Robert Roush's Blog
December 29, 2017
Looking Back
As we wind down 2017, it's time to look back on the year. As is evident from the timing and content of my last post, it has been a tough year. If nothing else this year has helped me to understand just how much we rest in our hope of that eventual time and place where there is no pain, death, or tears. Like the scene at the end of Restoration's Journey, I look forward to the day when I kneel at the foot of the throne of God and hear those words, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."Along those Matthew 25 lines, you all have helped make a difference this year for the "least of these." As a result of your purchases and promotion of In The Image of Man and Restoration's Journey, several more families will have access to clean drinking water for the 2018 year. This doesn't seem like a big impact until you stand face-to-face with the individuals to whom you are providing this life-giving gift. In addition to the wells that are put in, Living Water International also brings the hope that can only be found in Jesus Christ.
As I look forward to 2018, my request for you, my faithful readers and supporters would be to pray that God's good news and compassionate work could continue through our work at Hearts of Compassion Publishing. I would also personally covet your prayers for the renewed emotional and mental energy required for creatively presenting the truths of God's mercy and love in story.
'Til next year!
May 28, 2017
Summer Series Coming - Character Interviews
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit down with your favorite book characters? To be able to ask all the questions those pesky authors left you pondering? As an author, I get to do this very thing all the time. Nearly every time I begin a new plot line, enter a new environment with a character, or put them into a precarious situation, I get to ask them for their thoughts. You'd be amazed what characters, good and bad, will reveal about themselves.Well I have exciting news for you, my faithful readers. Throughout the summer you will have an opportunity to ask your favorite Unseen Dominion characters, famous and infamous, your own questions.
In the coming weeks, I will seek your input on what questions you would like the various characters to be asked. But first, I want to know: Which characters would you love to see interviewed this summer? All are fair game; heroes, heroines, primary characters, fill-ins, angels, or demons. Let me know who you can't wait to hear from this summer.
Oh, and you might just here from a character or two from my newest endeavor, which will kick off a new series.
What say you?
May 21, 2017
I'm Back
It's been nearly six months since my last post and it's been a rough several months at that. Many of you are well aware of the challenges our family has faced.
Only days after my last post, my grandmother passed away. We were very close most of my life. In fact, we lived with my grandparents for the first year of my life after my mother passed away. So this was a tough one.
Then only a few weeks after this loss, my dad had a severe stroke. We celebrated Christmas with my parents in the hospital and have spent the months since trying to support my dad and mom as best we can. Recovery has been slow, but my dad is now able to talk, eat, and even walk with the use of a walker. It is amazing that a simple little blood clot in a portion of someone's brain can wreak such chaos in these normal activities of life.
While there is still plenty of rehab left before things get back to something resembling normal for my parents. I feel like I'm finally at the point where I have the time, and more importantly the emotional bandwidth, to resume work on my next book. With a topic like human trafficking, I find I need to be emotionally fresh, just to get through the heart-breaking research.
If you're on Twitter, I'd encourage you to stop by my profile and check out my #WritingExcerpts posts. I try to post intriguing snippets from my most recent pages, without giving away any major plot directions.
'Til next time! (And I promise it won't be another six months.)
Only days after my last post, my grandmother passed away. We were very close most of my life. In fact, we lived with my grandparents for the first year of my life after my mother passed away. So this was a tough one.
Then only a few weeks after this loss, my dad had a severe stroke. We celebrated Christmas with my parents in the hospital and have spent the months since trying to support my dad and mom as best we can. Recovery has been slow, but my dad is now able to talk, eat, and even walk with the use of a walker. It is amazing that a simple little blood clot in a portion of someone's brain can wreak such chaos in these normal activities of life.
While there is still plenty of rehab left before things get back to something resembling normal for my parents. I feel like I'm finally at the point where I have the time, and more importantly the emotional bandwidth, to resume work on my next book. With a topic like human trafficking, I find I need to be emotionally fresh, just to get through the heart-breaking research.
If you're on Twitter, I'd encourage you to stop by my profile and check out my #WritingExcerpts posts. I try to post intriguing snippets from my most recent pages, without giving away any major plot directions.
'Til next time! (And I promise it won't be another six months.)
November 25, 2016
Crystal-Blue Friday
As so many wait in lines and scurry to pick up their Black Friday deals, we are excited to make another donation of proceeds on behalf of you, our faithful readers, to Living Water. As a result of your book purchases, prayers, and willingness to spread the word about our books, a couple dozen more people now have clean drinking water for the coming year.After spending a week drilling a well in Honduras, this opportunity to provide even a small measure of assistance brings me great joy. Having seen the smiles on young faces as they played football, futbol, and Frisbee, the looks of pride as teenagers helped dig dirt and mix concrete, and the expressions of gratitude from the leaders at the school where the well was located, I will likely never view this ministry quite the same. The need is real.
As I've reflected on all that I have to be thankful for, I am most thankful for organizations like Living Water that make it possible for someone like me to connect with, and make a difference in, these lives that are so vastly different from my own, and yet so strikingly the same. I pray that each of you will have an opportunity to touch and be touched by someone with such great need in the year to come.
Thank you!
November 24, 2016
No Lines - No Cost
This weekend you can get your ebook copy of the Spirit-Filled Fiction award winning novel, In The Image of Man!
Also, you can get Book Two, Restoration's Journey for half price.
Get Your Copy
Also, you can get Book Two, Restoration's Journey for half price.
Get Your Copy
October 15, 2016
Honduras - Day 8
You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. – 1 Peter 2:9 NLT
Today we travel home after an incredible experience. As I write this final Honduras blog post, I can only imagine what God has done through, and perhaps even more importantly, in me this week. As this verse from First Peter says, we are God’s chosen people, His created workmanship, and it is for this reason that I am confident I will have had the opportunity to be a light to the people of Honduras, showing others His goodness. Yet, my fear is that it will end there. That the cares and concerns of “normal” life will become the proverbial basket that Jesus warns us not to put our light under.
Pray: I have no idea what it will look like to keep the light of this experience burning. Perhaps it will be to resume writing novels that communicate God’s love and salvation, as well as selling them to raise funds for compassion-based ministries. If so, then please pray that God will provide the inspiration and energy needed to carry on. Or, perhaps God will have something totally new in store for me. Either way, please pray that I will have the discernment to hear God’s call and the courage to pursue it with abandon.
¡Deja que tu luz brille!
Today we travel home after an incredible experience. As I write this final Honduras blog post, I can only imagine what God has done through, and perhaps even more importantly, in me this week. As this verse from First Peter says, we are God’s chosen people, His created workmanship, and it is for this reason that I am confident I will have had the opportunity to be a light to the people of Honduras, showing others His goodness. Yet, my fear is that it will end there. That the cares and concerns of “normal” life will become the proverbial basket that Jesus warns us not to put our light under.
Pray: I have no idea what it will look like to keep the light of this experience burning. Perhaps it will be to resume writing novels that communicate God’s love and salvation, as well as selling them to raise funds for compassion-based ministries. If so, then please pray that God will provide the inspiration and energy needed to carry on. Or, perhaps God will have something totally new in store for me. Either way, please pray that I will have the discernment to hear God’s call and the courage to pursue it with abandon.
¡Deja que tu luz brille!
October 14, 2016
Honduras - Day 7
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. – Acts 17:22-23 NIV
Today we become tourists. After a hard week of work, we have the opportunity to relax and enjoy some downtime. And while this break is much needed, I hope to have the chance to, as Paul did in Athens, walk around and observe the culture of the La Ceiba area.
Pray: After a physically and emotionally difficult week in the community, it is my prayer that I do not walk away the same person as I entered. Please pray that God will continue to give me eyes to see as He sees. That His love, compassion, and pain will flow through my heart for the people I have opportunity to interact with, in Honduras and beyond.
Abre nuestros ojos, Señor!
Today we become tourists. After a hard week of work, we have the opportunity to relax and enjoy some downtime. And while this break is much needed, I hope to have the chance to, as Paul did in Athens, walk around and observe the culture of the La Ceiba area.
Pray: After a physically and emotionally difficult week in the community, it is my prayer that I do not walk away the same person as I entered. Please pray that God will continue to give me eyes to see as He sees. That His love, compassion, and pain will flow through my heart for the people I have opportunity to interact with, in Honduras and beyond.
Abre nuestros ojos, Señor!
October 13, 2016
Honduras - Day 6
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. – Psalm 100 NIV
Today will be a day of celebration. Lord willing, the well and pump installation will be complete. This is the day I have most looked forward to on this trip. The community will gather to thank God for the well and for His provision of clean water. This will be an opportunity to praise God together with those whose lives will forever be changed by His provision. If you know me well, you won’t be surprised to hear that I suspect there will be tears in my eyes as I reflect on the way that God has used my weakness to demonstrate His strength and provision for these new friends.
Pray: There is always a possibility that our efforts to drill the well will not succeed, at least on this go around. Please pray that God will bless us with a successful drill and that we will have the opportunity to join our hearts with the members of this community in praise to God. Also pray that the impact of our actions will bring changed hearts and lives that will last a lifetime, both within the community and among our team.
¡Gracias a Dios!
Today will be a day of celebration. Lord willing, the well and pump installation will be complete. This is the day I have most looked forward to on this trip. The community will gather to thank God for the well and for His provision of clean water. This will be an opportunity to praise God together with those whose lives will forever be changed by His provision. If you know me well, you won’t be surprised to hear that I suspect there will be tears in my eyes as I reflect on the way that God has used my weakness to demonstrate His strength and provision for these new friends.
Pray: There is always a possibility that our efforts to drill the well will not succeed, at least on this go around. Please pray that God will bless us with a successful drill and that we will have the opportunity to join our hearts with the members of this community in praise to God. Also pray that the impact of our actions will bring changed hearts and lives that will last a lifetime, both within the community and among our team.
¡Gracias a Dios!
October 12, 2016
Honduras - Day 5
He [Jesus] also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” – Luke 21:2-4 NIV
Today, if all goes well (yes that was intended), we should be finishing up the development of the water well. And while it may feel great to be able to help out this community in a much needed way, I believe it is important to remember that we give out of the abundance with which God has blessed us. However, as we have worked among these people, whom the world would call poor, they have shown us great kindness and generosity. They used what little they have to feed and bless us. I must wonder, as Jesus said of the poor widow, if they are the ones who have given more than any of us on our team.
Pray: It is important for those we serve to not feel like a project. Pray that God will use us to both meet the physical needs of the community and also to help to see the value God places on them as His creations—created in His image and loved enough to send His Son to die for them. Also, please pray for the women of the community who served us meals with such great generosity.
Amado por Dios!
Today, if all goes well (yes that was intended), we should be finishing up the development of the water well. And while it may feel great to be able to help out this community in a much needed way, I believe it is important to remember that we give out of the abundance with which God has blessed us. However, as we have worked among these people, whom the world would call poor, they have shown us great kindness and generosity. They used what little they have to feed and bless us. I must wonder, as Jesus said of the poor widow, if they are the ones who have given more than any of us on our team.
Pray: It is important for those we serve to not feel like a project. Pray that God will use us to both meet the physical needs of the community and also to help to see the value God places on them as His creations—created in His image and loved enough to send His Son to die for them. Also, please pray for the women of the community who served us meals with such great generosity.
Amado por Dios!
October 11, 2016
Honduras - Day 4
Now he [Jesus] had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. – John 4:4-6 NIV
Today, like Jacob who dug that well in Sychar, we will be spending our day drilling the well in our assigned community.
I’ve always found this passage interesting. Jesus “had” to go through Samaria. Why? There was certainly another route—one most of the Jewish people always took. No, Jesus was compelled to go through Samaria. It was through the Spirit’s guidance that Jesus found Himself tired, thirsty, and in the heat of the noonday sun. Right where He needed to be to provide the gift of “living water” to this Samaritan community.
I believe that is exactly why God has me in the heat of the mid-day sun in Honduras. There is a need for physical water, like Jacob provided, and a need for spiritual water, which Jesus provides. Whether God’s purpose is that I help meet those needs here in Honduras, or to prepare me for the ministry to which He has called me beyond this trip is yet to be seen.
Pray: In the midst of the physical labor and the challenges of the work, pray that I will see the people of this community the way Jesus saw the people in Sychar. He wasn’t so preoccupied with His mission so as not to see the needs around Him. I can get task focused. I want to be heart focused. To seize the opportunities to know and love the people God has led us to serve this week.
Con el corazón de Dios!
Today, like Jacob who dug that well in Sychar, we will be spending our day drilling the well in our assigned community.
I’ve always found this passage interesting. Jesus “had” to go through Samaria. Why? There was certainly another route—one most of the Jewish people always took. No, Jesus was compelled to go through Samaria. It was through the Spirit’s guidance that Jesus found Himself tired, thirsty, and in the heat of the noonday sun. Right where He needed to be to provide the gift of “living water” to this Samaritan community.
I believe that is exactly why God has me in the heat of the mid-day sun in Honduras. There is a need for physical water, like Jacob provided, and a need for spiritual water, which Jesus provides. Whether God’s purpose is that I help meet those needs here in Honduras, or to prepare me for the ministry to which He has called me beyond this trip is yet to be seen.
Pray: In the midst of the physical labor and the challenges of the work, pray that I will see the people of this community the way Jesus saw the people in Sychar. He wasn’t so preoccupied with His mission so as not to see the needs around Him. I can get task focused. I want to be heart focused. To seize the opportunities to know and love the people God has led us to serve this week.
Con el corazón de Dios!
