Amanda Stephan's Blog: God is Good, God is Great, page 50

DIY Non-petroleum Petroleum Jelly

I am affectionately referred to as the *Mad Scientist* by my husband and children. Because I like to make things. In the kitchen. Non-edible things like...



soap.



natural cleaning products.



natural remedies for humans and animals.



I'm sure you get the idea, and as you can see, I've earned the Mad Scientist badge. I'm serious. If I'm in the kitchen, instead of whipping up delicious butter cookies, I'm probably making the newest batch of herbal rice warmers to stuff into my neck wraps or a new anti-itch powder for our dog. Yep. Forget dinner. It's highly overrated anyway. ;)



I'm one of those people that loves to experiment and save money. (Trust me. Living on one income will do that to a person. It's amazing how much money you can save with just a tad of effort!)



We've all heard about petroleum jelly, right? No? Instead of going into a history lesson and me getting something wrong, if you'd like to read more, click here and enjoy! :) I found it quite interesting.



I've read a few blogs about how petroleum jelly is bad for you health-wise, and there are some pretty interesting issues out there. I, however, must like to live dangerously because I use Vaseline on my chapped lips all the time. And my cracked hands. And I probably shouldn't mention...well, never mind. I won't mention it. ;) In other words, I'm not necessarily convinced that Vaseline is evil.



But, when I saw a pin on Pinterest about non-petroleum petroleum jelly, I was hooked. And I fell for it. (Check out my DIY Natural Board) So, dooty-do, I hopped on over to what's becoming one of my *favorite* blogs, One Good Thing by Jillee (so going to use that name in a book) I found this awesome recipe for homemade, DIY Natural non-petroleum jelly.



And I made some last night...because I'm just that way. 











1/8 cup grated beeswax



1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil



Over low heat, warm until melted completely. Pour into small container - I used a small jar, like Jillee did :)



and let sit and cool. It's that easy. And it's wonderful stuff.







Lonely Hearts The Price of Trust Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com

The Fragility of Story

The suspension of disbelief.



I remember first hearing this phrase in high school literature classes while studying various forms of fiction.  It is the willingness of the reader to believe something he knows cannot be true, in order to enjoy a story.  This is particularly important when reading fantasy, but I would say the premise is valid with any type of fiction.



Now, how is this important to us as writers?  Very.  As writers of fiction, we are creating a world that does not exist.  Our settings may be real places, but the accounts in them are not.  Our characters' names may have been changed to protect the innocent (or not so innocent), but even if they are based on our grouchy neighbor, they are still fictional characters.  So every word, phrase, and dialogue we write must support this fictional world we have created.



I like to think of it as a fragile bubble.  We are holding up this story for our readers and they are willing to look into it and admire the complexities, the nuances, the rhythms of the plot.  But if I make a wrong move, the bubble bursts, and they are suddenly and violently pushed out of that world.  Sound a little melodramatic?  Perhaps.  But has it ever happened to you?



Examples:



Someone is going fishing at the lake and catches a whopping grouper!

~Hang on.  Grouper is a salt water fish!































A main character in a story set in the 1800's pulls the buggy out of the driveway. 

~Heh?  They had driveways back then?









Your main characters are sent on a mission to Lisbon, Spain.

~Whoa.  I thought Lisbon was in Portugal.





























Embarrassingly enough each of these mistakes are my own.  (And I am so grateful for friends who are not afraid to call me on them!)  Some, as you could see would be harder to miss than others, but any one of these had the potential to create doubt in the reader's mind, and therefore ruin their willingness to "suspend disbelief" and enjoy the story.



So, as writers, we must be careful with our words.  As in past posts, make sure you know your "stuff" before adding it to your story.  (Obviously I am not a fisherman, and had just thrown in the name of a fish haphazardly.  But for my friend who knew the difference, it was a big turn off.)  If you are writing in a certain period, do your research.  Know how those people talked, how they interacted, how they lived.  And for goodness sake, don't send your characters to a city in the wrong country!  Can you imagine trying to read through a story where the characters were at the Grand Canyon in South Dakota?  It's those little details that help build our world for our readers.  Let's build them believably.



Let's not burst their bubbles:)



Happy writing,


















Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com

The Meaning of Trust

We have moved to Oklahoma. Yes, the land of red dirt, extreme heat, blossoming cities and tornados. Yes, I said tornados.





The thing is, every time there is a storm there is a very good possibility that a tornado will develop.



Now, we are from the north and when we would get a tornado, we kind of ignored them. I know, that sounds odd. But, we would hear the siren go off and look out the window, turn on the radio and keep on doing what we had been doing. Tornados are a bit different in the north. Generally speaking, we would get one. Not two. Not three. Not four. One tornado would snake its way through the state and sometimes it would get a little close. Sometimes not. Yes, at times the damage was horrific. But most of us had never seen the devastation one can leave behind.



Fast forward to today.



We were preparing to leave the house when my mom says, “There are two storms that are about to collide. It could get bad.”



I reply, “Okay, we’ll keep a watch out.”



We have important business to do in the city and we are from the north so we do what any good northerners do, we ignore it.



As we are driving we look at the sky behind us. It’s black. The sky in front of us is still blue. We are not deterred. Onward we roll to Fazolis. Yes, our son has been dying for some good Italian fast food since we left Wisconsin in February. It is our favorite.





We are eating when we hear the sirens go off. The restaurant manager tells the entire two families that are in the restaurant that we can either leave or be locked in the restaurant and go to the bathroom for shelter. We choose to stay.



The workers are gathered around the window, keeping close watch on the sky. We continue to enjoy our pasta, still in denial.



The only time we made a trip to the bathroom was when we had to go.



Well, we ended up in the men’s room. My daughter tried to use the ladies room but returned and whispered to me that the toilet was clogged in the ladies room. I promptly told the woman employee who was filling me in on every aspect of which tornado was where. She proceeded to yell to the entire staff and the other family to stay out of the men’s room because she (pointing to my daughter) has to go and the women’s toilet is clogged.





She turned beet red. My daughter would turn and walk away if I asked a Walmart employee if they honored a certain coupon. She is that freaked out by being put on the spot. We laughed like crazy. My husband decided that the whole trip, tornado and all, was worth it just for that episode.



You might be thinking we are absolutely nuts about right now. Here’s the thing. We completely trust God. We felt we should head out and we did. We found out while sitting in that restaurant that back in our little town, a tornado touched down and there was grapefruit size hail. My mother was hiding in the closet with her one year old granddaughter. We saw pea size hail, wind and rain. No tornado. We were safer being led by the Holy Spirit than we would have been doing what everyone else would think was the reasonable, safe thing to do.





Sometimes, God wants us to do the unexpected. To step outside our comfort zone and go against the norm. The choice is ours. Do we obey? Or do we do what the world thinks we should do?



Have a great day and thanks for growing with me this Wednesday.



Darlene




Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com

Cheerleaders

At one point in my life, I wanted to be a cheerleader.





It was of short duration, especially when I got to know several of the cheerleaders in the group. It was a quick-fix situation, to say the least! I'm not saying all cheerleaders are bad, because, frankly, they're not. In fact, there are some that are pretty fantastic people to be around.



But they're not what you're thinking. Some are chubby. Some aren't. Some are cute. Some, well, not so much. But they're cheerleaders just the same. And you can hear them all over the place if you listen very closely.



They're at little league games.

Soccer games.

Softball games.



Their uniforms consist of different types of materials and colors. Green polyester. Black cotton. Red baseball hats. Heather gray gauchos.



Yep. You guessed it. I'm talking about wives and mothers. Those that have married and have born children. Those who navigate life's everyday hassles with a smile. Well, almost everyday! ;) Today, I want to focus on being a cheerleading wife.



Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. - Proverbs 31:28



There are days when things aren't going so well. When you really don't feel like being the cheerleader God created you to be. You've made your husband's lunch for the past 18 years, and you begin to wonder if he even notices your faithfulness. When he walks through the front door and drops his lunchbox on the floor, kicks off his shoes and leaves them laying where they land, and you swallow the remark that almost dropped off your tongue. Because he's worked all day...(not saying you haven't, just sayin'...)



Dear Lord, does he even know I exist anymore?

I've recently been through one of those ruts. It seemed as though everything I did, do, or had done went unnoticed.



Except for when I left the wrapper on the cheese when I made his bologna sandwich the other day. That one, he did notice. And it was fun when he got home! ;) Oh. I forgot that he did notice when I put a little something extra silky in his lunchbox. That was a good one too. (Praise God he has a great sense of humor.)

Anyway, I digress. There are days when you just wonder if God really meant it when he said that her husband will call her blessed, because, let's face it. Those little compliments that mean so much may be few and far between! But when they do make their appearance, they're well worth waiting for. Trust me on this one.



The other day, after our customary meeting at the door that entails hugs and kisses, (I live for those moments, I really do), I asked about his day. (I live for those moments, too.) With a smile on his face, he reached for me and pulled me into another romantic embrace. Brushing his lips against mine in a most delightful manner, he proceeded to tell me about something someone had said at work. It ended with, "you should go home and kiss your wife because she makes your home-life so good." and my husband's answer? "I know it. I'm a lucky man."



*sigh!*



Actually, I'm the lucky one.

I may not be a world-renown author, and I'm good with that.

My children may not be the brightest stars in the sky, and I'm okay with that too. (working on it though.)

And, as much as I love playing the piano, I'll never. EVER. be a concert pianist. I'm good there too.



One place I want to shine? Being my husband's cheerleader. And my children's, but that's a post for another time. You know what that little, itty bitty compliment did for me? It made me want to try even harder to be an even better wife.



So, if there are any men reading this, remember that. Pay your wife a compliment ~ you might be surprised at what happens.

Ladies, the same goes for you. Praise your mate. Tell him how wonderful he is (and mean it) and wait and watch what occurs. This has worked well for me in our 18 years together, and as the old adage says,



"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com

Creating With Cardboard

I am an eclectic mix of talents and I'm not ashamed to admit it. One of my many and varied talents is being frugal. Alright, you can all stop laughing now because that's my story and I'm sticking to it. One of my other talents is being able to take discarded remnants and use them in fashionably recycled ways. Or simply put, I take junk and make stuff.



Since my daughter was born at the end of January we can't have those fun outdoor parties that all the cool kids fortunate enough to be born in the summer have; so every year it has been my goal to create elaborate indoor parties out of very little. One year I created a whole jungle theme in the front room which included palm trees, a waterfall, a diamond mine, and creeping vines. When Emily turned six we had a crazy party where all the girls came in their pajamas and they all had their pictures taken behind the cutouts in a cardboard mural I had painted. And this year was no exception to my cardboard greatness. This year I built a very large doghouse for our very doggy party. The Scooby snacks shaped like bones were pretty good too, but that's a story for another day.



The point to all of this is that with a little acrylic paint (most of which I bought on clearance or on sale because of my talent of frugalness), some cardboard, and a big imagination, you too can be a cardboard diva just like me. So the next time you have a party to plan think cardboard.



So ends another episode of Kids Korner with me, Children's Author Aileen Stewart. Join me next week for another exciting episode same krazy time, same krazy channel. And feel free to drop by my personal blog Aileen's Thoughts any day of the week for even more on reading, writing, and life in general.












Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com

Sundays with Kristi - Blessed: Poor in Spirit

Have you declared bankruptcy yet?

That might seem an odd question to ask in a devotional, and yet it’s absolutely essential to answer as we delve into the first of the Beatitudes in this series about being “Blessed.” You’re welcome to check out the introduction as well as other Sunday Devotionals by clicking on the “Sunday” tab above.

Matthew 5:3 – Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

Poor

To better understand, let’s take a look at the concepts mentioned in this verse. What does it mean to be poor? Most people think of poor in relation to money, so we’ll start with that. Now, I’m not talking the type of poor that says, “I can’t afford that designer purse or shoes.” I’m referring to the type of poor that says, “I don’t have a cent to my name, no possessions to trade, and no skill or ability to be able to work.” This is the “I don’t know where my next meal is coming from and if someone doesn’t take pity on me, I’ll be dead in the next 24 hours,” type of poor. Try to picture that person: friendless, penniless, possessionless, with no way to pay for any of the necessities of life. Many people in that situation end up borrowing from people just to survive. If a person still owes a debt with no possible way to pay, often they end up filing for bankruptcy. Now that’s poor.

The people in Jesus’s time would have immediately had a mental picture of “poor.” There were plenty of beggars in that day and time. Often the people who were sick or lame would sit by the roadway and beg, hoping for the kindness of strangers. I can imagine that it was probably not that uncommon to find that those beggars had died through the night if no one had offered aid to them.

In Spirit
OK, so now that we understand the concept of poor, we can take a look at the way we’re supposed to be poor because this verse is not talking about money. Actually this type of “poor” refers to our spirit. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Well, what is our spirit? The idea from this verse is our personal ambition, our sense of independence, our “I can do it on my own” attitude. Being poor in spirit means we are completely empty of our own selfish ambition and our intent to do everything on our own. We are dependent on God for not only creating the goals in our life, but for supplying the means to achieve those goals.

To be clear, being poor in spirit is not the same as being lazy. People who are lazy are not being dependent on God. They are just more concerned about themselves and their own personal comfort. Their laziness is their personal ambition and they are not interested in God’s goals for their life.

Kingdom of Heaven

Well, how are these poor in spirit people blessed? What reward do they receive for their total and complete reliance on God? Why nothing less than the Kingdom of heaven. These people receive the ultimate reward. Remember in other places where Jesus discusses the kingdom of heaven? Check out all the parables in Matthew 13 that Jesus uses to describe the kingdom of heaven.

In these verses Jesus is explaining that this is the reward that is higher than any other. This is the goal that we should be willing to trade everything in our life for. These people would sacrifice anything and everything they have in order to gain it. In the words of the Christian missionary and martyr Jim Elliott, “He is no fool who would trade what he cannot keep in order to gain that which he cannot lose.”

What does it take to be Blessed? Sacrificing everything for Jesus states that those who are poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom of heaven.

So, I’ll ask again, have you declared bankruptcy yet? Spiritual bankruptcy, that is. You’ll be blessed with the Kingdom of God if you do.

Father, I love You and I am willing to lay down everything in my life: my goals, my ambitions, my personal preferences, my success, my failures, my time, my money, my everything. Take it, it’s yours. There is nothing I have that can even compare to your kingdom and I will give it all up in order to be able to receive that which You have promised.

May you live out His Word today!
Kristi Burchfiel
Check out my daily devotions either on my blog or on my Facebook page

Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com

When Will I Be Loved?

It has been said that loneliness is a problem which has reached epidemic proportions, a problem which even social networks like Twitter and Facebook cannot
eradicate. Certainly social networks, cell phones, and email play a vital role in keeping us connected with those we know and love but they are no substitute for heart to heart conversations over coffee or dinner, or the physical contact and affection that we so desperately need and want.



Sadly, even those relationships intended to meet our need for love fall short because humans are incapable of loving without disappointing one another.
Friends and family fail to live up to our expectations or they misunderstand us altogether. Yet somehow we get so caught up in the need for approval and validation that we perpetuate the problem by settling for less than God's best for us even if that means compromising God's values and our virtue just to avoid the risk of being alone. I know this to be true because that is precisely how I lived for a numbers of years as I wondered, When will I be loved?






God created us to be in relationship with him and with others. He means for us to love him more than any human and to love others as he loves us. The Bible teaches us that:

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of
judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us.
(1 John 4:16-19, NIV

)

How can we be like Jesus if we don't love others the way he does? How can we know what love is if we don't invest ourselves in the lives of others? I believe the reason many of us fail to find love is that we go about it all wrong. Instead of loving God and others first, we seek to have our own longing for love satisfied. We don't take the time or make the effort to know the One who is love by spending time with him in prayer or learning about his love for us through the pages of his Word. Is it any wonder that our relationships are such a mess?




If we are to truly understand and experience what it means to love and be loved, we must first know God and his love and understand that only his love is perfect and unconditional. We must ask for his grace and the power of his Holy Spirit to enable us to love others as he does. Then we must dare to step out of our comfort zones, away from the computers and cell phones which we hide behind, and invest ourselves personally in the lives of others. Only when we give ourselves first to God then dare to risk loving others will we finally experience the joy of being loved.




Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com

Wish You Were Here - New Book Alert!

Wish You Were Here 

by Beth Vogt







About the Book:

(From Amazon)

Kissing the wrong guy days before her scheduled wedding leads Allison to become a runaway bride. But can it also lead to happily ever after?

Allison Denman is supposed to get married in five days, but everything is all wrong. The huge wedding. The frothy dress. And the groom.



Still, kissing the groom’s brother, Daniel, in an unguarded moment is decidedly not the right thing to do. How could she have made such a mistake? It seems Allison’s life is nothing but mistakes at this point. Daniel’s adventures—chronicled through a collection of postcards—have always appealed to Allison’s well-hidden desire for something more. But how can betraying her fiancé’s trust lead to a true happily ever after?



Can Allison find her way out of this mess? Recognizing she doesn’t have all the answers won’t be easy because she’s used to being in control. To find her way again, she will have to believe that God has a plan for her—one outside her carefully defined comfort zone—and find the strength to let Him lead.







Meet Beth Vogt:




Beth K. Vogt provides her readers with a happily ever after woven through with humor, reality, and God's lavish grace. She's a non-fiction author and editor who said she'd never write fiction. She's the wife of an Air Force physician (now in solo practice) who said she'd never marry a doctor-or anyone in the military. She's a mom of four who said she'd never have kids. Beth has discovered that God's best often waits behind the doors marked "Never." She writes contemporary romance because she believes there's more to happily ever after than the fairy tales tell us. Beth earned a journalism degree from San Jose State University and met her husband Rob when he knocked her down at a karate studio. They've been married for 31 years. They have four children, ranging in ages from 28, 25, 23 and - thanks to a funny thing happening on their way to the empty nest-a 10-year-old. The Vogt Team, which now includes a "daughter-in-love" and "son-in-love," enjoys hiking and camping in Colorado. Read more about Beth at her website:http://bethvogt.com




Buy Wish You Were Here:  http://ow.ly/aQTEk




My Thoughts:

Meet Seth Rayner. Self-absorbed and selfish, he's so self-assured that he never takes Allison Denman's thoughts or feelings into consideration.



Allison Denman, the lucky bride-to-be who is looking for safety. But is Seth the one to give it to her? After one kiss shared with his brother, Daniel, Alli's not so sure.



With Seth around, you never had to think...





Tough decisions face Allison as she leaves her groom-to-be standing at the altar with his mouth hanging open. Marrying Seth was what everyone expected. It was what Alli wanted. Or so she thought. Until she had to do it. Now, all she could see in her ruined future were lists of regrets and apologies she owed everyone. There was no un-doing her choice. She hadn't thought of all the consequences.

Such is the conflicted state of Runaway Bride, Allison.



Guided by her wise friend Meghan and the gentle leading of the Holy Spirit, Allison faces her confused future. Would it have been right to go through with the marriage? While the kiss shared with his brother had at first been innocent enough, was she right to have enjoyed it so much? Would it be possible to share a future with her fiance's brother? These are just a few thoughts troubling Alli.



If you can stop controlling your life, maybe God will finally have a chance to get a word in edgewise and be able to tell you what He wants for your life.



How many of us could have that statement uttered to us? Meghan, Allison's maid of honor and best friend, is a lighthouse of wisdom as she helps guide Alli back to reality and pull the pieces of her broken life back together.



Are we just the sum total of our past mistakes? Would it be possible to say sorry for a mistake so huge that it would take God's grace to forgive it totally?



This isn't a story about freedom-seekers who have everything under control. This is a story about real people dealing with real situations. Hurting, bruised, broken people. People who make mistakes and people who they've hurt with those mistakes. Although this book is fiction, it packs a punch and is loaded with wisdom. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and am looking forward to more from Beth Vogt.

Highly recommend!






Follow the Blog Tour Here!










Celebrate with Beth by entering her Wish You Were Here Giveaway!







Enter Today - 5/15-6/4!










One "happy" winner will receive:



A brand new iPad with Wi-Fi (The must-have, do-everything gadget!)
Wish You Were Here by Beth Vogt (Swoon worthy.)
$15 iTunes Gift Card (Music, books, apps, & more.)




Hurry, the giveaway ends on 6/4/12. The winner will be announced 6/6/12 on Beth's Website!





Just click one of the icons below to enter. Tell your friends about Beth's giveaway on FACEBOOKor TWITTER and increase your chances of winning.
















Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com

Read Authors' Thoughts on Writing

I will be the first to admit that I much prefer reading fiction than any other genre.  But I also know that if I want to become a better writer, it behooves me to study the habits of those who write better than me.  Knowing I certainly am not the only author on the world wide web, I wonder if any of you have a favorite book or books that have helped you in your writing?  Is there an author who has helped you either personally or via their body of work?






I must say I am lax in sitting down and reading a book about writing from another writer.  But I know they are out there, and I have seen quotes flash across my Twitter or Facebook feeds.  Stephen King's On Writing comes to mind.









Now I have never read his books because I have nightmares on my own and don't need any fodder.  But from the quotes I have seen, I imagine this book is worthy of a look-see, and certainly I could not argue the validity of Mr. King's talents in creating a story.



There there are Lewis and Tolkein, two of my personal favorites, both of whom share many tips and opinions on writing through their collected letters.









While we may study the actual works of our favorite authors, and I do that frequently, sometimes reading their personal thoughts on the craft of writing can give us invaluable insight and knowledge.  So I ask, who has inspired you, dear writer?  What author do you yearn to sit alongside and listen to their thoughts as they bring a story or truth to life?  Perhaps you have a gem that would inspire the rest of us!







Happy writing,






Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com

Little White Lies

Lies. Everyone tells them. Okay, maybe almost everyone tells them.



What happened to folks like George Washington and his “I can’t tell a lie, Pa?”





What happened to truth and honesty and virtue? What happened to a person’s word being their bond? Why have we traveled down such a broken, rutted road and treat it as if it is the autobahn? Why have we gone so far off the path of righteousness?



Many lies are deemed unacceptable. As mothers and fathers, we abhor any lies told to us by our children. We want the truth, and only the truth. In days gone by, a child could expect a touch of soap to the tongue if caught in a lie.





When we sit on the witness stand in a court of law, we must vow to tell the truth and only the truth. Not speaking the truth on the stand will result in perjury and can be punishable for up to five years in prison. For a country of people who consistently lie about a plethora of topics, this is fairly extreme, right? Of course, this is only when the authority of the courts is usurped and a miscarriage of justice results.



All kinds of people lie. We expect criminals, politicians, lawyers and car dealers to lie. We don’t expect mothers and fathers, teachers, doctors, and clergyman to lie.



Recently someone I thought I respected caused my jaw to drop to the floor. This person was boasting about their eating habits and how they haven’t eaten pork since their college days. Imagine my surprise at this bold faced lie because the week before this statement was made, this same person was eating bacon straight from my frying pan. What? Really? So, what else have you been lying about?





Believe it or not there are some things we are expected to lie about.



When I tell people we do not participate in the socially expected norms of Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, I am looked upon as something of an anomaly. I am taking things too far if I won’t tell my children there is a Santa Claus!





When did a white lie become as acceptable as the truth?



I like this quote by Austin O’Malley, “ Those who think it’s permissible to tell white lies soon grow color blind.”



Why do people lie?



Well, some people lie to fit in. Sometimes women lie to hide their age or their weight. We want to be sociably acceptable so we lie about our incomes, our jobs, our experience, our talents and our associates. We all know it’s who you know in this world that counts.



What happens when we’re found out?



I have known people who have become physically sick to their stomachs when they know a lie they have told is about to come to light. Some people are so used to lying and believing their own lies, they no longer know the difference between a lie and the truth.





When it comes down to it, lies are all about self. We want to be something we’re not. We want more people to like us. We want to fit in. We want to be revered and envied.



The part that breaks my heart the most is when Christians lie. We are supposed to die to self and live for Christ. How is it that, like in the case of the bacon story above, we as Christians can advocate lying?



Here is what the Word of God says in I Peter Chapter 2 verses 1-3 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.



If you call yourself a Christian, choose today to stand for truth. Let’s follow the standard set for us in the word of God instead of slowly allowing the world’s obscured measuring stick of right and wrong lead us. Will you stand for truth?





Thanks for growing with me this Wednesday!



Darlene Shortridge

Author of Until Forever




Lonely Hearts ~ a sweet Christian Romance
The Price of Trust ~ Christian Romantic Suspense
http://www.booksbyamanda.com