Timothy J. Pruitt's Blog, page 135

iPainting Walking Towards Christmas

We are getting closer, are you excited? I know I am, I love Christmas. To me it’s a celebration of my faith, family, and friends.

iPainting Santa Of Yesteryear

Anticipation

A change had begun in her, but it was not yet complete. I was thinking of the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the time of Mary’s last month of pregnancy. As a man I can’t imagine what she was feeling physically, yet I was wondering what she was thinking.

However I’m thinking not as a new Mother, but as a recipient of The Messiah’s Mercy. As someone born after Jesus was, I have never known a day where He had not walked the shores of Galilee. Mary, at this point, had only known the days of before Jesus was born.

Now she knew something else, she knew expectation that was already changing her present, and transforming her future. Eve had expected, Sarah had expected, Ruth had expected, and each had received a step towards the promise, oh but Mary. When Mary’s expectation became a reality, she would see a face no one had ever seen.

I can’t help but wonder if His laugh was anything like Isaac’s? Did Jesus have David’s nose? Could you see Abraham’s features in The Seed he had been promised? I don’t know, but I do know this, Mary saw Jesus, and that is more than enough. When we go to Church, we should have every expectation of seeing Jesus in the events of the service.

Mary expected Him to be special, and she saw what she expected. I know that He was God in the flesh, but I also know Mary held everything in her heart. She treasured every moment, every breath, every phrase, every question.

It’s hard to imagine The Answer asking questions, but God always has. Mary’s Son would ask the Doctors that He astounded questions. Before it said they were amazed at His answers, they were amazed at His understanding. God Incarnate understood, to get their attention I have to ask them questions.

Our Pastor, Pastor Denny Livingston pointed this out recently, Jesus looked at the man and said “Will you be made whole?” Before He spoke the answer Jesus had to ask the man a question. Asking the question gave birth to expectation. Expectation gave birth to anticipation.

The difference between expectation and anticipation is this, anticipating is the action of expectation. In the first month of pregnancy Mary was expecting, but in the last month she had some things in place because she was anticipating. Her wardrobe had expanded, but so had her hope, or anticipation.

Mary went from expecting He was coming in nine months, to anticipating His birth any minute. The Bible says she was great with child. We should anticipate what will happen in Service tomorrow because we are great with Jesus inside us. It’s not that Mary was great in herself, but that which was inside her was great. We do not claim greatness in ourselves, but The One we serve is great in our hearts.

Because of this we enter His gates with thanksgiving, anticipating what He will do. Tomorrow is not just a window of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s a window wherein God will give birth to our anticipation. Just as Mary readied things for the any moment arrival of Jesus, let us anticipate the any moment transformation in lives. Watching the response of people when God asks the question, “Will you be made whole?”

His Name Was Bat

Today is the birthday of a western hero. Not every gunfighter could call a US President a personal friend, but one could. His name was Bat, Bat Masterson. For a number of reasons, Bat has always been one of my favorite Western heroes.

It’s interesting to note that this hero of the American West, was born in Canada. He left the family farm to hunt the American Buffalo. Later, a man hired him to lay track for a railroad, which he did, but the man skipped town without paying him and his brother.

Almost a year passed, but the man named Ritter was due to arrive on a train in Dodge. It was reported Ritter was carrying a large sum of money. Bat entered the train car, and persuaded the man to hand over only the money he was owed. He didn’t even have to fire the gun he was showing the man.

From helping to rescue four sisters taken from their family, to his part in the Gun Fight at the Ok Corral, Bat had a life filled with adventure. Yet this was only a part of his story. He would go to have a career as a journalist in New York for the next eighteen years.

As a friend, gunfighter, and lawman he stood beside Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday. As a reporter he wrote about each man. Today we celebrate the birthday of a hero who had a gun and a pen. Or as one writer put it, he had a cane, and a derby hat, his name was Bat, Bat Masterson.

The Worship Leaders Of Thanksgiving

Nehemiah 11:17 – And Mattaniah the son of Micha, the son of Zabdi, the son of Asaph, was the principal to begin the thanksgiving in prayer: and Bakbukiah the second among his brethren, and Abda the son of Shammua, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun.

The Jews had returned to their homeland after seventy years of captivity in a strange land. They were ready to begin Thanksgiving, and two men were selected to begin the prayer. Mattaniah was first, and Bakbukiah was second.

It’s little wonder why they chose Mattaniah, his name means The Gift Of Jehovah. During our own Thanksgiving we should be mindful that everything we have is a gift from God. Our lives may face challenges, but we all have experienced blessings.

While I was glad to know the meaning of Mattaniah’s name, I rejoiced greatly concerning the one who followed him. Bakbukiah means The Waste or Pouring Out Of Jehovah. We know that God has no waste, no negative, no darkness, only light. My mind instantly went to the drink offering that is poured out as praise to God.

I also recalled the fact that Paul, who said he was about to be poured out as a drink offering, also said something else. In whatever state I am in, I am content. He said this because he was as thankful in the hard times, as the good ones. This positive outlook was his mindset because Paul knew something. He knew that even on his worst days, God was using it for His Kingdom, to reach more souls.

Bakbukiah knew, we praise Him now, but we also praised Him during the seventy years of captivity. God was doing something in those seventy years that they didn’t completely understand, but knew God was working for their good, and they were thankful. Yes God was correcting the problems of the previous many years, but He was doing so much more.

Consider this as an example. Is it possible that the Wisemen of Matthew chapter two were handed down this prophecy because Daniel was head of the wise men of Babylon during the captivity? We do not know, and Bakbukiah didn’t know what it all meant. Yet he knew God was good, and to give Thanksgiving for all that they had been through, the difficult as well as the obvious.

It did not mean that everything they experienced was good, but that it all worked for their good. The same word that means Thanksgiving also means to shoot rocks or arrows in Hebrew. The Psalmist David knew the benefits of slinging rocks, they fell giants. He also knew the benefits of shooting arrows at a target you are working towards.

In Thanksgiving we thank God for where He has brought us from, rejoicing over the victories. We thank Him for where He has brought us too, rejoicing in our current situation, knowing He is in control. We thank The Lord for where He is taking us, knowing it is all for God’s glory to the saving of more souls.

Mattaniah and Bakbukiah both raised their hands. They each prayed prayers of Thanksgiving, and rejoiced. They were thankful because they knew, every day is a gift from God, every day should be Thanksgiving day!

PruittWrites Thanksgiving Sides

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Sketch November Bird

Writing The Back Cover

It’s the cover of the book that causes you to pick it up, but for me it’s the back of the book that causes me to keep holding it. The blurb on the back of the book is so important to the reader. They are looking for a quick answer to the questions, “Does this book have want I want, need, or am looking for? Is it interesting?”

To use the analogy of a tourism campaign, if the cover is the billboard advertising a city, the short description on the back is the available attractions sign ahead of the exit. If it doesn’t seem appealing, they won’t stop.

As challenging as it can be, the description needs to tell enough about your story to interest the reader, but not reveal everything. While it’s not always possible to introduce a question into the description it is helpful. It does need to generate enough curiosity to have them to open the book. You want to balance sharing enough of the general idea to interest a reader, without bogging them down. This is why restaurants take such care with their logos, they can convey decades of history with just the image itself.

I would recommend not attempting to introduce too many moving parts in your description. For example, I would suggest either limiting the number of people or characters referenced, or the number of details involving them. Say as much as you can with as little as you can.

For example, Dorothy Gale and her little dog find themselves far from home in a really strange land. They meet a cast of characters who all have their own problems, and share a hope that the man called Oz can help them all. This is of course referencing The Wizard Of Oz, but it doesn’t tell you who everyone is. It can be elaborated on somewhat, however for the purposes of this example, I left out a lot.

For another example, if involving a group of people, such as if telling the story of World War II you could say something like this. The Allies faced an evil that threatened to engulf their entire world, gobbling up their culture, identities, and civilization. The citizens of nations across the globe rose up as one force to stand against the threat. It condenses a lot into a small enough package to give the reader both understanding, and questions.

The understanding should build interest, and the questions curiosity. These two things together are why the back cover can be so important. I’ve spent most of this post talking about the description of the story itself, for a moment let’s look at the paragraph about the author.

The picture should be good, and if there’s more than a decade between you and the time it was taken, it needs to be newer. If you ever meet your readers, and with social media that is very possible, you need to look like you. Filters are wonderful if you never meet the person in real life, or on video.

Concerning the paragraph that describes the author, I believe this has degrees of relevance. First off, please know that if they’ve never read one of your titles before, there’s a good chance they won’t even look at the author’s information. At this point, they’re not reading the book to learn about you, but to learn what they either want to know, need to know, or a combination of the two.

As they start the book, and if they like what they read, they’ll be more curious about you. The author’s paragraph becomes more important if they’ve read one title you’ve written. It means if they save your info, they’ll have an idea of what you have written, a curiosity about what you are writing, and an interest in looking at another book.

If you become an author they have confidence in, they begin to want to know a little more about you. I would caution this, readers who become fans of your story, aren’t necessarily fans of you. I don’t mean this in a bad way either, but in a very simple way.

For example, people may read a lot of what Agatha Christie wrote, but far fewer will watch a movie about her. It’s not that it wouldn’t be good, interesting, or even enjoyable, it’s that many are fans of Miss Marple, or Hercules Poirot more so than the author. This is in no means to slight someone I believe to be one of the greatest mystery writers of all time, but a reality. One that she understood, however there will be a core group that become fans of the author as well as the writing itself.

This may or may not be important, even from a financial standpoint. My mind goes to certain writers who sold their idea, made a fortune from it, and who don’t have to be involved with that particular idea going forward. For them, it served it’s purpose. For other writers, they’ll spend a lifetime writing stories about a particular theme, and readers will continue to enjoy every one of their words.

The important thing is this, it’s a fact that I’ve read twenty books an author wrote, based on the back cover of one book. I may have picked it up for the cover, but I stayed for the back of the book. This is why writing the back cover is so important to your writing career.

Sketch Macys Parade Grover

Every year I love the tradition of watching the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving . One of the floats I enjoy is Super Grover!!!!! If you grew up with Sesame Street, you know how it echoed in your head lol.

iPainting Pilgrim Gnome

This Pilgrim is ready for Thanksgiving, how about you?