Cathy Bryant's Blog: CatBryant.com ~ Journey Blog, page 44

Book Cover for A Bridge Unbroken Completed!

Happy to announce the arrival of the final book cover for A Bridge Unbroken (Book 5 in the Miller’s Creek Novels) due for release April 2014.

This cover took LOTS of tweaking, but I’m delighted with the final results because it perfectly matches the storyline. (My baby sister took the original photo, so that makes it extra special to me.)

Here’s the current book description, not yet in final form (but close enough to give you the idea).

Letting go to build a bridge…

Dakota Kelly wants her painful past to disappear. A plan to start over is derailed when she co-inherits her late grandfather’s farm with Chance Johnson, the man responsible for her problematic life. But Chance isn’t the only ghost from the past. Someone else is out to get her and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Will Chance and Dakota lay aside their grudges to restore the old farmhouse and bridge, or will evil forces sabotage their attempt at forgiveness?

On Mission

In yesterday’s post, we talked about our hats, the roles we each manage in our day-to-day lives dependent upon our God-given abilities and direction from His Word and Holy Spirit.

The importance of identifying those roles lies in making sure we are living the life God wants for us, rather than giving in to seemingly urgent tasks in favor of the truly important, or living our lives at the whims and wishes of others.

I’m reminded of so many times in the gospels when Jesus was pressed by the crowd, by the Pharisees and other religious sects, or even by his friends and disciples, to go and do and be what they wanted. Without fail, even when it made Him unpopular, He stayed true to His life’s mission.

As His followers, we too are on a mission. His mission.

After taking the time to prayerfully consider our roles, the next step is to create amission statement. Mine tend to be in prayer form, mainly because I know how easy it is for me to go off track, to go my own way, to follow the crowd rather than my Savior.

Based on my roles yesterday: disciple of Jesus, helpmate, personal relationships, intercessor, writer/teacher (yes, I consider these as one and the same–even though there are times I teach without writing, I hope there is never a time I write without teaching), and home-keeper. And after further thought, I’ve also added another role since yesterday: musician (another gift He has given me). (On a side-note, I would suggest that you try to keep the number of roles to seven or less. We all know the hazards of trying to wear too many hats!)

To create my mission statement I use the roles as my headings and then list my prayer/mission statement below, like this:

Disciple of Jesus

Dear Lord,

…help me to remember that in all the hats I wear, being Your disciple is the most important, the one thing that affects all the other roles in my life, the one thing with eternal benefits and consequences.

…help me to never put any other thing or person in my life above You and Your will and plan for my life.

…help me to remember that I represent You wherever I go and whatever I do.

…help me to follow Your example and seek out the lost for the purpose of leading them to You.

Helpmate

…thank You for my husband, and the blessing and help he is to me. Help me to be the loving support system he needs in his life.

…reveal to me the ways I can help him, and help me to be obedient to You.

…may our marriage accurately reveal to a watching world Your relationship to Your people.

Personal Relationships

…thank You for all the wonderful people You have put in my life, Lord. Help me to love them according to Your Word and Your will.

…show me when I need to drop what I’m doing in order to serve and love my friends and my family.

…also reveal to me when others pull me in a direction that is not part of Your plan.

Intercessor

…t hank You for the great privilege of releasing Your dynamite power into individual lives through the power of prayer. M ay I never be so busy that I fail to pray for others when You lay them upon my heart, so I won’t sin against them and You by failing to pray for them.

Writer/Teacher

…Lord, here more than probably any other role, I need Your help. May I never make my life’s work more important than You. May I never allow my service for You to become more important than my relationship to You.

…grant me discernment to know how I should best allocate my time when in comes to my writing and teaching.

…use me according to Your will to make a difference and impact lives for You. May I never forget the privilege or responsibility of what I do. May I never abuse this role, using it to bring honor to myself rather than You, or for my own purposes rather than Yours.

Home-keeper

…here is another area where I struggle, Lord. Sometimes the list seems endless, and I tend to vacillate between all or nothing. Help me prioritize accurately those things that are most important and do them well.

…give me the willingness and the joy to complete those jobs You deem as worthy of my time and effort.

Musician

…thank You for the gift of music, Lord, and for how adequately it expresses the otherwise inexpressible. I truly believe that other than love, music is the language of heaven. May every note I sing or play be heartfelt worship to You.

May all I say and do in each of these roles bring honor and glory to You. In the precious name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

IN CONCLUSION

Mission statements are very personal, heartfelt documents, not merely an exercise in time management. They may not change from year to year. Mine have the tendency to change from season to season. For example, when my children were younger and at home, the role of mother would’ve been in a category all by itself. Though I will always be a mother, my role has changed, and other roles have taken on greater importance.

You probably noticed how some of the above roles tend to “overlap.” It will be the same for you, and it’s a good thing. God didn’t create us to live compartmentalized lives, but to be whole people.

Hopefully you see how a mission statement helps clarify things in life, and helps us see what is truly important, so all the other “stuff” falls to the wayside. Once your mission statement is in place, you can move on to long- and short-term goals that line up with our roles and our mission. We’ll address that in the next post.

On mission for HIM,

The Hats We Wear

Originally I planned on writing a post about the multi-tasking life of a writer, since I seem to be doing a lot of that here lately. But this morning during my time with the Lord, I sensed His Spirit telling me to go deeper. To get to the real heart of the matter.

We’ve all been gifted by our Creator with special skills and abilities, and our job is to use those gifts and abilities for His glory. Our gifts and abilities and His Word lead us to the hats we wear in this earthly life–our roles for fulfilling His purpose in us.

For example, my roles at this point in my life are: beloved daughter of God and follower of Jesus, help-mate to my husband, intercessor, wife/mother/daughter/sister/sister-in-law/friend (my relationships to others), writer/teacher, and keeper of the home (a broad category that covers such things as housecleaning, home renovation, financial work, shopping, gardening, tending animals, scheduling–whew, makes me tired just thinking about it!).

I think it’s extremely important (especially in this fast-paced day and age) for us to prayerfully consider the hats we wear and why we wear them. Why? Because if we’re not careful, we end up wearing hats God never intended for us to wear. Hats that don’t fit. Hats that frustrate us because they don’t fit.

Only after we recognize the roles God has for us will we be able to accurately set goals, take on projects/assignments, and schedule our days. Without first discerning what hats we are meant to wear, our lives become chaotic and frustrating, because we live our lives–not with purposeful intent–but carrying out the whims and wishes of those around us and under the tyranny of the urgent rather than the truly important.

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. ~Psalm 90:12

The Case For Grace

When I first started the spiritual preparation for writing THE WAY OF GRACE, I thought I had a decent grasp on the concept of grace. After all, I’d been a Christian since childhood, married a music minister, and strived to live my life in a way that would honor Him.

But the deeper I dug into the Bible, and the more I tried to wrap my head around terms I’d heard my entire life, such as grace and mercy, the more I realized how little I knew, and the more I realized how vast grace really was.

That’s why I decided to use the metaphor of the ocean to describe grace in the story. Grace is deeper and wider than our human brains can comprehend. As I have Gracie think in the book, grace just isn’t a few drops the LORD tosses out to us here and there like breadcrumbs to starving children. No, He immerses us with His grace. Lavishes it on us like costly perfume.

And the extra special reality about grace? There is not one thing you and I can ever do to deserve even one ounce of it. Once we truly experience that kind of grace, it changes us. We can’t go back to who we were before grace splashed all over us. It’s transformational.

At one time, like Gracie, the heroine of THE WAY OF GRACE, I pursued perfection, somehow believing that I just might achieve it through my own efforts. That idea is both ludicrous and laughable now, not to mention haughty and vain. (Don’t you just hate describing the worst part of who you are deep inside? Yuk! Nothing like looking in the mirror…)

But in spite of my worst…God, in His glorious and immeasurable grace, loved me enough to use even my silly attempt at perfection to teach me about…grace.

Now I see grace everywhere. The elderly woman in the grocery store who strikes up a conversation in the checkout line and leaves her smile and wisdom planted in my heart. The man who waits around with his towing cable on an icy road just in case someone needs help. People who generously give of their time to help me, when there is absolutely no way I deserve it or can ever repay them.

If in exchange for our faith, God chose to only give His grace in return, with none of the other blessings that are ours in Christ, that grace would unequivocally and without room for debate, be more than enough.

Thank You, Lord, for Your abundant and overflowing grace.

A Bridge Unbroken: Rough Draft Progress

Keeping my nose to the grindstone and cracking my own whip to pound out this story that’s been taking up valuable real estate in my head for some time now. I’m elated to report that I’m now past the halfway mark in the storyline. (And well past the halfway mark in word count… Hello, extra editing… :S)

I’m especially pleased with the way the story has turned out in the past few chapters, though I did go through those typical writer’s blahs and blues during the first part of act two. (For you non-writers, that’s where we authors are sorely tempted to hit the ‘Delete’ button.)

Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement I’ve had from many of you on Twitter and Facebook. Words can’t express how much I depend on both those things to keep me going!

Live loved!

Miller’s Creek Main Street Team

Call me an old fogey, but I’d never even heard the term “Street Team” until recently when I stumbled across it. Did you know that even Wikipedia has an entry about street teams? Neither did I…

Anyway, I’m searching for a few good guys and/or gals to be the Miller’s Creek Main Street Team, or MC Main Street for short. These good folks will help me get the word out about the Miller’s Creek books with social media posts, blog posts, word of mouth, and handing out goodies that I’ll send to you (this will include such things as book bags, t-shirts, pens, bookmarks, cups, books, etc.)

You’ll also receive your own goodies just for being a part of the team, and we’ll have our own private Facebook group to share info with one another. I’m truly excited about being part of a team! If you’re interested in joining us, just shoot me an e-mail via the contact form on this site (last tab on the left). Be sure to put “Street Team” in the subject matter so I can catch all your e-mails!

Thank you all so much. Can’t wait to see who’s on our team…

We’ll be adding push pins to the map below to represent all our team members. (I started off by adding mine to the map. Hope to add you soon.) And I also hope to add pictures of our team members as well!

UPDATE (2/6/2014): In one day’s time we’ve added 11 pins to the map and now stretch from coast-to-coast. (Also have two other team members on the e-mail circuit, but I’m not sure of their location at this point.) This is gonna be some street team; I feel it in my bones! So a big hearty welcome and thank you to (in no particular order): Audrey, Sherlee, Mippy, Dawn, Jeanie, Kandy, Carolyn (AKA Mom), Karen, Shary, Sandra, Mikki, Patti, and myself. Doesn’t the map look wonderful?

Miller’s Creek Novels

Miller’s Creek Novels by Slidely Slideshow

What's That In Your Hand?

Hands. Our hands. All filled with different things by our great God and Creator. Some of us have stethoscopes. Others computers. Others a shovel or a broom. It doesn't really matter so much what is in our hands. What DOES matter is this:

1) God put it there - Aren't you glad we're all created uniquely with different skills and abilities? In Exodus, God put special skill in the hands of his people for the building of a movable tabernacle. Earlier in the book, as He gives a special call to an unwilling and excuse-making Moses, God asks him: What's that in your hand? I believe He asks us the same thing.

2) God can make us willing - As the new nation of Israel prepared to build this mobile temple, not only did God give people special abilities, he also made His people willing to share what they had for building materials. In fact, they gave so much that Moses had to send out a memo that they didn't need anymore!

3) God can use what we have - Moses had a rod. It was only the staff of a common shepherd, but the LORD used it to perform many signs and wonders to deliver His people from slavery. A little boy who lived in Jesus' time on this earth only had a few fish and loaves of bread, but Jesus used it to feed thousands.

Oh, Lord, may we be mindful of what we have in our hands, knowing that You put it there for us to willingly give back to You. Use what's in our hands for Your perfect plans and purposes. Amen.

Slide.ly

Yesterday I shared the cool Authorgraph tool that allows authors to have a digital autograph for their eBooks for readers who request it. As a quick update, let me just say that they do have HTML code for blogs and websites, as evidenced by the Authorgraph widget in the sidebar of both this blog and my website. If you haven't already checked it out, what are you waiting for?

Another great site I stumbled across recently is Slide.ly. I had to make some slider ads for my website and was hoping to use a similar plugin for this blog. But it just wasn't working out. At Slide.ly I was able to use the slider ads in a video-style project that includes music, and I'm tickled with the results. (In fact, I like it even better than the slides on my website because of the music aspect, and especially love that I got extra mileage out of those sliders.)

Check out the results below, and leave me a comment to let me know what you think! (BTW, there's not really a short version, so after a while feel free to click the off button!)



Miller's Creek Novels by Slidely Slideshow

Authorgraph

Excited about this new author tool I stumbled across. It's called Authorgraph, and it allows readers of eBooks to request a digital autograph from an author. Pretty cool, huh? The above is a screenshot of my Authorgraph page. The site also enables you to put a tab on your Facebook author page. I'm looking forward to seeing if they eventually will give out HTML code for blogs and websites.