Welcome!

Welcome to "Showers of Blessings" which is a blog for writers and their readers! It is my prayer you will find many blessings in these humble words as you open your heart to hear about my best friend, Jesus Christ. He has called me to write for Him and though I remain stunned by this, wondering how He could use someone like me in this competitive industry, I know He has equipped me to do the job or He would never have opened all the doors He has to a career in writing. He gets all the glory for such an awesome plan, believe me!

Below each post there is an indication of the number of comments for that post. If you click on that it will bring up the comments for you to read and allow you to leave a comment for me if you would like to do so. I look forward to hearing what you have to say and thank you for taking the time to step with me into the showers of blessings He shares with all of us through His Word!


Monday, March 29, 2010

The past couple of weeks have been full of writing, for a change, and I feel like I've made some significant progress on the book. My Prayer Team must be praying hard! Hope they keep it up because I still have a long way to go to reach my goal of completing the manuscript and having it ready to begin the submission process. At least I'm moving in the right direction and that alone is exciting. I'm grateful for every drop of God's blessings sprinkled over this project and over my efforts.

One of the themes of this WIP (work in progress) is confronting the reality of what happens when God doesn't meet our expectations, seems He hasn't kept His promises. We know from the Scriptures He will never let us down, will always keep His Word, is not vindictive or absent from our trials. But life is often vastly different from how we think it is going to be. And therein lies our predicament. We make this mess for ourselves and through His strength alone we have to give it up to Him to straighten out in our minds. I personally can only to this by immersing myself in the pages of the Bible, claiming His promises and renewing my focus. I've discovered it is the concept of our perspective which plays with our thoughts and feelings. His ways are not ours and His thoughts are higher than ours could ever be.

So if you are facing one of those times in your life this week, cling to this thought and refuse to give in to the disappointment and bitterness. It lurks around every corner and jumps on us at every unguarded moment; we are all subject to it with every breath. But we have a secret weapon and our faith calls us to use it instead of acting in defeat before we begin. May God's refreshing showers wash away the stench of despair which threatens to overwhelm, and even if your feet are in a deep valley right now may your heart enjoy the mountaintop view!

Have a blessed week and let the Holy Spirit guard your heart and mind as you rest in Him!

Laura

Monday, March 15, 2010

Blessings can come into our lives in many forms and often in ways we least expect. We may not even be looking for them to appear when suddenly they settle over us like a warm blanket on a cool night and bring welcome peace. Other times they explode as unanticipated fireworks which cannot be missed.

Such was the former case when a relatively new friend asked me the other day if I'd been writing this week. She had actually listened when I told her about my writing and cared enough to hold me accountable! This shower of blessing was truly refreshing and, interestingly enough, came when I was in the middle of polishing off the short version of my synopsis. So I was writing at that moment, as a matter of fact, and struggling to summarize a complex plot in as few words as possible while still conveying the full depth of emotion and story line contained in it. And when I returned to my work, there the blessing was: the "right words" just waiting to be discovered, needing only the nourishment of friendship to bring it into bloom. How awesome are You, O Lord!

The explosion in my life, on the other hand, has nothing to do with my writing but is the exciting gift which has turned our quiet life upside down: getting to have two of our grandchildren with us for a few days while they are on Spring Break. With two preschoolers literally running loose in our world, the sparks are flying aplenty. What joy to bask in their excitement at the smallest things in life, which I always seem too busy to fully embrace except when they are around. It is a great deal of hard physical work but gets easier each time they come to visit as they grow more independent and mature emotionally, spiritually, physically, and mentally. Their chatter provides me with enough entertainment to last for a while--at least until the next time they are here! How their parents do this day in and day out amazes me, but we did with our girls and though it was a challenge at times it was always an honor, mixed with humor and joy. And the pride we feel for our children as they now have families of thier own is immense, a true blessing which "explodes" all over us from time to time with such happiness it's hard to put into words.

Speaking of Spring Break, our family used to take advantage of those glorious days of reprieve from the normal routine to take a variety of trips and the memories are precious to my heart. They were fun times of getting out of our ruts and bonding together when life tried desperately to pull us apart. My husband and I were reminiscing about one of those experiences just a couple of days ago, as we laughed at the memory of sitting in a condo on the beach at Galveston huddled around a board game or snuggled down in blankets watching movies compliments of our video camera hookup because outside it was barely thirty degrees and raining with a raging wind, obscuring our view of the ocean. It certainly wasn't funny at the time but it gave our hearts a lift to recall how much fun the four of us had in spite of the circumstances. Again, blessings galore, just not fully reconigzed until the moment had passed.

The definition of blessing is the experience of divine favor which gives happiness and protection from misfortune. How we interpret that can make all the difference in the world--is it God's hand or our hard work and creativity which has brought the "blessing" to fruition? My prayer this week is for you to recognize and experience the multitude of ways, both large and small, in which God has His hand on your life, then receive them with thanksgiving for His goodness! Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him. Psalms 34:8

Monday, March 8, 2010

Greetings from one who labors to honor God with her words while holding onto her sanity in the storms of life. At times I feel utterly overwhelmed. But it is then I try to take a step back before reacting so I don't run ahead of the Lord. Of course, it doesn't always work out that way, but when it does, what joy and peace I feel instead of the chaos and disorder my enemy desires for me!

One of my daughters is experiencing a difficult pregnancy and we are all anguishing along with her during these long weeks and months of waiting. I don't "wait" easily! But God is teaching me through this timely reminder of who is the source of all life--Almighty God Himself--as well as who is the sustainer of life--again, our Precious Savior! Praying for this tiny baby and for her future is one of the greatest honors I've had as a mother and grandmother, just as praying for her two brothers and for her two cousins was when they were being formed by His hands in utter seclusion (Psalm 139:15). And I'm deeply grateful I can leave these little ones confidently in His capable hands when I say "Amen" and know there is no entity in the universe which can snatch them out again.

What does all this have to do with writing, you ask? My writing is borne out of my life's circumstances and fulfills, I believe, a destiny God planned for me before I took one breath on this earth (Psalm 139:16). So going back to the basics, you might say, has helped re-focus my heart on what is important every day I live. It is my sincere prayer that I can honor Him as His Spirit guides my words moment by moment, all to His glory alone! The busyness of my various commitments are extra blessings I receive from serving God, and I do hope you can see His blessings in your life as well. But if we miss a personal commitment to Jesus Christ in our eagerness to help others, it is all for nothing. My words will be empty and meaningless, my efforts hollow and full of frustration. I draw near to His heart when I recall my beginnings more than sixty years ago, and this is the very best place to be!

The raindrops falling right now are refreshing the earth and bringing life to the tiny buds of flowers on the trees and popping up out of the ground everywhere I look. In the same way, may God's refreshing showers bless your life this coming week with joy and peace beyond explanation!

Laura