Power Friday From Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me for Power Friday @ Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and come on in.

I was listening to a song called Undone by Mercy Me the other day and the words drew me in so deeply, I had to press replay twice! It starts out: “No apologies for whom I meant to be. The only thing that matters is I am meant to be free. When I am overwhelmed, holding pieces of my heart, when I feel my world start to fall apart, to the Cross I run, holding high my chains undone. Now I am finally free, free to be what I’ve become, undone!”

See, I’m realizing that the more undone from co-dependency I become, the more the walls of conflict seem to rise before me, and one by one, I must take the Father’s hand and allow Him to lead me to them and either through them or up and over them. In the meantime, the chaos that freedom seems to be causing can be incredibly overwhelming, threatening to take my peace but I must press on, ultimately co-dependent with no one but my Heavenly Father, the one who has freed me from the tangled traps that the ropes of co-dependency tie.

Join me in celebrating becoming “Undone.”

Free to be what I’ve become,

Evinda

Dancing with the Butterfly-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little break. I have a fun story to share with you so grab your coffee and come on in for a bit.

Just a couple of weeks ago, my assistant and I were in Texas at the C.S. Lewis Writers’ retreat and when I got a chance to take a break, we went exploring the sights around the camp in search of nature’s beauty so she could capture it with her camera. Walking up the hill was invigorating and calming at the same time. It was such a peaceful place full of woodsy-type smells, the sound of whispering branches as the wind rustled through them, birds talking off in the distance, and other creatures, too. At one point we even saw a deer saunter across the road and take off in the forest of trees.

Suddenly something sort of whimsical caught my attention, its colors dancing before my eyes, teasing me and taunting me to follow it in flight. It was a beautiful butterfly. As I watched it traverse the air just in front of us, almost as if it was showing off, I was mesmerized. The little beauty pulled me out of my trance when it landed on the ground just in front of us.

I started to move toward it ever so slowly and motioned for Jocelyn to join me so she could capture this beautiful butterfly who had its wings wide open, in all its glory, as if he was showing off. She got one picture but as she crouched down beside me and  got the camera focused, the little bugger shut his wings and then after a pause, took flight again.

We stood and watched it, expecting it to just fly away, but instead, it flew around us and around us and toward us and then away from us and then back toward us. This went on for a couple of minutes and suddenly, in my gut, I realized this butterfly was wanting to dance and if it had a voice, I could only imagine the joyful laughter we may have heard coming from this beautiful creature and the pleas for us to join him for some playful dancing.

I lost count of how many times we danced with the butterfly, stopping when he did, bending down to try and capture him with his wings wide open displaying his colorful splendor and each time we would get just right, and Jocelyn would get ready to click and smack! Wings shut, he would sit there for a pause, probably laughing at us, and then he’d get up and take flight again.

It made me think of the pursuit of happiness, how just when we think we’ve arrived, bam! Here comes heartache, trouble, trials and our happiness takes flight again. And then unannounced, it returns, flittering and fluttering, tempting and teasing us to reach out and grasp at it just one more time because for sure this time we’ll catch it only to have it intercepted with life’s disappointments and troubles.

This happened enough to where we thought we’d never get the shot so we began to walk the way we came and as I turned around, my mouth came open in disbelief; he was following us! At one point he came so close to my face I jerked backwards in my reflexes. We were back in the dance, falling for his tricks when he would land on the ground with his wings wide open only to shut them when we were ready to take a picture.

Suddenly I got an idea and picked up a leaf. I stood up and held my arm straight out with the leaf in between my index finger and my thumb. “Be still and see if he comes,” I told Jocelyn. It wasn’t thirty seconds and suddenly, there he was, perched on the leaf in my hand looking right at me. Happiness bubbled up inside me and I could barely contain myself, but I did. I stayed right there, in the happiness of the moment before he took flight again!

Oh that we would stay in the moments filled with happiness, soaking up the laughter they bring, not worrying about it going away, or about tomorrow for that moment is what we have here and now.

Joyfully,

Evinda
 

The Adulterous Woman-Conclusion! From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thank you for joining me for your coffee break today at Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and let’s get back to you, me and The Adulterous Woman.
Jesus has just spoken fifteen words that create one of the most important lessons we as Christians desperately need to learn. Basically, He’s beat the prideful Pharisees and religious leaders at their attempt to have Him arrested, but no trickery was involved on His part.

Now, at this point, the adulterous woman is sitting on the ground, “in the midst” the scriptures say and I found this painting of her online that I must share with you that captures her so beautifully.



Though there is nothing in the book of John suggesting that her hand was outstretched, all I have to do is close my eyes and put myself in The Adulterous Woman’s place, and this is exactly what I would do, especially after hearing such words of conviction! I would reach my hand out just like this and I probably wouldn’t be able to keep my conviction quiet, either as I begged for mercy and tears stream down my face!

After Jesus spoke, He stooped back down and the Scriptures go on to confirm that those who heard Him, indeed their conscience convicted them and they left the Temple one by one. No one remained except Jesus and The Adulterous Woman. But wait! How interesting is this? Now she’s standing. Can you imagine the disbelief she stood in, mixed with relief? Something tells me her recognition has fully dawned and she realizes she’s looking at her Savior.

Then Jesus raises Himself back up and said to her: “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” And she replies, “No one, Lord.” Jesus thereafter voices His forgiveness of her sins and encourages her to go and sin no more.

Wow! All I can say is HE is the only one with that power and authority to forgive the adulterous woman, aka, you and me. Only He has the videotape of my heart and yours, or any other adulterous woman’s for that matter, and He is who we all will answer to. May we learn to be less and less like the Pharisees and more and more like the forgiven adulterous woman clothed now in humility!

Thanks so much for sticking with me in this series. I hope you can join me tomorrow for a new mini-series called Dancing with a Butterfly.

Humbly,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to come have coffee with me! Grab your coffee and come on in. We are about to receive one of the most important lessons Jesus ever taught with the least amount of words!

So it’s almost as if the Pharisees and religious leaders are taunting Jesus, wanting to hear how He’s going to respond to the Law given by God to/through Moses. They were as confident that they had trapped Him in their trickery as I am that the son is going to shine tomorrow.

All eyes are on Jesus, and I’m sure some are even holding their breath in anticipation, wondering how He will respond to this dilemma and if He was/is really the Savior. Jesus didn’t disappoint them; that’s for sure! All eyes and ears on Him, He bends down and begins to write on the ground with His finger.

While they all watch in disbelief, I am positive that it is still pretty quiet but I bet the mind of the adulterous woman is speaking all kinds of things, beginning with her recognition for a need of the Savior. I wonder if she could read, and if she could, she knew what He wrote, or had a good idea because she was down on the ground, bent down with shame, not to be confused with humility.

The Pharisees become impatient and begin to ask Him all over again, as if Jesus hadn’t heard them before. Jesus continues to write, and I’m sure the adulterous woman is silently pleading for forgiveness. I wonder if this is when her God-shaped hole suddenly opened up in recognition of her need of a Savior. I know mine would be opening about now, if not beforehand!

Finally, and slowly, Jesus stands to give His answer to these Pharisees and religious leaders perched on pride, an answer of fifteen words that captures one of the most important lessons we as Christ-followers need to let sear on our heart and live out in our lives. And what I love about this answer is HE actually stumped those who came to trick Him so they could arrest Him. I can just see Him scanning the crowd before He speaks, and His eyes coming to rest on those deceived, His voice calm, controlled and confident and He says: “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”

Isn’t that a response to get you thinking?

Join me tomorrow for the conclusion to The Adulterous Woman.

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little coffee break at Coffee Hour. I’m so glad you could make it because I believe we are finally going to meet her, The Adulterous Woman!

So we’re back at the Temple, and the Pharisees have just walked in practically dragging this woman and I can only imagine that we can probably hear a pin drop about now. These prideful men had only one thought in mind as they brought her to Jesus: They were trying to trick Him so they would have a reason to arrest Him once and for all, as if that would do the trick!
 
Here she comes.

From my vantage point, I see long, beautiful hair, but why can’t I see her face? As she gets closer, it becomes apparent why we can’t make eye contact. Her head is hanging down, as if she is clothed in shame. Uh-oh, they are stopping right in the middle of the huge circle and they put her just steps away from Jesus. Let’s listen to what they say: “Teacher” – interesting that they called Him that – “this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses commanded us in the law that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”

STOP! So I went back to Leviticus 20:10, the part of the law they were talking about, and here’s something interesting that I think we should know before we continue on: The law required that both the adulterer and the adulteress be punished. But these guys only brought one of the guilty parties. Is this a hint of their intent to trick Jesus? That’s just a little something to think about
I can only imagine that this woman had to be shaking in her clothes – I don’t think she had boots in those days! The Word doesn’t give us any insight into her, if she was the town ho, or if she had a good personality, whether she was pretty, friendly, none of that. But if we want to understand her, all we have to do is look inside of us, for every one of us women have committed adultery of one form or another at one time or another! Ouch, I know that hurts, but the truth will set us free and bathe us in humility, challenging us to befriend this adulterous woman, and any other one that comes in your  world, and not condemn her!

The Scripture goes on to confirm that “this they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.” In other words, they wanted to see if He would contradict the Law that came from God to Moses and the people,  but what these religious leaders and Pharisees didn’t realize is the Law was established to point them, and us, to the reality of the necessity of the love of a Savior and because they were so deceived – filled with pride – and intent on re-establishing their authority and power, they missed all the cues along the way.

I’d better let you go for now. Please join me tomorrow for one of the most beautiful responses to The Adulterous Woman’s sin, a response that He echoes for us when we as adulterers come to Him.
Being freed from adultery,

Evinda

Power Friday-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for stopping by for Power Friday, especially on Black Friday! Hey, I saw something the other day about a country artist trying to make this Pink Friday! Hmm. Grab your coffee and come on in for a few. I won’t keep you long. I know you may want to go out there and join that crazy frenzy of Black Friday shopping.

So just a bit of an accountability session here regarding last Friday’s power thought, “Don’t turn your back; turn the other cheek”: I am learning to do this much better with my husband; however, I still need the prescription of practice, practice, practice when it comes to others in my life. Oh the desire of my heart is to be assertive and not aggressive with all whom I interact with!

Now for today’s power thought which is helpful with becoming assertive versus aggressive in all relationships and has to do with the definition for boundary integrity, which is: keeping the same boundaries no matter whom I am dealing with or whom I am with!

I hope this thought permeates in your mind and dissipates in your heart as you interact with others today, tomorrow and the tomorrow after that.

Assertively

Evinda

P.S. Happy, happy birthday to my son, Jeff. I thank God for the gift of you, how your testimony has strengthened me, my faith and my desire for our Father. I pray that this year will be a year of consistent forwards and new beginnings that inspire you, strengthen you and encourage you as you continue to become all that He’s called you to be. I love you, Son

Happy Thanksgiving From the Adulterous Woman @ Chicklit Power

Oh, what a beautiful day to say thank you for stopping by! Happy Thanksgiving! I truly am thankful there is you to share coffee hour with! Let’s get back to this discussion of adultery and idolatry, which we are about to wrap up so we can finally meet this adulterous woman!

So that last definition we talked about, immorality, aka, sins of the flesh, are associated and are traced to lack of the acknowledgment of God” is a real eye opener, and something that begs the benefit of the doubt before we meet this adulterous woman. Could it be she had never come face to face with her need for a savior? Until this meeting.

Let’s look at the last definition for idolatry. Oh, my, this one will tickle your skin all over for sure: An idolater is a slave to the depraved (morally corrupt) ideas his/her idol or idols represent!”

So metaphorically speaking, then, any form of addiction is adultery because that something which one is addicted to has become an idol and therefore has led the adulterer away to idolatry. Wow, you can put anything in that underlined space to make the connection between you and the adulterous woman! I don’t know about you, but suddenly as I get ready to meet her, I am off of my pedestal and standing eye level, waiting to greet her as Jesus did!

Humbly,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for Coffee Hour and more of The Adulterous Woman! Grab your coffee and let’s get back to the conversation about idolatry and adultery!

Before we meet her, we need to do a bit more ground work. It is so very important that we understand the definitions for “adultery” so when we do meet her, we may be able to respond to her just as Jesus did, with a grace that surpasses all understanding and brings home to the heart the reality of the necessity of our need of a Savior.

Because of its depth, I am going to the Strong’s Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. OMG, I’m so very glad I did. Wait until you hear this. The Greek definition says adultery is: Metaphorically used of those who are, by a Jezebel’s solicitations, drawn away to idolatry.”
There it is; adultery is idolatry, so it’s not just the literal definition of unlawful intercourse with the spouse of another! Oh, can’t you just see yourself in this meeting that’s about to take place? Can you honestly say that you have never felt the pull of something or from another pulling on your conscious thoughts to a place you shouldn’t have gone, to do something you know you shouldn’t do? I know I have! Maybe I’m not so above this adulterous woman.

But let me dig a little deeper for clarity and let’s look at the definitions for idolatry: In addition to being things offered to idols, idolatry is “The sin of the mind against God, and immorality, sins of the flesh, are associated and are traced to lack of the acknowledgment of God and of gratitude to Him.”


Now I feel like I know this woman we’re about to meet, as if we share so many things in common. The only difference between her adultery and mine is hers was committed against and with the physical while my adulterous actions have been dangerously more subtle, acts that have silently and spiritually pulled me further and further from the safety and sanctity of the love of Christ and His position of “first” in my heart and life.

Pondering true adultery,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for stopping by for a little break today at Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and come on in. We’re in the crowd of people surrounding Jesus in the Temple and He was teaching and then the Pharisees and scribes entered with someone. Grab your coffee and let’s go get comfy.

Who is it that they are practically dragging in with them? Could this be her, the adulterous woman we’ve been waiting to see? As she gets closer and closer, it is hard to see her, what she looks like because her head is looking down. They are heading straight for Jesus, looking straight at him, only daring to look out into the crowd once before they stop right in front of Him.

Wow, these men that brought her in are pretty arrogant, treating her as though she’s an extremely dangerous and sought-after criminal and they should get the reward. If I didn’t know better, I’d say they are wearing an innate mask of smugness.

Let’s get closer so we can hear what they are saying.
Oh, would you just look at them all look around before they begin to address Jesus! Talk about prideful! Ugh. You can just see it oozing out of their pores as they speak. “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.”

Let’s stop there for a second. Now, this is just an Evinda-ism, but I can’t help but wonder if they really caught her or just saw her and knew of her reputation and used her to advance their scheme of tricking and thereafter arresting Jesus. That’s just a thought! Let’s get back to what they are saying.
“Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”
Scripture says thereafter that they said this to test Jesus that they might have something of which to accuse Him, which is why I wondered what I did.

Before we get to one of the most acclaimed responses of Jesus, let’s talk about this woman for a bit. Though she remains nameless in the Word of God, she is such a pivotal example of the reality of The Gospel, the necessity of the reality of the need for a Savior. And though she remains anonymous in Scripture, she is someone we can all relate to, someone we must relate with if we dare to let go of shame, one of Satan’s most powerful ropes that hold us in bondage, an unseen bondage that pulls us away from abundant life.

Now you may be saying to yourself, I can’t relate to this woman; I’ve never committed adultery. Well, I’m so glad you brought that up, and we will definitely dig a bit deeper into this tomorrow, but for now let me leave you with this truth: Idolatry is a form of adultery!

Being freed from adultery,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for coming to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power for more of The Adulterous Woman. I think we may actually get to meet her today! Grab your coffee and come on in.

As we wrap up the definitions for deceived, keep this statement in mind: “His/her arrogance consists of claiming honor for him or herself. His/her comparing him/herself is not the sin. It is the sin that causes him/her to compare!

So in the midst of this meeting led by these prideful men, Nicodemus – a Pharisee who had actually gone to visit Jesus prior to this feast and this meeting – spoke up and said: “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?”

Talk about risking his reputation and position! They could have thrown him out right then and there on his ear for defending Jesus by reminding them that they weren’t even abiding by their own laws, but he wasn’t. But it is important that we understand that the Pharisees knew they were losing ground and that knowledge perpetuated the viscous cycle. Their hypocritical ways were slowly exposed and as the exposure increased, their prestige decreased. Pride was interfering with their ability to reason and deception took over, convincing them that they must get rid of Jesus to save face. Right and wrong no longer mattered.

The meeting ended and everyone went to their own houses.  Early the next morning Jesus headed back to the Temple and the scriptures say all the people came to Him. If we ponder that for a minute, we would have to conclude that the people who returned were looking for Him, wanting to hear more from Him. Have you ever been excited to go somewhere and when you got up the day of, you were so excited you could hardly wait? That’s how I imagine these people who came were, filled with excitement and maybe even curiosity.

Well, Jesus didn’t disappoint those who came, because He sat with them and taught them. Picture with me a huge sanctuary, filled, and when I picture this particular scene, I see Him standing amongst them, in a way that all could see and yet His teaching is reaching out and inviting them to Him. Despite there being lots and lots of people, it is quiet but for Jesus’ voice and all of a sudden, there’s an interruption that renders an attention switch. It becomes quiet, as quiet as a crowd of this size can be because Jesus stops speaking. Everyone turns their heads to see what Jesus is looking at. It is none other than the scribes and Pharisees, but wait, who is that they are nearly dragging toward Jesus?
Join me tomorrow for the actual introduction!

Evinda


P.S. Join me and Steve today for Blog Talk Radio as we continue on in the Breaking Free from Co-Dependency series of our Destination? Joyful! ™ show.

Power Friday From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for another Power Friday, and another power thought. Grab your coffee and come on in.

This power thought actually came like a whisper of grace after a storm of anger. I don’t even remember now what I was so mad at my husband about, and it doesn’t really matter. What matters is the thought that materialized from this fit that I avoided falling into and I have to admit, it was like HE whispered this to me the morning after:

Don’t turn your back; turn the other cheek!

Now that’s assertive and in no way aggressive!

Have a great weekend,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Welcome to Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power! Thanks for joining me today for a little break. Grab your coffee and come on in. We are about to find out the common denominator of deception.

As we wrap up this detour, we can see through the eyes of our hearts that there are many examples, too many examples of deception, a sort of unawareness where truth leaks out of the soul and something else replaces it without even a conscious awareness and when that happens, it affects our attitudes, our actions and our abilities, rendering us utterly and hopelessly deceived.

So what is the common denominator? Well if we go back to this meeting that the Pharisees were having with the chief priests and the officers who confessed that they had never heard anyone talk like “this Man,” all I have to do is take a look around the room with the eyes of my heart wide open and my ears ready to listen and the common denominator swirls around me like a frenzied ghost. I can see it in their demeanor; I can hear it in their comments. In fact, it’s as though each one of the Pharisees is bound up in this common denominator like a mummy. And if I look at them as I rewind the tape on other scenarios of deception that have literally wrenched at my heart during our lifetime, those people are no different than these Pharisees for they wear the same garments of deception.

Plain and simple, the common denominator is pride and what’s in the middle of “pride”? I, I, I! I could never, ever claim to have the full view of the heart of the deceived; only God has that, but the one glaring thing that brings clarity to any and all kinds of deception is this thing called pride. The Webster’s Dictionary defines pride as inordinate self-esteem; proud or disdainful behavior or treatment. How ironic that I would return to this subject just after returning from a writers’ conference that has definitely taught me that I was there to continue the process of being emptied of me that He may write completely through me without any clogs of prideful or un-inspired text. Oh, that I would remember that deception sneaks in through the window of pride!

“Pride” is in the Bible 49 times and was used in the beginning by poets to refer to glory, but thereafter the majority of the uses of pride are negative in that they denote human pride as an antonym for humility and as in Proverbs, pride is put together with arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. The New Testament (Greek) translation says: pride is a swollen estimate of his/her own power and merits and looks down on others and even treats them with insolence and contempt. One who compares himself secretly or openly with others and lifts himself above.

These definitions bring clarity into this meeting with the Pharisees, Chief Priests and these officers, practically shining a light into their hearts revealing the source of their deception. And as the light moves into my world and the experiences I’ve had with deception, clarity comes, and I am at peace to pray for the veil of deception to be lifted and that truth would prevail sooner than later.

Keep these definitions in mind as we get closer to actually meeting The Adulterous Woman!

Anticipating the introduction,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little break at Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power. I know it’s not always easy turning distractions off, but let’s do just that for a few. Grab your coffee and come on in so we can try and put the pieces of “deceived” together in the context of the Pharisees. Something tells me we may wind up recognizing a little bit of ourselves in these accusers.

So the Pharisees accused the officers of being deceived and backed their accusation up by saying no Pharisee has ever believed in Him, and also accusing the crowd – who was full of people beginning to change their hearts and minds about The Christ – saying they were accursed for they did not know the law. Now, these definitions all talk about a straying from something, such as the law, the religious beliefs, et cetera.

So what if we give these knuckleheads the benefit of the doubt by asking ourselves, “Were they just holding to what they believed?” And let’s not get into semantics about how much they lived by the law, or didn’t, themselves. By asking that question, would that give us a different and deeper understanding into the depths of their deception? It stands to reason that because they believed certain things about whom The Christ should/would be and would not be, they expected their peers to believe the same way, and when these officers made the statement, “No man ever spoke like this Man,” that released the accusations.

I can’t help but think about all the clues they had received, and the ones they missed completely. For example, when they jumped to conclusions and insisted He couldn’t be The Christ because He was from Nazareth without doing the research to find out He was born in Bethlehem. Or questioning His birth line and not doing the geneology study to trace His birth line all the way back to David. Why weren’t they able to see that they, not the officers, were the ones that were deceived?

What about in our lives, friends who get enticed away from the church? I see it happen all the time with women who are looking for love and become deceived by love. And what about within the church, those who claim to be in Him, all about Him, and do things that are contrary to Him and/or what He would do? Some even justify with out-of-context scripture bashing. What about the atheist who declares there is no god, let alone God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit? Or the New-Agers who claim there are hundreds of ways to heaven and that the god is mother earth and angels are the primary savior and answer to their problems? Or the homosexual who believes homosexuality was something God detested only in the Old Testament? I can go on and on and on with examples of people who we deem to be deceived but are they deceived just because I say so? Don’t these people in these examples believe that we, the Christian, are also deceived?

What is the common denominator here, Father? Why, oh why, are so many deceived, determined to be fixed on their false foundations, pointing the finger at others, either literally or figuratively? Does deception happen simply by and through standing for what you truly believe or does it involve something else?

I can hear something echoing ever so faintly in my heart . . .

Join me tomorrow for the answer.

Evinda

Publication Update, Part 2 From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for the second part of this publication update. I guess that’s what I get for waiting so long!

I need to rewind a bit to lead into where we are going next with this update. About a year and a half ago, I had met Nan Rinella, the coordinator for the C.S. Lewis workshops, at a Starbucks when my first book, A Cup of Encouragement for the Day” came out. Her joy for the Lord and my passion to share the Lord connected us instantly and we stayed in touch, but it wasn’t until three months after I met her that she wrote me to tell me she loved my book and that she was going to quote from it in her teaching for the upcoming workshop. She invited me to attend and said I could sell the book there.

Well, it just wasn’t the right time – how many times have we had to hear that – and so I didn’t go. But this year, as the conference drew close, she got a hold of me again and invited me. I asked her if the offer to sell books still stood because by then I would have three! She told me she would bet back with me. To make that long story short, through a series of what I deem divine, I would up having a conversation with the president/founder of the C.S. Lewis Foundation, and learned that their headquarters is in Redlands, California, just around the corner from us.

But wait, it gets better! Through that connection something else has transpired: On November 15th, CPM will move its office, which is currently in our home, in with C.S. Lewis Foundation Headquarters! I know, I can’t believe it either! What a huge blessing and a ginormous reminder that He hears the cries of our heart. We had only begun praying about this a couple months prior and I thought that was something way down the road.

So in between the event, writing, blogging, taking care of little Bryden, I’ve had this mental note: Need to begin studying this C.S. Lewis guy! I don’t mind telling you I am totally ignorant about him! Well, I’ve only gotten to scratch at the surface because of all that life is requiring of me at this point, but I headed to this conference hopeful!

Now, let’s get back to the conference. After Nan’s class about how to pitch an agent, we sat and talked for a bit about her experience with Agent Steve Laube. All of a sudden her eyes pop open and she says, “Steve needs a helper; I didn’t assign him a helper.” She turned and said, “You’re his helper,” and began to rattle off my duties, and then sent me on my way to the next class. He was due in any moment and he would be teaching at 3:30.

At lunch, I asked Nan, “So how does one get an appointment with Steve?” She looked at me as though I had just asked a pretty stupid question: “You make an appointment. You have to sign up!”
I popped up and out of my chair and ran to the registration desk only to find there were no more appointments left! When I told Nan she said don’t worry about it. You’re his helper!

Well, as it turned out, Steve was actually late to class! He had fought the Houston traffic the entire way from the airport, which is an hour and a half away. He came straight to class without checking in, getting water, collecting $200, did not pass go, et cetera! I was immediately at ease as Nan introduced us. His class was about the dos and don’ts of pitching, and he shared some of his experiences with some outlandish pitches. It was kind of like listening to an American Idol version gone bad, you know, those people who think they can sing but can’t hold a tune in a bucket let alone in and out their mouth! Anyway, he was quite engaging and real and I liked him immediately!

Going back to my room Friday night, though I had no scheduled appointment with him, I really did have a peace as the words of Jeremiah 29:11 floated to the surface of my heart and traveled to my mind. I knew if I was supposed to get that time with him, I would; if not, it wasn’t or isn’t my time.
Saturday morning, after our service and before classes began, I was going out to the hallway and ran into him. He was with a couple of other guys but I comfortably stopped to talk with him for a moment, letting him know if he needed anything to let me know. And he said, “Yeah, and we’re supposed to talk sometime today.”

That sometime turned out to be right then. Whew, no time to get nervous; or so one would think. But I did and my nerves hit me all at once like a huge wave that rocked me and left me with cotton mouth. I began somewhat clumsily, and then the rest of it was an out-of-body experience as I sat with him for almost 25 minutes sharing my heart to encourage hearts, one heart at a time. See, an agent is the instrument used to negotiate with a large publishing house that distributes in mass quantity, getting books out on the shelves and into the hands and hearts. It’s not that my work would be over; it just wouldn’t feel like I’m trying to push this gigantic life-sized boulder up a mountain!

Again, there’s so much I could say about that time with him, and the blessing of a couple of other opportunities I had to get to know him, but let me just close this publication update with this: He took my novel, “Back to Single,” and will be reading it to see if I have the kind of writing talent he wants to work with. The fact that he spent that time with me was a blessing in and of itself; that he took my first novel is the cup of hope I will be drinking from as I let go and let God while he reads it and they decide where it goes! I am learning to relax with the gift He has given me, trusting He will use it when, where and how HE chooses. I just need to keep working at my gift.

Who knows what the next publication update holds!

Evinda

Publication Update-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me today for a little break and some publication news! Grab your coffee and come on in and get comfy. I may keep you a few minutes longer today.

Wow, I just realized I haven’t posted a publication update blog since May, and a lot has happened since then! Let me cut to the chase and give you the exciting news that the second in the “Cup” series has just been released, A Cup of Hope for the Day,” and its official release date for the press, bookstores, et cetera, will be January of 2013! You should see the book. It looks so amazing, thanks to my assistant/graphic designer, Jocelyn Fletcher! It will be a bit before it’s available through Amazon, but if you don’t want to wait, you can go through our website’s gift store or even schedule or attend a Girls’ Night Out (food, fun, fellow-shipping and snacks too with one to two women-owned businesses and myself. Just invite your friends, promote it and we’ll do the rest!)

It’s hard to believe that I have three books out in print! Now the task of partnering with Him to get them out there into hands and hearts! As this journey is nearing three years now, or more, I’m losing track, I have to admit I am a different person, a person who is minus several more layers, being emptied of me that more of Him may reach out to others needing encouragement and hope for the journey. This weekend was an incredible reminder of that emptying. I will never forget what it feels like to “feel” as though I don’t belong, like the mere presence of my books is an insult to the intellectuals in attendance at the C.S. Lewis Writers’ Conference. I can’t even tell you how many times I asked Him: “Why am I here,” only to hear, “Trust me,” which I did and I continue to do. Seriously, have you ever gone to like a Star Trek convention? Well, that is what this felt like, only based on C.S. Lewis and his works, which I am only beginning to delve into. I felt so out of place, like I was drowning in my lack of knowledge.

The reason I got here in the first place is nothing less than a divine appointment so I won’t bore you with those details. I came to the workshop to learn, to be of some help, to network, and for the chance opportunity to speak with the attending agent, Steve Laube. OMG, I just remembered that I began to pray about this whole agent thing a few months ago, whether that would be the route to take or…. It gives me goose bumps now that I think about it.

Anyway, every time I passed the book table loaded with many of C.S. Lewis’s works and Tolkin’s, too, and then look off to the corner to see Evinda Lepins, sticking out like a sore thumb with literature for chicks, I asked myself, Really? Why am I here? By Friday afternoon, I felt like a bull in a china cabinet every time I walked by and I said to Becka, the books store manager, “My books don’t belong here.”

She says, “What do you write?”

I went on to explain to her that my “cups” are sort of like Chicken Soup for the Chick’s soul, and that I had my first novel release in June of this year and I gave her the 30 second version about it being about a girl who goes through a painful divorce and a year later enters the dating world while juggling single parenting and a career and that’s about all I got out when she stopped me, her eyes growing big and suddenly sort of glassy, like water.

“My very good friend has just gone through that, and her divorce is almost final.” She was so stuck on emotion, she could barely get all the words out and then she continued. “She will be here tomorrow.”

Her words worked like a push and this time it was my turn for glassy, watery eyes. I thanked her and walked away, heading to my next workshop, reminded that I had not gotten here of my own and maybe it wasn’t about what He was going to do for me, but what I was willing to do for Him, and where I was willing to go for Him.

It didn’t help that we had little to no signal so I couldn’t really reach out to anyone so instead, I reached up, which is exactly what I needed to do. I met some amazing people. Diana Pavlac Glyer taught my favorite writing class of the day. She is an amazing woman of God, a professor at Azusa Pacific University, the one who started the potter’s hands ministry, and has just released a devotional entitled “Clay in the Potter’s Hands,” which I bought and can hardly wait to begin. She has such a gentle, humble spirit and as I listened to her share and teach, uncontrollable tears of wisdom and revelations trickled like a slow stream down my face and onto my notes. I found such solace and encouragement in the reality of the truth that writing is a process and by the time we reach the end of the project, we are nowhere near the same person we were in the beginning.

By dinner time Friday, I was at peace, knowing I didn’t need a reason to be here; I just needed to be there in all the moments, soaking them all up, because my treasures weren’t coming in book sales, but in learning more of the art in writing more books for His glory and edification and not my own!
Please join me tomorrow for more on this update, which I know has turned into sort of a short story – sorry about that – but there really is something more to do with publication news having everything to do with this journey’s twists and turns of adventure and growth!

Joyfully,

Evinda

P.S. Join me and Steve today for Blog Talk Radio as we continue on in the Breaking Free from Co-Dependency series of our Destination? Joyful! ™ show.

Power Friday -From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for stopping by today at Chicklit Power for our Power Friday. These power thoughts are definitely Holy Spirit inspired as He peels back layer upon layer upon layer of co-dependent behaviors and teaches me to walk in freedom. Grab your coffee and come on in.

I think one of the principles I’ve been able to grasp with my head and plant in my heart has to do with the whole aggression versus assertion behavior. It’s been like a two-sided mirror for me and I’m praying that as I practice and practice some more that the mirror will come to have only one side, that of an assertive style. This principle led me to this power thought:

Aggression steps and stomps on emotional toes; assertion simply walks up and delivers a message.

Oh that I would not be a stomper! Have a great weekend

Assertively,

Evinda

The Adulterous Woman-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me today and hanging in there even though we still haven’t met The Adulterous Woman. I promise; we are getting close. It’s just so important that we have as many of the puzzle pieces that will illuminate understanding on her entrance and upon herself as well! Grab your coffee and come on in.

So we are still in this detour about being “deceived” something that the Pharisees accused the officers of being, all because they dared to voice the questions overflowing from their pierced hearts after hearing Jesus cry out in the crowd. And the reason we are doing so much digging on this is because haven’t we come across so many in our lives who we deem to be deceived, even those who claim to believe in Him? Haven’t we ourselves been deceived one time or another? In addition to needing answers about this, I believe that this detour will help us when we finally meet The Adulterous Woman.

Let’s go right to the definition which pertains to the text we are reading from, which will be from the Greek concordance since it is in the New Testament and then if He leads us to do so, we’ll return for a few Hebrew translations.

Oh my, so the Greek word is “planao” and its root word is plane. Hmm, we fly away in a plane… Interesting. Let’s see what this translates to: “to roam (from safety, truth, or virtue)” – 24 times this word with “er” ending refers to Satan, the deceiver! – “to go astray, seduce, wander.”
In the passive form: “to deceive by leading into error, to seduce.” Hmm, “seduce” casts a bit of light on this subject.

Oh, this is interesting: “often it has the sense of deceiving oneself.” Now that’s about as clear as mud. Let me read a bit further to see if I can get any clarity for us.

“A straying from orthodoxy or piety, literally, ‘plane’ means a wandering whereby those who are led astray roam hither and thither and is always used of mental straying; wrong opinion, an error in morals or religion. It is akin to a forsaking of the right path.”

Oh, here’s another interesting fact: “In Scripture, doctrine and morals are never divided by any sharp line.” So I’m thinking that that means one finds morals or is moral when abiding in doctrine? Or to search the doctrine is a search of morality?Are they interchangeable?

Oh here’s a powerful statement: Errors in doctrine are usually the effect of relaxed morality.
Wow, what a lot to think about. It’s going to be interesting to put all of these pieces together that will give us a better understanding of how and why the Pharisees were deceived which will also open the door to finally meeting The Adulterous Woman.

Not deceived,

Evinda