Coffee in Cabo from Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me for Coffee Hour and the final blog of Cabo memories. I have just a couple more book signing moments to share and then I’ll conclude with some other things that made my heart smile, and still do as I relive the moments. Grab your coffee and come on in.

I walked toward her, excitement and heartfelt appreciation compelling me forward. I couldn’t believe that I was experiencing what I’ve only read about: friendships that form on vacation and continue to grow. It was Carol and her daughter and Carol is the sweet lady I met last year with her friend Pat, who couldn’t make it this year because of health reasons. Incidentally, I’ve since heard from Pat via email and I’m touched with humility as she shares Coffee Hour with us! A big hug to you Pat, and you too Carol, oh, and Laura too! What a valuable tool social networking can be if we utilize it correctly!

Anyway, Carol and Laura walked with me over to the table – let me clear something up so I don’t sound presumptuous by assuming they wanted to come to my book signing!  First, Pat had told Carol about the book signing at the resort because she had read it in the blog, and then I had seen her and Laura at the Festival on Monday evening and Cheryl gave her a flier.

It was super sweet to hear Carol explain a bit about my books. She had bought Back to Single last year and she was one of the first emails I had received telling me how much she enjoyed it. We had learned from Laura at the Festival that she had just gone through a huge loss: her husband passed just a few months prior so it had been a rough road lately. While “Back to Single” suited her situation on the outside, A Cup of Encouragement and A Cup of Hope is what she needed on the inside.

As I sit here and share this with you, I can’t remember if she bought both of the “Cups,” or just one, but she did wind up getting “Back to Single,” too. As I signed her books, I prayed for her, that the words within each of them would offer encouragement, light on a dark day, healing for her hurting heart, wisdom and understanding, and most of all, a knowledge that would inspire the necessity of the reality of our loving God in her life.

I signed A Cup of Hope for Carol and we talked a few more minutes before I saw Serena and Lowry walk up. I got a picture with Carol and Laura and squeezed them both before turning my complete attention to Serena and Lowry.

I was so happy to see them and a bit surprised as well. I know they had said they would come up, but when people are on vacation, they’re on vacation! Anyway, I had the blessing of a few minutes with Serena while George brought Rodney over to meet Lowry. Serena looked at each of the books and said, “I’ll take one of each,” so I began to sign while Cheryl prepared the receipt.

Have you ever had one of those embarrassing moments that turned the heat up on your intimidation temperature? Well, I had one of those just then as Lowry handed me a card to run through Square, and because of the poor connection, it wouldn’t work. Now, he’s a real sharp businessman. Remember, he used to be one of President Reagan’s legislative advisors. As I’m blabbering about the connection, a flash of water is dripping down my back which I just know ignited by my intimidation turned embarrassment.

Serena

Anyway, after trying another card, he said, “Let me just give you cash,” to which I responded with gushing appreciation. I seriously felt about an inch tall, but as I’m learning, that’s my insecurity, not his debt!

As I watched them go, I even remember thinking, I wonder if they will even read the books! Oh, ye of little faith . . .Remember, I got the email from him shortly after arriving home telling me he was thrilled to read them?

Before we wrapped it up, I did sign a couple more books, but something else happened to end the book signing on a very happy note: Do you remember Danielle, the first one waiting in the afternoon who bought all three books? Well she came running down about a half hour before the end exclaiming she was on chapter 3 and couldn’t stop! She said “I’m absolutely loving the book and I wanted to make sure I came down and told you before you left! I’ll definitely write a review,” she added. Talk about a cup of encouragement and hope all in one!

So I have one more very funny story to share, so join me tomorrow for the final, final Coffee in Cabo moments!

Love and laughter,

Evinda

Other memories that made my heart smile . . .

Beach party

Coffee in Cabo from Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

It’s a new day, a brand new day and His mercies are new for you and me! Thanks for joining me for a little coffee break today. I thought it would be fun to share the highlights of Cabo with you for the next few coffee hours, so grab your coffee and come on in.

Sunday: I came downstairs with my last bag and there in the entryway were our four-legged children Sparky and Baraka, wagging their tails as soon as they saw me, but little Baraka had that look and she didn’t hesitate to direct it right at me. She looked up at me ever so adorably and wagged her tail with obvious anxiety that reached all the way into her eyes. It reminded me of the night before when she had hopped into George’s packed suitcase on the closet floor. She was on to us and pleading with us not to go. Sparky, named this because he’s such a happy dog, also had that look, only his wasn’t a ticked-off look but more of a sad one.

please don’t go…

These dogs definitely don’t make it easy to leave. As George called them both into the hallway, I reminded myself of how attached they have become to Jene’ and the relief of knowing they’d be okay helped me out the front door and into Rodney and Cheryl’s car that was now packed and ready to go.

We arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. I so appreciate that about Rodney; he’s always plenty early whereas I can cut it too close at times! My first heart-squeeze happened right at the curb with Omar, the guy who checked us in. He was so full of joy and peace and he had such an infectious smile, I just had to ask him if He was a child of the King! His smile got bigger. “Yes, I most certainly am,” he exclaimed.

While we talked, he began to print our boarding passes and the luggage tags and I reached for the one packed with books and started to put it within his reach but he just continued putting the luggage tags on everything. I asked him, “Aren’t you going to weigh them?” His grin went wider. “Oh, no; I done took care of everything. We’re not doin’ none of that!”

I breathed a sigh of relief. Had God given him a video of my fretting over the possibility of having to pay $50 for any and each over-packed suitcase?

I heard “A Cup of Encouragement,” and I reached down into my carry-on and pulled a copy of my first book out, asked for his wife’s name, signed it and handed it to him. “Thanks for blessing us with such happy service.”

We were on our way with a reminder that He was going ahead of us!

on our way…

The flight was quick and easy, which was another blessing for me as I am still not a fan of flying. After going through customs we headed for the luggage terminal. I was prepared to wait, thinking our luggage was at the bottom of the pile since we were one of the first to check in. Well, we waited about five minutes or so and then I saw the pretty mulit-colored pieces of yarn and there were Rodney’s and Cheryl’s suitcases, too.

George walked over and pulled the first one off the turntable and set it down in a way that made me yelp at him! I was immediately sorry for my sharp tone and apologized. He turned the luggage to steer it toward me and I gasped. There on the side was a huge white mark and then three jinormous cracks. It was obvious that someone either ran it over or dropped it a long way down! Talk about a joy stealer! My brand-new Samsonite large suitcase, destroyed.

I saw an attendant and waved him over and showed him my problem. He took pictures with his cell phones – don’t you just love technology! – and then he asked us to follow him to their office, so we did. While he was getting some info for us, George decided to open it and see whose it was, mine or his.

“It’s yours,” he said. Right after that, a memory collided with an understanding that sent chills running up and down my spine. See, just the day before I actually prayed about whether I should carry my laptop with me and go through all the hassle of taking it out of my carry-on, out of its sleeve, into a plastic tub, through the scanner, back out of the tub, into the sleeve, back into the carry-on . . . blah, blah, blah, blah – just talking about it makes me cranky — or should I just put it in its sleeve and check it in my suitcase as I have done many, many times. I heard “Take it with you,” so I did.

I know that I know that I know that had my laptop had been in that suitcase, it most likely would have been destroyed! Talk about another hear-squeeze from God! I just love when He shows up like that to let us know He is watching us, and watching out for us!

Join me tomorrow for more Cabo highlights!

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

Power Friday @ Coffee Hour with Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for stopping by for our Power Friday thought at Chicklit Power. Grab your coffee and come on in.

If you’re joining us for the first time, these Power Friday thoughts are actually inspired by revelations, realizations, and life experienced as a result of our Blog Talk Radio show wherein we are talking about co-dependency, what it is and learning how to break free from this viral epidemic!

Last week I shared that co-dependency seems to be a viral infection and I need some turbo-strong antibiotics to cure me. Well, an important one to have on hand for many issues and it is P3, Practice, Practice, Practice! If at first you don’t succeed, do it again until you are free! You WILL make mistakes!,

See, I’ve got to keep practicing to erase these tendencies within me. The encouraging truth is even when I mess up His grace picks me up so I can try again. So I’ve been practicing a different way of communicating based on the principles we’ve been learning as they relate to keeping my stuff with my stuff, having an undivided heart, and this week, it’s been consciously choosing assertion over aggression.

We’ll talk more about that in next week’s Power Friday! Have an awesome weekend.

Assertively,

Evinda

Invitation Tuesday From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for stopping by today for Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power. I’m really enjoying these Invitation Tuesdays, where I can share something relevant as it relates to our next Destination? Joyful! ™ event on November 3rd. Grab your coffee and come on in.
I’ve been doing the final edit on A Cup of Hope for the Day since last Tuesday – I’m happy to say it’s finished, the final edit that is. I hope there isn’t a final, final! Anyway, I was so excited about something I read that I know that He wrote through me. In fact, as I was editing this book, I marveled at the truth that HE really did write through me because I didn’t remember writing many of the “cups of hope” that are in that book!
Anyway, this is what I read in one of the series within A Cup of Hope for the Day which I found to be so relevant for our next event: “When we allow our circumstances to build a wall around our heart, this prevents us from knowing God with our inner being. See, this kind of knowing takes experience and if there’s a wall around your heart that you’ve built to try and shield yourself from your circumstance, you are blocking yourself from the spiritual view, and that could actually be blinding!
Want to know how to live outside those circumstances in victory? Well, please accept this invitation:

Looking forward to sharing this time with you,
Evinda

Reality Check-October’s WOW-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks for joining me today for a little break at Coffee Hour and for the conclusion of this months’ WOW!
I think it has taken us three coffee breaks because He is using so many things to remind me of this particular powerful lesson found in Philippians 2:3-4: Let nothing be done through selfish ambition (strife) or conceit, but in lowliness (humility) of mind, let each esteem others better than himself (herself). Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
I just noticed something else in the last line. My Microsoft Word program has the word “own” underlined in green, which means that it’s grammatically incorrect. But you know what? It’s really not. I believe HE put that there for emphasis because when I check the translation out in my 1865 edition of the Holy Bible, “his own interests” is in there too.
So last year, this verse spoke to me about putting my agenda aside when it came to interruptions in my day; this year it’s speaking to me about my motives and the fine line of promoting Him without over-promoting myself, my books, et cetera, and that when I’m at a speaking engagement, it’s not about my interests, book sales, et cetera, but about the interests of others, the ministering to others for the well being of others.
It’s a narrow piece of fabric that He is weaving for me to walk, and sometimes, before I know it, I’ve meandered over and off the fabric of His plan, aimlessly wandering and wondering if I will ever be okay with the reality that I am a needle in a haystack of authors and He is the thread that will weave the words He’s given me into the hearts of others. I am eternally grateful for His grace that gently pulls me back onto His designated canvas, while His hand gently comes up under my chin, lifting my focus up and off of myself, back on the greatest Author who is in charge of the story of my life, the one who abolishes my selfish ambitions and knows my heart.
Oh, and by the way, remember that book signing I was telling you about earlier where the lady wasn’t giving me the time of day but reading a New York Best Seller” at my book signing? Well, just a few weeks later, I received a Facebook message from someone who had read that same book — whose success I was coveting — as well as Back to Single. She went on to share that she picked up the Number 1 Best Seller and after two chapters, she put it down. She picked up Back to Single and couldn’t put it down!
I am not telling you that to flaunt a success or boast in any way whatsoever; not at all. My true heart’s desire is that you will see the grace woven in and through that book signing that I thought was pitiful. The truth is that He used my own flaws and insecurities to bless me, assure me and encourage me. This is beyond my comprehension but definitely a signature inscribed with His sovereign love.
In His will,
Evinda

Reality Check-October’s WOW-From Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power

Thanks so much for joining me for a little break today. I know it’s not always easy to get away, but I pray this will be a wise investment of your time today. Grab your coffee and come on in and let’s get back to our WOW.
I’m still stunned at the reality of the necessity of walking in the truth of these words, and my desire for them to manifest in my DNA and rid me of anything that is not from Him, with Him and for Him. And while we’re at it, Father, could you help me to quit comparing myself to other authors and speakers! (Go ahead and pray that one for me and for you!:) )
Here’s the Words of Wisdom: Philippians 2:3-4 (don’t you love that easy address?) Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit – I wasn’t going to take the same detour as last year, but I think I’d better so we can receive all that is intended! Since this is New Testament, I’ll go to the Greek concordance. The word that is pulling at my attention is ambition. So, ambition – wait, there is no “ambition” in the concordance. Well, that’s weird. Okay, so it must be a translation thing. So, that’s okay; I’ll go to my Holy Bible (1865 copy) which says: “Translated out of the original tongues,” which says: “Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory.” Interesting! Now let me look up strife. This is getting fun! :)
The word strife translates to eritheia and “denotes self-seeking ambition, self-will being an underlying idea with an emphasis on drawing followers.” It also says: Seeking to win followers creates factions, and factions are the result of jealousy.
Oh, my, the taste of conviction is bittersweet as I think about tweeting on Twitter and connecting on Facebook, and dealing with all the other forms of social media that help in the platform-building process for an author. And as I rewind my book-signing experiences, I can’t help but admit that He’s used them all, individually and collectively, for His purposes. I’m totally smiling right now because I remember one recent book-signing at my nail salon. This woman was getting her toes done and she was totally engrossed in a book, a book that has gone to the New York’s Best Seller’s list in record time. I literally almost broke out in tears at the inadvertent rejection and my mind spilled out questions that only He could answer. Just before I jumped in the pool of pity, I received a text from a team member sharing that someone who had been to our recent workshop had rededicated her life to Christ afterwards. I pulled myself away from the pity pool and my phone announced another text, sort of like a P.S.: “Oh, after she read Back to Single.”
My heart smiled while my mind begged for forgiveness for coveting the success of this author who was reaching people in the flesh while He is reaching hearts, albeit one at a time, through Back to Single. And somewhere in this WOW is the key to balance in this mind-boggling challenge of how to get what He has written through me out to the hearts of women all over without sounding as though I’m all about me.
Oh, how true it is that the Word is alive and Holy Spirit inspired. Please join me tomorrow for the conclusion to our October WOW.
Humbly,
Evinda