Embracing the Waves of Change

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Thanks for stopping by for our Coffee Hour! I thought it would be fun to give you a little recap of our Five-year anniversary celebration which focused on change. Grab your coffee and your Strand of Faith and let’s go talk about this word that has so much meaning behind it!

Change…wow, I think of change and I am humbled…..almost beyond words, which is near impossible for an author! I mean when I just wanted to write a book, and He had other plans, to be honest, I wasn’t embracing it…at least not for the first two years. While I loved doing our workshops, I had not completely embraced this huge change in my life. By the third year, I opened up my arms in surrender and began to truly embrace my calling to help broken people learn to unlearn and re-learn things that will help them thrive IN life and love and OUT of the unhealthy habits that interfere with healthy living. I wouldn’t change it because of how much it’s changed me…and there are days I wonder if I will ever get there…wherever there is, but let’s not forget, He who begun a new and good work in us will be faithful to continue it until when…

So let’s talk about this little word that has such big consequences.

Imagine that right before you drove home from work, someone told you all of the old traffic laws had changed forever: Red no longer means stop and green no longer means go. In fact, all of the signs that used to guide you were no longer valid. The old laws were gone, but the new ones remained unwritten.

How would you feel as you set out for home?

Often, change happens just like that: quick, sudden, and it disrupts our emotional equilibrium and affects our physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. Change is a loss of predictability and many of us, when we can’t predict what will happen next, we feel fear, anxiety, less in control

Let me tell you something: the more we feel out of control, the more we are in control! Learning how to embrace change is yielding to the right of way!

Let me leave you with an acrostic about what change is and what it takes:

Change takes:

Commitment We can’t do anything without committing to do it!

Heart It’s not necessarily mind over matter but heart and mind over matter

Acknowledgement and/or adaptability because it takes more energy to be rigid than it does to be flexible

Negotiating through so you don’t just survive but you learn to thrive thru change

Grieving: It’s okay to mourn for you can’t disown what you haven’t owned…and then it’s time to get up so you can move on

Energy: These are those physical, emotional and Spiritual muscles I was talking about because it does take those muscles exerting energy to trust that He is working ALL changes for your good and HIS glory!

Learning to embrace change,

Evinda

Tuesday’s Trench Lessons 4 Life

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Oh, coffee hour friend, are you in for a sweet, transparent Trench Tuesday! Grab your favorite beverage and a journal and join us for Lea’s Trench lesson!

I am in the trenches, digging at all my roots that cause my wounds, weaknesses, and worries. It is quite a journey! I began about two years ago, but I was not ready. I did not soften my heart. I did not turn over my weaknesses to the Lord for Him to turn into strengths. In 2^nd Corinthians 12:9, it says: “And He said unto me, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Most gladly therefore will I glory rather in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

His grace is sufficient to make me strong. I just had to let go of my control, or illusion of control, and let Him lead me. I have to tell you, that it is so freeing! Of course I am not free every minute, or even every day. I do forget that I am not in control, and try to just take over. But He knows how to humble me, and gently remind me that I can relax.

During this process of uprooting, I have really looked at the good, the bad, and the ugly of my life. I feel like there are parts that I am not ready to see. Then there are parts that I don't want to see, but Heavenly Father knows it is time, and I can take it. He knows when I am a “big girl.” He also has helped me to see ways in which the adversary has tricked me. In the scriptures, we are told many times about how crafty the devil is, and how he will try to turn things around and lie to us. I came across 2^nd Corinthians 11:14, which says “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

I was touched by this scripture this week. I had been contemplating my past, and happened across some old pictures of someone who had hurt me almost 20 years ago. For two decades, I have been struggling with a horrible painful memory. I even saw this man about a year ago in a store, and had a panic attack! When I saw those pictures, and then read that scripture, the Lord sent me a message that hit me like a TRUCK. This man did not hurt me. I chose to participate in a situation that I was not proud of. Somehow, in my brain, Satan had turned this memory into a falsehood, where I was now the victim instead of the perpetrator. That “truth” took hold of me so much, that I truly believed it. Instead of facing my shame and asking for forgiveness for this act, I had been hiding behind it.

What do I do with this information now? I immediately prayed to know what really happened. Then, I truly did ask for forgiveness, not only for the act, but for living so long with it still in my soul. Then, I called the few people that I had told this story to, and corrected myself. I let them know that I had deceived myself, and let them know of my wrongdoing. I had already given it to God, so I had no fear of them judging me. If they have judgment in their heart, it is something they will have to live with. I truly am sorry for this, but I know the Lord has forgiven me, and I am free. He will remember it no more.

I think that I will choose to remember this, but not shamefully. I will remember, so that I can share my experience with others. We are here to help each other, and to be a stepping stone to God and Jesus. I ask you now, if you are struggling with a wound, weakness, or worry, do not hold onto it. Let it go. Give it to the Lord, and then share it with someone. You never know how or when your experiences will touch another.

Until next week, God bless you!

~Lea

Faith Filled Fridays From Croley’s Corner of Chicklit Power

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He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” John 7:38

Today I’m on a mini-vacation and I’ve wondered why we came to this particular place, nevertheless I know He has an intentional plan, so I need to be ready for whatever the task is He has set before me. Thanks for taking a few minutes of your time to join me today. Grab your journal and favorite coffee and let’s see where He takes us today!

Have you ever had the “need” to go to a certain place? I have, many times and most of my times have been to the Islands, but I’m not talking about the “need” to go on a vacation or a short excursion! I’m talking about being led to go somewhere, yet not fully understanding the reasoning behind it, at least not at that moment.  I can say I have had a few times, not many, that I was impressed to go to a certain destination only to find that I was needed to go in another direction and found that there WAS a reason behind the need!

We read in Gospels, John the 4^th chapter that Jesus left one city, Judea, to head to Galilee but He “needed” to go through Samaria. Jesus’ sense of constraint (“needed”) choice to go through Samaria was not merely a geographical deliberation, but a divine compulsion.

Sometimes life causes us to leave one place with the idea that we were heading to another to find we are “needed” to go through an unfamiliar place of destination to get what our Heavenly Father wants accomplished, by way of us. Many times we struggle with the fact that when change comes, we are head strong not to deviate from our plans, because of fear, our biggest enemy. If fear can conquer us, His need for us to execute His plan can be quenched.

I know my husband is one that has always been head strong when you set a plan in motion then by golly he is going to walk it out till the very end, no deviating; however there has been a time or two or three when interruptions have come and it changes the WHOLE situation...destination and “need”!! You get where I’m going?

When Jesus arrived at Jacob’s well, wearied from traveling, He sat by the well, and a woman came to draw water and Jesus said to her “Give me a drink.”  One would also think because of the distance in traveling He would be hungry, but instead He asked for a drink. We understand the scriptures to say that Jews and Samaritan’s did not interact or share eating or drinking vessels. He knew this and yet He allowed her to question Him, because her “need” of Jesus outweighed the physical “need” of a drink. Not only was she impressed that Jesus knew all about her, but she was also given the opportunity to have her sins forgiven. She believed He was truly the Messiah. She repents of her past wrongs and goes back to tell her family, friends, and neighbors how she met Jesus and how He revealed His knowledge of her sins and His offer of live-giving water. She went on to lead many conversions in this area through her zeal and love for God. John 4:39–42

He reached out with a divine love and a human sensitivity to a woman who was of a different race and whose morals were questionable. Jesus was always reaching. In order for Him to reach others, He has to use you and me. Sometimes we just have to break the mold of traditionally “religious religion”   which is consistent with Jesus’ frequent examples, as we often see Him becoming friends with those of questionable character, those thought to be unworthy of attention.  Luke 5: 27-31

Jesus gave time and energy to relationships which sometimes meant experiencing pain and loss such as Lazarus John 11: 35,38. He provides yet another life quality for us to emulate; He calls you and I to enter intentionally and sensitively into experiences of others and also to other believers in Christ, even if they are different from us ~ culturally, ethnically or denominationally.

In the grand scheme of things He knows the future when we only see the present.

So the next time you’re on your way “somewhere,” He just might take you “elsewhere” to meet the “need” of someone who’s waiting for “A drink of living water!”  John 4: 13, 14. Till next week...and remember keep Him close to your heart! 

Deb

May's WOW, Tasty Words!

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Colossians 4:6
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Thanks so much for joining me for a little coffee break today and more our WOW for May. Grab your coffee and come on in away from the demands upon your life and all the worldly noise, and don’t forget your Strand of Faith so we can tie some knots.
By the way, if I left you a bit hungry yesterday, I do apologize! :)
Let’s get to our tasty words – actually before I do that, let me give you sort of a historical backdrop so we may digest them with a whole new enjoyment!
Paul is writing his letter to the Colossian church from a prison cell in Rome and I can only imagine how helpless he must have been feeling as the stories of syncretism were coming to him. In other words, the Colossian church was combining principles and ideas from other philosophies and religions, such as heathenism, Judaism with a bit of Greek thought with an emphasis on special knowledge that denied Christ as the Savior.
Let’s stop right there for just a minute! Dang it; I thought I was going to get away with a light-hearted blog this time, and not be so serious – (I’ve been in the trenches with my trenchers for eight weeks now to help others OUT of their wounds, weaknesses and worries and could use a little laughter) -- but this demands a bit of attention, this syncretism, which is in some ways like mixing sugar and salt, tempting! The teacher’s heart in me won’t just skip it.
It encourages my soul to know that “New Age” philosophies aren’t so “new agey,” if you know what I mean! More and more we are hearing about this doctrine that comes from mixing this and a little of that. For example: esotericism, a religious perspective that is based on the acquisition of mystical knowledge and is a form of Gnosticism. Or what about the “angel” craze? Anyway, the Word of God warns us about this and tells us we are to have an answer for our faith, to defend why we believe what we believe, and this is the motivation behind Paul’s letter that he wrote to the Colossians from his prison cell.
In verse 5 he is encouraging the Colossians to walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, meaning toward the non-Christian, the false teacher, the atheist, the prostitute, the addict . . . the list goes on and on. And then once you are in front of them, Paul says: Let your speech always be with grace – let’s stop right there.
Well, I’m sorry to be negative Nellie, but “always,” really? Fail! But as much as is possible – and I am in no way changing Paul’s Spirit inspired letter to the Colossians and to us; I just know I fall short every day but I get back up and try again, and His grace gives me permission to do just that!
The kind of grace that is referred to requires a divine influence upon the heart and indicates favor on the part of the giver. In other words, as we make our way toward the unbelieving soul, we are not to be accusatory and/or critical in speech but our words are to be flavored with graciousness, i.e. a little sugar.
Join me tomorrow for the salt!

Evinda

Faith Filled Fridays From Croley’s Corner of Chicklit Power

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Welcome to Faith Filled Friday’s Coffee Hour. Today’s blog may seem simple yet for certain we are always in need of a reminder that our words are powerful in that they can bring life or death. Grab your favorite beverage, journal and join me for a moment as we look into God’s word together.
Proverbs 18:21 teaches us that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Our words have a tremendous ability to heal and bring peace or to destroy and hurt others. We also find in Matthew 12:34–35 Jesus reminds us that the words we speak are actually the overflow of our hearts.
I have five amazingly talented, gifted, beautiful grandchildren, I guess I’m a bit partial, then again, what Grandma or Grandpa wouldn’t be? We have three girls and two boys, the ages ranging from 12 to 7. The two boys are 7. Now mind you, I love them dearly; however when they are together, it seems like there’s an army of them…literally! They seem to multiply right before my eyes! I find it funny that the boys seem to emulate one another more so than the girls, maybe because of their ages, yet I’m not convinced, (girls do as well; however, we’ll leave that for another time of blogging.)
One thing for sure what one boy does the other will soon follow, repeat or even act out. I recently bought them some Lego’s. Soon after they opened their packages they began comparing each item, one was better, bigger, more pieces, and had more men. As we watched them interact you could sense the atmosphere changing and quickly a verbal argument broke out. Of course at this young age the worst word one could hear was, at least from our grand boys, was ”That’s stupid,” and I’m keeping the name confidential for the sake of privacy. :)
He quickly turned and looked at us, to see if we were going to react. He definitely had a look of ‘uh oh’ I’ve just said something that wasn’t nice. Immediately you could see the reaction on the other boy’s face. He, too, was surprised, hurt and then angry. Yet within a few minutes the offender said, "I’m sorry". He recognized he brought brokenness between the both of them. Even at the age of 7, they recognize that their words can harm one another and bring improper actions.
The power of our words can actually rescind one’s spirit. It could have been a whole lot worse; however, I was thankful for the tender-heartedness of our grandson to ask for forgiveness and yes the other grandson responded…. “I forgive you.” They hugged and played on.
We find in Ephesians 4: 29 that Paul warns us “Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” Here Paul is emphasizing the positive over the negative. The Greek word translated “unwholesome” and means “rotten” or “foul.” It originally referred to rotten fruit and vegetables. Yet another blog for another day!
Although Paul was speaking to a mature church, we find that it’s not impossible to be equipped and empowered by what is good, acceptable by the power of our words... at any age, for that matter. How blessed are we when we use our tongue to lift up and encourage the people around us. Simple as that!!!
Prayer: Father continue to show us in your Word that our mouth would be a means of grace… a tool that would bring You glory and that the hearer will know that our words are covered with Your love. Help us to be reminded whose got their eyes on us that they would find we are able to control our actions, our words that may feel like it requires us to respond in a corrupt way. We recognize that the fight for purity of mouth starts in the heart… in that we should emulate the example of Jesus whose words were so filled with grace that the multitudes were even amazed. Amen!!
Have a wonderful weekend… and keep Him close to your heart.
Love,

Deb

Seven Sacrifices to Joy

Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...

Thanks so much for joining me for Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power and more of this third sacrifice in the Seven Sacrifices to Joy! Communication is what makes or breaks a bridge! Grab your coffee and your strand of faith and let’s go tie some more knots in our ongoing conversation about communication!
How is it that we can hold our tongues, be slower to speech, step back before we jump forward with our words? There is a truth that I know has been very helpful to me in this constant trial of speaking words that build up instead of tear down: Out of the abundance of the heart, a man/woman speaks! (Luke 6:45b) See, what is in our heart will come out of our mouths.
Oh, I can’t even begin to tell you how many times that something has escaped from my mouth like a robber quickly taking off with his sought-after loot only to be hit in the face with a picture of my heart!
Then I am left with the gentle conviction as my words are left exposed, as if engraved in the sand after the tide rolls away. They are there for me to stare at, their tone not hidden in the grains of sand, rather echoing back over the sound of the wave, convicting me, moving me to seek forgiveness from Him first, and then go to the one who is still stunned by the stink that my words have left in their being.
I know there is no condemnation for I am His, and yet I struggle with this question, and maybe you do too: Why does this seem to be an ongoing struggle? I mean when I started blogging four and a half years ago, one of my first blogs I wrote was about mouthing off to my husband! Does this mean I haven’t grown in this area? Ugh! Can you hear me groan?
The answer I keep hearing is: keep the heart clean. See, the heart is like the closet of the house; everything gets stored in there, but little gets cleaned out of there! If there is even a tiny bit of dust in the heart with somebody’s name on it, then out of the mouth will come that dirt. The cleaner the heart, the cleaner our words!
Whenever there is a tiny hint of resentment, any little piece of unresolved conflict, it will be the aroma that comes out with any form of communication creating more tension, and a wall inhibiting integrity. When someone steps on our emotional toe, why is it that we can’t say ouch out loud …without trying to hurt the one who hurt us? When will we realize that a hurt + a hurt = a double-hurt? Oh, don’t we need this consistent reminder? I know I do! The good news: there is forgiveness and with a truly repentant heart comes change, and grace, like a wave coming back in to wash the shadow of the pain caused by the hurtful words until we can feel the sting no more.
But how about those who don’t know how to say ouch, so they keep it in for fear of how the other will take it? In other words, they anticipate the response, assume how they will respond and so the hammer comes down again, sealing in bitterness and resentment.
Again, I hear the clean heart analogy. If we say “ouch” with a motive to hurt and tear down, or to repay evil for evil, more likely than not, the fire will grow higher and higher and the wound deeper, but if our motive is to restore, repair, then the rest is up to the other person, whom you cannot control! We must not hold back an apology based on what we think they might say, or even because we feel they wronged us first. Remember, when we get there, He’s going to talk to us about how we responded to the step on the emotional foot. Others’ hurtful behavior isn’t a free pass to misbehave.
See, God knew we’d have conflict; that’s why He spoke through Paul in Romans 12:18, for as much as is possible with you, live peaceably with others. You do your part; He’ll take care of them. Go ahead and put your name in that verse: for as much as is possible with _________, live peaceably with __________. Who do you need help communicating with today? Claim this verse over U for without the U, there is no “Us”!
Oh, that I would be so slow to speak, that my words would lift up and not tear down …
Until tomorrow,

Evinda

Have you ever had to choose between life and death for your pet? Join us for Monday's Manna

Happy Monday Manna Friends,
I’m writing this from my dining room table trying to re-cap the weekend. So much has happened, but the good news is that we have a new edition to the family- Duke Jenkins! All 8.5 lbs of this little guy is completely healthy, so we thank you for all your prayers.
Saturday was one of the toughest days I’ve had in a while. It was finally time to take our little dog to the Humane Society to be euthanized. We adopted our little guy approximately four years ago, and within that time there were a total of four different incidents that involved biting, not including the times he had bit Kay and I. We exhausted all of our efforts as we sought the help of professionals and changed a lot of our daily routines in order to cater to the needs of our little four-legged guy.
I can remember the day that we spotted him at the Riverside shelter. Kay and I were eager to adopt, so we were on a mission to find the right puppy. As Kay and I were making our rounds through the never-ending corridor of kennels, we saw Walter make his way over to us and lay his chin on the concrete step as other dogs were jumping and screeching all over. Those manipulative hazel eyes stared into the depths of our soul! We took him outside for some “meet and greet” time and we knew he was the one.
Wally and I would often go for walks/ runs and I knew that God had brought this little companion into our lives for a special reason. So many things were revealed to me as we trained and ran with this little dog on a regular basis. He used to stray while we ran at night, so I would give him a little tug to redirect him into safety. He would test my patience and I would do my best to give him grace for chewing up our guest’s shoes, socks, and other articles of clothing. I know that God brought Walter into our life for a special reason and throughout his time with us, I can look back and just thank the Lord for four years of companionship that he provided to us.
After his last biting incident, Kay and I discussed our options and after tons of calls we realized that no adoption agencies would qualify him for their programs due to his serious history of biting. We would not post his information in the classifieds since we were fearful that another new owner could potentially be bit. Now with little Duke in the family, we are unable to risk the chance of another attack so I did one of the hardest things I’ve EVER had to do in my life.
He smiled at me as I loaded him in the truck and we drove to Ramona Humane Society in San Jacinto. As we pulled in the drive way he was panting and was smiling, as if to say “Where are we going now, Dad?” I put on his leash and with tears in my eyes we entered into the front lobby. With a shaky voice, I informed the woman at the front desk that I needed to surrender my little guy. I filled out the paperwork and a volunteer asked me if I was ready.
I knelt down to say my good byes, but as the volunteer was trying to pull him to the kennel, he kept crying and was fighting with everything in him to come back to me. I walked him back to the quarantine kennel myself, took off his collar, told him I loved him, and cried like a baby as I shut the kennel door behind me. He was crying hysterically as I walked away.
I was completely heart broken. As I made my way home through the canyon I looked at my passenger seat and sitting there were his collar, his leash, and his intake paperwork. I just betrayed my best friend. I remember praying as tears were rolling down my cheek just asking for God to give Walter and myself peace. I prayed that God would take away his fear and anxiety of being in that scary kennel before being euthanized. I began to give thanks for the four years that God gave us with Walter. We had learned so much from him and my mourning turned into thanksgiving. God gave us that little puppy at a time in our lives when we needed him more than he needed us.
I know that Walter is in a better place where he can run for days without tiring. A place where he has no more anger or aggression and his heart is at peace. Today Kay and I were at Petco to pick up more supplies for our other pup and I saw a dog at the adoption booth that looked exactly like Walter, but I knew it wasn’t him. With a peaceful heart I just thanked God for Walter. Animals are very special and God has given us domain over these cute little critters; their unconditional love comes from the one who made them…
God Bless and have a great weekend.
In His Love,

Garrett Castro

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

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