Unwritten

I love, love, love the words to this song! So perfect for a writer! So perfect for a human being! Enjoy!

UNWRITTEN
By Natasha Bedingfield

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your innovations
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inner visions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inner visions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten

"And now, O Israel..."

"And now, O Israel..."

And now.

Now.

What is Moses saying to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 10:12 with those simple words? I think it's pretty obvious. Now is the time to stop being a "stiff-necked" people! Now is the time to stop being rebellious! Now is the time to worship the One True God, who rescued them from Egypt and took care of them in the desert.

Now!

The whole verse says:

"And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good? To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it." (Deut. 10:12-14)

All these years later, God is not asking anything more of us than He did of His own people!

Now is the time to love God with all our hearts!!

Now is the time to stop living selfish, disobedient lives!!

Now is the time to acknowledge that your life belongs to God! He created you for His purposes!

And now, O Israel!

And now, O America!

And now, O human race!

"Impress them on your Children"

Almost nineteen years ago God allowed me to become a Mother. All these years later I still find that unbelievable! Me? A Mother?? I don't have the wisdom! I don't know what I'm doing! But, somehow, my boys continue to grow and become young men despite all my faults and failures as their Mother. You learn as you go. Yes, sometimes I make mistakes, but I can't give up. I'm their Mother. The only woman in the entire world who can claim that honor!

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 are verses that speak to me as a Mother. I have them highlighted in my Bible from years ago. I also keep a picture of my boys between these pages as a reminder of my responsibility as their Mother. Moses may have been talking to the Israelites when he spoke these words, but God made sure they were included in the Bible, His Word, so that we--so that I!--would read them and take them to heart. Because if I don't, then I believe it would be my biggest failure of all!

I'll share those verses here, first from the NIV (New International Version) and then from the Message. I'll let them speak for themselves.

"Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

"Attention, Israel! God, our God! God the one and only! Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street, talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder, inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates."

Hear, O Israel.

Hear, O Mothers and Fathers.

There Is No Other!

I'm reading through the book of Deuteronomy these days. It's sort of a retelling of what happened with the Israelites through their forty years in the desert, which we just read in the book of Numbers. (To read blog posts on Numbers, scrowl down to Labels on your right and click on the label "Numbers.") But it also gives a bit more detail here and there, so it's not a book we should skip over or skim through. Lots of good nuggets tucked in those pages!

Today I was in chapter four. Two verses really stood out to me. So much so that I highlighted them with my trusty dusty green highlighter. Why green? Because green is a color that represents life and living things like plants and trees. When we see the color green it usually makes us think of something that is alive. I like to think of the verses I highlight in green in my Bible as being Life Giving verses. See if you agree:

"But if from there [the Promised Land] you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and soul." Deut. 4:29

And...

"Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other!" Deut. 4:39

That first verse is very similar to what God said in Jeremiah 29:13 after the Israelites were exiled from the Promised Land:

"You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

I'm thankful God isn't so elusive that we can't find him. That we can't know him. All it takes is looking for him with a sincere heart. On that day when we finally come to a true understanding that God is the God of heaven and of earth--and that there is no other God!--we will find Him.

For me, that day came back in May 1992. I'd been raised in a Christian home, went to church every Sunday, etc. etc., but I hadn't ever really sought God with my whole heart. I mean with my whole, entire heart! It was the day I stopped putting my life and wants and plans ahead of His. It was the day I wanted to really know who God is!

And you know what?

I found Him! Just like He said I would!

He is not the god whose name people take in vain. He is not the god of religions that don't acknowledge His Son, Jesus Christ. He is not the god whom people treat like Santa Claus, asking for this or that. He is not one of many gods.

Who is God?

"The Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other!"

RIP, America!

This is sooooo not Politically Correct, but I don't care! I luv it!!

Ain't it the truth, folks?! Ain't it the stinkin' truth?!

Why, God? Why is there such evil in the world?

My heart is heavy this morning. I just read that they found the body of seven-year old Somer Thompson, the little girl from Florida who went missing as she walked home from school Monday. They found her in a landfill in Georgia. As though she were a piece of garbage instead of a precious child.

I ask, What kind of monster is responsible for this??

I also ask, Why, Lord?! Why??

It's in times like these that I simply don't understand why God allows such evil to exist in the world. I don't understand why He allows innocent people like little Somer to be victims of evil people.

I don't understand!!

But I can't focus on my limited understanding or I'll go crazy. I can't dwell on the evil in the world or I'll grow bitter.

Somer Thompson is with Jesus right this very moment! I am absolutely positive of that! Jesus told the thief on the cross in Luke 23:45, "I tell you the truth. Today you will be with me in paradise." Somer is in paradise. Her family, however, is living a nightmare.

Some people say evil exists because good exists. You have to have an opposite effect in order to recognize the difference between evil and good.

Some people say evil exists because of Satan.

Some people say evil exists because God doesn't exist. God is supposed to be all about love and peace. If He did exist, why would there be evil in the world?

But it seems to me that evil exists because God gave us free will. We always have a choice! The monster that killed little Somer had a choice. I have a choice--and you do too--every single day to do what is good and right in God's eye. Not our own eye, but in God's eye. "Good" has too many man-made definitions, but when we align our choices with God's word, then we know whether the choices we are making are right or wrong. Satan and the other fallen angels obviously had free will, too. They made the wrong choice.

Just like the monster who killed little Somer.

My prayers and tears are for her family today. I'm especially worried about her sister who may feel responsible in some way. And the friend she was arguing with. May they not feel the burden of guilt because they are as innocent as Somer herself.

Why, God? Why is there such evil in the world?

I may not ever truly understand.

My Kid, Your Kid, Your Grandkid

"Thank you, Mr. President."

When the Lord Speaks, I Need to Listen!

So I went to church today expecting to hear a great, inspiring message.

What I came away with was so much more!

God has been speaking directly to me for several weeks now. No, no, I haven't heard rumblings in the heavens or a thunderous voice call out to me. It hasn't even been that still, small voice in my heart. Instead He's been using His servants to speak His word to me. Loud and clear. It began in Denver back in September at the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) conference.

Keynote Debbie Macomber spoke it.

My agent, Les Stobbe, spoke it.

After I got home, my two critique partners spoke it.

Then my pastor spoke it in several different messages on going Forward!

GOD himself spoke it during my Bible time and prayer time.

I even spoke it when I posted here on this blog on October 11 and 15.

What is IT???

It's very simple, really.

"I AM."

God has been saying:

"I Am your dreams and visions."

"I Am the reason you write!"

"I Am the Cause and the Purpose!"

"I Am the answer to your prayers!"

"I Am your Promised Land!"

"I Am your fulfillment!"

"I Am the author of your life!"

"I Am."

So I ask, is there anything more than that?

The answer is no. There's not.

He is enough.

If Only my Daddy had Known...About DYSCALCULIA!

My dad was a Mechanical Engineer. The man was smart! All things mathematical were easy-shmeasy for him.

Not so for his youngest child, I'm afraid.

I. CAN. NOT. DO. MATH. Period!

I clearly remember bringing home math homework and asking Dad for help. He was not a patient man and he didn't have a lot of free time. Thus, two-plus-two-plus-a-kid-who-does-not-do-math equaled some very unpleasant homework sessions! Daddy would end up frustrated and angry because I wasn't trying hard enough to understand. Bless his heart, I really was trying, but I just couldn't get it. The way I describe it is like this: I'm on one side of an ENORMOUS, TALL, THICK brick wall; the answer to the math problem is on the other side. I know the answer is there, but there is simply no way for me to scale that wall to reach it.

All these years later, I still can't do math or anything number related. I'm talking easy stuff here, folks. Counting change at the store sends me into a panic! I refuse to have a garage sale because I would have to make change for someone buying $2.50 worth of stuff with a $20 bill! I constantly transpose numbers in our checkbook, so hubby handles all the bills.

I'm also not good with directions like north, south, etc., knowing which is right or left, estimating time, knowing measurements, putting things together using instructions, and so on.

Well, low and behold, there may be a reason for all of this!

It's called DYSCALCULIA! It's a true learning disorder akin to Dyslexia. Studies show the areas in the brain that calculate math and similar problems basically misfires or doesn't fire at all in people with Dyscalculia.

The following symptoms describe Dyscalculia. They also describe Michelle Shocklee to a T! My comments are italicized.

1. Frequent difficulties with arithmetic, confusing the signs: +, −, ÷ and ×. (The signs themselves weren't a problem. I have nothing against these innocent symbols. It's those rotten numbers that are evil!)

2. Difficulty with everyday tasks like checking change and reading analog clocks. (Oh yeah!!!)

3. Inability to comprehend financial planning or budgeting, sometimes even at a basic level; for example, estimating the cost of the items in a shopping basket or balancing a checkbook. (My poor, poor husband has been dealing with this for 22+years!)

4. Difficulty with multiplication-tables, and subtraction-tables, addition tables, division tables, mental arithmetic, etc. (NEVER could memorize them!)

5. May do fairly well in subjects such as science and geometry, which require logic rather than formulae, until a higher level requiring calculations is obtained. (I did not do well in either of those!)

6. Difficulty with conceptualizing time and judging the passing of time. May be chronically late. (I'm not a late person, but the passage of time has no measurement for me.)

7. Particularly problems with differentiating between left and right. (My husband often tells me: "No, your other right.")

8. Difficulty navigating or mentally "turning" the map to face the current direction rather than the common North=Top usage. (Yep!)

9. Having particular difficulty mentally estimating the measurement of an object or distance (e.g., whether something is 10 or 20 feet (3 or 6 metres) away). (Yep!)

10. Often unable to grasp and remember mathematical concepts, rules, formulae, and sequences. (Oh yeah! Just ask my Dad--except he's in heaven, so you can't!)

11. An inability to read a sequence of numbers, or transposing them when repeated, such as turning 56 into 65. (Yep!)

12. Difficulty keeping score during games. (I've always wondered why I can't keep score!)

13. Difficulty with games such as poker with more flexible rules for scoring. (Refuse to play games that require adding and/or keeping track of numbers!)

14. Difficulty in activities requiring sequential processing, from the physical (such as dance steps) to the abstract (reading, writing and signaling things in the right order). (Not so much of a problem, though I can't two-step worth a flip!)

15. May have trouble even with a calculator due to difficulties in the process of feeding in variables. (I just have to laugh! I can't do math even with a calculator!)

16. The condition may lead in extreme cases to a phobia or durable anxiety of mathematics and mathematic-numeric devices/coherences. (Remember the store and garage sale panic attacks!?)

17. Low latent inhibition, i.e., over-sensitivity to noise, smell, light and the inability to tune out, filtering unwanted information or impressions. (Yep!)

18. Might have a well-developed sense of imagination due to this (possibly as cognitive compensation to mathematical-numeric deficits). (Um, ya think?! I live and breathe fiction. 'Nough said!)

Dyscalculia.

If only my Daddy had known.

How Dinosaurs Became Extinct

I don't know why scientists keep trying to figure out where the dinosaurs went. This explains it all!!

LOVE. IT!! :)

Promised Land or the Desert: Your choice

Forty years.

That sounds like a long time, doesn't it? Next month I'll be 46 years old. It seems like a reeeeeeally long time ago that I was only 6 years of age!! First grade, for crying out loud!

Or think about a baby born today. Seems like a lifetime away that they'll reach their 40th birthday!

Forty years.

That's how long the Israelites had to wander around the desert before they were allowed into the Promised Land. Can you imagine camping for forty years?! In the desert??

The real kicker is that the Promised Land was not far away. It wasn't across an ocean or on a different continent. In fact, some of the Israelites even saw the Promised Land and scoped it out. Remember, Caleb, Joshua and the other tribal leaders were sent into the "land flowing with milk and honey" back in Numbers 13.

So why did God keep the Israelites wandering the desert for forty long years?

It's pretty simple, really.

D I S O B E D I E N C E!

Time and time again, the Israelites disobeyed God. They whined. They complained. They rallied against Moses. They doubted God. They didn't do what they were told.

Hmm. Does that sound familiar?

We're all like the Israelites at some point in our lives. We whine. We complain. We don't do what we know we're supposed to do.

Here's what God said about the Israelites' disobedience when Moses asked God to forgive them:

"The Lord replied, "I have forgiven them, as you asked. Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times---not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers." Numbers 14:20-23

God waited for an entire generation to die before He allowed His people to enter the Promised Land. All because of their disobedience.

Are you waiting to get into your Promised Land? Maybe it's a job or a relationship or some other dream God has given you. It may be that God is simply letting you wait to teach you patience or some other lesson. Or it may be that He can't let you into your Promised Land because of disobedience. Are you living your life in a way that is displeasing to God? Do you feel like you're in the desert? You may need to examine your heart to make sure you're on the same page with God. If there is anything standing in the way--sin, bitterness, ingratitude, an unforgiving spirit--deal with it quickly so you can move forward. (Believe me, I'm talking to myself, too!!)

Promised Land or the Desert: It's your choice.

MOVE ON!!

I absolutely LOVE IT when God speaks loud and clear through His word!!

Lately I've been struggling with what I believe is the call God has given me to write for Him. Actually, I'm not doubting the call or Him. I'm doubting myself and my ability to accomplish the task. Yes, I love writing. Yes, folks tell me I have a talent for it. And yes, I've had some things published.

But daily...hourly...I wrestle with the doubts.

"What do I know about writing?!"

"My writing stinks!"

"No one will ever buy this stuff!"

On and on they go.

Today, however, God reminded me through His word--delivered by our amazingly gifted pastor, Pastor Joe Champion of Celebration Church--that my dreams of writing have been put in me by God, for God, and will be completed with God!

My job in the whole process is to keep going forward! In Exodus 14, the Israelites are trapped, or so they think, between the Dead Sea and Pharaoh's army. But look what verse 15 says:

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on."

The Living Bible translates this verse, "Quit praying and get the people moving!"

MOVE ON!!

GO FORWARD!!

Stop whining and doubting and move on! Move on to your dreams! Move on to all that God has planned for you!

Ephesians 2:10 is a verse I've claimed many times over the years and continue to claim, especially as I move on in the crazy world of writing-for-publication:

"For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

God already knows the work He created for me to accomplish during my time on earth. All I have to do is listen to Him, follow His lead, and know that He is in control.

Whew!

What's holding you back from your dreams?

MOVE ON!!

Happy Fall!

I am busy working on my latest historical novel, trying to get it in shape for an interested editor. My blog has been neglected because of it. I'm still reading through Numbers though. Hope you are, too!

In the meantime, I want to wish you all a HAPPY FALL! Yesterday it actually FELT like fall here! LOVE. IT!!


In honor of my favorite season, I want to share this little bit of truth. Enjoy!

From one pumpkin to another!!!!!!!

A woman was asked by a coworker, 'What is it like to be a Christian?'

The coworker replied, 'It is like being a pumpkin.' God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff.

He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.'

May we all be pumpkins!

Caleb had a Different Spirit. Do you?

Do you remember the Bible story about Joshua, Caleb and the other leaders who were sent to scope out the Promised Land ahead of the Israelite community? I remember being in Sunday School as a little girl hearing about the giants in the land, the huge grapes, and the land flowing with "milk and honey." That description always made me hungry!

If you aren't familiar with this story, you can find it in Numbers 13-14. God told Moses to send a leader from each tribe to scout out the land He was giving them. They did and came back to report a land that sounded pretty doggone good!

BUT...these same men also weren't too excited about the prospect of taking over that land from its current inhabitants. They told the whole community that there was no way they were stronger than the people living in the land. They went so far as to describe themselves as "grasshoppers" compared to the giants living there. (13:33) As usual, everyone started to moan and complain.

Oh, how quickly we forget the power of God!!

Caleb, however, didn't agree with the others. In verse 30 he says, " We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it."

Why would he say such a thing when he'd seen the same land and people as the others had?

God gives us the answer to that question in Numbers 14:24.

"But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it."

Caleb didn't doubt for a moment that God would go with them to defeat the people in the land. Because of his faith, Caleb and Joshua would be the only Israelite men--out of the millions present that day--to reach the Promised Land. Why? Because God would not allow those who didn't trust Him to enter in. Not even Moses. Because of their failure to trust and obey God, the Israelites were forced to wander the desert for forty years, until a whole generation died.

What can we learn from Caleb and the Israelites?

1. God will bless us when we Trust and Obey Him and follow Him wholeheartedly! We will reach our Promised Land!

2. God will punish us when we don't Trust and Obey Him! We will never see our Promised Land.

It's a pretty simple lesson, no?

Caleb had a different spirit. Do you?

Why do we doubt God?

"Now the people complained about their hardships in the hearing of the Lord, and when he heard them his anger was aroused."

That is the first verse in Numbers 11. I simply have to shake my head in disbelief. The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt, for crying out loud! Forced to labor for others who may or may not have treated them very well. But now they were free, following God on a journey to the Promised Land and being provided by His hand every single step of the way!

And they had the nerve to complain!

Well, it's gets even better.

Sick of listening to the Israelites complaints, Moses has a major pity party in verses 10-15! I can't really blame him. I get tired of the Israelites just from reading about their complaining. I can't imagine having to listen to it day after day.

God, in his infinite patience with the Israelites and with Moses, says, "OK! I hear you!!" Instead of smacking their ungrateful butts like they deserved, God will give them what they want.

Meat!

They were tired of manna. They were bored with the miraculous gift God gave them every single morning.

Sounds familiar, eh? Sorta reminds me of...me! And you! And everyone else who walks this planet! We've been given so much, yet we still complain. We've been offered His Son as a sacrifice for our own ugly sins, yet we trample on the cross every time we choose the world and it's lies over Truth.

So God will give them what they want. He'll send so many quail in the next month "until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it." (11:20) Be careful what you ask for, right? Although they didn't ask for it; they whined for it.

But Moses isn't sure God can handle this monumental task. After all, there are about 2 million people camped on the desert. Surely that's too many for God to feed. Right?

"The Lord answered Moses, "Is the Lord's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you."

Why in the world did Moses doubt God?! He'd witnessed miracle after miracle after miracle! And yet there he is, in verses 21 and 22, doubting God.

Do you doubt God? Do you wonder if He is up to answering the prayers you pray? Do you ask yourself whether or not you can depend on Him?

Quail fell from the sky on top of the Israelites. There were so many you couldn't walk for a day without tripping over them. But even though God gave them meat, he was still angry with their ungrateful hearts. He struck them with a severe plague and a lot of them died.

The lesson we can each take away from this story is: Don't doubt God! He is in control. He has a plan. Don't grumble and complain about it, but rather accept it with a grateful heart.