When the Bible doesn’t “feel” true, God understands. He knows we sometimes feel like withered grass.
BIG disappointment yesterday (regarding my Multiple Chemical Sensitivity and housing).
But, a good friend reminded me to focus on God, knowing God has a GOOD plan.
Numerous sources (blogs, dear hubby, Scriptures) have reminded me that I can also trust God’s timing.
And to continue a Scripture we emailed to family and friends yesterday:
II Corinthians 4:16-18
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment….”
This is me interrupting: hey, this “feels” anything but light, and the last four years have certainly felt longer than a moment.
However, THE WORD OF GOD IS TRUE no matter what I feel like. (And I think it means “light” and “a moment” in comparison to an eternity of happiness in heaven, which of course helps my “feelings.”)
But my point is that we cannot trust our feelings.
How about some examples from the physical life? Chemotherapy does not “feel” like it is helping, but it is (usually, anyway). Junk food doesn’t “feel” unhealthy going down, but it is. Discipline doesn’t always “feel” better than laziness, but it is.
So here’s the rest of the Scripture (repeating the phrase where I interrupted):
“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
AMEN!
Christa Upton Black Hills Picture Books PO Box 293 Custer, SD 57730
1. What is the working title of your book? My book is The Library Thief. Sorry, I can never change the title for sentimental reasons, for myself and my parents. 🙂
2. Where did the idea come from? I was 13 years old. I loved mysteries and decided to write one of my own. I was sitting in a room by myself, and suddenly I imagined someone coming in the front door of my empty house….! (My imagination sometimes got me in trouble as a kid—sometimes I couldn’t walk down dark hallways…!) Since I didn’t finish the book until 2010, my parents had to wait 27 years to find out who the Library Thief is. 🙂
3.What genre does your book fall under? Children’s Christian Mystery (chapter book, for approximately ages 7-11)
4.Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Grandma—Joan Hickson (Agatha Christie films: Miss Marple)
Amanda—Emmy Clarke (Monk: Julie Teeger)
Jane—Anna Sophia Robb (Because of Winn-Dixie: Opal)
Nolan—Bailey Cave (Facing the Giants: David)
5.What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? The Johnson cousins and their friend work together to solve a 100-year-old mystery!
6.Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
The Library Thief is self-published as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.
The new, improved version (including photos of real 100-year-old items!) will be available soon, maybe even this week!!
Let me know if you have the old version already, and I’ll email you the new one for free. Eventually, I’ll also figure out how to offer it as a “free special” for a few days on Amazon, and I’ll post the link. (Subscribe to my blog to keep up with the latest news.)
7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? Hm. The first draft took me probably five months or so back in 1983, plus another 20 months in 2009/2010.
8.What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I think the tone and length of my book is similar to The Boxcar Children series. But there is definite Christian thread running through it.
9.Give a poignant or profound quote from the story. I don’t know if it’s profound or not, but my character Sierra (age 10) says, “Life isn’t about popularity.” Maybe it’s profound for a 10-year-old. 🙂
10.What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
Who was the intruder in Grandma’s little library? What did he want? Where is the treasure that Grandma’s fun-loving Grandma hid so many years ago?! And what IS the treasure she left behind?
This mystery is full of children/youth who model kind, loving attitudes towards their siblings, friends, and parents (and Grandma). The children love the thrill of the hunt and even learn a few things along the way.
Comprehension and discussion questions for your children are also included—handy for further learning and discussing! (My prayer is that this leads children to grow in Christ, even though the main point of the book is a fun story.)
So, now I invite another Christian writer to step forward and do this as well!
Mention me and Black Hills Picture Books as your invite-er and spread the word! Here are the instructions:
1. You write a blog answering the ten questions and post it during the week of March 25. Include links to the blogs of the writer(s) you invite (up to five writers). You also credit me as your host and include a link to the blog article I posted.
2. The writer(s) you invite answer the questions; each one puts that blog up the week after yours goes up. Each one credits you as their host and includes a link to your blog.
3. They, in turn, tag other writers, and the cycle continues.
YOUR TURN: Wanna play? Leave your blog in the comments section and ask me or the gal above to invite you! Plenty of room at this party!
So why do I keep changing the photo at the top of my website? Because I get tired of looking at the same one! 🙂
Also it’s because when I am literally too tired to do anything but sit on my bed and type (when I’m even too tired to talk), I find messing with photos etc. fun. Because of my extremely severe Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, I can no longer play piano much, sing much, or dance. But the artist in me won’t go away!! I like being artistic with my photos when I can. When driving somewhere for fresh air and such, Steve is used to me saying, “Oh, can you stop for a minute?!” so I can take a photo. 🙂
Other miscellaneous quirks:
I usually change the names of the characters in my stories at least twice! The “person” is in my mind, but I usually can’t figure out their name right away.
I love “hippie clothes”! And bare feet! And Castile soap! Not marijuana, though. 🙂
I pick up accents in half a second and start using the accent myself (accidentally), but I can’t “imitate” accents on purpose at all. (I’m pretty sure I now sound like some weird blend of South Dakotan, Missourian, and possibly whatever TV I’ve been watching lately….)
Did you guess my other quirk yet? I use so many smiley faces in my writing that I often go through emails (even personal emails) and other writing and delete some smiley faces (and exclamation points) so people don’t think I’m weird. Seriously. True Story. 😀 (Yes, if I were writing on paper, I’d probably use pink pencils, dot my i’s with hearts, overload with exclamation points….!)
Steve said I could share his funniest quirk with you, too:
He likes almost EVERY kind of music out there! This means that when he puts his iTunes on shuffle, I get whiplash from hearing peaceful Vivaldi, followed by rockin’ Stryper, followed by romantic Barry Manilow, followed by worshipful Michael W. Smith, followed by jazzy Manhattan Transfer, followed by glorious Dowland Renaissance, followed by twangy Randy Travis…. LOL I tease him, but actually I love it (and actually enjoy almost everything he enjoys. Except Stryper…sorry…! 🙂 ) Plus that way he pleases everyone. I’m a bit happier to hear when it gets to Bach, and Nathan is glad when Newsboys comes up…. 🙂
Please share your quirks with me! I’m a people-person and love interesting/funny stuff. Plus you might give me ideas for a new character in my books. 🙂 I promise I won’t make a WHOLE character out of you, though.Most of my characters are “composites” of characteristics I love in other people.
I’m a little off the normal topics today, but I wanted to share this funny thing (funny to me, at least).
First of all, I’m so un-technical that to me, “cookies” mean yummy things with chocolate chips in them, “trackbacks” sounds like someone hunting deer, and “dashboard” is the thing in the car. So doing all this blogging/website is definitely a learning process for me. (I’m very thankful for those free tutorial videos from WordPress, etc.! 🙂 )
I don’t know if every blogger runs into this, but I get “spam comments” on my posts. Fortunately, the default for “comments” is for them to be moderated, so you all have never had to see these spam comments. I just have to delete them all (from my “dashboard.”)
My understanding is that spam comments are generated by “robots” and that the companies’ motivation is to get you and your readers to click on their links (and buy their stuff).
Some of these “comments” are nonsense, and others are just a list of links.
But some have bogus generic comments that could fit most posts and say things like “Great write-up!” or “I found this blog accidentally; thanks for the information!” followed by their links to their products (shoes, jackets, whatever). I guess their bogus comments are to try to get you to “approve” their comment and put it on your site?
So one day, I get a comment just “buttering up” the writer (me)—SO annoying because you know it’s fake. It said something like, “I’ve finally found someone on the internet that knows what they are talking about on this subject!” It went on to tell what an expert “I” am on the subject (or something like that).
My post they were supposedly commenting on: “Homeless, the 3rd Time.”
I had to laugh. Yes, I don’t suppose there are a lot of people blogging about being homeless. Not sure I want to be known as an expert on it, though. 🙂
Do you have any funny blogging stories to share?
Christa Upton Black Hills Picture Books PO Box 293 Custer, SD 57730
I wrote most of the following post on January 3, 2013, knowing I could only capture the thoughts while I was feeling the feelings. (Happily, I do not feel like this every night!!) But, it wasn’t the right timing to post it then. Here it is now:
Do I want to quit sometimes? Oh yeah.
Tonight’s a good example.
I want out.
I want out of this life that has caused me to suffer pain, be lonely, be up all stinkin’ night sometimes, not be able to take care of myself (much less my kids or my dear husband), and wonder where I’m going to live next or when we’ll have to move again.
I’m sick of being discouraged and then feeling guilty over it because of all that our churches, family, and friends ARE doing for us. I am SICK of being so exhausted.
But it’s not like I can ditch this disease.
It is what it is, and it ain’t goin’ nowhere (unless God takes it away or we can obtain/create an MCS house).
What if God never takes it away and He never provides for an MCS house?
Well, I could walk away from God, but what good would that do? I’m MUCH worse off without Him, and much, MUCH worse off with the enemy (Satan).
I could “stay with God” but remain angry with Him, bitter about what He has allowed in my life. But that wouldn’t do much good either. My anger might even hurt Him because He cares about me, but in the end it would hurt me much more than Him.
I could ignore my problems and live in denial. Oh, well, no, I can’t do that because my in-born personality will not let me.
So, I surrender to God. It only makes sense. (It only makes sense for you, too.)
And the end of it for tonight—ending up in surrender to God—even though I do NOT feel like it right now, is always the best place to end up.
Psalm 146:4-5: “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them–the Lord, who remains faithful forever.”
Christa Upton Black Hills Picture Books PO Box 293 Custer, SD 577
I’m back (I think)! I may have to quit blogging again when we actually move, but in the meantime, I have too much to say. 🙂 (Yes, I’m one of those bloggers who will never run out of things to say….)
So, eleven excellent things God has brought out of my Multiple Chemical Sensitivity are:
a closer relationship with my husband
closer relationships between my husband and our kids
less fear
perseverance
compassion
time to write children’s books 20 years sooner than I thought I would write them
opportunity to develop relationships with relatives and new friends in South Dakota and new MCS friends online
beauty in nature from relocating to the Black Hills
adventures
perspective on life
greater dependence on God
What good things has God brought out of the trouble in your life?
I’m so excited—Marji posted my “short story” on her website!! (Mine is the second story down on Pink Party: Popping the Question. http://marjilaine.com/ Read Jackie’s story, too—it’s very sweet!!)
Marji is a published author http://marjilaine.com/for-readers/wip/ , fellow homeschooling mother, and very nice person!! 🙂 I am looking forward to reading more of her books in the future!!
For Valentine’s Day, Marji is doing a special series of posts on love—really fun! Her post called Love Story is a beautiful picture of our relationship with the Lord.
One of these days, I will get back to my “regular blog posting.” In the meantime, thanks for letting me share!
Christa Upton Black Hills Picture Books PO Box 293 Custer, SD 57730
Almost 19 years ago,
A Cute Kitten Surprise—
Our first “baby.”
Chasing strings, playing with stuffed Mousie,
Snuggling, purring.
Drinking out of the dripping sink,
Poking a paw through the knothole next to the stairway.
Getting used to human babies
And a little too much attention. 🙂
Meowing at the birds outside the window,
Licking yogurt off my finger.
Curling up at my feet,
Keeping me company during bedridden times.
Begging for my chicken salad,
Cute fuzzy face.
We’ll miss you, sweet kitty.
Goodbye, little friend.
Christa Upton Black Hills Picture Books PO Box 293 Custer, SD 57730
From 2007 to 2010, I suffered accidental Toxic Injury (also called Multiple Chemical Sensitivity or Environmental Illness). But, the forced time in bed has given me time to write. It has been such a blessing to work on my children's books and stories!
I love: God, family & friends, outdoors, gardening, animals, writing, reading, photography, cooking, music, dance, bare feet, long skirts, lavender & yellow, and chocolate.
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