Davalynn Spencer's Blog, page 27
July 6, 2020
The Right Words Matter
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Years ago, after landing a job at our local newspaper as a crime-beat reporter, I attended a journalism workshop that stressed the importance of tight writing.
“The Lord’s prayer has 66 words,” one handout said. “The Gettysburg address, 286.”
The point: less is more.
The pointed example: “Mother’s dead.”
As a novelist today, I still apply many rules I learned as a journalist.
Of course journalism is not fiction. At least it didn’t use to be. But in the pursuit of tight writing, authors—like journalists—spend quite a bit of time searching for just the right words.
The comment about the Lord’s Prayer led me to realize how concise the scriptures are while brimming with metaphor, simile, and story.
Each word matters. No deadwood floats upon the waters of wisdom. No fluff fills the pages. Each word is specifically and carefully chosen, as in, “Let there be light.”
God started the whole show with just four syllables.
When the Word became flesh in Jesus, people began to understand even more about the Creator who spoke light from darkness.
As an author, I strive every day to say the right thing the right way, and often it’s that very striving that straps me to a literary treadmill. Lots of work, lots of words, no forward movement.
Therefore, in the quiet hours of most mornings, before the world crashes in, I take time apart, often penning my prayers in a small journal. Recently I asked for direction regarding a current work in progress and I wrote, “Show me, Jesus.”
Pausing, I looked at the sentence, then copied it again without the comma.
“Show me Jesus.”
The absence of that little squiggle made a big difference and created questions in my mind.
Which of my two written requests was more important? Which did I need more than the other?
The answers were defining.
Rather than mere direction, I needed the Director.
Rather than answers to the next storyline, I needed the Answer.
As I set myself aside that morning and sought the peace of His presence, my ears opened, my mind cleared, and my eyes saw—all because of three words without a comma: “Show me Jesus.”
An old gospel spiritual, said to have originated during the dark days of open slavery in this country, presents several stanzas that are answered by a simple three-word chorus: “Give me Jesus.”
The original singers of this song could have cried out, “Give me, Jesus.” Give me freedom. Give me liberty. Give me the help I so desperately need. But they sang that line without a comma, asking for the source of comfort Himself.
Today I hope to make my similar three-word prayer the song of my heart – Show me Jesus. For I know if I choose that concise and pointed phrase over all others, everything else will fall in line.
~
They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request.
“Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”
John 12:21 NIV
~
The right words matter.
Click To Tweet
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
Want a free book? Sign up for my Newsletter!
#lovingthecowboy
(c) 2020 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
#WesternRomance #ChristianFiction #FreeBook #HistoricalRomance
The post The Right Words Matter appeared first on Davalynn Spencer.
June 29, 2020
Just Because Something Is Good Doesn’t Mean It’s Easy
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
“It’s a difficult journey, to be sure,” my friend said. “But a good one.”
She was right.
She has been on the journey with me for several years and understands the dark places and sudden drop-offs. The unexpected bends or endless monotony. The oh so difficult times that always break out into God’s faithfulness.
My recently released book, An Impossible Price, was written during this journey and that made the writing difficult. In fact, I stopped halfway through and started over from the beginning.
Maybe the agony of those days came through in the finished story of two people with wounds and scars and doubts about God and forgiveness.
I wonder, because readers have shared bits of themselves when telling me how they responded to the book. They’ve pointed out moments in the story that touched their hearts or drew laughter and understanding—or how it made them cry or cheer. They have shared things that make me believe many of us are on the same journey even if we don’t realize it.
I continue to be amazed at how God works things out in my life – things that might not necessarily be pleasant or easy. But He works them out for good. Some way, somehow, He always does that. And it makes the suffering worth it.
(Did I really just say “makes the suffering worth it”?)
Yes. I did. It’s true
His faithfulness is unfailing.
His love is unending.
His presence and comfort are worth it all.
~
And we know that God causes everything to work together
for the good of those who love God
and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28
~
July 3 I’ll be signing books at a local event in Canon City, Colorado. July 3 was my mother’s birthday, and now it is my granddaughter’s birthday.
How tender of God to bookend my journey with these two precious lives.
~
Just because something is good doesn't mean it's easy.
Click To Tweet
Available now!
Clay rode up the back of Pine Hill, past the ponderosa and the two crosses beneath it. There were no guarantees in this country that a man would make it home at night. If it wasn’t a blizzard, it was lightning. Bears or mountain lions. A hoof in a badger hole and a bad fall. He realized it more now than ever.
He also realized he’d faced that bear without a second thought, eerily calm in the moment. But he couldn’t share his hidden scars with a woman he loved. ~An Impossible Price
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
Want a free book? Sign up for my Newsletter!
#lovingthecowboy
(c) 2020 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
#WesternRomance #ChristianFiction #FreeBook #HistoricalRomance
The post Just Because Something Is Good Doesn’t Mean It’s Easy appeared first on Davalynn Spencer.
June 22, 2020
National Chocolate Éclair Day
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Today is National Chocolate Éclair Day. It is also National Take Your Cat to Work Day, but let’s just leave that one alone.
Eclairs do not scratch, yowl, or shed, plus chocolate is involved. I’d much rather take a box of éclairs to work than my cat Oakley, and since I work at home, this is a win-win situation.
The word éclair comes from the French for “lightning” or “flash of light.” Not sure about the connection other than perhaps the first bite into a light and crispy crème-filled, chocolate-covered pastry could be as delightfully jolting as a lightning strike.
So start the week off right. Visit your local bakery and take home a chocolate éclair for dessert tonight. You can even choose between rich chocolate crème filling or decadent vanilla crème. I prefer vanilla.
And if you buy an extra one for the trip home in the car, who’s to know?
There is nothing particularly spiritual about chocolate eclairs – though some people might argue that point. But as it says in 1 Timothy 6:17, our good and beautiful God “gives us richly all things to enjoy!”
No argument there.
~
National Chocolate Eclair Day
Click To TweetAvailable now!
Hoss Bozeman approached with his camp-sized coffee pot, and Clay offered his cup.
“I got beans with side pork and hot buttered cornbread, Sheriff.” He nodded at Clay, then took a harder look.
“You remember Clay Ferguson?” Garrett grinned like he and Clay were blood kin. In Clay’s book, they might as well be.
The cookie’s face split with a wide grin. “I thought you looked familiar. Had me goin’ for a minute there. I pride myself on knowin’ everyone who eats here.”
“It’s been a few years.”
“I seem to recall how you cottoned to my bear sign, but I’m fresh out today. Come back tomorrow for breakfast and I’ll fill your gullet.”
Clay nodded, spilling a smile. “I’ll be sure to do that.”
After Hoss left, Garrett took a swig of hot coffee and winced. “His cookin’s passable, but his brew gets a might thick by dinner.”
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
Want a free book? Sign up for my Newsletter!
#lovingthecowboy
(c) 2020 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
#WesternRomance #ChristianFiction #FreeBook #HistoricalRomance
The post National Chocolate Éclair Day appeared first on Davalynn Spencer.
June 15, 2020
Happy Father’s Day, Dad
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
This coming Sunday is Father’s Day. It’s been a very long time since I wished my dad “Happy Father’s Day.” So here goes …
Daddy was a California farmer.
He wore long-sleeved shirts against the sun, regardless of the season.
He carried his wedding ring in his wallet where it impressed a permanent circle rather than catch on something and cost him a finger.
The right front pocket of his work pants held a pocketknife that he sharpened on a grinding stone, and he could do just about anything with that knife—
Peel an orange fresh from the tree.
Remove a splinter from the finger of a trembling little girl.
Make a whistle from a willow branch, notching it at just the right intervals.
He taught me to swim by throwing me in the pool, then kneeling at the edge with his arms out, shouting, “Swim over here to me!”
He taught me to drive by lifting me to the tractor seat and showing me how to stand on the brake when I wanted to stop.
He taught me how to shoot a gun, ride a horse, and work a shovel. Set irrigation pipe.
He tried to teach me how to dance, but that didn’t go so well.
He was a preacher and a building *contractor. A husband and a veteran.
He wasn’t perfect, but he loved me.
Thank you, Daddy.
Happy Father’s Day.
~
He wasn't perfect, but he loved me.
Click To TweetAvailable now!
“Cash? You have enough cash to buy a small ranch?”
The deep-chested laugh rolled out and Clay wrapped his arm around her, pulling her even closer. “Are you wonderin’ if I robbed a bank?”
He was toying with her, and Sophie didn’t appreciate it. She stiffened slightly. “I know you wouldn’t do that, but it’s about all I know of you.”
They came to a dip in the road, and he lifted his arm from her shoulders and took the reins in both hands. “It’s from sale of the family farm out east, past La Junta.”
Silenced for a moment by the sudden influx of information, she began forming pictures of his childhood. He had a family after all. At least a mother and father. Siblings?
“Do you—”
“I don’t talk about ’em.”
End of conversation. ~An Impossible Price
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
Want a free book? Sign up for my Newsletter!
#lovingthecowboy
(c) 2020 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
#WesternRomance #ChristianFiction #FreeBook #HistoricalRomance
*Photo courtesy of Facebook page Porterville Our Past. “Volunteer Work Team – Porterville Community Swimming Pool July 1953 Left to right standing: Joe Elliott (secty-mgr-Chamber of Commerce, Dave Chamberlain (contractor), Frank Sheldon (Modern Plumbing & Supply Co.), Bob Board (Tel.Co.), Lester Braly (Tel. Co.), Sid Wheeler (Modern Plumbing & Supply Co.), Carroll Simmons (Tel. Co.), Andy Anderson (Modern Plumbing), Ronnie Barnard (Tel. Co.), Jay Brewer (Tel. Co.), Rodney Wiens (Porterville College), Freeland Wilson (Tel Co.). Left to right kneeling: Hank Brovelli, Tom Landers, Cole Johnson, Bob Adams (all are Tel Co. employees)”
The post Happy Father’s Day, Dad appeared first on Davalynn Spencer.
June 8, 2020
From the Cockpit of My Author’s Desk …
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
She didn’t look like a pilot.
She looked like a woman who spent a lot of time on her hair and makeup and even more time selecting her clothes.
But not only was she a pilot, she was one of several authors at a multi-author book-signing event, and she was seated across the aisle from me. Clearly, the quip about not judging a book by its cover had its place.
As we visited that day, I learned that this woman had logged many hours in the cockpit as the PIC – Pilot in Command. However, her knowledge of aerodynamics and her skill at breaking gravity’s grip often caused her great fear when she flew on commercial airlines.
I expected just the opposite.
She explained.
As a frequent international flier, she always paid close attention to the pilots for her flights. The young ones made her nervous, she said. Not because they were less qualified to fly the massive commercial airliners, but because they were less likely to have experienced the many things that can go wrong several miles above terra firma.
She was most comfortable with pilots who had a military background. Their level of “been there, done that” usually involved surviving mechanical failures, life-threatening weather conditions, and split-second choices.
She drew comfort from their hard times.
I drew conclusions from her comments.
When we hear that people have experience in a particular field or endeavor, we often equate that experience with success and only success. However, if that were the case, their experience would not be genuine, for experience bleeds.
As believers in an omnipotent and loving God, we know that nothing is impossible when He is involved. We know that He is always with us, working everything out for our good. But we are less comfortable with reminders of the turbulence and trials that await us, even in His presence.
During our difficult times, we may not be aware of others observing our troubles, but when we’re slammed against the wall and Jesus squeezes out through the cracks in our lives, people see it. When we suffer as they suffer, yet survive—even thrive—they find hope that they can too.
Ironically, when I’m commanding situations from the cockpit of my author’s desk, I’m often reluctant to let my characters fail. I like them. I want to protect them, keep them from hurtling through emotionally turbulent air. However, that’s unrealistic and impractical.
It’s also boring.
Readers know failure is part of the deal, and they want to see the protagonist hit the wall and get up again. They want to observe characters overcoming challenges similar to their own.
Yes, those readers know they’re consuming fictional stories, but truth leaks from the cracks in characters’ lives the same way it does in our own.
Author and literary agent Donald Maass tells writers to find the worst thing that can happen to their protagonist and put it in the book.
That idea makes me shiver. It also makes for good story.
My characters must stumble, fall, and bleed along their developmental pathway. Authentic experience with any endeavor involves imperfection, failure, and growth. Abraham Lincoln and Michael Jordan are exceptional examples of this truth.
It’s the fall-down-get-up principal.
We don’t think about Jesus falling down, but He did. We read in Matthew 26:37-39 that when he was “sorrowful and deeply distressed” over what was about to take place, He went to Gethsemane with His disciples and “fell on His face, and prayed.”
He who stilled the storm and walked on water, healed the blind, lame, and lepers, and fed thousands fell on His face and prayed.
The book of Luke continues with the following:
And being in great agony, He prayed more earnestly.
And His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples,
He found them sleeping from sorrow (Luke 22:44-45).
Jesus fell down before the One He trusted and got up again changed. Comforted. Strengthened to face a horrific event.
Both sides of the fall-down-get-up equation are necessary.
Success comes when the latter outnumbers the former.
~
Experience bleeds.
Click To Tweet
At a knock on the back door, she rose. Doc Weaver’s voice slipped through the opening, and Betsy stepped aside for him to enter.
A wiser man Sophie had never met, and by the deep lines carved in his features, he’d experienced much loss himself. He took the chair Betsy had vacated and leaned forward, arms on his knees. “You did everything you could, Sophie.”
At the kindness of his tone, she shook her head, refusing to accept absolution. ~An Impossible Price
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
Want a free book? Sign up for my Newsletter!
#lovingthecowboy
(c) 2020 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
#WesternRomance #ChristianFiction #FreeBook #HistoricalRomance
The post From the Cockpit of My Author’s Desk … appeared first on Davalynn Spencer.
June 1, 2020
Love Heals Old Wounds
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Several sticky notes edge the bottom of my computer monitor and serve as personal reminders while I write. They are glimpses of character-development devices that I have found to be true in fiction as well as in life. I’ll share a few with you here.
Battles result in scars; no one gets out unscathed.
True character is revealed in crisis.
Love heals old wounds.
Sounds a little brutal, doesn’t it? But as author Leif Enger declares through the main character of his novel, Peace Like a River,
“We and the world, my children, will always be at war.
Retreat is impossible. Arm yourselves.”
Many people would consider my collection of quotes cliché, which doesn’t bother me in the least. A cliché becomes one because it is repeatedly found to be true. I incorporate the statements above into nearly all my books on one level or another.
But never has the quote about love come into play as much as it did in the writing of my newest book, An Impossible Price.
Wounded characters are nothing new in the fiction world, for they are everywhere in the real world. Everyone has a wound of some kind – whether emotional, psychological, or physical. And that wound often dictates how we respond to situations and people in our lives.
However, scars are easier to carry than wounds. The healing process from wound to scar can be slow and lengthy or relatively quick. Time often heals, as does the attention of professionals and others near to us. But no one heals a wound like our good and loving God, and if we let Him close enough, we’ll see the healing imprint of His scarred hands in our lives.
I’d love for you to read my story about Sophie Price and Clay Ferguson, but more than that, I pray you’ll trust your own wounds to the greatest Healer of all.
He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their wounds.
Psalm 147:3
Love heals old wounds.
Click To TweetAvailable now for pre-order!
Clay had never backed down from an honest fight or allowed some fool to beat an animal. He’d never turned away those who couldn’t pay for his services or refused to make the most difficult call of an animal’s merciful death. But he couldn’t face the pulsing wound within himself. And the one thing he feared more than any other was Sophie’s likelihood of making him do just that. ~An Impossible Price
An Impossible Price, Book 3 in the Front Range Brides series, releases June 4, 2020. Order your copy today!
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
Want a free book? Sign up for my Newsletter!
#lovingthecowboy
(c) 2020 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
#WesternRomance #ChristianFiction #FreeBook #HistoricalRomance
The post Love Heals Old Wounds appeared first on Davalynn Spencer.
May 25, 2020
Every Time I Remember You
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
If you’ve been to an American rodeo, you know the only moment of absolute silence follows a downed rider who fails to rise under his own power.
Apprehension sucks the collective breath of the crowd as they wait to see the cowboy push to his hands and knees.
When he does, the grandstands explode with cheers and applause.
When he doesn’t, the air is still as death.
Today at 3 p.m., Americans across this nation will hopefully pause for one minute of silence to remember men and women who have fallen on battlefields and did not rise.
This official Moment of Remembrance on Memorial Day seems like a very small “thank you” for those who have died serving our country.
In many homes, such moments occur every time a parent, child, or spouse walks by a vacant room or a cherished photograph. They don’t need a congressional act or national holiday. They can’t help but remember.
More recent warriors who survived when their companions fell may die a piece at a time over years of fighting enemies called Nightmare and Flashback. They may pray not to remember.
But the rest of us can at least take a minute to convey the grace of gratitude as we pause and say, “I thank my God every time I remember you.” Phil. 1:3
For those who would like to take a longer moment to honor the fallen, you can listen here to Taps.
And for those of you like me – who desperately need to remember the One who rescued them – enjoy this recording of “Holy Water” by We the Kingdom.
~
Pause for one minute of silence.
Click To Tweet
A small fence bordered two cedar crosses, and a pink rose flourished between them—all new additions since she had last climbed the hill. She stepped over the low pickets and knelt between the graves. Weathered and gray, each cross bore hand-carved names. Deacon’s doing, no doubt.
“I miss you, Mama.” Tears welled and she let them fall unchecked as she leaned to trace the letters of her mother’s name. “I was foolish. I went against everything you taught me. I’m so sorry…”
Her voice blew away on the rising wind, and with a wrenching sob, she hugged her waist and doubled over the grave. ~An Unexpected Redemption
*A variation of this column first appeared May 29, 2017.
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
Want a free book? Sign up for my Newsletter!
#lovingthecowboy
(c) 2020 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
#WesternRomance #ChristianFiction #FreeBook #HistoricalRomance
The post Every Time I Remember You appeared first on Davalynn Spencer.
May 18, 2020
A Place to Belong
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
I read across genres, enjoying contemporary suspense, historical romance, adventure, fantasy, and others. Recently, an early title by American author Louis L’Amour took me back to the days of the Old West – Hondo, a classic Western, published in 1953.
Regardless of the genre you prefer to read, if you pick up a copy of Hondo, you’ll find L’Amour a skilled word-wrangler, painting a picture of lands and times and people long gone.
Well, the land is still there, and that fact is an author’s device I like to employ myself – the setting as a character in the story with its attending climate, challenges, and threats.
In this book, I learned two things from my L’Amour-guided evening jaunts into the American southwest. The first concept was the tendency of those who are cowardly to try to destroy those who are not. An interesting idea to ponder.
But the more important observation I picked up was the desire of most people – men and women alike – to belong.
A note in my journal reads:
What I learned from Hondo Lane:
A man and a woman want a place to belong and a person to belong to.
The note continues:
“I go to prepare a place for you … that where I am, there you may be also.” -Jesus
The old-West tale shed new light on a familiar scripture, allowing me to see it from the other side of the mirror if you will.
Jesus said He was preparing a place specifically for us, a place we can belong. And a place where He will be.
He could have left off that last part, “…that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3). But He didn’t.
Just as there are no superfluous, unnecessary words in a good story, I believe there are no superfluous, unnecessary words in God’s book. Each one is there on purpose.
God loves us enough to know what we need – a place to belong and a Person to belong to.
I’m so glad.
~
*By the way, if you’re interested in the story, Hondo, don’t settle for the movie version with John Wayne as Hondo Lane. No comparison at all. Get the book.
A place to belong and a person to belong to.
Click To TweetPre-order today!
As Sophie took down the bread bowl, her thoughts fell on her mother and brother. Praying while she stirred up a batch of biscuits was becoming a regular habit. She lifted her family by name, asking that they be kept safe, as well as Mae Ann and the baby. Cade and Deacon. The Eisners.
And the mare—that she’d made it home. Poor thing, her world was not right unless she was in her own barn with its familiar sounds and smells.
Oddly enough, Sophie didn’t feel that way about the farm any longer. In spite of loving her family, the place wasn’t quite home, for a certain someone with whom she’d like to make a home of her own wasn’t there. ~An Impossible Price
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
Want a free book? Sign up for my Newsletter!
#lovingthecowboy
(c) 2020 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
#WesternRomance #ChristianFiction #FreeBook #HistoricalRomance
The post A Place to Belong appeared first on Davalynn Spencer.
May 11, 2020
My Sheep Hear My Voice
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
Have you ever re-discovered something you previously saw or heard, catching it with fresh eyes and ears the second time around?
I did that last week. I read a familiar Bible verse that jumped off the page, though I’m quite familiar with these words of Jesus:
My sheep hear My voice,
And I know them,
And they follow Me.
John 10:27
Maybe it was the quietness of my heart that allowed me to see the “power of three” in the passage – a device authors often employ.
This time, each of the three individual concepts connected to the others and formed a triangular shape in my mind. An ongoing relationship that flowed from one point to the next unceasingly.
The first point assured me that I really do hear my Savior’s voice. Sometimes I’ve wondered if a particular leading was “just me” – just my imagination, or influences from other people in my life. But this first point encouraged me that I am equipped to hear His voice and expected to hear His voice – if I’m actively listening.
Active listening involves spending time in His word so I better recognize His voice.
The second point also encouraged me by reminding me that He knows me. Really knows me, better than I know myself. He notices if I’m “missing in action,” off track, or bogged down somewhere.
The third point connected the first two when it said I follow him. I follow Him because I hear Him leading and I know that He loves me.
As an author, I also noticed the lack of visual cues in this passage. The emphasis is on hearing, and this idea was reinforced by two unrelated things that happened in my life.
First, a recent article I wrote for the blog Heroes, Heroines & History was about the advent of the telegraph and Morse code. When this communication system was in its infancy, a paper tape was employed into which the code was punched. Operators quickly learned that the paper was unnecessary because the system was auditory, not visual. Those trained in receiving and transmitting Morse code didn’t need to see what was being said. They heard it and understood it.
Next, my pastor pointed out in a sermon that God told Moses He was a God who is heard, not seen like the many visual gods of Egypt from where Moses had led the Hebrews. This related to the commandment against making carved images to represent Him.
Often in scripture, God’s spirit has been described as breath or wind – pneuma, the Greek word for breath, and ruwach, the Hebrew word for wind. Both are something we feel or hear. We don’t see them, though we may see what they carry.
When judging whether we have truly heard our Shepherd’s voice, if we are patient, confirmation will come from outside the situation. If no confirmation comes, then perhaps it is not His voice we hear, and we need to wait. God isn’t in a hurry.
In these quieter days of quarantine, sheltering in place, and social distancing, may we make a concerted effort to hear our shepherd’s voice, trust that He is leading us, and follow Him.
~
Check out these two modern-day demonstrations of sheep heeding their shepherd’s voice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e45dVgWgV64
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coq_grSFlNs
Make a concerted effort to hear your shepherd’s voice.
Click To Tweet
Coming soon!Sophie took the pouch, found the short, pointed knife and bottle, and hesitated.
“The acid will purify the blade and reduce the risk of infection.” Clay paused, softened his voice. “Trust me.”
Had he learned this at veterinary school? She’d never heard of such a thing. Pain was not a factor in the procedure, but the precaution was new to her. Steeling herself, she unwrapped the babe, uncapped the bottle, and poured the sweet-smelling liquid over the scalpel.
Trust Me, another voice whispered in her heart. ~An Impossible Price
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
Want a free book? Sign up for my Newsletter!
#lovingthecowboy
(c) 2020 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
#WesternRomance #ChristianFiction #FreeBook #HistoricalRomance
Background image from Pixabay
The post My Sheep Hear My Voice appeared first on Davalynn Spencer.
May 4, 2020
Actions Are Weighed
By Davalynn Spencer @davalynnspencer
“For the Lord is the God of knowledge,
and by Him actions are weighed.”
The first time I saw this quote I wanted to know who made such an insightful observation.
Then I learned it was a SAHM who went from sad to glad because she had turned to the One who could make a difference in her life.
A woman named Hannah spoke these words, but they were not her first.
She initially said something like this:
Oh God, please help me. My heart is breaking. Please hear me. Only You can help me. Oh God, please, “out of the abundance of my complaint and grief” I am crying out to You.
She was so distraught that the pastor at her church thought she was drunk.
Yes, she was drunk. She was drunk on despair and desperation so she went to the only One who could help.
And He did.
This encouraging quote comes from a prayer of thanks that can be found in I Samuel 2:3. The entire chapter is an amazing passage, but I encourage you to read chapter 1 as well so you get the whole picture.
Hannah learned that God knew her and her heart—really knew her—and that He also saw her actions and considered them. This phrase was perhaps a precursor to “a tree is known by its fruits” and “you will reap what you sow.”
Do you think she shared this wisdom with her children?
For those of you who don’t know what a SAHM is, it’s a stay-at-home-mom. Hannah isn’t a mother in chapter 1 but she is in chapter 2.
Some of the best teaching in the world has come from mothers, whether they are SAHMs or women who also work jobs outside the home.
This week, prior to Mother’s Day, find yours or someone who represents that role in your life and thank her for what she’s given you.
~
Some of the best teaching in the world has come from mothers.
Click To Tweet
Etta set her teacup and saucer aside and unfolded the thin paper. Uneven script, almost juvenile in its lack of refinement, covered the sheet. At her glance, Pastor Fillmore nodded, then rested against the chair back with his coffee in hand, prepared to wait for her perusal.
Lockton, Colorado, October 1879
Dere Pastor Fillmore,
I hope this letter finds you and your wife well since me and Gracie and Ruth left. Ruth went to heaven some three years past. Gracie fares well as does the small congrugation I serve temporary being the sherif and all but my heart grows weary to bear my burdens alone. Would there be a kind and helpful mother-type woman in your church willing to come to Colorado and help me? Like the mail order brides who join other men here at the Rocky Mountains.
God bless you for your help. Please write back to Gracie and send to the general store.
Sherif Bern Stidham
The pastor’s eyes clearly danced in anticipation of Etta’s opinion.
She accommodated him. “This does not read like a letter penned by any man, whether educated clergyman or desperate sheriff.” ~Mail-order Misfire
Inspirational Western Romance – where the hero is heroic.
Want a free book? Sign up for my Newsletter!
#lovingthecowboy
(c) 2020 Davalynn Spencer, all rights reserved.
#WesternRomance #ChristianFiction #FreeBook #HistoricalRomance
The post Actions Are Weighed appeared first on Davalynn Spencer.
