Learning to Dance in the Rain

“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.” (Author unknown)

Like most people I know, I don’t like to keep broken stuff around.  But I had never given it too much thought until our accident.  Some people were goofed out by our brokenness.  I think they didn’t know what to say.  Or seeing wheelchairs and stuff just made them feel so bad, they didn’t know how to process it.  Some of our friends didn’t call as much, or seemed in a hurry to get away, or were just bored since we weren’t really cool or fun or spontaneous anymore, especially not now.  We had so little to offer, yet needed so much attention, and we always felt like a big, hairy spectacle.

One of my favourite passages is Isaiah 61:1-2, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour”

These verse are a nice reminder to reach out to the broken, I’d thought as I highlighted them the summer before our life went nuts.  And I liked that heart-stopping moment when Jesus read these verses to the Jews in the synagogue.  And like an artist who pulls the veil off his work, a priceless sculpture, Jesus went on to say, “I’m the one.”

But now what caught my attention was later in the passage, when the Lord called a motley crew of prisoners and the depressed and broken-down people “oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour” (verse 3).

God gave the lowly ones the task of rebuilding His flattened Kingdom.  Not the people I would have picked for my task force, but if pressed, I would have to admit that those I consider the heart and soul of our church are those who have waded through dark, dark times… I was getting the idea that God Himself found great value in those the world deemed ruined.

The above is an extract from a book called My Life and Lesser Catastrophes  by Christina Schofield. 

On her 30^th wedding anniversary Christina and her husband Allen set out for a ride on their motorbike.  After skidding on loose gravel they ended their day in hospital.  Christina had concussion.  Allen had broken his neck. 

This is not one of those ‘we prayed and Allen was immediately healed’ kind of books.  Christina talks honestly of the enormous difficulties of coming to terms emotionally, spiritually and practically with the accident.  Yet this is not a depressing book either, but rather an uplifting one which truly does challenge the reader despite being written in very conversational language and therefore being easy to read.  Christina’s faith is severely tested.  She cries out to God, and often finds only silence in response. Yet she holds on, and her faith comes through in her book as something real, important, and living.

 

This is not a brand new title, but sometimes it is good to remind folk that some books which have been around a little while still have a very valid voice!

Nowhere But Up - UK Facebook Page Goes Live!

Hello to all those who're waiting to see what will happen with our countdown to Nowhere But Up! The first piece of news is that our UK specific Facebook page is now live! We will be posting information, pictures, competitions and anything we think is interesting.

We need your input! So please post & please do circulate information about the page, or from the page!  We want lots of chat here in the UK about the book... (please!)

Just one point. We know that some less helpful or over-enthusiastic posts are sometimes left on FB, so we are announcing right up front that we reserve the right to remove any snarky, snipy, unrelated, un-nerving, nasty, inappropriate, 'troll-ish', or just too downright weird comments if we feel it necessary to do so. :)

Nowhere But Up - Coming (Very!) Soon

Pattie with Her Book!

"It's not just teen moms who struggle or need to find hope. Whether you're a single mom, an addict, or a victim of abuse . . . whether you're on the verge of bankruptcy or the brink of divorce . . . whether you're in a dysfunctional family or the product of a broken home . . . whether you battle depression or struggle with anxiety . . . whether you live in fear or hide in shame . . . whether you've been abandoned, rejected, or ignored--there is hope.

It doesn't matter where you find yourself today--broken, hurting, wounded, or shamed. If God can help me find my way up, I promise, He can do the same for you."
Pattie Mallette

We're now about to start counting down to the publication of Nowhere But Up, the autobiobraphy of Pattie Mallette, known to many as Justin Bieber's mum. This is important of course, but Pattie has her own inspirational story to tell too.

From 18 September the book will be available in the UK through all good bookshops, and on-line.

Many Christian bookshops will be carrying a counterpack which will look very like this, so you know what to look for!  Other shops which are not taking the counterpack for space or other reasons will still have the book, and we plan to post lots of pictures of shops with stock!

Our 'countdown proper' starts on Monday 10 September, so watch out here and via our Twitter stream (@BPGUK) for daily updates from Monday!

Every day, every hour, every minute of our lives we have the opportunity to either say "yes" to God or "yes" to ourselves.  That's why Jesus emphasized something I don't hear much about at churches these days - denying  yourself: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23).  I think he found it necessary to say that because, while most of us want to do what God wants, we also want to do what we want.  And that's where the problems begin.

* * * * *

Over the years I've read lots of books about following Jesus.  Typically, they tend to make me feel guilty because I'm either not rejoicing enough or witnessing enough or going to church enough or tithing enough or praying enough.

Or they make following Jesus sound like a piece of cake: that life will just keep getting easier and easier as I get holier and holier and put into practice the Five Time-Tested Tips and Seven Life-Changing Principles that the author has based his current book, seminar series, website, or DVD curriculum on.

But I find very few books that lay out the paradoxical truth of the matter - (1) following Jesus isn't always easy, practical, fun or popular because temptation hounds us every step of the way, every day of our lives, (2) through it all, God's grace and forgiveness are powerfully available and instantly accessible to everyone, everywhere, all the time.  We live in the middle of a deep and rich paradox.  Grace and truth, pain and healing woven through our world, through time itself.

The greatest saints of the ages have discovered something most of us haven't.  Not only are they familiar with their own shortcomings and sins, they're also aware of the outlandish grace of God.  By being mindful of both their fallen nature and Jesus's risen love, they're able to live on the escarpment of evil without constantly toppling over the side.

Steven James, Flirting With the Forbidden

A Place at the Table - 1

Lent has arrived, and I'm now reading Chris Seay's A Place at the Table and adjusting my eating and drinking to reflect on what it's like for the poor of the world - including those in our own country. 

Because I am walking this journey alone and because I thought that sticking to one thing for six weeks might be a step too far for me, I decided to vary my approach each week.  This week I have reduced my food budget.  Next week I will be living mostly on the staple foods of someone living in poverty in India.  The week after that is going to be about water rather than food, so I will be limiting my intake of all drinks EXCEPT water during that week. 

So this week I decided to reduce my usual weekly spend by 2/3.  On a tight budget there's no way you can impulse buy or shop without planning first so I set off for the supermarket with a list I'd made of exactly what I'd need for the coming week's meals.  I made it under budget, just.

The shopping was the toughest part of the week so far to be honest but it hasn't proved necessary to live on baked beans on toast for a week after all.  That said, my trip to the supermarket was IT for this week.  No nipping in for extra or forgotten items.  With 83p left in my purse after my main shopping trip there just isn't the cash for additions.

Of course I recognise that it is very much tougher for those living hand to mouth week in and week out 'for real' though.  And that's why I like the element of this process which is about doing something practical for others.  For me, shopping on a tight budget has been a reminder of a tough couple of years early in my working life.  So this week I'm donating the money I saved on my weekly shopping to CEF Oxford (Community Emergency Foodbank). 

Is Living Joyfully Really Possible?

Kay Warren (the wife of Rick Warren) says that it is, and she has spent a long time teaching women what joy really is, where to find it, and how to choose to live joyfully even in the tough times.

Now that teaching is made available to women far and wide, in her forthcoming book Choose Joy (April 2012).

Split into four sections, the book addresses joy as your inheritance, joy as a conviction of mind, joy as a condition of the heart and joy as a behavioural choice.

It might be a relief to know that Kay herself says that joy doesn't come easily to her - so she knows what it's like to have to work at it.  To Kay, the bottom line is that joy is a choice, and that choice is completely up to you, and is not dependent on anyone else.  This makes sense when you stop thinking of joy as merely an emotion.  Kay's definition of joy is:

"Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things."

And therein is both reassurance and challenge.

The book stands on its own, but will also be a DVD pack available containing two disks, and a Participant's Guide for those working through the book in a group.

See below for information on our marketing and publicity plans. For more details feel free to contact me.

Sneak Peek for Anne Elisabeth Stengl Fans!

Here it is - the cover for the fourth book in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series: Starflower.

You can find out a little more about the story on Anne's blog.

Quite a few authors write blogs, and I love reading them.  (Especially those by our Baker Publishing Group authors of course!) They're a fantastic way to find out all sorts of things about the author themselves, and what motivates or influences them and their writing.  On blogs like Anne's, you also get to discover a whole lot more about the characters you meet in her books!  Plus she's good at tantalising sneaky peek posts to keep you coming back...

So, dear reader, do you read author blogs, and if so, do you have a particular favourite you can recommend?  If so, PLEASE leave a comment.  (OK, that sounded a bit like a desperate plea, but if it works...!)

Just a reminder to those who've already discovered Goldstone Wood, Moonblood is out in the UK in May, which gives a nice amount of time for those still to venture into the tales to read Heartless and Veiled Rose! 

In fact, let's try a little prize draw:

If you'd like your name entered to win free copies of Heartless AND Veiled Rose just leave a link to one of your favourite author or book related blogs in the comments section below.  As this is a UK-based draw, please also confirm that you live in the UK.  The winner will be announced on the 29 February - purely because it's fun to have something to look out for on such a rare day!