Author Archive

Posted on February 17, 2012 - by Dawn Ford

Oh, The Horror

Horror films have a long history with the Oscars going back to the 1932 when Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde won for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Ahead of its time for visual effects, it has set the bar for movies of all kinds ever since.

Although not all of the below represent my actual favorite scary movies, I dug through the lists of Oscar nominations and come up with what I feel are the top ten scary movies, some that won and some that were only nominated.  Can you identify them by their loglines? (all courtesy of IMDb, the Internet Movie Database)

1. A disfigured musical genius, hidden away in a Paris Opera house, terrorizes the opera company for the unwitting benefit of a young protégé whom he trains and loves.
2. A boy can communicate with spirits that don’t know they’re dead (and) seeks the help of a disheartened child psychiatrist.
3. A young FBI cadet must confide in an incarcerated manipulative killer to receive his help on catching another serial killer who skins his victims. (Hello, Clarice.)
4. Three unemployed parapsychology professors set up shop as a unique ghost removal service.
5. An American serving in the French Foreign Legion on an archeological dig at the ancient city of Hamunaptra accidently awakens a mummy.
6. A wealthy San Francisco socialite pursues a potential boyfriend to a small Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of all kinds suddenly begin to attack people there in increasing numbers and with increasing viciousness.
7. A young woman steals $40,000 from her employer’s client, and subsequently encounters a young hotel proprietor too long under the domination of his mother.
8. Three teens discover that their neighbor’s house is really a living, breathing, scary monster.
9. A team of Commandos, on a mission in a Central American jungle, find themselves hunted by an extra-terrestrial warrior.

10.  When a child is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter.

Other nominees respectfully include Jaws, Fatal Attraction, The Fly, and Se7en. Notice none of Stephen King’s movies made the list.

Most of these flicks will make the hair stand up on your arm and your skin crawl. Others will make you smile. All have left their marks on our psyche. Mwahahahahaha.

Okay, how well did you do? Here’s the answers:

1. Phantom of the Opera                                     6. The Birds
2. The Sixth Sense                                              7. Psycho
3. The Silence of the Lambs                                  8. Monster House
4. Ghostbusters                                                  9. Predator
5. The Mummy                                                    10. Exorcist

 

Posted on February 3, 2012 - by Dawn Ford

How Rude!

One of my biggest pet peeves is rude people. If I were to be honest I could write a book on those little things about others that drive me nuts that I think are so unconscionably rude.

For instance, what about those crazy drivers who tailgate you or cut you off? Or the person in line at the store who takes forever to check out? I know, the waitress who complains about her job and co-workers to you while you’re out on a special date? How about the loud person whose use of profanity and off-color comments dominate their conversation?

Yeah, those people. The really rude people. You know, the ones you’re nothing like. There ought to be a law.

At least that’s what I was telling God awhile back. I was having a bad day. One of those bad days. Everyone seemed to be in a bad mood (stay home!), they were all in my way (slow drivers!), and nothing went right (should’ve stayed in bed!). So I complained in prayer.

During the next week I about backed into someone by accident (that was close!), had it shown to me I had walked in front of several other people who were in a long line at the store (whoops!), and a friend mentioned to me how she hated when other people talk over her and it made her feel like what she had to say wasn’t important enough to listen to (Ouch!).

How rude I had been, and I hadn’t realized it before it got pointed out to me. Thank the Lord for gentle reminders.

Webster’s defines rude as “offensive in manner or action”. Some versions of the Bible use the phrase “behave unseemly”.

It’s easy to see the rude in someone else’s behavior because it offends us and our sensibilities. It’s not always so easy to stop and see the rude in ourselves.

We need to ask ourselves the questions: do we allow others to have their opinions without shutting them down and having to be right about our own positions? Do we give others the respect of gentleness that we would like afforded ourselves? Can we be tolerant of others no matter their disposition? Is what we say or do hurtful even if we are right?

Love is not rude. It seeks not to be offensive and works to be encouraging in all matters. I’ve quit complaining to God about others behaviors and focused more on my own. Because more than I dislike other people being rude, I really hate it when I’m rude.

What about you? Has anyone else had a rude epiphany?

 

Posted on January 20, 2012 - by Dawn Ford

Author Interview With Jill Williamson

It is my distinct honor to talk with one of my new favorite Christian Science Fiction writers, Jill Williamson and share her with my inksper friends.

Jill, tell me a little about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

I grew up in Alaska with no electricity. My biggest dream was to get to the lower 38 and experience “real life.” Thankfully I found God in college before I got into too much trouble. I was very talented at making my own clothes and my dream was to be a fashion designer, so I eventually went to New York City for a year to finish that degree. We moved to Los Angeles because my husband wanted to work in the movie industry. It didn’t take long for our hearts to change. Those industries just didn’t fit our personalities. Plus we wanted to start a family and both Hollywood and the fashion industry aren’t the most family-friendly industries.

So my husband went back to school to become a youth pastor. I stayed home with the kids. After reading some of the teen novels the girls in my youth group were reading, I decided to write a teen novel for Christian teens. I got hooked on writing my spy kids story. So hooked that I had to put the dreaded thing down and write something different. So I did. Then I wrote something else. Then something else.

 

In your Darkness Series you created a whole different reality.  Is it harder to create your own world or is it harder to have to keep within the confines of a reality where you could get the details wrong at some point in the story?

It depends on the genre. But usually for me, it’s much harder to write within the confines of reality because of all those necessary details. The science part, especially. If I’m writing science fiction, or dealing with an element of science in a contemporary fantasy story, it’s really hard for me to research all that. I’d much rather draw a map and create my own world and its own rules. *grin*

 

What inspired you for your current novel, “Replication: The Jason Experiment”, to write about clones?

I was riding in a car through upstate New York with my sister. We were going to pick apples. We passed endless amounts of ranches, orchards, and farms. It got me thinking. What if there was a farm where they grew people? Clones. It could be called Jason Farms. And that’s where the idea for the story came from. I wanted to explore how the world might treat cloned humans. Would they have the same rights as the rest of us? And what would their existence say about a creator God?

 

Did you consider cloning to be a hot-button topic and one that may not be accepted by your religious audience?

Not at all. I just thought it was a fun story idea. And many of my critique partners—and my husband too—said it was their favorite of the books I’d written to date. And it was the easiest sale I’d ever had. But as the book neared its release date, I heard from some of my Blood of Kings fans who were a bit worried about this cloning story. The phrases “creeps me out” and “I don’t think I’ll like a story about clones” were mentioned more than once. And then I got a couple almost-offended reviews from magazines, and it suddenly occurred to me that some people might see this as a political story, which I never intended it to be.

 

You write Christian Science Fiction. How do you set out to put a message in your story that touches readers but that doesn’t preach to them in a way to turn them off to the message?

I never set out to put any message in my books. I just write the stories as they come and try to be true to the characters’ journeys. In the Blood of Kings trilogy, Achan needed to have an encounter with the One God, so I showed that the best way I could. And in Replication, Abby was a strong Christian—the kind of kid who actually tries to live out what she believes. So, I felt that the faith issues that arose between Martyr and Abby were naturally the things that would have come up in real life, the way they might in youth group one Wednesday night.

I can understand why non-Christians don’t understand that and that some might think I put those scenes in on purpose to meet some secret agenda, but I didn’t. It’s always been one of my pet peeves when a character gets saved in a book one because it never seems very realistic to me. In my own life, I was around Christians for eight years before I made the decision to follow Christ. But Martyr was different. So, I guess the answer to this question is that I try to be true to who my characters are, the story they are living through, and where they story needs to go to reach an ending.

 

We writer’s seem to get inspired by the strangest details. What was one of the strangest things that you experienced which brought forth an idea for a novel?

I distinctly remember where I got the idea for every story I’ve written, and most of those ideas were inspired by pretty ordinary things. I suppose that seeing the partially burned tree when I was on a walk with my son was a pretty small detail that inspired an entire trilogy. Luke and I had stopped our walk to look at a house that had burned down. And there was a tree in the yard that was partially charred and mostly still alive and leafy green. I remember running home (pushing the stroller ahead of me) and Photoshopping that tree. Once I had the image of a half-dead/half-living tree, I started brainstorming a story to go with it, which became the Blood of Kings trilogy.

 

What do you have next on your drawing board that you can share with us today?

I’m very blessed to be working on a few things. Marcher Lord Press bought my teen spy kids series (the first book I wrote!). The Mission League is a series of four books that follow one young man’s experiences with a spy organization that fights evil. The first book, The New Recruit, is scheduled to release in the fall of 2012. I’m so excited!

And I am writing a new series for Zonderkidz that is scheduled to release in 2013 with the first book tentatively titled Captives. Here is the gist of that story: In a dystopian future, most the population is infected with a plague. The only exceptions are those who live outside the city walls. A mutation in the plague sends city enforcers looking for uninfected nationals in an effort to purge the disease from future generations. When enforcers raid Levi’s village, they take his fiancé into the city and hold her captive in the Highland Harem. Levi launches a one-man war against the city in an attempt to free his loved ones from his village before it’s too late.

 

How do you view the future of the Christian Speculative Genre?

I see a bright future for the genre. There are a lot of houses looking for Christian speculative fiction. So I think that there is a huge market out there and publishers are willing to give it a try. I also see many writers getting caught up in ebooks and self-publishing. And while I’m not opposed to self-publishing on a case-by-case basis, most writers are not born marketers or businessmen. Being a self-published author is really tough, and many who go this route may get discouraged.

And one other thing I’ve noticed: critics can be hard on Christian spec fiction. It’s not politically correct to write books with Christian themes, and some reviewers get downright angry when they encounter them. As a result, I’ve seen a few authors tempted to write their next spec fiction books with allegories that can cross over into the general market. It’s difficult to continually create books you know some people will despise. So in that regard, the Christian speculative fiction may continually be a challenge to the author’s heart. Christian authors need to arm themselves with a Galatians 1:10 mentality. “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Jill’s newest release, Replication, is an amazing speculative story about a secret cloning laboratory and the one clone, Martyr, who simply wants to see the sky before he fulfills his life’s purpose before he expires and the girl helps save him. Jill’s refreshing tale of an innocent mind opening up to the knowledge of God and what  real purpose and sacrifice looks like will touch your hearts. I highly recommend it for teens and adults alike.

Thank you, Jill for a wonderful interview and a great read!

Posted on January 6, 2012 - by Dawn Ford

Don’t Stop Believing

My first actual finished writing project was a women’s study I put together to help women begin to believe in themselves and live a fuller life. It goes step by step in the process of breaking bad habits while putting better ones in their place, learning to listen beyond the spoken word, and recognizing the labels we put on ourselves or others place on us does not make us who we are but that we can become that which we aspire to be.

What makes me such an expert? Who do I think I am that I can tell others how to live a better life, when clearly I have no degree, no pedigree for which to show? If others only knew the personal struggles I had, they would see me as the hypocrite that I am and never listen to a word I had to say.

These, among others, are the words that play through my head whenever I even think about the study I put together. I used it with a women’s group once, to some degree of success, and has since gathered dust in my basement. I’m just a bit insecure when it comes to this study. Why? Because I know how imperfect I am and how deep inside me I know I am not a completely shining example for others to go by.

But, I do believe completely in the words I put together for that study. I’ve watched people live in a cycle of misery desiring a way to move beyond that into a prosperous life. Often times it’s just that we don’t see the forest because of the trees. We can’t see beyond our day because we are living just to survive. It starts first with a change of mind and attitude and works its way into a changed life. You just have to believe you can do it.

What does this have to do with writing advice? Everything. When I first put words together it was a jumbled up mess. I had stories in my heart that wanted to work their way out, but I had a lifetime of trouble and sorrow that I had to work through to get to the good stuff. I’m still working my way through some of my past demons.

But I believe. Probably stronger about this than I have anything else I have done in my life, I believe. I believe in me.

To many of you this may seem like a given thing. But it’s not for me. You see it took several years to stop seeing myself as more than a victim of circumstance. Daughter of alcoholic parents-victim. Didn’t go to college-victim. Troubled marriage-victim. But I’ve always felt there was something bigger, something more I was destined to do.

That’s where the writing comes in. I believe I am meant to write and reach out to other women through the written word. It’s been one of the strongest feelings I have ever had and it comes from a place deeper than the heart. It comes from my soul.

So the best advice I ever got was from a Journey’s song. Don’t stop believing. I didn’t realize when I put together the study but the theme was the same thing. Don’t stop believing in yourself. Even if that’s all we have is the belief in ourselves and the God who put that belief there. We don’t stop believing. We know some day that belief will be realized.

 

Posted on December 22, 2011 - by Dawn Ford

No-Bake Christmas

We’re breaking tradition this year. Not because we want to, but because we have lost two dear loved ones this year. John’s grandpa Leo and my mother Lois were a large part of our lives that will forever leave an empty spot that cannot be filled for either of us. However, life continues to move on and we along with it.

So this year I vowed not to let the sadness of my heart affect my holiday spirit. Shortly after Thanksgiving (which is still quite early for me) the tree was up and decorated along with the snowmen and angels I put in every spare inch I could find to put them. My presents are bought, wrapped and under the tree. Along with my own decorations this year I have included ones from Grandpa and Mom. I’m comforted to have something from both of them in places of honor amongst my own collections.

The only thing I could not make myself do this year was bake cookies. I had every intention to. I watched Martha Stewart to get inspired, but I just could not get the mixer in hand. You see every year for I cannot remember how long I have taken tins and trays of Christmas goodies to my mother and to grandpa to enjoy. They were the first ones I would think of when measuring, mixing, and baking different kinds of confections.  I knew it would brighten their days and bring a smile to their faces.

So, it’s a no-bake Christmas for me. It’s just not the same without them. Luckily for us we have John’s mother’s family who always get together and we brought home a tray of cookies and a baggie of peanut butter fudge (for John). I did buy a ginger bread kit for my youngest son Colton and I to put together this weekend.

A special thank you to Judith Miller who welcomed Lorna and me into her home Wednesday and Thursday for a special visit. It was a blessed day of sunshine and clear Kansas skies. We drug Judy out for a bit of shopping and an after supper drive to look at Christmas lights. It was wonderful to spend time with friends so dear.

And although it’s a no-bake kind of holiday for me there has been plenty to be thankful for. I am so glad for the time I’ve shared with loved ones past and present. I’m especially grateful to God for the progress my brother Todd has made since his heart attack. There is no appreciation for the sunshine if there is no rain to contrast it with.

May God bless you all this Christmas Season.

 

Posted on December 9, 2011 - by Dawn Ford

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

Twinkle, twinkle, little star. How I wonder where you are. Up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky.

I sang this song as a child while staring at the sky and counting the gems in the sky. I still study the sky in wonder and mutter the same lyrics. It’s a simple children’s song with a complex spiritual meaning.

Have you ever stopped to wonder how the stars found their place and why they shine so bright? The North Star shone bright for a season a long time ago. It was over 2000 years ago that some wise men saw a star and wondered the same thing. Why did it shine so bright? Where did it come from? They set off across the land to find the answers to that question. The star they followed became known as the North Star.

The thing about the North Star, aka Star of Bethlehem or scientifically aka Polaris, is that it seems to stay in one place while the whole northern sky moves around it. Although it is not the brightest star that shines, it’s actually the 50^th brightest star in our sky, it is bright enough to be seen even when the full moon obscures a good deal of its competition. And best of all, it is part of a two constellations even those who don’t like astrology will know-the big and little dipper.

The North Star, which the big dipper revolves around, also guided the slaves toward freedom by using it to light their way. Sailors set sail and guided their ships by it. Wise men saw its rising and followed it right to the King of Kings and there they bowed down and worshiped Him.

The same star was hung by the hands of that child, and every star along with it. Put into place, for a purpose, to rule over seasons and guide lost souls in the dark of night. How amazing is it that those hands planned the star and its place long before He drew a human breath?  Only an omnipotent God could create such an idea.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

 

Posted on November 25, 2011 - by Dawn Ford

Winter Fresh Teen Reads

When the snow goes flying by my window, I pull out a good book to help me escape the winter doldrums. Last year I bought at a second hand store the Twilight series and read the whole thing just to see what all the fuss was about. In spite of the controversy, I enjoyed all but the last in the series, Breaking Dawn, but am looking forward to seeing how it plays out on the screen.

This year I have three good YA reads to help you pass the time when the snow is high and the temps are low.

Judy Christie’s Wreath, a Novel, is a wonderful surprise I found at conference this year. Although Lorna grabbed the first book out of Judy’s box, I managed to get ahold of one before they disappeared from the book store. If you haven’t read it or gotten it for the young girl on your list, you will want to. It is a story of finding love and overcoming circumstance with a huge dose of God’s providence throughout:

From the back cover of Wreath: Wreath’s finishing high school by day…and living in a junkyard by night. Sixteen-year-old Wreath Willis’s mother has died, leaving her alone and determined to pursue the good life. To get started, Wreath makes one of her tried and true lists. “Find a place to live. Buy cheap food. Finish high school. Get a job. Go to college.” Then she adds: “Avoid notice”—because Wreath is pretty sure most people won’t understand a teenager living alone. In a junkyard. But it’s hard to go unnoticed when life puts unexpected people in her path, all misfits in their own ways. There’s Law, the cute boy at the state park: Julia, her disillusioned teacher: and Faye, the boss who relies on Wreath’s creativity to turn a dying business around. Complications increase when her past fears catch up with her, and the people around Wreath grow a little too suspicious about her secrets.

I found Wendy Delsol’s Stork during a book signing. I read it and just finished reading the second book in her series, Frost, this week on my Nook. They are both good YA reads which I enjoyed greatly. A fantasy made out of Icelandic legends, it was refreshingly different. The second book in the series was as good as the first and Wendy’s  take on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, a Norse mythology inspired story, is rich and magical. Best yet, the stories take place in Brenda’s backyard in Minnesota.

From the back cover of Stork: Moving from L.A. to Norse Falls, Minnesota, Katla Leblanc expected local fashion to be frozen in time. What she didn’t expect was an induction into the Icelandic Stork Society, an ancient order of women charged with a unique mystical duty. As if that weren’t enough, she’s also dealing with her parents’ divorce and the social aftermath of a bad date with the football start Wade. Katla, however, isn’t one to sit on her designer-jean-clad behind, and soon she’s assigned the fashion column for the school paper and making new friends. Things would be looking up if it weren’t for editor in chief Jack. Even though they argue every time they meet, Katla is inexplicably drawn to him. Will she be able to unravel the mystery surrounding Jack? Folktales collide with reality as one teenage girl finds herself tail-feathers deep in small-town life.

 

Posted on November 11, 2011 - by Dawn Ford

Dear Dawn Letter

Dear Dawn,

You will not learn all of life’s lessons the first time around. Here are a few tips that will help you along the way and maybe save you some grief:

1. You’re not the only one. You may feel alone in your lot in life but you aren’t. Everybody has insecurities and issues in their life they don’t want anyone to know about. You don’t have to feel isolated or ashamed about it. Someday you will realize that what makes you different is a strength, not a weakness.
2. Never say never. God has a funny way of turning the tables on you when you put a finite reality to what will or will not happen to you in life, and most of the time He humbles you out of your stubborn ideas or beliefs. Don’t be so cocky.
3. Listen to that small voice inside your head that tells you something is amiss. There is and you should be concerned about it. Quit ignoring that voice or second guessing yourself. Stop a moment and look at what’s going on to see what it is that isn’t right. Then do what you can to make the situation better. If you learn to hone this ability earlier you may be able to save yourself and many others much pain along life’s way.
4. Wake up to the world around you and pay more attention to the details. Your head is always in the clouds, pull it out of the fog once in awhile so you can experience life as it’s happening instead of trying to avoid it so much. Although your travels inside your own little world spark off your love of creating stories in your mind, don’t hide yourself away so much. Life and time pass by too quickly to waste them.
5. Learn to love food more. You’re going to marry someone who enjoys it and life will be richer if you can be more open to trying new things. And quit skipping meals, it will end up giving you an ulcer. Take better care of yourself.
6. Work on your communication skills. This will come in handy later in life when you actually want to be around others and you are incredibly uncomfortable in social arenas. You need to be able to put a couple of sentences together that make sense when you are nervous and talking with others. You won’t feel like such a ding-dong if you do.
7. Hand the camera over to someone else and get in the pictures yourself. You are always the one taking the pictures because you hate pictures of yourself but that means you don’t have a visual record of yourself throughout time. Get pictures of yourself more while youth is your friend, you won’t regret you did.
8. Kiss the boy. You know the one. Just one kiss before he is taken from this world early and you wish you had before it was too late. It’s just a kiss. And he was your first real crush.
9. On a lighter note, buy smaller eyeglasses before you take your senior pictures. Even though they were the fad of the day and you really liked the style you will never live them down. I’m not kidding.
10. And last, don’t go to that Pat Benatar concert. You want to be friends with the popular girls and you think it will make you look cool. You will find more suitable friends and you live to regret your actions. Just. Say. No.

With love,

Me

 

Posted on October 28, 2011 - by Dawn Ford

Conflict-The Heat Is On

Miriam Webster defines conflict as “the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction.”

Conflict is two-fold. There’s internal conflict and external conflict.

Internal conflict happens within the mind of the characters, normally the hero/heroine whose point of view you use in your writing. A struggle against right or wrong, one’s feelings and beliefs, or having to choose between two solutions to a problem. All of these are emotional distress which happen in the mind of your character. I’ve heard it explained as ‘man vs. himself’.

External conflict comes from outside forces getting in the way of the characters path, desires, or goals. This would be more of a ‘man vs. nature’ or ‘man vs. man’. Anything that happens outside of the mind of the character which hinders their path, desires, or goal is an external conflict.

Here’s an example, let’s see how many conflicts you can locate in the following fictional scenario from one of my manuscripts:

Adriana tells her parents at the last minute she needs something for a school project and begs her father to take her into town so she can get the supplies. She has a driver’s permit and her father allows her drive into town, even though it’s getting dark. The storm that had been predicted to go south of their little town heads off course and sweeps across the highway they take into town. Adriana is in a hurry and doesn’t heed her father’s warnings to slow down. In the downpour a drunken driver runs a light, hits their car, killing the father but sparing the girl who is only moderately injured. The loss overwhelms the girl and she becomes mad at a God who would allow this to happen. Adriana also blames herself for what happened and sees her withdrawn mother’s pain and anger as another burden of guilt. She begins to act out and take risks as she runs from the memories and her mother, all the while trying not to look too closely at herself  because she cannot face what she’s done or the person she is becoming.

Did you find the all the conflicts? Here’s mine:

External Conflict:                                                                   Internal Conflict:

1. School project that is due.                                       1. Procrastination
2. Time of day                                                           2. Stubbornness
3. Storm blows in, becomes a downpour.                      3. Over confidence
4. Girl’s age/inexperience                                             4. Hurt/Pain/Loss
5. Traffic light.                                                           5.  Guilt
6. Drunken driver hits their car.                                    6.  Anger at God
7. Father is killed.                                                       7. Rebellion

And that’s where I begin to turn the heat up. You see, this scenario isn’t even in my manuscript. It happens three years prior to my first chapter. But it’s this scenario that brings my protagonist on her path to where my story begins. Even in the planning stage I already have conflict, both internal and external and I don’t have any words down yet.

All three of the man vs. self/nature/man have been used as well.

Every page should have some conflict on it. Shannon Vannatter showed me a couple of years ago how to highlight the various parts of my manuscript and find the tension on every page-whether internal or external. If I didn’t have any ‘pink’ on that page I knew I had to add something somewhere.

The trick to conflict, though, is to give your characters a chance to rest and have a happy moment in between some of the drama. It gives the next crisis that needed smack in your face flavor because you’ve just sighed a breath of release when Wham! here you go again. Don’t be afraid to turn the heat up just a tad.

 

Posted on October 14, 2011 - by Dawn Ford

Victory Over The Shadow of the Valley of Death

If anyone would know about valleys and death, it was a well known shepherd boy named David.

A shepherd boy, you laugh? What dangers could a shepherd boy have endured? The shepherds of the Old Testament would move their sheep from place to place, often having to travel narrow ravines which were fraught with danger. The fall would be fatal, the predators were everywhere, the danger real. The shepherd’s job wasn’t just a walk in the meadow.

Many in David’s day scoffed at his lack of stature and at his youth. However, when David travels to visit his brothers in the Valley of Elah, he is not intimidated. This valley is where the Isrealite army had been delayed and intimidated by their enemy, the Philistines, and one in particular, Goliath.

Now, David’s brothers had no faith in him. Saul needed something, anything, to overcome the bully who came out day after day yelling insults and daring the Isrealite army to come up against him. Each solider of God’s army ran the other direction. Each one.

But David knew. He understood. A faith I have only come to experience in bits and pieces, he lived. This is what he tells his King in I Samuel 17, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; the uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Confident? Yeah. Afraid of defeat? No. He knew his God would walk beside him in that valley and give him everything he needed to overcome the enemy.

We have many enemies in life. Bad choices, rejection, illness, pain, suffering, and the greatest of all is death. In the 23 Psalm this same David states, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

It doesn’t state IF I walk through the valley, it states THOUGH I walk through the valley. None of us escapes the dangers of the valleys in our life. Bills. Layoffs. Divorce. Cancer. Chronic pain or illness. Death. These possibilities shadow our lives in fear of what may be or what already is. We may not know how we’re going to get through that dark valley, or if we will make it out. But if we have the Great Shepherd with us, we know we can be comforted. He is there to rescue us just as he was for David. The great news is that Jesus has already won victory over the enemy who held death as his biggest threat. He nailed it to the cross.

It was no coincidence the army’s were placed where they were and the valley was where David faced off with Goliath. It was no coincidence David wrote of the valley of the shadow of death in his Psalm. There was a shadow over the valley of Elah that day and Satan thought he had the advantage over God’s army.

The difference between the shepherd boy David and the Isrealite soldiers (and King Saul) is that he believed. It’s as simple as that. He believed God would get him through whatever he had to go through. And David loved his God, enough to stand up for him when no one else would or could. It gave him the strength to go up against giants in his life and claim victory.