Beth K. Vogt's Blog, page 75

In Others’ Words: Blocked

Have you been dreaming lately?

I’m not talking about the now-I-lay-me-down-to-sleep kind of dreaming. No. I’m talking about the eyes-wide-open dreams. The ones requiring planning. And effort. And waiting. And praying.

Those kind of dreams.

If you’d asked me if dreams involved hope, I would have said “Yes, absolutely” without pausing to think about. Dreams demand massive amounts of hope.

But do dreams involve trust?

Ah … now I’m pondering dreams … and how they are woven through with hope and trust.

To dream, I have to open myself up to hope — to the possibility of discouragement, of failure. I have to be vulnerable.

Only by hoping can I choose to trust — myself, my mentors, the process of trying … and failing … and trying again.

The deeper question is: Am I blocking my dreams? Have I abandoned hope and strangled trust? And if I have, how do I nourish them again so that my dreams are revived?

In Your Words: How has hope and trust worked together to nurture your dreams? When your hope and trust lags, how do you restore them — and renew your dreams?

What to Do if Your Dreams are Blighted Click to Tweet

Renewing Dreams by Restoring Hope & Trust Click to Tweet

Access the “When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan”  guest blog series Click to Tweet

In Others’ Words: Letting Go – Guest Post by Author JoAnne Bischof (& Giveaway)

 

It’s a funny thing, writing books. Sometimes as an author, we have a vision of what the theme of a story might be, other times, it just takes on a shape of its own. When I first set out to write the Cadence of Grace series, the theme of  Be Still My Soul was how God can see us through any trial, no matter how great. And not just see us through … but how we can walk through a trial joyfully, expectantly. Knowing that God works all things for His good.

Then Though My Heart is Torn and My Hope is Found threw another theme into the mix. A surprise one that I hadn’t anticipated. The series had started off with a lack of choices. A shotgun wedding. An unwanted marriage. Yet to my pleasant surprise, the story evolved … in the way love can often do. It grew, matured, and I realized that the characters were suddenly faced with choices.

True love is more than a feeling—it’s chosen. It goes beyond emotions that come and go. Love is something we are called to act upon. (John 13:34)

There’s something about love that makes us want to hold on tight. A new baby, a toddling child, a dear friend. A romance. We yearn to cling.

To draw near.

Yet at times, we can show love in letting go. This reminds me of a moment in Beth’s beautiful novel, Catch a Falling Star, when the heroine, Kendall, chooses to let something go. Not just anything. That which she had most cherished. My heart ached for her in that moment, but at the same time, I think she walked away just a little bit stronger. A little braver.

Sometimes love involves allowing what we cherish … to take flight. Because at times, that’s what the journey entails. The paths that need to be walked alone. And in faith, we can pray and trust, and let the distance makes us stronger. Let the distance, show love.

 Sometimes letting go can be the harder way to love than holding on.

In Your Words: When have you had to love by letting go? Do you have an encouraging verse that would comfort someone in a time like this?

When love means letting go – guest post by author Joanne Bischof Click to Tweet

When distance makes us stronger – guest post by author Joanne Bischof Click to Tweet 

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GIVEAWAY: Thanks for visiting us on the “A Book For Every Reader” blog tour! Leave a comment below to be entered to win not one but TWO books! One of Joanne’s and one of mine. Also, to enter in the grand giveaway prize which includes some country goodies and an e-reader, simply hop on over and fill out the entry form: http://www.joannebischof.com/extras/blogtour/

You’ll also find the official details. Winners will be drawn on September 28th and contacted via email. Thank you for joining us!

 

Christy Award-finalist and author of The Cadence of Grace series, Joanne Bischof has a deep passion for Appalachian culture and writing stories that shine light on God’s grace and goodness. She lives in the mountains of Southern California with her husband and their three children. When she’s not weaving Appalachian romance, she’s blogging about faith, folk music, and the adventures of country living that bring her stories to life.

In Others’ Words: Letting Go – Guest Post by Author JoAnne Bischof

 

It’s a funny thing, writing books. Sometimes as an author, we have a vision of what the theme of a story might be, other times, it just takes on a shape of its own. When I first set out to write the Cadence of Grace series, the theme of  Be Still My Soul was how God can see us through any trial, no matter how great. And not just see us through … but how we can walk through a trial joyfully, expectantly. Knowing that God works all things for His good.

Then Though My Heart is Torn and My Hope is Found threw another theme into the mix. A surprise one that I hadn’t anticipated. The series had started off with a lack of choices. A shotgun wedding. An unwanted marriage. Yet to my pleasant surprise, the story evolved … in the way love can often do. It grew, matured, and I realized that the characters were suddenly faced with choices.

True love is more than a feeling—it’s chosen. It goes beyond emotions that come and go. Love is something we are called to act upon. (John 13:34)

There’s something about love that makes us want to hold on tight. A new baby, a toddling child, a dear friend. A romance. We yearn to cling.

To draw near.

Yet at times, we can show love in letting go. This reminds me of a moment in Beth’s beautiful novel, Catch a Falling Star, when the heroine, Kendall, chooses to let something go. Not just anything. That which she had most cherished. My heart ached for her in that moment, but at the same time, I think she walked away just a little bit stronger. A little braver.

Sometimes love involves allowing what we cherish … to take flight. Because at times, that’s what the journey entails. The paths that need to be walked alone. And in faith, we can pray and trust, and let the distance makes us stronger. Let the distance, show love.

 Sometimes letting go can be the harder way to love than holding on.

In Your Words: When have you had to love by letting go? Do you have an encouraging verse that would comfort someone in a time like this?

When love means letting go – guest post by author Joanne Bischof Click to Tweet

When distance makes us stronger – guest post by author Joanne Bischof Click to Tweet 

****

GIVEAWAY: Thanks for visiting us on the “A Book For Every Reader” blog tour! Leave a comment below to be entered to win not one but TWO books! One of Joanne’s and one of mine. Also, to enter in the grand giveaway prize which includes some country goodies and an e-reader, simply hop on over and fill out the entry form: http://www.joannebischof.com/extras/blogtour/

You’ll also find the official details. Winners will be drawn on September 28th and contacted via email. Thank you for joining us!

 

Christy Award-finalist and author of The Cadence of Grace series, Joanne Bischof has a deep passion for Appalachian culture and writing stories that shine light on God’s grace and goodness. She lives in the mountains of Southern California with her husband and their three children. When she’s not weaving Appalachian romance, she’s blogging about faith, folk music, and the adventures of country living that bring her stories to life.

In Others’ Words: Best

It’s Monday and I’m staring down my week. There’s so much I want to give my best to: my relationships, my writing — me, even, when I think about my health.

Sometimes I spend part of one week thinking about what’s going to happen next week. A deadline looms over every day leading up to the due date. I’m living in the present and the future — and trying to balance the tension between the two. I can’t ignore the deadline, but I don’t want it to completely overshadow today.

So, the question for today — right now — is what does “the best” look like? How do I focus on what needs to be done in this moment so that I’m best prepared for the next moment … and the next … and the next?

Believe it or not, I do have at least a partial answer to my question. That whole multitasking technique? It’s a fallacy. I used to think I was accomplishing so much more — helping my kiddos with homework while I was making dinner while I was paying bills while I was doing laundry while I was packing lunches while I was …

You get the idea.

But I wasn’t. I was divided and conquered, with no one and nothing getting a decent amount of my attention. Life was a blur and things were done — but not to the best of my ability.

So now, for the most part, I “uni-task.” If I want to do my best in the moments of my day, it means being completely present in those moments as they come, one at a time.

In Your Words: What’s your Monday look like? Your week? How do you handle the moments of your life so they are a series of bests, not “wish I had done better” moments?

Staring down Monday — and the moment Click to Tweet

What does “best” look like? Click to Tweet 

 Read the first chapter of Catch a Falling Star by Beth K. Vogt! Click to Tweet

In Others’ Words: Wired

So … are you waiting? Or are you on the wire? What gets you off the platform of “safe” and out on the wire, risking it all? 

Life is being on the wire — are you?  Click to Tweet

Are you waiting or living? Click to Tweet 

In Others’ Words: Fall

I took karate a number of years ago — okay, a lot of years ago. It’s how I met my husband. He swept me off my feet in a karate studio. To be completely honest, he knocked me down.

Yeah, so romantic.

But here’s the point: In karate, you’re taught how to fall. You practice falling down and getting back up, falling down and getting back up — over and over again. And yes, there is a technique, a bit of skill, to falling well.

I’m wondering, setting aside what I learned in that karate studio, what kind of “When you fall, here’s how you get back up” insights would I share with someone else today?

Something like:

Falls are gonna happen — and they’re gonna hurt. It’s okay to say “ouch” and even cry a bit.
Falls — even when you think you’re prepared for them — can cause an unexpected injury. Adjust to it, don’t deny it.
Falls mean you need to get back up. Don’t be embarrassed to ask for help. But before you get up, see if there’s anything you learned from your on-the-ground-looking-up perspective.

In Your Words: How would you tell someone to fall? Any “When you fall, here’s how you get back up” insights? 

Do you know how to fall? Click to Tweet

3 Tips for Getting Back Up When You Fall Click to Tweet

Read the first chapter of Catch a Falling Star by Beth K. Vogt Click to Tweet 

 

In My Words: Smile!

I’m sitting in the airport at Indianapolis, listening to the recorded message, “the moving walkway is coming to an end, please watch your step” — over and over again while waiting for my 6:40 AM flight back to Denver.

Yes, I’m tired. I took a taxi to the airport at 3:30 this morning — sharing the ride with my wonderful friend, Lisa Jordan.

ACFW 2013 is over … but I’ve got wonderful memories tucked away in my heart — and scads of laundry tucked in my suitcase. My heart’s turned toward home, even as I thank God for the past few days — all the shared laughter, tears, prayers. I’m am beautifully exhausted.

I’ll get back to the quotes on Wednesday — but today I wanted share some smiles with you.

In Others’ Words: Just the Right Color (Guest Post by Author Susan May Warren)

It was my husband Andrew’s idea. We were missionaries in Far East Russia, and we’d experienced an endless winter against a pane of cheerless Siberian skies. My four children and I all felt the restlessness that creeps under the skin after a monotonous schedule and needed a change of scenery – something to brighten our landscape as we plodded into March.

Andrew sensed our needs, (the children crying into their corn kasha each morning alerted him) and suggested we accompany him on a weekend trip to see some friends.

“You can stay with Sveta while Vadeem and I work on the summer building project!”  He smiled; my grin quivered. Our friends and their three little children lived in an 8ft by 12ft single-story house. No running water – and … outhouse!

But I donned my adventurer’s cap.  Two nights on the train and one night on their sofa … it could be fun.

The train ride was fun: We brought a picnic, the kids bounced from bunk to bunk, we watched the sun set from their train windows.

At seven the next morning, Vadeem met us and raced us along rutted alleys and flimsy green fences until we pulled into his yard.  A friendly spiral of black smoke curled from the chimney of his brightly lit home. Sveta was boiling fresh palmeni, and she greeted us like long-lost relatives.

When Andrew left, I wondered what Sveta and I could talk about. She was so quiet, I so … well, not quiet … but a bit undone by the language barrier. I sat in the kitchen. The seven children watching Simba’s Pride on the only sofa. I pulled out some sewing and started to chat.

For eight hours I sewed, (in between running the kids to the outhouse and dressing them for outside twice) fumbled with my Russian and watched my friend.

Sveta never sat. She pumped water into a big barrel, her delicate arms bulging. She peeled about 300 potatoes. She swept her entire house, three times. She made a cake. She went out to the coal pile and hauled in a big bucket and then started her enormous coal stove, which heated the house, twice. She fitted a neighbor in a housedress and sewed up the hem. She cleaned fish. She wore a skirt and looked comfortable in it … and then that night, as she sat by her husband, she rubbed his shoulders and let him poke fun at her. And she smiled the entire time.

Not once did I hear her complain, raise her voice to her children or collapse at the table, drop her head into her hands and sigh, “I just can’t go on.” No, she seemed happy, despite the challenges of her living conditions.

After our three-day visit, I imagine that Sveta dissolved into a puddle of exhaustion, cried and served her kids ramen noodles every meal for a week … but I doubt it. Sveta, at 27, had something that most women (or men for that matter) spend a lifetime trying to find: Contentment. Peace with her lot.  Perhaps even fulfillment as she tended the field the Lord had given her.

We returned home on the train, a sauna with the heaters turned on full. I tossed and turned all night, but it was my conscience that kept me awake. How many times did I wish for cold water, or even a backyard for the children to play in? How many times had I melted into gloominess when our schedule overwhelmed us? I think the difference between Sveta’s smile and my frown was attitude and vision. Longing for things I didn’t have – in Russia it was running cold water, boxed convenience food. Today it might be faster Internet access – even a lighter schedule. Regardless, my complaining is a bit like acid, corroding my thankfulness.

“But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.” ( Psalm  50:23 NLT ) Could part of that salvation be contentedness?

I went to Sveta’s to brighten the colorless landscape of my tedious daily schedule. I returned to the same palatte … but with the hue of thanksgiving and a vivid determination to never let complaints paint my world gray. Each day is mine to shade how I want … and it starts with contentment.

The Color of Contentment Click to Tweet

The Corrosion of Discontent Click to Tweet

Access the “When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan”  guest blog series Click to Tweet 

Susan May Warren is the founder of My Book Therapy, a writing community to help novelists get published. An award-winning, best-selling author, Susie has published over 40 novels. Her most recent book is Take a Chance on Me, which released in March 2013.

In Others’ Words: Eyes Wide Open (Guest Post by Author Rachel Hauck)

I’m a big sister. The second oldest of five kids with an older brother, two younger and a baby sister.

At the age of eight, I’d mastered changing cloth, double diapers held together with stick pins!

At ten, I went to my first babysitting job. It was the family next door, but still …

I loved children. They loved me.

When my husband and I married at 31, we had been friends and dating for four years so we were ready to start a family.

I wasn’t sure we’d have a honeymoon baby, but sometime within the first year, we’d be expecting.

But the year passed childless. Then the second and third.

And you know what? I was okay with it. My husband and I are good friends and enjoy just being together so a few married years on our own seemed fine.

As our fourth year of marriage approached, I was driving home from work one day, praying for someone called to the celibate lifestyle, and the Lord tapped my heart, “Is it okay with you if you don’t have children?”

“Huh? Really?”

Was that even God? Should I tell the devil to step off?

Goodness, the Lord commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply. The Psalms praises a man with a full quiver. Proverbs extols the wise woman and her children rise up to call her blessed.

Why would God ask me such a thing? Maybe He didn’t. Perhaps it was my own imaginings. Wouldn’t be the first time I “missed God.”

If I was right every time, I’d have been a world famous, best-selling author by then. Ha!

But the question, and a sense of the divine, settled in my heart and took root.

My husband was as open to this request as I and we spent time over the years praying, seeking, making sure we had a “Yes” in our hearts to Him.

Time passed. I never became pregnant.

Little confirmations that indeed we may not have children happened along the way. I pondered them, like Mary, in my heart.

I had peace with this request, though I didn’t always understand it.

And if God wanted to change His mind … we were certainly fine with that too.

Then a few years ago I was reading in 1 Samuel and this verse came alive to me:

1 Samuel 1:8

“Then Elkanah her husband said to her, “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat and why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

Hannah mourned her barrenness. Her rival wife taunted her. Yet each year, Elkanah gave her a double portion because he loved her. Her barrenness was not an issue with him.

But in her own grief, Hannah could not enjoy and receive his love.

“Am I not better to you than ten sons?” her husband asked.

I can almost hear the yearning and pain in his voice. He hurts for her, yet she cannot be satisfied with his gifts and blessings.

Am I not that way with the Lord at times? Something doesn’t go the way I want in life, but the Lord blesses me and showers me with love.

Yet I’m so focused on what I don’t have, I can’t receive Him.

As a childless couple, I wonder, “Who will take care of us when we are old?”

And the Lord’s answer to me is, “Am I not better to you than ten sons?”

Oh, how my heart comes alive when I realize my portion in the Lord. He is indeed better to me than ten sons!

When things don’t go my way – at home or church, with friends, or in the publishing world – I must open my eyes to see what He is doing, how He is blessing and keeping me.

He is better to me than ten sons!

Rejoice! JOY!

How have you been able to see the blessing — His blessings — of life not going according to your plans?

How God’s “No” can increase your faith Click to Tweet

Faith: Living life with eyes wide open Click to Tweet

Access the “When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan” guest blog series Click to Tweet 

 Hauck is an award-winning, best selling author of critically acclaimed novels such as RITA nominated Love Starts with Elle, part of the Lowcountry series. She also penned the acclaimed Songbird Novels with multi-platinum recording artist, Sara Evans. Their novel Softly and Tenderly, was one of Booklists 2011 Top Ten Inspirationals.

Her book, the bestselling, The Wedding Dress won the Romantic Times Inspirational Novel of the Year and is nominated for the Romance Writers of America RITA award.

Her latest release, Once Upon A Prince, earned a Starred Review from Publisher’s Weekly and Booklist.

Rachel serves on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers and leads worship at their annual conference. She is a mentor and book therapist at My Book Therapy, and conference speaker.

 

 

In Others’ Words: Making Plans (Guest post by Author Cynthia Ruchti)

One of the pieces of “sage” wisdom—which is different from hunter green or celadon, as we all know, and not even close to kiwi—that I give young moms is “Write your schedule on your calendar in pencil. That way it won’t be so annoying when you have to erase it because of the kids’ flu/ear infection/pink eye/head lice/field trip/allergy appointment/soccer tournament/snow day.”

I usually say it in fewer words, but the point is that I got in the habit early: Consider everything written in pencil, because it rarely stays the way you thought it would.

We planned for our first much-needed week-long vacation with our one-year-old daughter at a family-friendly but rustic resort on a northwoods lake that had enough beach for me and enough fish for my husband. The darling one-year-old developed a fever so high that we spent the first night of the vacation in the northwoods emergency room, packed up the cabin the second day, drove home sponging the still-fevered child, visited our hometown emergency room, and gave up anything that looked remotely like rest or sleep until her dangerously high fever finally broke and the virus wandered off.

As any work-at-home mom will tell you, when a husband leaves for work asking, “What do you plan to do today, honey?” the woman is tempted to answer, “What does it matter? Something will come up to change those plans. I can tell you what I hope to get done today. Check in later to see how that went.”

After a way too long battle with Lyme disease and a ten-day hospitalization for high-powered antibiotics every four hours around the clock, I came home prepared to restart my life. Lyme disease had stolen so much of it for the previous three years. At my post-hospitalization check-up, the doctor asked how I was feeling. “Strange,” I said, swallowing hard. “I think I’m pregnant.” Many of the Lyme disease symptoms remained and were now joined by tell-tale morning sickness.

Eight and a half months later, our third child was born…nine years after our second child. At one point we had two teens and a toddler in the same house. Pencil. Write everything in pencil.

I’m logging my schedule in my smartphone these days. For some reason, hitting delete isn’t as painful as wearing out an eraser. But over time I came to see that the unplanned can be as huggable as a newborn with my artistic side and my husband’s dreamy eyes.

There’s almost always something to embrace in the unplanned. A new adventure. A soul-challenge that turns out to be soul-strengthening. A story to tell. A reason to cling all the harder to the God who is never surprised.

 What have you found to embrace in the unplanned? 

When have you embraced the unplanned? Click to Tweet 

Don’t write your plans in indelible ink. Click to Tweet

Access the entire “When Life Doesn’t Go According to Plan” guest blog series Click to Tweet 

 

Ruchti’s release, When the Morning Glory Blooms, is a novel of three eras of stories born from the unplanned, and embraceable grace found in the tangles. You can connect with her and learn about her other books and upcoming projects at www.cynthiaruchti.com or www.facebook.com/cynthiaru