Autumn Slaght's Blog: Inspired Words, page 3

Marching Into March

My, how quickly this year is going by already. As I've already said to a few of my dear friends here on Goodreads, I wish life would slow down. Don't you?
On this first Saturday in March, 2017, I find myself staring at a robin's egg blue sky, slashed only once with a cloud on the horizon. The wind was cruel, this morning, biting and strong, but I think it's died down a bit, since the trees are at a perfect standstill at present.
One of my dearest friends and I walked in my back pasture yesterday, where I showed her the burnt grass on my property, and the line where the fire stopped. I call it the Hand of Mercy, because you can almost see the hand of the Lord preventing the fire from getting too close to our house. My heart started beating with excitement as I could see little tiny shoots of green grass penetrating through the thick gray tufts of what used to be grass! Does that mean spring is on it's way?
Spring has been whispering of it's arrival lately. The birds have been returning and singing their little hearts out every morning. The weather has been warm, like a fleece blanket. And the grass has begun to shed some of it's brown color and replace it with fresh green. Yes, I know, we must pass through a few months of winter, but it seems that Spring is on it's way and will arrive soon.
Who is excited for spring? I have been enjoying the winter months, and a few of the colder days have fit how I felt perfectly. But I'm ready for spring to come and thaw the frozen ground again. Do you have a favorite thing about spring? Any favorite memories or something you're looking forward to? If so, feel free to comment below. I'd love to read what my readers thing of the warming months ahead!

Hearts and Roses

Happy Valentines Day to all the readers of this blog!
For the last two or so years, Valentines Day has remained a favorite of mine. Oh, not because it's romantic or anything. (Read with sarcasm) But the flower displays and chocolate displays in my local supermarket are incredible every single year. On this day, it seems as if the entire world has turned pink and red with hearts, flowers and smiles everywhere you see in my small little town. It is the perfect day for me to sit with a lovely cup of tea and write the most romantic scenes in any of my novels.
Everywhere around me, I see young couples going out together. Young princes buying flowers and delicious looking chocolates for their princesses. The restaurants are filling up with excited young couples, with those who have been together for a long time and everyone in between. Dates. Anniversaries. A special occasion for husbands and wives. All over town, there are posters for dances, discounted meals at the local diner and sales - forty percent off of a thirty dollar box of chocolates with a twenty dollar bouquet of roses to go with it. Almost everyone I know has special plans with a special someone for today.
Well, I have plans, too.
I've been looking forward to them since February fist, to be honest.
The holiday that celebrates love is the one that I use to remind me of the Lover of my heart. And it is my wish, dear readers, that on this day, you remember the God who loves you as well. One of my favorite verses from Jeremiah 31 that says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love." It makes me pause in my busy day to think about that kind of love. A love that never ends. A love that is not dependent upon me and what I can do. A love that is affectionate and self sacrificing all in one. Now that is a love that I think of on this day and smile, filled with a happiness that goes deeper than I can imagine.
So as you go about your plans today, I hope that you have a moment to pause and remember the One who loves you with an everlasting love - Jesus - and remember His demonstration of that love for you not just 2,000 years ago but every day since.

The Longing Desire

"You alone are my strength; my shield. To You alone may my spirit yield. You alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship Thee."
The lights reflected off of my notebook with the lyrics to "As the Deer" on Thursday night, as I sang with my small little group, preparing for Sunday services. My heart was attracted to this song even more than ever this Thursday night for some reason. My mother used to sing it to me when I was a little girl. It was one of the first hymns that I learned on my violin, Saphira. It's always been so beautiful, I've always loved it. But why did it capture me so much this night?
Over the last few weeks, God has been teaching me that He is enough to satisfy my heart's deepest cravings. He has been reminding me of a phrase that was from my favorite author, Dannah Gresh.
"God is sovereign. Jesus is enough."
Jesus can fulfill my heart's - and your heart's - deepest desires. I just have to give my heart over to Him and let Him do so. My heart has many cravings one could say. Many of them I won't get into here, but a few are for - true friends. My dreams to come true. A husband, someday. But in the desiring of all these things, as I sit and daydream, I can almost hear His whisper: "I am enough."
The truth is, only Jesus can satisfy our heart's longings. With a heart that is truly given over to Him, and desiring to walk with Him, and follow hard after His heart, He will begin the process of a love relationship in which some of the heart's desires begin to be taken care of. Because what does the human heart desire most? To be loved, right? There is only one who can love us with the love that our hearts crave. That true Love is Jesus Christ.
I am grateful to Him for showing me that He should become my desire. Sure, it's okay to desire other things. But the most important? Desiring Jesus. Walking with Him in the love relationship that He desires so much.

The Taste of Saltwater

On the last night in 2016, as December 31st rolled into January 1st, the light of a pink lamp shed it's light on an oaken desk, illuminating a piece of cream-colored paper with barely legible handwriting across the page. My tired fingers held the pen that wrote these words for one final time in my journal. With a smile, I closed the back cover and looked at my journal. Another holiday tradition of mine was complete. To finish one journal on the night of December 31st and start a new one during January. I haven't been able to do this for a while, so I was happy to have completed this tradition tonight.
I glanced up at my bookshelf that had rows and rows of journals that I'd completed over the years, and smiled. Seeing those journals was like seeing my life flash before my eyes. Well, in a non life-threatening kind of way. I started writing in my first journal when I was about ten and enjoyed it so much that I never stopped. Each one closes with a favourite phrase – a small sentence of mine that has remained a favorite for me every New Year's Eve.
Keep God's promises in your heart throughout the year.
This is what I'd like to say as a greeting, dear readers. God has made us so many promises. Never to leave or forsake us is the one that keeps coming to my mind this evening. This year, as the days pass on and on, I hope and pray that you will remember how great our God is. Through the storms, through the sunny days, through the night and through each morning, our God is a faithful lover of our hearts who will never forget us, even when it seems that He has, or is silent. He always waits for us with open arms, to run back to him if we've gone astray. He's always there to listen to us. Times can get tough. For some, times are indeed tough. I've shed my share of tears already in the first month of this year. One of them even ran into my mouth, filling it with the most pleasant...not...taste of salt. I remember as a little girl, I used to love the taste of my tears and would lick them on purpose. Shuddering yet? Yes, this coming from the same girl who used to eat the bubbles in a bubble back and chew on her tongue. As I've said before, I never said that I was normal. :)
The same God who was there with me as I cried as a little girl is here with me today, still near to me when new tears fall. He wants to be near to you, too, through every tear you cry, every laugh. Every sorrow. Every joy.
I guess the thing that He is most impressing on my heart tonight is His nearness. I hope and pray, dear readers, that you will be aware of His nearness, even though sometimes it seems as though He is a million miles away. It is at the end of the storm when the beautiful sun is shining and the air smells so sweetly of rain that we look back and see that God was indeed with us, leading us through the storm.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all those who are reading this blog...and to all those who aren't, even. Sadly, we did not get a white Christmas this year, no matter how much I dreamed. But the happiness that we felt this year made up for the lack of white on the ground and clinging to each bare branch in the trees, looking thin and like a skeleton against the backdrop of gray skies. I lounged on a green couch as the rest of my family circled around the Christmas tree. Laughter filled the air. Inside jokes, random questions and words of Christmas cheer circled around us. The Bible lay open on my father's lap as his voice read the words to the well-known story written in Luke and Matthew. Alongside that, he read a paragraph of what it must have been like back then, in Bethlehem and Nazareth.
This year, something was different. I could feel it as I looked around the room, smiling at the tree that we had worked hard to decorate with golds and purples with a crown sitting on top. Sure, I noticed the presents underneath all this. (Some, I confess, I had figured out before we started opening.) But they didn't matter a huge ammount to me. In fact, for a little while longer, I just wanted to sit in the quiet and think today.
And that's what I did.
Right before we started passing out the presents, I suggested we listen to the song Above All by Michael W. Smith. As I listened to it, I felt tears stinging my eyes. One single thought has been consuming me since I woke up this morning. Since I went to bed last evening.
What was it really like.

We serve a King. And this King had everything. Dominion over the world. Every right to be awed at and adored. The highest position, one that no one will ever come to. But He left it behind, and He did it with someone in mind. I thought of this as we opened presents. When we listened to the song.When we gathered with dear friends, accompanied by my sister and two nieces. And again, when I held my baby niece, Felicity in my arms again today. Her eyes looked up at me, with complete trust that I'd take care of her while she was with me. In that moment, God gave me something that I could touch, hold and see with my own eyes to reveal to me a truth that I had not completely thought about until that precious moment. Jesus Christ, our Savior, our God was this small once. Unable to hold up His head. Unable to roll over on His own. So small and so tiny, laying in a feeding trough. A feeding trough. And not to gross anyone out, but has anyone ever seen a feeding trough? They are not troughs filled with beautiful fresh clean hay. They are dirty, smelly, with animal gunk all over them. The only thing to keep Him warm was the swaddling clothes that He was wrapped in. But why? Why would Almighty God come to save us like this? Instead of rending the Heavens, shaking the entire earth and riding upon a thundering stallion, shouting a cry that would liberate His people (oh, don't worry. That will come later. :)) He was a baby. A baby. Laying in a slobbery feeding trough, shivering in the night and relying on Mary and Joseph to help Him.
I am stunned, even as I write this. His humility humbles me. After all, His humility was and is His nobility. A gift from Almighty God, given with all love, thinking of us. This was the only way we could be saved, and he knew that. So He willingly did whatever it took just to have a relationship with us. Oh, Lord, why do You care for us, so?
The clock has just struck 12:00 Am as I finish up these last few words. Christmas is over...but the Gift that was given is eternal; it lives on beyond Christmas and into the remaining six days of the year and into the next year.
New Year's is just around the corner. Can you believe it, my dear readers? A few more days and we'll be tumbling into 2017. Eek. Scary. I have a list of New Year's resolutions. How about you? What are some of your New Year's resolutions? For myself, one thing I'm excited about is that I've started a new book. I have eagerly been looking forward to reading Love, Life and Fairytale since I heard about it, and now I am finally reading it. Merry Christmas! And if I don't see you until then...Happy New Year!

One Cold December Night

Thirty Days of Thankfulness has come and gone, but gratefulness still remains in my heart. Now, a December cold grips the air. They say that it's 18 degrees outside. A blanket of shimmering frost covers the ground, like sequins on a little child's craft. The lines in the stores grow longer and longer every passing day, lined with Christmas shoppers and weary travelers. Christmas music plays over the loud speakers of every radio.
Can you believe that Christmastime is here, again? The air has a Christmassy feel to it, but it came so fast! Too fast.
So what are you desires for this Christmas, my dear readers? Do you have and special plans, special traditions that you are eager to get to this year? Baking cookies, making a gingerbread house (which I have never made before, sadly) caroling in the streets while bundled up in mittens and a warm, woolen coat? My mother and I are eager to get started on the decorating...no, we haven't started yet. We have procrastinated this year, haven't we? We will be topping the tree with a beautiful King's crown to celebrate the King of Heaven and Earth coming down as a little baby into a stable to come and serve the ones that He loves.
So if you wish to comment, feel free! I'd love to hear about any Christmas plans, Christmas traditions that you enjoy every year. Christmastime has begun!

Thirty Days of Thanks Part II - An Overflowing Cup

About a week or so ago, I proposed that I would be listing something to be thankful for every single day. When I started this list, I figured that I would be listing a lot of the “smaller” everyday stuff that I easily overlook. Such as the smell of flowers on the air or the song of the birds in the early morning. But over the last week, the blessings and gifts that God has given my family and I have been so colossal that I can't go without pouring out a heart of gratitude to Him – and wanting to share it with the world if I can.
For one thing, I know that I am extremely grateful to Him for His mercy and His protection. I was reminded of it in a big way on Sunday morning. Why? Let me tell you a story.
Sunday morning, the air had just a slight chill to it. I sat at my mother's window, drinking coffee and listening to a song that she recommended to me. My gaze swept over the ten-acre property that is next to mine. The empty field, with no outbuildings or house whatsoever, just a field, had golden-brown grass that swayed in the wind like waves on an ocean.
Fast forward to the church service, where you will find me sitting in a front pew at my church. My pastor was in the middle of giving a most wonderful sermon. The air and his message were suddenly interrupted by the sound of sirens screaming by. First four. Then five. But more were in the distance. I paused for a moment to consider that there were more sirens than usual. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I could almost promise. They're going to your house.
Dismissing such thoughts as my over-active imagination again, I prayed for the protection of the firemen, and the scene where they were headed. I also sent up a prayer of protection for my house and returned to listening to the sermon.
Minutes later, my pastor's voice suddenly trailed off. His eyes went to one of the fathers who was down in the nursery with my sister and the kids of the church. His face was grave and concerned as he came up the other side of the row of pews to where my mother was sitting, and whispered something to her. Panic and urgency suddenly took over her beautiful face as she set her Bible aside and turned, headed for the downstairs nursery.
My mind flashed to a million possibilities. My niece. Something has happened to my niece! I set my Bible aside and followed her downstairs.
“I don't know,” I heard my sister say before I even reached the basement. “She just said it was at the fence line.”
My sister was holding Felicity while my two-year-old niece played with a doll house. So something else was wrong. “What's going on?”
“Our neighbor called and said that there's a fire at the fence line to our house.”
Dear readers, if I could encapsulate the feeling that hit me that instant into one word, it would be the longest word in a foreign language. Panic made my heart thunder. Terror made my hands shake. Shock took my breath away. As these three emotions combined, visions of my house engulfed in flames took over my mind.
My dad and I raced into the sanctuary where I was so rattled, I barely even heard him say to the pastor, “I gotta go, there's a fire at the house.”
“At your house!?”
Yes. At my house. I could not breathe in the car as my dad raced through town, jumping in line behind a firetruck, whose voice screamed through the town headed to my property of all places. This wasn't something that was happening on TV.
It was real.
My violin. My computer. My house. They're all there. All I could do was sit back and pray. I was feeling pain but I wasn't sure where.
I could see the cloud of smoke from the road. When we pulled into the long driveway at my house, the change of scenery made it even more difficult to breathe. The empty ten acre lot next to my house was covered in a carpet of black, with grey smoke rising from it's surface, looking like smoldering lava from a volcano. Fire apparatus were everywhere, spraying water on the grasses and putting out the fire that had jumped the fence into my property. But what most took my breath away?
The house and the shop where my dad works still stood. The fire was out, and the grass that was now an ebony color came so close to the house that just a few more feet and the fire would have devoured it. But it didn't.
My neighbor had kindly ran over here after calling 911 and plowed the dirt and grass, creating somewhat of a firebreak around the important outbuildings. The firemen had gotten here in time and put it out. But I could almost see the hand of the Almighty Himself covering our house and our shop, the only source of income.
What could I do but fall to my knees and thank Him?
Dear readers, this is the longest post I've ever written, but I still feel the shock of what happened. My grandmother looked out the window today at the ebony pastures and said, “Boy, that fire sure made it ugly!”
I shook my head, my eyes resting on the same thing. “I think it's beautiful. It is a reminder of God's mercy and protection.”
God didn't have to save the house. But He did. He didn't have to be so merciful, but He was. I'm shaken, but grateful and in awe of Him.
So needless to say, item number six on my “Thirty Days of Thanks” list is this: “For God demonstrating His mercy and His power.” In closing, as a lover of puns, I make light of this situation by saying that this incident really sparked a desire to be closer to the Lord.

Thirty Days of Thanks

I just glanced at my calender today and went, "No way it's November third? It has to be October third, right?" Nope. It's November already. Where has this year gone?
Another thing that hit me like a smack in the face was that as of today, Thanksgiving is only three weeks away. Three weeks? Didn't it just happen a couple months ago? The holiday season is here again?
As Thanksgiving draws near, I'm looking forward to spending it with our close friends, my pastor and his wife and a few members from our church whom I've grown very close to. There is just something about the smell of pies and turkey cooking that brings excitement to the air. This is that time of year, people start asking, “So what are you thankful for this year?” I've done the same thing, asking people that same question. The top four responses that I, personally, get are: “My family and friends, my job, my home and the feast that is before us.” Okay...yes, that's five. But who said I was ever good at counting?!
This year, I made a mental list of everything that I'm grateful for. My Savior and His love, a family who has supported me and taught me in the right ways in life, true, true friends who will never stop loving me. And tea. Yes, tea right up there at the top. But this year, I wanted to go deeper. God has gifted me with so many blessings, I don't want to just focus on a few.
Last month, I was reading in Mark the story of when Jesus was walking on the water. In Mark 6:48, it says: “Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night, He came to them, walking on the sea, and He intended to pass by them.”
I was snagged by the words “intended to pass by them,” so I glanced down at my notes, which helpfully explained that another way to translate that phrase was “desired to come alongside of.” The notes went on to explain that this was an indication that Jesus wanted to test the disciples' faith, to see if they'd recognize Him, and note the fact that He was walking on the water, and invite Him into the boat. (Thank you, John MacArthur for these notes!) But what did the disciples do?
“Ahhhh! It's a ghost!”
That doesn't sound like an invitation to me. They kinda missed what was going on, didn't they?
Not wanting to get on a bunny trail, I sat back and thought, How many times has Jesus passed by me and I didn't recognize Him? Or His works? How many times has He passed by, wanting me to invite Him in and I did not?
In this time of extra thankfulness, I don't want to miss what He's done for me. He's given me so many blessings, that sometimes go un-noticed. SoI've decided to do something this year. There are thirty days in this month. Thanksgiving is the twenty-fourth one, but giving thanks doesn't have to end on the day of giving thanks. It can go past. After all, Thanksgiving is a reminder to give thanks.
This year, I'm going to make a list. I'm going to list one thing, or maybe two things, every day that I'm grateful for, besides the things that I listed a few paragraphs above. Maybe it'll be something simple everyday. Today, I'm thankful for trees blowing in the wind and being so beautiful. For the smell of flowers on a stressful day. For a warm blanket on a cold night. For God clearing the traffic for us when we had to tow a Diesel truck on the highway from where it was stranded in a turn lane in a marketplace driveway.
This post, I'm going to invite you to join me on this monthly journey, if you'd like. It doesn't take much. Just when something is significant to you, and you are feeling thankful for it, write it down. Thirty days of thanks. And if you want to comment on this post and future posts and share some of your list at the end of the month, I'd love to read it! If you'd like to do this with me, I'd love to do it with you!
But until then, Happy Early Thanksgiving!
Also, note, I can't take full credit for this. The list of things that I'm thankful for was inspired by the book 1,000 Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It was a really good book!

Near the End of October...

I realize, looking at my author page today, that I've hardly been able to be on Goodreads for a long time. What's it been, a few weeks? Longer?
Life for me has been crazy, but this time, I have no newborn lives to celebrate. Instead, I celebrated my own birthday last weekend, on a beautiful day in October. I also put on a stage play for the community at my church. That was a wonderful evening; I got to see God do an amazing work. I'm so proud of all the actors and crew memebers that performed in the play, "Unashamed to be His." Now that life is settling down (Ha! I say that with the holiday season right around the corner) I hope and plan to write more.
So who is excited about this year's holiday season? I sure am! With the Autumn leaves still dancing on the trees and covering the ground in a beautiful quilt of yellows and occasional reds, (clearly we don't have much color in my location, lol) I can feel Thanksgiving in the year. A most exciting time to remember what we are truly grateful for.
I hope that you enjoy the last few days of October. They certainly have been enjoyable for me. Type to you all soon!

Held

Have you ever gazed at something so small, so fragile that you felt that simply looking at it would cause it to break?
I can honestly now say: I have!
As many of you have read from my last blog post that my precious little niece, Felicity, was born on the 21st. Both my sister and her two little girls, Felicity and Fiona, are home, now, and recovering nicely. To be honest, I'm shocked at how quickly my sister recovered after this!
Felicity had the hiccups last night. I found it interesting (and hilariously adorable!) because I'd been having bouts of the hiccups all day. She sure does take after her aunt in a lot of ways, haha.
My sister let me hold Felicity for a long while the day after she was born. Why my sister trusted a bull in a china shop like me with something so precious, I'll never know! (Lol, just kidding. :)) But as I held Felicity, it was like the world melted away. I felt like some kind of different person; My gentleness spiked a lot. Felicity's eyes barely opened, and sometimes a little cry or grunt of contentment would escape those little lips of hers. She's so tiny! And so helpless, too. She cannot even hold her head up without help. I glanced out the large window on level five of the hospital room that overlooked the city and I was reminded of the dangers out there. But Felicity was safe in my arms. I, for certain, would not let anything happen to her while holding her. And even though, perhaps, she didn't know why, she trusted me. She trusted someone holding her. It's an interesting feeling when someone trusts you completely. Whether as a confidante or someone who is willing to hold up your head in the hard times.
As a Christian, I'm reminded of God both in the small things and the big things. And, once again, as I held Felicity, God reminded me of His love. We, His children, can be as helpless as my little niece is. In the middle of the storm, perhaps we can barely hold our heads up. But in the middle of our tears, grief, heartache or frustration, if we let God hold us, He will not let us go. We are helpless in His arms and He holds us up, protecting us and loving us. See, when I held Felicity, there was nothing that she could do that would make me love her any less. Even though she had a food stain on her clothing (don't ask me where it came from!) she was absolutely perfect to me in that moment. Despite our stains, God still loves us so tenderly and so selflessly. I know for myself, that I'd rather be in His arms and under His care than any other place I can think of.
I hope that you all are enjoying your week. That the weather is beautiful where you are and that you are enjoying reading lots of books! I finished “Beside a Burning Sea,” And I just started a book, “Lo, Michael” by Grace Livingston Hill that I've been wanting to read for a year! Thanks for reading!
In Christ's service,
Autumn Slaght