ON WRITING AN E-BOOK

For those of you who don't know this, I've been busy these last couple of weeks reformatting a manuscript I wrote in 2005 into an e-book. I will be offering the first section as a free download once I get it finished and my web site up and running. The whole book will eventually be for sale online as well. It's quite a challenge to convert straight typing into a book with text boxes, pictures, and added quotes etc., but one I'm having fun with. It's amazing how much I have learned working on this project. 

Fun, that is, until I botched things up and discovered there is no easy way to fix it up. This will probably set me back at least a day or two on my hoped-for deadline. And I'm still only about half-way finished. So far I have made more mess trying to repair the damage, but I'm sure I'll get things straightened out sooner or later. Hopefully it'll be sooner. And I'm sure I'll learn a thing or two in the doing. That's always a good thing. But I am very pleased with the overall appearance of the book and the cover as well.

I'll keep you updated as to the progress of the book and will announce it when it's available to the public. Until then, I'll be writing daily and trying to keep up my blog as well. Until next time, happy reading. 

SILENCE IS HEALTHY

The quote for today is one full of wisdom. David knew the importance of silence as did many others in the Bible. Silence is a rare commodity in this day and age. Seldom do you see people without an iPod or a cell phone in their ear. Traffic produces noise 24/7. In the home, TVs, CD players, DVDs, radios are constantly playing. Whether you're in a store or a restaurant, people's voices rise on the air. Depending on where you live, air traffic can be just as noisy as ground traffic. In the city, dogs bark everywhere. There is a general cacophony of sound that drowns out the ability to think independently of the noise. Distraction is maximum. Focus is drawn away from individual thought to all that is happening around us.

We need to take Mother Teresa's, and King David's, advice and find a place where we can be quiet, where our surroundings are silenced, where we can think without interruption. And where we can turn our minds to the Lord and to His word. Silence renews us. Silence calms us. Silence gives the Lord the opportunity to speak to us. Have you ever been in a large, noisy crowd when someone tried to speak to you and had to almost yell for you to hear? God doesn't usually yell at us. He waits for us to come quietly to Him to hear His voice.

Personally I don't want to miss anything the Lord has to say to me. And I love silence. How often I have said I'd love to go somewhere for a week or two where there are no phones to disturb, no people to distract. A place where I could take my Bible, enjoy the beautiful outdoors and seek the face of the Lord. Maybe one day. But in the meantime, I try to create my own place of silence. It may not be complete as I can still hear the traffic passing by, but I shut myself in with the Lord and hear Him speaking to me. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything the world can offer.

Silence. God-created. Peaceful.  Filled with the presence of the Lord. Life-giving silence. It's worth the effort to find that place with God. Worth is in the 'now', and worth it in the hereafter. Shhh...!

THE WINNING ENTRY

As a member of InScribe Christian Writers Fellowship, I periodically receive word challenges. It's a little competition between whoever chooses to enter. We are given specific instructions and a limited word count. We usually have several days to complete these challenges. Then our 'challenger' takes off anything that would identify the entrant, publishes them on the forum and we all get a chance to vote. There is no prize, but voters get to comment (anonymously) on each entry if they so choose. This is a great help towards improving our work. I just received notice tonight that I won the current challenge, so thought I would share it with you.

First, here is the challenge we received: Describe in 200 words or less someone who looks bored. Do not use any form of the words 'yawned,' 'stared' or 'sighed.' Here is another good exercise for the old "show don't tell" rule. You just might be surprised what you come up with. I would like you to give your piece a title - the title is not included in the word count.

Here is my winning entry.

MONOTONY HAS GOT TO ME

The young girl slouched in the overstuffed chair with her feet plopped on the hassock. A book sprawled open on her lap. Her eyes focused somewhere-or nowhere-beyond the pages of the book. Elbow propped on the worn arm of the old chair, she absentmindedly leaned her chin in her open hand. Fingers drummed softly on her tanned cheek. A lazy fly buzzed aimlessly in the window. Without turning her head, her languid eyes glanced in that direction. She breathed in deeply and slowly let out a whisper of air through pursed lips. She closed the book and stretched her arms over her head. Slowly one foot dropped to the floor; the other followed. She stood. Leisurely, as if searching for something, she scanned the den. Not finding what she was looking for, she sauntered into the kitchen. One after another she opened the cupboard doors and shut them again with no obvious purpose. She shrugged her shoulders. Bare feet padded down the hall to the bedroom. Sue flopped on the bed. As her head sunk into the down pillow she threw an arm across her forehead. Consciousness faded as sleep prevailed over the monotony of the day.

Are you bored yet? I must be honest with you, there were only three entries, so my first place doesn't really mean very much. But there were some very encouraging comments from some of the voters. It was a good exercise in 'showing, not telling', an admonition that writers hear over and over again. Boring story, maybe, but good training in painting a word picture. Hope I didn't bore you too much. I wouldn't want to think you are now doing what the young girl in my 'story' was doing.

SCRIPTURE FOR THE DAY

My soul waits in silence for God only; from Him is my salvation.  

Psalm 62:1 NASB

QUOTE FOR THE DAY

We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature--trees, flowers, grass--grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence. We need silence to be able to touch souls.  

---Mother Teresa---

BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP

We've all heard the expression, Beauty is only skin deep. Be that as it may, the skin is a significant organ in the body and as such must be well-cared for if we want to keep it healthy. The skin plays an important part in detoxifying the body through sweat glands. It helps to protect against the invasion of dirt and bacteria. And, of course, we would look rather strange without this wrapping the package of our body comes with.

Though skin, in some ways, is very delicate and easily injured, in other ways it is tough and can put up with a lot of abuse. But that abuse will tell in the end. Hence the need for regular skin care with the right products to keep it looking young and vibrant.

For over two years I have been using and promoting skin care products from L'Bri, a company founded over ten years ago by Linda and Brian Kaminski. The product line is aloe-based for healing, and contains no chemicals to burn the skin, no mineral oil or waxes to clog the pores, no harsh ingredients to exfoliate the dead cells, no detergents to dry and damage sensitive skin. All-natural ingredients are used to produce one of the highest quality skin care lines I have seen. Add to that extremely fair prices both retail and wholesale and you have a very desirable line of products that will give you youthful, healthy skin.

But you don't have to take my word for it. I have been approached by many people telling me how good my skin looks, and then when they find out my age, they are even more surprised. The photos following were taken in sequence: before cleansing (and after a busy few weeks when I didn't faithfully follow my skin care routine), then after cleansing and using the facial peel to get rid of all the dead skin cells, one photo of what the face lift looks like after it's applied and allowed to dry, and finally after applying the rest of the five-step. You can see for yourself the difference it makes even after only one time. The difference is far more marked on someone who has never used the product before.

Photo number one, two and three - before cleansing.

Note the large pores.




Note the lines under the eyes on the photo below.              

After using the Facial Peel

With the Face Lift on. Note how the skin is 'stretched' when it dries. This actually exercises the facial muscles to help reduce wrinkles with regular use.

Notice the lines in the forehead are not as deep as they were before the facial.

Note the size of the pores has decreased. Also the lines under the eyes are not quite as noticeable.

I think you will have to agree that these products are very effective. Beauty may only be skin deep as far as outer beauty is concerned, but there is a beauty that comes from living a life serving Jesus that gives lasting beauty within. I strive for that beauty, the beauty of the Lord, rather than outer beauty that will fade with the years. But I also intend to do all I can to keep my skin healthy as well as the rest of my body so that my life will be wholesome in body, soul and spirit. How about you?

SCRIPTURE FOR THE DAY

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.  

James 1:19