Jennifer Shirk's Blog, page 33

985 and other things

IN THE NEWS: An inebriated moose trying to get more fermenting apples apparently lost its balance and ended up stuck in an apple tree in Sweden. Read more HERE.

Why 985?

It's a nice number.

Well, that and...I'm on blog post 985!!!!
Thank you, thank you. Hold the applause.
(Actually, now that I think about it, this is blog post 986. But I digress...)

Wow, so many blog posts, so many rambles, so close to 1,000. Hmm...I feel as if I should do some sort of blog post celebration giveaway--ya know, due to my prolificness. Will need to think on this...

On another note, I wanted to give a big shout-out to fellow author Adelle Laudan, who put together a sweet (literally and figuratively) cookbook called Sweet Sunshine: Baking Sweet Memories.

This is a Charity Cookbook, with all proceeds going to the Sunshine Foundation of Canada http://www.sunshine.ca/ Within these pages, several featured authors (including ME) have shared a childhood memory, some pictures of us as little kids, recipes, and a few have written a story, complete with artwork and coloring pages. Recipes include; Cookies, Cakes, Pies, Desserts, Fudge & Smoothies!

It's really a nice cook book. So much so that I plan on doing a giveaway of this around the holidays because I think it'll make a great Christmas gift. So stay tuned!

Before I close out this week, I have to ask, what is your favorite thing to win on blogs? Books, gift certificates, food items, jewelery, or fun gift baskets? Have you won anything on a blog?

My So-called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!


Today's Wild Card author is:

Sara Horn

and the book:

My So-Called Life as a Proverbs 31 Wife: A One-Year Experiment...and Its Surprising Results

Harvest House Publishers (September 1, 2011)

***Special thanks to Karri | Marketing Assistant | Harvest House Publishers for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



Sara Horn is a wife and mom, a writer, author and founder of Wives of Faith, a military wives ministry. She's a sought-after media guest and writer of numerous articles and books including GOD Strong and the Gold Medallion nominee A Greater Freedom cowritten with bestselling author Oliver North. She's devoted to her husband who serves in the U.S. Navy Reserves, crazy about her son, and passionate about her ministry to women. Please visit

Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:



Sara Horn, a busy writer and mother, deemed the Proverbs 31 wife to be an impossible ideal. Or is it? This surprising, heartfelt personal account of Sara's one-year experiment reveals how even a domestically-challenged woman can embrace God's purpose and encourages readers to pursue God's amazing plan for their lives.







Product Details:

List Price: $12.99
Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers (September 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0736939415
ISBN-13: 978-0736939416

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:


Oh Be Careful What You Preach



Yesterday was Sunday.

Our pastor started a new sermon series on the family. We missed the first sermon last week, but we were there yesterday for the second. The first week was "Dads Matter More than Anything." This week's was titled "Moms Matter Just as Much."

Good to know.

As the pastor got started, I pulled out my Bible and my notebook, all ready to take notes. But then he said something that made my stomach churn. My hands instinctively made fists. My eyebrows furrowed.

The biblical passage he was speaking from was Proverbs 31.

Of course, I muttered to myself, turning to the passage I revere and fear at the same time.

The Proverbs 31 wife and I don't get along very well. I don't appreciate how bad she makes me look. I don't like the guilt I feel when I see her. If she is the standard all Christian wives should work toward, then I'm in serious trouble. If she's the equivalent of Miss America, then I'm a whole lot more like Lucille Ball. I have a lot of explaining to do for why I'm not more like Miss America. And I'm not really sure I can.

The pastor started making his points:

An Excellent Wife Is a Rare Find (v. 10).
An Excellent Wife Can Be Trusted in Every Way (vv. 11-12).
An Excellent Wife Is Concerned for Others (v. 20).
An Excellent Wife Is Strong and Stable (v. 25).
And so it went.

I stopped taking notes at "An Excellent Wife Is a Tireless Worker."

My husband glanced over at me when he heard my notebook snap shut. He knows that's never a good sign. Neither was the steam coming out of my ears and the laser stare in my eyes. He started looking for the exits, just in case.

I don't like it when men tell women what will make us excellent. I don't consider myself a feminist at all, but I just don't think men can possibly understand the woman any more than we can understand the man. That's why Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus was written. Eve may have been formed from the man's rib, but she definitely had a mind of her own. And maybe, just maybe, if Adam had taken more time to understand her, the whole scene with the apple and the garden might have gone a lot better. Just sayin'.

Part of my struggle with the treatment of the fairer sex comes from the attitudes I've witnessed through the church denomination I've partly grown up and worked in. I agree with a lot that my denomination stands for. But when it comes to the treatment and attitudes about the service of women in the church, it often leaves me with the same feeling I get when I hear fingernails scratch down a chalkboard.

What I don't understand is why there's this 21-verse list of what the perfect wife is and not at least a Top 10 of what makes a perfect husband. I raised this question once on Facebook, and a guy I know who is deep into seminary classes pointed out that Ephesians 5:25-28 is an all-encompassing directive for husbands. See what you think:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

Really? That's great. Husbands are told to love their wives as they love themselves, and wives are given a laundry list of ways to show our love (just in case we might get confused and think the husband, as part of his love, might also "get up while it's still dark and provide food" for his family). Husbands—you show love. Wives—get to cookin'.

Back to my stewing. I sat, listening to our pastor as he continued to speak on all the things that make an excellent wife, from the example of the Proverbs 31 superwoman:

A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.

Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.

She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.

She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.

She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.

She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.

She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.

She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.

In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.

When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.

She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:

"Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all."

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
(Proverbs 31:10-31)

I kept reading this passage, over and over, the successes of this great wifely role model taunting me more than encouraging me, my very being wilting and shrinking as I sat there, no comparison to this giant of an example. I was waiting, for what, I didn't know. Waiting for something—a bright glimmer, anything that my pastor might say to give all the wives sitting in the audience, or maybe just me, some hope. He didn't let me down. His last point was the same point I have made in the past: The Proverbs 31 woman's most important task is to fear the Lord (v. 30).

My breathing relaxed a little. This, after all, was something I understood. Of course, I want to be a better wife and homemaker. I want to be a better woman in general. But my greatest desire is to be closer to God as his daughter. I want that close, incredible relationship with him.

I haven't always done well with this. If God and I were going for a walk in the park, I'd be the kid running out in front, barely able to wait for him. Patience is not my strength. Waiting on God is hard.

I began to prayerfully think over the pounding of my heart, the churning of my stomach, and my fingers digging into my thighs. OK, so why am I so mad? Am I mad at the Proverbs 31 wife? Am I upset with the pastor? Am I angry at myself? I mean, I argued with myself. Wouldn't it be great if you COULD be like the Proverbs 31 wife—if you were praying and reading the Bible and really staying in touch with God every day? Couldn't God help you do it all?

He could if he wanted to, I'm sure. I'm just not convinced he wants me to be able to do it all. I'm not even convinced that the Proverbs 31 wife was real. I mean, I grew up being told King Solomon wrote the book of Proverbs, and he wasn't exactly a role model when it came to women. He liked having as many wives as he could, and in fact it was his infatuation for the opposite sex that got him into trouble toward the end of his reign.

What if this woman we've all idolized and tried to emulate is just a concoction from King Solomon and a group of his royal cronies who sat around one day, drinking beers, and decided to have an impromptu brainstorming session on what makes the perfect wife? And some servant of his wrote all of these ideas down on a big Post-it note and it eventually made its way into Proverbs with all the other wise things Solomon wrote? In fact, my Bible notes that verses 10-31, the Proverbs 31-wife passage, is actually an acrostic. Each verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. See? I told you it was a drinking game.1

Or if this woman really did exist, then maybe she was like the Martha Stewart of her day, and I'm sure the majority of the women living in that time didn't like her and didn't appreciate her. And while they watched her television shows and read her magazine, Housekeeping in the Holy Land, behind closed doors, they lived in fear and guilt that one day their husbands would come home and say, "Why can't you be more like the Proverbs 31 wife?"

But then I got a crazy idea. Why can't I be more like the Proverbs 31 wife? What would it be like to try and actually follow the example of this woman so many hold in such esteem?

I definitely had some things to think about.

REVIEW: This book surprised me. I thought it was going to be more of a spiritual "how to" book. But the author admits she doesn't have the answers on how to be a Proverbs 31 kind of woman. Instead, she tells (in a very funny and cute way) her stories of attempts and experiments--and eventually how she was blessed in the end for those attempts. There is a study guide of thoughtful discussion questions in the back of the book as well as a "10 day Martha experiment" which I plan on trying out. Very cute and interesting book.

If Not Now, then When?

Procrastination is the thief of time.--Edward Young

I was reading a daily excerpt from the book Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach the other day and the title was called, "If not now, then when?"

The author went on to talk about making time for ourselves and the personal pleasures we tend to postpone in our life.

I DO make time for myself and my family--always--but perhaps not always for my writing. So I took a good long look at what goals I'm postponing.

I have friends with young children and they're always putting off writing because they say they don't have the time. They say that when their kids get older then they will have the time to devote to their career.


Hogwash. I think I had more time when the kiddo was younger than I do now. Why? I think I was more focused. I knew I only had that small window of nap time to get writing so I used that time wisely. Now that I have more free time, I don't think I'm using it to my advantage.

So if I don't take control of my time and writing now, then when?

Something in life always comes up, whether a hurricane, lice, earthquake (I'm speaking purely hypothetical now...) or even sickness.

It's September now which means I only have a few more months to reach my New Year goals. The kiddo's in school again and that means it's time to hunker down.

Two things (writing-wise) I want to accomplish before the year is out is:

1) to submit Kissing Kendall (tentatively titled)--Other times it's called "book thou does not wish to be written")

2) have rough draft finished of new work-in-progress before the year is out.

If I don't do this now, then when?

Please don't tell me I'm the only procrastinator out there!

What are you postponing in your life now?

Have You Heard?

Maybe you've heard about this already, but I figured it was worth sharing just in case you haven't.

Because, well, sharing is caring...

Those of you who are e-published--or thinking about it--do not have to fret over how to make your Kindle book just a little more personal for readers.

With kindlegraph you can actually sign your ebook. Yep.

Cool, huh?

A few of my friends have already signed up and have done signed copies for their books already.

Check it out if you haven't already.

Again, you're welcome. :)

Oh, and have a great weekend!

Happy Labor Day!

Today is the first day of this whole three day weekend we will actually be able to relax. Kind of fitting since it's LABOR DAY.

Or Non-Labor Day as I like to refer to it as.



And that's exactly what I'll be doing: nothing.

All day long.



On another note, school starts for the kiddo tomorrow. It's a new grade, a new school, a new time, and thus, a new routine.



I'm scared.



But I'll survive. I think. No I'm not going to think. Not today anyway. :)



Enjoy your (non) Labor Day too!

My New All Around Cure-All

Oops. I forgot it was Friday.

See what happens when you take too long of a blogging break? :-)



Anyhew, I just wanted to share with you my recent medical discovery:



TEA TREE OIL

According to wikipedia: Tea tree oil, or melaleuca oil , is a pale yellow colour to nearly clear essential oil with a fresh camphoraceous odor. It is taken from the leaves of the Melaleuca alternifolia, which is native to the northeast coast of New South Wales, Australia.



Camphoraceous odor? Well, I think it smells like a combination of mint, eucalyptus, and...maybe shoe polish.



So yeah, I doubt Yankee Candle will have a hot seller with that scent.



But when you see what this stuff does, you'll appreciate it's unique aroma. :)



When the kiddo got lice--ugh, don't want to go there again--I treated her with Nix. Not something I wanted to do because it is so toxic, but that's what my doctor recommended. Well, two days later I saw live lice on her head and because it was too soon to treat again, I figured I would just have to do it the old fashioned way: with a nit comb and my bare little hands.



Then a friend told me to get tea tree oil, rub it all over her scalp, wrap her head in a towel and wait an hour. She told me you'll never see them again. So...I did a small test area on her head to make sure she wasn't allergic to it and when I saw she was fine, that's what I did.



Well, I never saw them again.



ALL HAIL THE POWER OF TEA TREE OIL!



After that, I put a few drops in the laundry, in the shampoo, behind my ears (lol)---you get the idea. :)



Then the other day, my hubby says, "Hey, check out that beetle on our screen."



I look and I see it's no mere beetle. It's a stink bug.



How do I know about stink bugs? When I had ants in the kitchen this spring, I had a chatty exterminator.



Well, there are three things you may or may not know about me. 1) I'm a germaphobe. 2) I'm a chemicalphobe. And 3) I'm a bugaphobe.



Yeah. I have "issues".



Anyhew, I knew (from my chatty exterminator) that stink bugs are hard to get rid of so I did not want a problem with that. So I Googled some all natural ways to prevent them. One of the ways was the use of my good friend Tea Tree Oil.



So I put a capfull in a spray bottle, filled it with water and shook it up. Then I sprayed all around the window where the little stinker of a stink bug was. He started crawling away immediately. I assume they don't like the odor. Then less than 60 seconds later it took off.



ALL HAIL THE POWER OF TEA TREE OIL.



Love this stuff! And love that it is all natural.



Just thought I'd share my discovery with you all. Carry on.

Oh, and you're welcome. :)

I'm BACK--and in one piece

I wish I could say I had a restful and relaxing blog break but I DID NOT so I figured I might as well get back to blogging. :-)







Between the lice, then the earthquake, then having to evacuate my town because of Hurricane Irene...I'm feeling pretty jittery right now. The high octane coffee I'm drinking now isn't helping either.





We knew Irene was coming up the coast early in the week, but it still never dawned on us--ME--that it was actually on a direct course for our town and all coastal towns. We live back by the bay and our town floods anyway on a normal rainy day because we are a *barrier island so I was nervous.







*A barrier island is a long, relatively narrow island running parallel to the mainland, built up by the action of waves and currents and serving to protect the coast from erosion by surf and tidal surges.







Then the news starts predicting surges up of around 13 feet and winds around 100 miles per hour and I thought, "Our house is done."









Thursday afternoon Governor Chris Christie calls for voluntary evacuation of the shore towns and declares NJ a state of emergency. Then a few hours later it became mandatory evacuation. I can't tell you what that feels like to have to gather your belongings and not know when you'll be able to come back or if you'll have something to come back to, but know it's not a good feeling.







We were working like crazy to get in all my potted plants, outside furniture and grill inside. Then while I was packing clothes and food and water, my hubby worked to get everything off the floor of the garage thinking we would get some water in there (which we did).





We planned to stay with a friend a few towns over then we got an email from another friend who said he had plenty of room. He has a finished basement and a private bathroom there. We ultimately decided to go there since the kiddo would also have some playmates. We couldn't have asked for a better setup but were so grateful to all our friends and family who offered us places to stay. We are very blessed!



I think the worse part was that we knew so many days in advance. The waiting was the killer. And the news was extremely scary to watch and added to my anxiety every time it was on.



Saturday before the Irene was to make landfall in NJ, I prayed very heavily--particularly over PSALM 91 .



Then I cooked very heavily. I figured I might as well because it took my mind off things. I made a banana chocolate chip cake, enough chicken Parmesan and eggplant Parmesan to feed a small army.

Then after that, I drank very heavily. Red wine with dinner. A lot of it. But I wanted to make sure I slept through the night (which I did) I even slept through the tornado warning too!



It was all for the best. :)



Then I woke up (with a hangover) but to good news. That we had dodged a huge bullet and our town suffered minimal damage. PRAISE GOD!



All week I kept praying for God to put down his hand and shield our house and town from this hurricane and I really feel my prayer was answered. That night before Irene was supposed to hit and I was reading my Psalm 91, tears came to my eyes and I really God was going to protect us. Yes, I was still nervous because I didn't know how or what was going to happen, but looking back now, I can see what He had done for us and feel remarkably blessed that he had shielded us.



We still have to get our yard back in order and dry out our garage, but aside from that everything is good. :-)



So that's my long winded story. Whew.



It's good to be back here and on the blogosphere again. Normalcy is good. :-)



**I also want to do a HUGE shoutout to all the police and fireman who stayed during the storm and worked so great for such a smooth evacuation process. You are the best!



Did anyone else go through Hurricane Irene? Did you ever have to evacuate your town because of a natural disaster?

In Need of an Unplug

Hey, all.



Between the NJRW contest judging, car issues, and the kiddo's...LICE (bleh!!!), I need to unplug for a few weeks.


Thank goodness for summertime (and tea tree oil).

Be back soon!

Have a great rest of your summer!

Fun Friday for an Unfun Week

Hey, all!

This week has been beyond stressful for me. And actually awful. But I'll tell more on Monday.

But I just had to share a DISNEY link for my friend's son, Jacob (who is ten years old). He made a short dance video for The Shake it Up Make Your Mark Ultimate Dance Off!

It's really too cute.

Check it out HERE. It would be great to support him by commenting and liking the video (which I'm sure you will). :-)

Thank you!! Have a great weekend! (I'm going to try...)

Summer Bash Time!

Happy Monday, everyone!

I spent most--if not ALL--of the weekend at the beach trying to beat the heat. It was a good time but I was torn between two extremes there. It was SOOOOO hot sitting on the beach, but when you went in the ocean your legs turned numb. (Lifeguards said water temp was 68, but I disagree... Felt more like 58!)

We brought PLENTY of water (and other drinks), but maybe other people didn't think ahead. There were quite a few cases of heat exhaustion on the beach, which had the lifeguards busy.


All in all, an interesting beach time. :-)


Anyhew, it's back to editing for me this week. In the meantime, I wanted to let you know all about this:

Come hang out at Romance Author Hotspot and meet the people who help make the
romance industry special! From publishers, book reviewers, book stores, agents,
graphic artists, and of course your favorite authors, take this chance to know
the people behind the books, behind the scenes, and see how they have fun in the
sun!

From July 24th - August 1st, the Summer Bash will be in session! Don't miss out!

http://romanceauthorhotspot.com/

Enter to win a Kindle and many fabulous prizes!

Bring your beach towel, park an umbrella, and grab that cooler! You'll want to
stick around all week! Ask questions/comments, just fulfill your curiosity!

Meet your guests:

Camryn Rhys

Caridad Pineiro

Cindy Spencer Pape

Clarissa Yip

Deb Werksman (Sourcebooks)

Debora Dennis

Decadent Publishing

Deena Remiel

Donna Alward

Entangled Publishing

Fantasia Frog Designs

Gabriella Hewitt

Jennifer Shirk

Jill Marie Landis

Jules Bennett

Karen Duvall

Kate Richards

Lynn Raye Harris

Nina Croft

Olivia Gates

Rebecca Cantrell

Saritza Hernandez (L. Perkins Agency)

Shayne Leighton

Sherri Lee (Breathless Press)

Silke Juppenlatz

The Romance Studio

Victoria Dahl

Virna DePaul

As you can see there will be editors, agents, publishers, and authors posting there all week--including me! There will be prizes given away (I'll be giving away a $10 Amazon GC) and a grand prize drawing of a Kindle too.

So if you have a chance, stop by The Summer Bash, win some prizes, and beat the heat!