Your Relationship with God

God created you for two purposes -- to glorify and have a close, personal relationship with Him. He wanted someone on which to pour out His unconditional love and who would love Him back. We were not originally created for this world but for God. Therefore, nothing of this world will ever satisfy the deepest longing of our hearts. Everything you need can be found in a close walk with the Lord as He becomes your greatest desire.

The reason Jesus came to earth and died on a cross was to restore our relationship with God.  Accepting the salvation He offers is the first step, because we cannot be close to our Holy God otherwise. He will not tolerate sin or be in its presence. When Christ imputes His righteousness to us, then we can be holy, too.

After we take that first step, we can begin the lifelong journey of getting to know the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. Studying His Word and prayer are important tools in getting to know Him and growing closer. When He becomes absolutely the most important thing in your life, you will have that peace which passes all understanding.

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A Medieval Mistake

I sat in a writers' conference session several years ago and the presenter was trying to get across the idea that writers need to avoid stilted or formal sounding sentences. She made the statement that contractions were used all through history. Well, she was wrong. Contractions, as we know them, didn't come into the vocabulary until the 16th century.

But because of this misinformation, when I started my novel set in the Middle Ages, Roslyn's Rescue, I looked up word after word to make sure it was used during this time period, but it didn't occur to me to look up contractions until I had finished the first draft. I guess I should be thankful that I thought to double check it then. I would have been mortified if I hadn't caught it.

I'm appalled at myself, as it is. I'm a history and English major who should know better. I read the King James version of the Bible all the time, and it doesn't use contractions either, but this never occurred to me. In addition, Tamara Leigh's Age of Faith Series, set during the Middle Ages, is one of my favorites, and I read books set in this time period. I guess this just goes to prove that none of us are perfect, and I don't think we should pretend otherwise. We all make mistakes, but this was a huge one when it comes to writing. Therefore, I've gone back through and corrected around a thousand contractions -- a hard lesson that I guarantee I'll remember. 

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National Punctuation Day

September 24th of every year marks National Punctuation Day. I wonder if it's celebrated as much as it once was because much of the interest in punctuation seems to be waning. I even had another author tell me that one could punctuate a sentence any way a person desired because there were no set rules. Of course, I didn't agree.

Punctuation is there to help make the intended meaning clear. The very same sentence can vary greatly in meaning, depending on how the sentence is punctuated. I see more and more of what could be termed "creative punctuation" at best. For example, the ellipsis (three dots) should be only used to show a pause or interruption that omits part of the text. It should not be used to show emphasis or in place of a comma or dash. If the ellipsis comes at the end of a declarative or imperative sentence, four dots should be used to denote the period also.

A few years ago, I sat in a senior level university English course. I was appalled at the lack of understanding of basic grammar and punctuation. And these were English majors, many of whom planned to go on to teach English. I constantly hear publishing houses and editors lamenting the same thing. So, I for one, am ready to celebrate National Punctuation Day. Bring on the correct grammar!

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Forgiveness and Prayer

Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift (Matthew 5:23-24).

In order to have a strong, effective prayer life, you need to make forgiveness a priority. Unforgiveness is a big stumbling block to your attitude and to having God's unfettered ear. There're three main types of forgiveness that we need to be aware of and implement in our lives.

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

First of all, you must ask God for forgiveness of sins and accept Christ as your Savior. This is the first crucial step to everything. You get to trade your sinfulness for Christ's righteousness so you can stand sinless and perfect before Holy God. This is the most important thing you will ever do in your life, and it's so easy. However, it must be heartfelt. You can't just go through the motions and try to fake it. God knows.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9).

You must also ask for forgiveness and repent when you realize that you've sinned again. King David in the Bible is a good example of this. He committed adultery and murder, but he felt deeply sorrowful over what he and done, begged for forgiveness, and repented. God called him a man after His own heart. Because of the sinful nature we inherited from Adam and Eve and Satan's temptations, we will continue to fail and fall short, but forgiveness is there for the asking as long as we are sincere.

For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses (Matthew 6:14-15).

And then, forgiving others is imperative. The Bible is very clear. If we don't forgive others, God won't forgive us. It's strange how many people want to hold others to a higher standard than they do themselves. They admit they aren't perfect but still expect perfection in others. Love and a humble spirit will cover a multitude of sins, and forgiving someone who has wronged you is very freeing. Unforgiveness will weigh you down with unnecessary burdens. Forgiveness is an important key to having a blessed prayer life.

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Order of Introducing Main Characters

It is important to introduce the heroine's or hero's point of view in a novel before any other important characters appear and give theirs. Readers automatically began to sympathize with the first points of view they encounter. Most writers know this, but I still read a few novels from those who don't, and it's rather disconcerting. 

I actually did this in the first draft of a soon-to-be-released novel. The hero's first marriage is unsuccessful, but his wife dies in childbirth, and he marries a second time. I caught it on my first edit and rewrote it so that the book opens with the second wife preparing to venture west. Then the book continues as before, working in glimpses of the heroine along the way until they meet.

It's also normally a good idea not to write from any other characters' points of view, except that of the hero, heroine, or, on rare occasions, the villain. In the above novel, I did not write from the first wife's point of view at all. Using too many points of view will divide the reader's sympathies. There may be an unusual exception to this, especially in a plot-driven novel, but use this rule as much as possible if you want readers to love your characters and the book.

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National Apple Dumpling Day

September 17th is National Apple Dumpling Day. I love apple dishes, and apple dumplings are one of my favorites. The first apple dumpling I remember eating was years ago at the Old Salem Tavern in the historic Moravian village of Old Salem in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. I've been in love with them ever since. After I eat one, I always feel as if I'd had a special treat.

No one knows how long the apple dumpling has been around, but the term was first used in print in the 1500s. Some historians believe the food may have originated in England and spread from there across Europe and then elsewhere. It became a tradition of the Amish in Pennsylvania during the colonial period.

The dish is made by coring and peeling a baking apple, adding sugar, spices, and butter, and wrapping it in a crust. A sugary syrup can also be added. It's often eaten for breakfast as well as for desserts. As with apple pie, some people like it served with vanilla ice cream.

Here is one recipe:

2 c. all purpose flour
3/4 c. butter or margarine
4 T. cold water
6 med. baking apples
3 c. light brown sugar
1 1/4 c. water
2 T. butter
3 T. chopped nuts (optional)
3 T. raisins (optional)
dash cinnamon

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place flour in a mixing bowl and cut in cold butter until the size of small peas. Mix in cold water one tablespoon at a time until all is barely moist. Press into a rectangle and roll out to the thickness of pie crust, sprinkling with a little extra flour if necessary. Cut into 6 equal squares.

Core and peel apples. Place an apple on each of the 6 crusts. Mix together nuts, raisins, 1/2 c. sugar, and cinnamon. Stuff empty core cavities with mixture. Pull up each corner of a crust to wrap around the apple and press together at the top, moistening, with a little water if necessary. In a saucepan, put 1 1/4 c. water, 2 T. butter, and 2 1/2 c. sugar and stir until melted to a syrup. Pour over apple dumplings. Bake about 45 minutes or until apples are tender when poked and crust is a delicate brown.

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Paul's Last Days

Paul's last imprisonment in Rome was very different from his first one. The first time, he rented a house and was basically under house arrest for five years. This allowed him more freedom and allowed his friends to visit him more easily. During this confinement, he wrote letters to the Galatians, Thessalonians, Corinthians, Romans, Colossians, and Ephesians, and then to Philemon.

Nero - By cjh1452000 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://
commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6983878

In his second Roman imprisonment, Paul was chained in a dungeon in inhumane conditions. Nero was emperor, and the Great Fire had happened in 64 A.D. To dispell rumors that he had started the fire so he would be able to rebuild Rome, Nero blamed the Christians, and a renewed wave of torture and cruel executions began. No one came to speak for Paul at his first hearing, but he had little defense to the charges anyway. He had certainly refused to agree to the emperor's deity and bow down to worship him.

Paul was shackled in heavy chains. His cell was likely filthy, wet, cold, and rat-infested. Luke remained with him and wrote for him. His last letter from here is the epistle we know as 2 Timothy. Tradition tells that in 67 A.D., two soldiers led him to his death. Because Paul was a Roman citizen, he couldn't be executed in a shameful way, so he was beheaded with a swift sword blow to the neck. His suffering was over. He was home with Christ.

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21).

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Writing Ease

As I complete yet another first draft, I'm amazed all over again at how easy writing is for me. I hear others complaining of writer's block or other struggles, and I can offer little advice because I've never really experienced such things. I don't know exactly why this is true, but I imagine it may be a combination of things.

For one thing, I have an informal selection system for choosing what I write. At any one time, I have at least four or five ideas for books rolling through my mind. Their characters become dear friends, and scenes play like movies in my mind. As the ideas come and go, it takes several months for me to get around to writing one, and those that fade or I lose interest in I just never write. Therefore, when I start writing, I have choices that highly interest me, and I already have the foundation in place.

I think being a pantser also helps me. I write much like I read -- to see what happens. I know my characters and setting well, and I know vaguely how the story will end, but I write to see how it gets there. If I did a lot of story mapping or preplanning, it would destroy the newness and intrigue, and I would have a much harder time finishing the story. Doing it this way makes writing exciting and fun, just like reading a good book.

I also like living in the imaginary worlds I build. I like creating characters I love and seeing where their lives lead. I like infusing my writing with God's truths and messages. As an only child with a mother who loved to tell me stories, I grew up with a vivid imagination. Perhaps this helps me never to run out of things to write about. Whatever the reason, I am most grateful.

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Naval Stores

The abundance of pine trees along the coastal region of the East Coast offered a much-needed resource in the colonies where a flow of goods depended on shipping. Even Sir Walter Raleigh’s first expedition reported seeing pine trees suitable for naval stores. Tar, pitch, and turpentine were important to Great Britain,  a nation that had the largest fleet of ships in the world. By around 1720, these commodities had become essential exports, and England encouraged it with special bounties to make it more lucrative since their navy and shipping industry depended on these products.

Turpentine had a great many uses, such as a laxative, a way to make cloth or leather water repellent, cheap fuel for lamps when combined with a little alcohol, and eventually as a solvent in paints. Tar and pitch helped seal wooden vessels, including boats and ships, to make them watertight. Tar also kept ropes and riggings strong longer, greased wagon wheels, preserved wooden fences, and was used to treat wounds on livestock. Much later, it would also be used on roofs and to build roads.

Tar was made by slow-roasting pine limbs in a kiln. As the resin heats, it flows out and can be collected. Pitch comes from boiling tar to make it more concentrated. It nearly solidifies when cooled but can be spread like paint when it’s heated, making it an excellent protectant for ships. Turpentine is made by distilling pine gum, the material that forms around a cut or wound in a pine tree. Workers would collect the pine resin in barrels and often transport them on flatboats along the river systems to a port city.

The coming of the railroads made transportation easier and increased naval store activity for a while. However, production declined after the Civil War for several reasons. The longleaf pines had been overharvested, Sherman's troops had burned some of the Southern pine forests, the ironclads showed promise and eventually wooden hulls would give way to iron ones, kerosene would replace the camphene for lamps, and synthetic solvents would eventually make turpentine less necessary in things like paint. In a way, the naval stores gave way to new innovations and progress.

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How to Be Content

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me (Philippians 4:11-13).

Paul said he'd learned to be content in all situations, whether he had a lot or little and regardless of the problems that came his way. This is amazing when one thinks of all the rough traveling Paul did and all the adversity he faced. How did he manage to stay content through it all? I can see three major truths that enabled him to find contentment no matter what happened.

And when he [Jesus] had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone (Matthew 14:23).

First of all, Paul had a vibrant prayer life. It's what keeps our relationship with God alive. Prayer makes God real to us on a daily basis. Jesus sought out times and places to be alone to pray. When He could, he often went to a mountainside to commune with God. If Christ saw prayer as essential, how much more should we?

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end (Jeremiah 29:11).

If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? (Matthew 7:11).

Secondly, Paul had complete trust in the Lord. God loves us much more than we can ever imagine and wants only the best for us. In addition, He knows what's best when we don't. He knows all and can see the future, therefore it only makes logical sense to trust Him implicitly. When we do so, it takes away the fear and anxiety that can steal peace and contentment. And on top of all this, we know where we'll eventually end up - with Him for eternity.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break in and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.... (Matthew 6:19-20a).

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on the things above, not on things on earth (Colossians 3:1-2).

And lastly, Paul's focus was on Christ and not on worldly or material things. The older I get the more I see how temporary and fleeting this earthly life is. And material things mean less and less with some even becoming a burden since I'm their caretaker. Christ and what we do with Him and for Him are the only things that will last. In the end, He is so much more important than anything else in our lives. Paul understood this, and he lived his life accordingly. What about you? These three things bound together wrap us in a peace and contentment that's beyond description.

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A New Endeavor

Ever since I began writing novels, I've had more ideas for books than I can get written. Yet, I write them faster than I can get them published. I began with a traditional publisher, and that's where the four books in my Appalachian Roots series were published. Realizing that the process took so long that I would never get enough in print this way and having a large number of finished manuscripts, I also went with a smaller, print-on-demand publisher. This enabled me to produce more because he usually got the books out in about six to ten weeks instead of six to ten months. However, it took him almost six months on the last book, so I need another option.

Therefore, I've decided to go to a third way. I've decided to actually give self-publishing a try. I have no idea if I'll be able to format the books myself, but I know others who do, and the idea doesn't frighten me. If I can pull this off, I'll have more control, and I can make needed corrections without going through a third party should any mistakes initially slip through.

For my first venture, I'm going to write a series of stories based loosely on the classic fairy tales. These may be more novellas than full-length novels, but I'm not sure. I've begun my first one, Roslyn's Rescue, (you guessed it) based on "Little Red Riding Hood." However, readers will find it only vaguely resembles the original tale. I'm doing what Disney did with their productions and fleshed it out, giving it some unexpected twists and turns.

At first, I'm only going to publish them as ebooks. However, if everything goes well, I'll consider combining some or all and publishing them in print copies. I'm excited about this new venture. So far, Roslyn's Rescue is going well. I always speed along at a rapid pace when I began a new book, and some never slow down. I'll keep you posted.

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Celebrating Labor Day

The United States and Canada, celebrate Labor Day on the first Monday in September to honor the American worker and the contributions they have made to the success, strength, prosperity, and well-being of their nation. In the beginning labor unions help promote the day. The first Labor Day parade in the United States was held in New York City on September 5, 1882. 

Matthew Maguire, a machinist, is thought to have introduced the idea of celebrating Labor Day in the U.S. in 1882. At the time, he served as secretary of the Central Labor Union of New York. Oregon became the first state to make it an official public holiday in 1887. It became an official federal holiday in 1894.

Labor Day is seen by many as the end of summer, and this has culturally been accepted. Many stores have Labor Day sales to move out their remaining inventory of summer goods. Traditionally, schools waited until after the Labor Day weekend to start a new year, and some still do. Many of the fall sports also begin their season then. In addition, it's often the last vacation of the year for families. Many try to go to the beach for one final time if they can and take along a good book to enjoy. How will you celebrate? However that is, have a happy, safe Labor Day.

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