Ada Brownell's Blog, page 29

Sunday school prepares us for school and life

                                                                                    By Ada Brownell
      Twelve preschoolers sit quietly in a circle on the floor with a middle-aged woman telling a story. They watch, eyes twinking with excitement, as Mrs. McPherson shows pictures. Then she drops baking soda into a bowl of vinegar. The liquid foams up and boils over and the lady explains how anger affects us, creating a mess between us, our friends or family.      “Say this after me,” she says, “Love your neighbors as yourself, Luke Ten Twenty-Seven.”      The children repeat the verse several times and then she asks, “Who can say it by yourself?”      Volunteers wave their hands and several of them say the verse, sometimes confusing the numbers a little. Then they begin to sing “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.”      The class now begins art work, coloring a provided picture of hearts coming down out of the clouds toward an open space, where they draw a sketch of themselves and talk about God’s love for them.      Before there were preschools or Head Start, children were equipped with school readiness because scenes like this were common everywhere in America. In my day, schools didn’t even have kindergarten. Church showed me long before I entered school how to sit still and behave in a classroom without my parents, introduced me to art, music, memorization, the pleasures that come with reading, and how to interact with an adult we don’t know and other children.      Hence I was ready for school.      Yet, being in church and Sunday school affected me positively in other ways. Scripture gave me a good self image (God loves me and has a wonderful plan for my life) and taught me how to live: Love God and others; Honor your father and mother; Don’t steal, lie, kill, commit sex outside of marriage, or covet. I learned the tongue is a fire and I should watch what I say. I was taught to be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, although I sometimes messed up on that.      I also learned what I do has eternal consequences—reward or judgment.      Considering the advantages, why have parents ceased to take children to Sunday school and many churches eliminated Christian education?      Sunday school connected me with friends and recreation without charge. Ice skating parties (we skated on ponds and canals). Picnics. Game get-togethers. Home prayer meetings where I learned doctrine and we often had refreshments and fellowship as well.      Congregations still do that. Many churches have gyms. Sometimes recreation costs a small amount, usually because classes go where there is a fee.  We used to rent swimming pools (women at one and men at another) and pay 50 cents each.      The church offers counseling, often without charge.             I didn’t need that because I grew up in a great home, even with seven siblings. My role models were people in the church, musicians, teachers and my relatives.       Church connected me with great people. We’ve moved more than 30 times in our marriage and everywhere we’ve lived we became friends with wonderful folks. Because Christian education gives more opportunities for connections, Sunday school was at the heart of it all, even for our children, and still is a vital part of our lives.     Ada Brownell is a retired reporter for The Pueblo Chieftain.Her website: http://www.adabrownell.comHer blog: http://www.Inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.comhttp://amzn.com/1466200936http://amazon.com/swallowed-by-life-ebook/dp/B007BGCVSU/ref=sr_.1_3?s=books&ie+UTF8&qid=1330035854&sr+1-3

NEED A FRIEND?

  A CANDLE IS LIKE FRIENDSHIP.  Sometimes friendships don’t last forever.  School friends or friends in the neighborhood sometimes are lost.  People go to different schools or graduate.  They move away.  Like a candle that burns out, friendships end.            Sometimes friendships end abruptly, however, like a blown-out candle. This usually happens when buddies have a disagreement and they say or do things they can’t take back.             Family relationships sometimes are like a flashlight. They will stay lit all your life if the batteries are kept charged or renewed (and this includes a marriage).            God’s love is like the sun, which keeps shining and warming the earth whether the skies are cloudy or blue. In the same way, God will never stop loving us.            Solomon wrote, “A friend loves at all times” (Proverbs 17:17); “A man who has friends must himself be friendly” (Proverbs 18:24).Friends usually start with a friendly greeting and a conversation. Sometimes friendships begin with just a smile.            Jesus was accused of being a friend of publicans and sinners, but in reality, his closest friends were his disciples.  Yes, he did go to Zacchaeus’s house, but Zacchaeus already had decided to follow Jesus.  He showed Mary Magdalene compassion and friendship, but she already had repented of her sins when she wet Jesus’ feet with her tears. He talked to the woman at the well, who received with joy the news that he was the Messiah. Jesus told the woman to go and sin no more.             The Bible tells about the friendship of David and Jonathan.  Jonathan was full of faith, like David.  The Philistine Army challenged Jonathan just as the Philistine Giant later challenged Israel’s Army to a fight.            David and Jonathan met right after David slew Goliath.            The Bible says there was an immediate bond of love between them, and they became best friends.  Jonathan made a special vow to be David’s friend, and he sealed the pact by giving David his robe, tunic, sword, bow and belt” (1 Samuel 18:1-4).            David married Jonathan’s sister, Michal, but King Saul, Jonathan’s father was jealous of David and hated him.  He tried several times to kill David.            On one occasion, Jonathan saved David’s life.  Jonathan once said he loved David as much as he loved himself (1 Samuel 20:16).            King Saul wanted Jonathan to be the next king, but David already had been anointed king. God rejected Saul because of his rebellion.  Jonathan, who was likely to follow his father, apparently had no desire to be king, although he was a mighty warrior.            Jonathan was killed on the battlefield fighting the Amalekites, another nation like the Philistines, alongside his father.            Afterward David wrote a funeral song (2 Samuel 1) where he mourns Jonathan.            “How I weep for you, my brother, Jonathan!” he sang in sadness.            David had a wonderful friend in Jonathan.  But sometimes friends can be a bad influence.David’s son, Solomon, warned his son about unwholesome friends. In Proverbs 1:10-19 he wrote, “My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.”One time I asked a class of children to write down the names of people they would like for a friend. Then they wrote their own name and glued it facing the other names. When it drie and they tried to tear them apart, they discovered a little of their name was left on the others, and theirs were left with theirs.  Likewise, we leave a little of ourselves with every friend we make, and they leave a part of themselves with us. Good friends make us better.  Bad friends can influence us in a bad way.But good friends are great! Is there someone you would like for a friend?  Pray this week God will help you to show yourself friendly.  Then decide to call this person on the phone, plan to meet for lunch or for an evening at your house. Friends are priceless..
© Copyright Ada Brownell

CREATED TO LIVE FOREVERBy Ada Brownell &...

CREATED TO LIVE FOREVER
By Ada Brownell
                                                 “Whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:26). Is the water that makes steam gone forever? No, because the earth has only a certain amount of water, which is constantly in a precipitation and evaporation cycle. Clouds, which are nothing but water vapor like steam, hold water until they become so heavy it rains or snows.  Then the sun comes out, water evaporates into clouds, and the cycle continues.Do you know the Bible says our lives are similar to vapor?  (James 4:14) But when we die, we are still somewhere, just as the water isn’t gone when it becomes steam.  We are made to live forever. Another amazing fact is we’re not walking around in the same bodies in which we were born, or the bodies we had last year. Our flesh developed from one cell and now each of us has about 75 trillion living cells, constantly dying, and being replaced.  Everything, except for the neurological system, has died numerous times in our lives, then replaced by new cells that knew exactly what to make, such as skin, blood, hair, bone and your inward parts. Our skin is estimated to be rebuilt every seven days. The birth and the death of cells is not the only way we know we are more than a body. For instance, we can lose weight and it doesn’t change who we are. We can have parts cut off, such as our tonsils, a wart or even a hand or leg, and still live. We can even live with someone else’s kidney, liver or heart!            The person you are, that God made you, is more than flesh and blood. But you also have a unique personality, and a spiritual side. When God’s powerful breath went into Adam’s nose, the eternal soul was born and every person born since then has a soul and spirit, which lives forever.             Watchman Nee, author of The Spiritual Man,


Shorter swallowed summaryEASTER: Peter wrote, "For we did not follow cunningly devised fables...but were eyewitnesses of his majesty." (2 Peter 1:16).Jesus is alive!
SWALLOWED BY LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal By Ada BrownellDo you believe you could live with someone else’s heart or kidneys, but not without your body? Evidence shows we’re more than flesh. The author, a prolific religion writer and retired medical journalist, talks about the evidence; the wonder of life with all its electrical systems; the awesome truth about cell death and regeneration; mysteries surrounding the change from mortal to immortal; where we go when our body dies; resurrection; and a glimpse at what we will do in heaven. Questions and answers make this non-fiction inspirational book a great text for group study. It’s written for support groups, religion classes, people with chronic or terminal illness, individuals who fear death or are curious about it, the grieving, and those who give them counsel.Review: “It was wonderful how the author merged the medical with the spiritual.” Amazon: http://ow.ly/U11Rn

EASTER: DOES JESUS LIVE? RESURRECTION: EVIDENCE, OR PROOF?

By Ada BrownellI imagine you’ve read or heard the true stories about someone taken to the morgue, and then a hand moves, an eye opens, or a leg lifts, and the person is alive.
Perhaps you were one of the hundreds who purchased Heaven is For Real, the story of a young boy who emerges from life-saving surgery with remarkable stories about  heaven. The book about little Colton by Todd Burpo, a Nebraska pastor, has 7,781 reviews and now is a movie.
I attended a writers’ conference where the keynote speaker was Cecil Muriphey, who wrote 90 Minutes in Heaven with Don Piper, who lived again after declared dead at the scene of an accident where his car was crushed under the wheels of a truck .A pastor waiting at the scene 90 minutes later said God told him to pray for the dead man. He did, and Piper immediately breathed and came to life. The book is another best seller.
I tell in my book, Swallowed by Life: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal, about Lynn Orr, a man I knew in Denver, who had a heart attack. He said one minute he lay in a hospital bed, and the next his bare feet stood on a smooth street paved with gold. In the distance, he saw a beautiful gate and a city. He smelled gorgeous flowers, and heard singing and rejoicing. He talked with Jesus. Then he was back in the bed, worrying his body wasn’t covered as medical personnel zapped his heart and brought him back.
I don’t remember how long Lynn was said  to be clinically dead, but he testified to the glories of heaven and a few weeks after I heard him speak, he went to be with Jesus. He said after seeing heaven, he no longer desired to live on earth.
To many people, these testimonies are proof of life after death. They are wonderful to hear. Yet, are they proof?
In Swallowed by Life, I present evidence from medical science that we are more a body.  I go into the miracles of cell death and rejuvenation, where our bodies die and are replaced one cell at a time until after seven years our whole body has died and been renewed except for the central nervous system, and some evidence shows even dead brain cells sometimes rejuvenate.
But the greatest evidence is before our eyes all the time. We begin life as a fertilized egg and we’re the person we became from the day God-designed life burst into that tiny egg. We grew in the womb and were born at seven pounds or so, and we’re still the same person, although we might weigh a couple hundred pounds now.
I or you could lose weight, a part of our flesh, and we’d still me or you—whoever we were before.
We could lose a leg, an arm, an eye, have diseased organs removed. A surgeon could even cut out our heart, kidneys, lungs and transplant someone else’s and we would still be who we are.
All the things I mention are evidence we are more than a body. A neurologist told me he believes the brain is the residence of the soul, so perhaps that’s why the neurological system doesn’t die and regenerate constantly as other parts do.
Yet, is that proof we aren’t as connected to our bodies as we thought? I think it’s great evidence, but still it’s not proof.
Why? Because resurrection and salvation are matters of faith. John tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
 Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever believes in me will never die” (John 10:25-26).
 St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “If you confess with your mouth ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).
Jesus said, “Because I live, you also will live” (John 14:19).
Do you believe? That’s what you need to do, because no one will disprove it or prove it, and you have to believe in Jesus to live forever.
It’s your decision.
©Ada Brownell

SWALLOWED BY LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal By Ada BrownellDo you believe you could live with someone else’s heart or kidneys, but not without your body? Evidence shows we’re more than flesh. The author, a prolific religion writer and retired medical journalist, talks about the evidence; the wonder of life with all its electrical systems; the awesome truth about cell death and regeneration; mysteries surrounding the change from mortal to immortal; where we go when our body dies; resurrection; and a glimpse at what we will do in heaven. Questions and answers make this non-fiction inspirational book a great text for group study. It’s written for support groups, religion classes, people with chronic or terminal illness, individuals who fear death or are curious about it, the grieving, and those who give them counsel.Review: “It was wonderful how the author merged the medical with the spiritual.”           Amazon: http://ow.ly/U11Rn
Where you can find Swallowed by Life:Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/JnbKVLBooksamillion.com http://ow.ly/cJmx8 GoodReads http://ow.ly/cJmMeAmazon: http://amzn.to/Jnc1rW  · 

HOW TO ACCEPT CRITICISM

By Ada Brownell
Several years ago our pastor preached a sermon from an different angle that stuck in my head.
 I’ve heard many sermons on dousing a critical spirit and watching my tongue, but I can’t remember a pastor ever teaching how to accept criticism.
He was doing a series on Hebrews 11 and the verse of the day was, “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain. By faith he was commended as a righteous man when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.”
Although it’s not written in this passage, our pastor indicated we should pay attention to what is behind the story that first appears in Genesis 4. The young men made a sacrifice, probably because God instructed the first family to do so. Sacrifice meant shedding of blood. We learn God said without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. If our just God rejected Cain’s vegetables, evidence shows the young man didn’t obey the Heavenly Father.
No matter how proud Cain was of his crop, it wasn’t according to the guidelines.
Cain’s reaction to God’s rejection was much worse than any writer who thought he had the perfect novel until it was rejected. The youth took his anger out on his brother and killed him.
 Many Bible characters experienced rejection and criticism. David had to run for his life from King Saul. Moses had to keep submitting his request to Pharaoh, although he was rejected on his first tries. Joseph was rejected by his brothers and severely criticized. The Apostle Paul was rejected at first by other Christians, and Jesus was not only badgered with skepticism by the Pharisees, the Jews turned their backs on Him and crucified Him.
How should we react to criticism and rejection? I hope not with the anger of Cain.
No one receives constant criticism like writers. People who must do critiques of someone else’s work should do it with gentleness.
Yet we can take criticism well—and learn from it. To do so, we have to be ferocious about keeping our pride in check when we receive a critical review of our work, and understand hard criticism often is the only kind of advice that helps.
In an interview on Faithwriters Blog by Joanne Sher, (http://faithwriters.com/blog/2012/03/28/interview-with-philip-yancey/) Philip Yancey said, “If you want to improve your writing 1) read voraciously from writers who can teach about style and content and 2) Hope for friends who will edit with a scowl. Most people want you to feel good so they give you compliments about your writing and that doesn’t help at all (except emotionally). Really, you need some grouches to edit your work.”
Yancey is a best-selling author of many books including, What Good is God? and Prayer: Does it Make a Difference?
I’ve learned much from critiquers and following guidelines. When I miss the mark, the first sharp words about my creations always hurts a little, but I won’t allow the wound to my ego to continue to bleed or fester. I let it heal, refuse to allow my desire to fulfill my calling to die, bind up the wounds by taking the therapy, pulling at those sore muscles,  and going on until I’ve found success.
© Ada Brownell

COMING SOON: THE PEACH BLOSSOM RANCHER, A SEQUEL TO THE LADY FUGITIVE 
The Lady FugitiveBy Ada Brownell
How does a respected elocutionist become a face on a wanted poster?Jenny Louise Parks escapes from the coal bin, and her abusive uncle offers a handsome reward for her return. Because he is a judge, he will find her or he won’t inherit her parents’ ranch. Determination to remain free grips Jenny, especially after she meets William and there’s a hint of romance. But while peddling household goods and showing a Passion of the Christ moving picture, he discovers his father’s brutal murder.             Will Jenny avoid the bounty hunters? Can she forgive the person who turns her in?2015 Laurel Award runner-up. #Review The Lady Fugitive. You’ll laugh, bite your nails, wish you had a gun to help  http://ow.ly/QzlIP

Speaking in tongues: WHAT’S SO POWERFUL ABOUT A PENTECOSTAL EXPERIENCE?

By Ada Brownell
      Jesus stood, his robe swaying with the breeze, shouting to the apostles and about 500 men, plus women and children     Here are questions we hear today about the Baptism in the Holy Ghost:·         Is the Holy Spirit poured out in the same way today?·         How does it happen?·         Why is speaking in tongues the initial evidence?·         Is there other evidence?·         Should we seek the Holy Spirit instead of speaking to Jesus or God?·         How do people know something supernatural happens?·         What advantages are there to being baptized in the Holy Spirit?·          Does it make me a better person than those who aren’t filled?
Yes, the Holy Spirit is poured out in the same way today, but often those who speak “in tongues” are given a heavenly instead of earthly language, although my oldest sister spoke in Swedish when she was filled. A Swedish couple was in the congregation and heard her glorify God in their language.It happens when we ask God for it, and tarry in his presence. Some advise seekers to just speak it out, but those I’ve seen who were filled with joy, overflowing love and power to witness, not only asked to be filled, but worshiped and praised the Lord until they ran out of their own vocabulary and the Spirit gave them words to worship him they couldn’t utter, even with groaning.God uses the tongue because the tongue is difficult to tame and it’s a spiritual milestone to completely yield ourselves to God, including the tongue.Other evidence surfaces such as joy, love for God and one another, and becoming a witness. God opens doors and often miraculously gives the words to speak.Jesus is the baptizer, but the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity and He is the one who empowers. The Heavenly Father is involved because He promised things in Old Testament days, such as Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit.We know we’ve been touched by the supernatural power of God by our fruits. Acts 1:8  I’ve discovered sometimes we can be witnesses by our lives and don’t have to say a word. But God also uses our mouths. When I was a dried up 21-year-old discouraged Christian living in a little town in the Utah desert, God refilled and anointed me one night with His power all over me like warm oil. The next day I prayed for a helper so I could start a Sunday school in that little place with four bars and no church. Within a week a wonderful Baptist woman my age moved to town and we established a Sunday school in the school house.Being filled with the Holy Ghost doesn’t make me better than someone who hasn’t been baptized in the Spirit. But it makes me much better than I’d be without it.



CONFESSIONS OF A PENTECOSTALBy Ada BrownellAda tells what it was like to grow up in a Pentecostal home, miracles she witnessed, and then of her own journey following the Lord. Her inspiring confessions of faith will encourage and bless believers everywhere.Originally published by the Assemblies of God in 1978, the book was listed in 2011 and many other years among 10 top recommendations on Pentecostalism by The Library Thing. It was converted to an e-book in 2011.Review: Confessions Of a Pentecostal is more than just a book or a story; it is an ultimate look inside another person's faith. Truly remarkable, a book that I will reread time and time again, I recommend this to anyone who ever wonders about who we are: who are the Pentecostals.
https://www.amazon.com/author/adabrownell


















1 Corinthians 15:5-7

MAMA WAS A FIERY REDHEAD

By Ada Brownell
A true story

The year was 1918. Rita Shepherd hurried down the dirt Iowa road carrying her heavy suitcase.      Joe Nicholson dropped his shovel beside a post hole. “That must be the new schoolteacher! I’m going to offer to carry her load.”      His friend let out a low whistle. “That redhead is a looker. I’ll do it.”      The young men argued and then flipped a coin. Joe won.      He enthusiastically courted the teacher for several weeks and then discovered there was a beau back home.      “It’s either me or the other guy,” Joe demanded. “Will you marry me or are you going to choose that twerp back home?”      They got married. Joe told Rita, “God planned for us to be man and wife way back when I was in Kansas and you were in Iowa.”      Joe and Rita were my parents.      Daddy usually was a man of few words, but when he did speak, wisdom filled his conversation. Because he had a “can do” attitude, he could repair or build almost anything, and even during the devastation of the Great Depression and the Kansas Dust Bowl, he figured out how to care for his family.      He shot three geese with one bullet. He dammed up the creek in drought and irrigated his garden. One cold winter when they had nothing in the cellar, Daddy cut ice from the creek and stored it in the cellar. The next summer, grasshoppers swarmed in like clouds, devouring crops, even eating onions out of the ground. The family cow still had milk and they had chickens, so the chickens ate grasshoppers and the family ate chicken and ice cream.      Mama was resourceful, too, and she was the perfect mate for Daddy. Yet, she had fire and spunk in her that made her ideal for the mother of the eight of us—six of us redheads.      Mama had been to college—unusual in the early 1900s, and being educated added to her life and ours. Daddy might have had a hint of what it means to be married to a redhead before, but when as a newlywed he started partaking now and then from his boss’s illegal liquor still, I imagine that’s when he realized he married a spit-fire.      Following Joe on his way to the field, she located the still in a shack by the lake. She’d heard of temperance leader Carry Nation’s style, and picked up an ax. Grabbing liquor bottles and dropping them in gunny sacks, she cleaned out the shack. She stuck a few bottles up the chimney and dragged one sack full of bottles into the lake as evidence for the revenuers. The bundles she hit with the backside of the ax until every bottle was broken.      When the bootlegger discovered the devastation, he knocked on my parents’ door. Mama answered.      “I’ve been expecting you,” she said. “Sit right over there. You ought to be ashamed for produces something that takes food out of children’s mouths, clothes off their backs, money out of a father’s pockets and sense out of their heads.”      The man didn’t know what to say, but the next day Mom and Dad had to run or be killed. They ran, sleeping here and there, and encountered body lice and had to burn all their clothes.Years later, Mama met the former bootlegger unexpectedly in another town. It was too late to cross the street to avoid him.“Young lady,” he said when his eyes caught hers, “you ruined me financially, but it was the best thing that happened to me.”      Mom had a way of getting to the root of problems. She parented with gentleness and love, and she and Dad disciplined with firmness  and consistency. We knew what was expected.      Although Mama always believed, when I was a baby (the eighth child), Mom had an experience with God that added power to her life beyond temper. The Holy Spirit so anointed her words although she has been in heaven for 50 years, my siblings and I can still hear her quoting scriptures: “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath.” “Love your neighbors as yourself.”  “Those who won’t work, should not eat.” “Honor your father and mother…that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”      You might expect Solomon’s writing from Proverbs, “Wine is a mocker; strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise” and the motto on her wall, “Only one life; ‘Twill soon be past; Only what’s done for Christ will last.”      A mother’s words written on our hearts by the chisel of the Holy Spirit remain for recall. I wonder what words I’ve said my children will remember.©Ada Brownell 2012
      

THE REASON SHE HATED HER DAD'S NEW WIFE

A TRUE STORY

By Ada BrownellBetty            How wonderful the Lord helps us say the right words when we ask.





Not her real name

TOUCHES OF TIME AND A COLD CASE MURDER

TOUCHES OF TIME
Interview with Author Loree Peery Does she have a story to tell!
Q. Why did you choose that title when your book contains things that give us chills?A. This title evolved from “Murder on a County Road”; “Unfinished Business”; “Ultimate Answer”; “Today, Yesterday, and Tomorrow”; and “The Touch of Time.” I’ve never considered a reason for the title I stayed with, other that it seemed the right one.
Sarah is touched by her mother’s journals from time past. In the present, her heart is touched by Ford’s unselfishness and desire to protect her. She’s also touched by the life in her womb, which represents her future. Most of all, she’s touched by God’s timing.
Q  Tell us about your character, Sarah, who tries to solve a cold-case murder.A. At the beginning of the story, Sarah is grieving. She lost her best friend and the father of her baby a few months back. Now she’s getting over the numbness of her mother’s death, and starts to feel again. She also stands by a promise she made.
Q.   How did your character, investigator Ford Melcher, become interested in the old unsolved case?A. His job with the Nebraska State Patrol is investigating cold cases. Soon after meeting Sarah, he wonders if her grandfather’s case might be linked to the case he’s actively working on, due to location and decade.


Q   ow does he treat this amateur trying to unravel crimes the pros couldn’t?A. Since Ford is immediately drawn to Sarah on a personal level, he reminds her he’s the professional and she should leave the sleuthing up to him. He can’t help but be protective, it’s his nature as well as his job 
Q. I’m guessing there is romance in here somewhere. What characteristic makes your characters lovable?A. Sarah is unselfish in her quest, motivated by her mother’s dying wish. She wants the unknown to be dealt with so her whole family can go on. She seeks to weather the storm and come out stronger.

Ford is compassionate, yet worthy of respect. An optimist, he wants the best for others, and empathizes more than he should with family members of victims. He’s a victor in Christ, no matter how his cases turn out.

   Q. Since the story reflects some similar events in your life, were you able to go through police        records about your father’s death?


A. Unfortunately, no. I requested to see the autopsy report, but the only thing I ever had in hand was the death certificate, after my mother passed.

Q. . Does the victim in your story die the same way your father did? How did it affect you to fictionalize such a tragedy?
A. Yes, to your first question. As per your second, the churning twist to my stomach and the sting of tears is enough of an answer. I had that same reaction every time I wrote about it, and now, each time I read it.
Q. When and why did you become a writer?A. The spark came to life a long time ago, in the mid-eighties. I tried my hand at romances and submitted extremely rough drafts to popular magazines. They were rejected, of course. I set out to learn all I could. The first published, as with Lena in Touches of Time, was a testimony to a Christian magazine. I had more nonfiction printed in academic journals and anthologies. I completed novels, and signed my first Christian romance contract in 2010.
Q. What is your goal from here?A.I believe I’m called to continue writing romance. Working writers always have stories in various stages, right now I have four.
Q.  Anything else you’d like your readers to know?A. I’ve read Psalm 37 many times over the years. Verse three proved true—I became a published author only after I quit trying on my own strength, and made God first in everything. ThenHe granted the desire of my heart. I often tell myself to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him, verse seven. Verse ten speaks to me as far as Dad’s killer is concerned. “Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more,” (NASB). The Lord loves justice, as stated in verse 28, and he doesn’t forsake me. So I will strive to be faithful.As for you readers with a desire of your own heart, never give up. God has probably placed that dream within you, and He’ll equip you to finish the task. Pray your desire is His plan for you. Be determine and disciplined. Continue to learn.Thank you, Ada, for inviting me here today.


BioChristian romance author LoRee Peery attempts to see God’s presence every day. Often that gift comes from nature, when the call of a cardinal draws her to look for the distinctive flash of crimson. A meadowlark’s melody always transports her to the farm where she grew up. A rainbow holds special significance, since one appeared over her father’s grave the day of his funeral, assuring her of the Lord’s presence. She clings to I John 5:4 and prays her blended family and dozen grandchildren see that faith. Find LoRee at www.loreepeery.com or Pelican Book Group http://tinyurl.com/kwz9enk
BlurbA decades-old unsolved homicide.A grieving single mother-to-be.A cold-case investigator.Sarah Bishop goes through her deceased mother’s belongings and becomes immersed in the details of her grandfather’s unsolved homicide. Determined to find who was responsible, for the sake of her unborn baby, Sarah vows to seek out the answers her mother had failed to find.Cold Case Investigator Ford Melcher is intrigued by Sarah’s dogged drive to solve the old mystery. His current case has reached a frustrating dead end, but he comes to believe it is somehow linked to Sarah’s quest. His desire to protect her from further hurt is put to the test, especially when he has secrets he’d rather not disclose.Answers could remain elusive as to who struck Sarah’s grandfather and left him in a ditch. Will the search for those answers open doors for her to discover the life God planned? Can she accept that plan if it includes a man who wasn’t forthright with information?

The Beauty of a Busy Woman

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol (the place of the dead), where you are going.
Ecclesiastes 9:9-11  

By Ada Nicholson BrownellSolomon, in his kingly robe, his once-handsome face now etched with the journey of his smiles and frowns, must have shut his tired eyes before he wrote Proverbs 31.All around the palace, his wives chattered, screamed at children and giggled. A few primped before a mirror, hoping to catch their husband’s attention that night. Perhaps the first of the 700 wives started the trend of doing nothing but looking beautiful and criticizing other women in the house.  I imagine each woman wanted to be the loveliest, the sexiest, and the one he would choose most.  But after being surrounded by all that outward splendor, Solomon ‘s mind caught a vision of a different kind of woman. He imagined a lady who “looks well to the ways of her household, and eats not the bread of idleness.” A traveling evangelist also wrote about the value of not being idle. The evangelist, the Apostle Paul, picked up a reed with his rough hands, work-worn from stitching tents,  and wrote to the Thessalonian church, his graying head filled with love and yet, frustration. “Keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teachings you received from us,” he wrote in 2 Thessalonians 3:6. He pointed out his team was not idle all the while they were with the church in Thessalonica.Paul became even more bold in his statements about lazy people. “If any will not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Although many people work at avoiding things they don’t think they enjoy—like washing dishes, cleaning the house, doing laundry, bathing the children, doing odd jobs, working diligently at a career—they miss out on the satisfaction work gives and the joy of having chores done.My Mom loved to quote the scripture about “No work, no food,” but I grew to enjoy what I could find to do constructively with my hands. I did it with all my might, as another scripture says. Even as a kid when I cleaned the kitchen and mopped the floor, I loved to look back at what I’d done as if I’d created a work of art out of chaos. To me, it was beautiful.After I married and we eventually grew to seven people in the house, I used to set time goals for completing different tasks. Did you know you can make your bed in less than five minutes? Clean out the dishwasher in just a few seconds more than it takes to heat a cup of water in the microwave? Less than 15 minutes to clean to kitchen after a normal meal? Put everything on your bathroom vanity away and polish the sink in about 30 seconds? Fold and hang the laundry straight from the dryer in five to seven minutes?Furthermore, have you tried planning meals in your head while doing some of the above tasks? Time? Zero.An orderly home creates a different atmosphere. We can do a little deeper cleaning once a week, but I do different tasks on separate days.We don’t need to be fanatics about neatness and put the bread away before the person who got it out can get peanut butter on it, but doing what we can when we can, gives us a chance for fun if we plan.Planning is the key to hospitality, budgeting our finances, finding ways to stretch the family income—and getting adequate rest, too. The secret is being organized. You can always fit more into organized space.                                                Sidebar: Polishing the Inner WomanGiving hubby or the children about five minutes of attention after work or school usually makes the rest of the day go better.  With effort and a sense of urgency, a woman can love every member of the family and train children in the way they ought to go while multi-tasking.But there is more. Some mothers and fathers pray briefly with their children before they leave the house each day, but if we can’t manage that, we need to pray with them sometime. It’s even better if the family has devotions together. Reading scripture and praying for one another only takes a few minutes, but every once in a while we can devote more time so we can discuss problems, answer questions, or have intense Bible study together. Other important tasks that actually aren’t that time-consuming: Reading the Word and connecting with God privately. We can pray and memorize scripture while doing other tasks, even while jogging or doing a few exercises and stretches. But it’s important to kneel for a few minutes daily to give the Lord undivided attention.Most of all, being in God’s House also is time well spent.  When we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, everything else we need and sometimes even our desires will be added (Matthew 6:33). Pastors, Sunday school teachers, children’s workers, youth leaders, Christian friends, become positive mentors, tea ching our children to obey their parents and The Ten Commandments. The church can help couples make solid marriages, and help individuals to allow God to direct their steps—making the rest of their lives better.As with budgeting  money, we can find ways we waste minutes and hours that would be better spent if we managed them correctly.The results help us at the moment—and possibly change our family for eternity.©Copyright Ada Brownell 


MEET ADA BROWNELL
Ada Brownell is a retired newspaper reporter who also has written for Christian publications since age 15. She is author of six books, two fiction and four non-fiction: The Lady Fugitive (fiction); Joe the Dreamer: the Castle and the Catapult (fiction); Imagine the Future You (a motivational Bible study for youth and family worship); Swallowed by LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal (Evidence you are more than a body; Facts, Faith &Propaganda, a book to sustain and strengthen faith in God; Confessions of a Pentecostal, Listed by The Library Thing for many years as one of the 10 best books on Pentecostalism. Out of print but now available for Kindle.
Read the first chapter of The Lady Fugitive , a finalist in the Clash of the Titles Laurel Award,  here: http://ow.ly/QzlIP
Ada’s  Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/adabrownellAda's Barnesandnoble.com Author Page http://ow.ly/PUWHO Her blog: http://www.inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com