is it not? If a frienship can withstand it . . . can it not also withstand anything else this world may hand out?

God places friends in our lives right when we need them. And seeing as how we're sisters in Christ, I don't think He expects them to leave us anytime soon.
Friendships are like rays of sunshine in a world that is often dark. They leave us encouraged, and put a smile on our face. And even if it's talking about the craziest things, a talk with a dear friend just seems to make the whole day a bit brighter.

So treasure each and every friendship you have. They're all gifts. Such precious gifts! But don't expect it to be without hard times. Life brings those. And it's the friends who have been with you through the rough times who will be able to rejoice with you when the sailing is smooth once again.

Often, It's the little thing in a friendship that mean so much. Like that friend who learns the lyrics to songs just so she can sing with you, even when she's not a fan of the artist. Or that other friend who understands exactly what you're going through and stuggling with, and is always willing ot listen and encourage.
Or yet another friend, who shows that she cares for you by teasing you to death.

Such little, insiginificant things. But when placed on the foundation of Christ, it's the little things that add up to be big things.

Today I challenge you. Give that friend who means so much to you a hug. Let them know how much you treasure them. And then work on building a friendship that will stand the test of time.

I can guarantee you, it's a decision you'll never regret.

From the Selves: Books I'm currently reading/loving

Hello all! *waves* How are y'all doing this fine Saturday? We've been enjoying the wonderful weather here; the kind that's just perfect for reading outside! ^_^ (Well, unless it's windy. Then it turned into more of a fight to get the pages to lay straight.)

I haven't done a post about books that I'm reading for a while (*gasps*) so let's change that. ;) These are just a few of my favorites that I've enjoyed during the first few months of this year.

The Homelanders Series: 

Y'all. I'm not one for YA mystery/thrillers. (Is that even the genre these would be considered?) I'm also not a huge fan of first person and contemporary. But guess what, I loved these. Which means Andrew Klavin is an amazing author! I read these a few years ago and decided it was time for a re-read this year/. I loved every nail-biting, heart-stopping, edge-of-your-seat moment of these books. Definitely worth a read. ;)

Passion and Purity:

This is a book I've been told for a while that I need to read. And when dad bought and gave me a copy I was like, "Okay, not I don't have any excuse." ;) So I started buddy-reading it with a friend, and . .  . y'all. It was fabulous. It was exactly what I needed to hear, right when I needed to hear it. I'm glad I didn't read it any earlier, because it wouldn't have meant that same thing  to me. It's truly a precious book. <3 I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a godly view on relationships.

Meet My Boyfriend:

Despite the somewhat cheesy title that originally made me steer away from this book, after seeing some friends review it I decided to give it a try. And I'm glad I did! It was a bit deeper and more serious then I expected, and it had a cute "summer-y" feel that I loved!

Perception: 

I've never read the Jane Austen original, so I'm not sure how this compared. But I loved this book for what it was. A story about a family facing hard times in the early 30s . . .and it was fabulous! While some parts left me confused, most of the time I was right there with the characters, loving every moment spent with them.

Raptor 6:

I haven't finished this one yet, but so far I'm loving it! There's one element of the story that's a bit hard for me to read, but the rest is fabulous! I'm loving the whole feel of it. You can definitely tell the author has done her research, and you feel like you're in the Middle East. Not like you're in the U.S and being told you're in the Middle East. ;)
I'm excited to see how it ends, and boy howdy is the mystery part driving me crazy!


So, there you have it five book (or series! ;)) That I've been enjoying this year! Have you read any of them? Any that you plan to read soon?

I Don't Dance + A Question of Loyalty -- what's going on?!

This is a completely random, unplanned post to clear up something I'm sure some of y'all are wondering. In all this talk of I Don't Dance  . . .  what has happened to A Question of Loyalty? 

Welllll . . . it's still alive. xD

In January of this year, I sent it off to several Alpha readers, who have just completed going through it. During the time it was in their hands, I needed something to work on, which is where I Don't Dance came in. It wasn't supposed to be book length, but it seems God had other plans. And so, as of now, I have two completed manuscripts that should be published sometime this next year.

Buttt . . . in what order?

A Question of Loyalty was tentatively scheduled to be released around September of this year, and that hasn't changed. It needs a lot of work and re-writing, then Beta-readers, edits, etc, but that's still the plan. Hopefully nothing too major happens during the summer that would mess up that date. ;)

As for I Don't Dance, the scheduled publication day is June 21st. Because it's a sweet, summer romance, and it needs to be released on the first day of summer. (Yes, that's seriously the only reason I choose that date.) And it's a sweet story without a lot of sadness or heartbreak, and I thought y'all might enjoy something like that before A Question of Loyalty.  No, that wasn't a reason that I wrote it, but hey, it works. xD I've had a lot of people ask me if I could write just a sweet, happy story. So I did and I'm actually really happy without how it came out, which I was not expecting! Not that I don' like happy books, they just so often seem unrealistic to me.

So yes. A stand alone contemporary story will be released before the 3rd book in the Question of War series, but it won't change the release date of said Questions of War book.

Hopefully that answered any questions y'all might have had about the two books. I'm so looking forward to embarking on the publication journey of both of them with y'all this year!

Writing Update

So, I sat down to write a blog post and looked at the schedule and was like . . . wait, didn't I just do one of these?! Well, turns out, no. It was exactly a month ago that I did a writing update, though I kinda feel like I've added a bit about writing in all of my more recent-ish posts. 

(Also, y'all, what do you think of the new blog look? Isn't is amazing and summery and beautiful?! Sav did an AMAZING job!) 

Writing. Ah, yes. My dear friend that seemed to have left me behind since last November during NaNo. To be honest, I've kinda been on a writing slump. A Question of Loyalty needs a lot of work, and just looking a it makes me wonder how I'm gonna improve it. I've been dreading editing . . . hopefully I can get somewhat excited about it by the time for April NaNo comes?

In between trying to get excited about NaNo and waiting for the weather to warm up, (*coughs* Jess is not a cold weather person) I got a random idea for a short story. For Valentine's day. Anddd . . .it ended up a lot longer then I thought.

Sooo . . .in nineteen days I've completed a 27k word novella. I believe this is the fastest I've ever completed a writing project. My little short story project has turned into a novella that is very close to my heart. And the expected publication day is June 21st. Yes, I know publishing a book on a Thursday is a bit strange, but I have a reason. It's a novella that takes place during the summer, and June 21st is the first day of summer.  It needs some editing, but it's one of those stories that you write and love and look forward to editing. Hopefully it stays that way?

Blogging is going well. ^_^ I've manged to stay on a consistent posting schedule this year which makes me happy. It feels good to be back to actually blogging on a regular basis. (And yes, I'm totally counting blogging as writing. I mean, the post is pretty much made up of words, soooo . . . )

Hopefully by next month during the writing update I'll have a bunch of editing done to report. (Wait, does editing count as writing? It must . . . right??)  In the meantime, I hope y'all are having a wonderful start to your March! Be sure to join me next week, because I'm going to do a post I haven't done in ages. Namely, Currently reading books/recommendations!

What God's been teaching me- February/Story Introduction

Well, look at this, I'm becoming the queen of combining two posts in one. xD

Did I say January had been crazy? Because February was so much more so. Like, um, really? It's March?! I feel like this month was non-stop one thing after another, in a good way. This month was very blessed in so many different ways. It was also challenging, but through it all, God's been good.
This last month, something that really spoke a lot to me was how many times God tells us to fear not. Like, y'all, it's literally a command from the God of the universe. The God who loves us enough to send His son to die for us.
He commands us to fear not. To be still. To watch Him work in the situations were in the midst of. And that's not easy. Life in general, the future, things that may or may not happen--it can be scary to think about. But God is love. Perfect love casts out fear. If we are dwelling in God, in His word, we have no reason to fear. Because we can rest in the knowledge that the God of the universe is in control of everything that happens.

"The opposite of love is fear. Fear is realizing that you aren't in control. Love is being okay with that. And without trust, there is not love." (Quote from Jordan)

We can trust God because He has proven His faithfulness. We love Him because He first loved us. And we don't need to be in control because we know God is. Why would we need to fear?

Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9 

*<-><-><->* 

So. Onto the random part of this post that no one was expecting. But after the post I did last week, I decided I need to introduce you properly to the story. So without any further ado, here's the synopsis for I Don't Dance. 

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Sometimes it takes a a sunset to show you what really matters in life. But it's the sunrise that bring the promise of a new beginning. 

Ty and Jen have been friends for nearly as long as anyone can remember. But when Ty goes off to college and leaves her behind, he has to face the reality that he cares for her as more then just a friend. 

With only one summer left before he graduates from the ROTC program and is gone for good, he must make a decision. Military life is never easy; is it fair to force it on the one he loves? 

In the midst of wrestling with the question and coming to the realization that summer is quickly drawing to a close, Ty is hit with unexpected news that forces him to examine his own heart. 

Is it possible that God has a future for him with Jen? Or will the summer close with only memories of days gone by? 

Their relationship would be old fashioned. But that was okay. Because old fashioned and whimsical fit perfectly with a southern summer. 

-----

It's about 1/3 done, and I'm hoping to finish it in the next week or two. Now that y'all have read the first chapter (in the last post) and now the synopsis, what do you think? I went ahead and added it to Goodreads, and my hope is to have it published as a novella sometime in June. We'll see. xD

How was your month? Anything God's been teaching you? Any new writing projects started?