Posts Tagged ‘Jesus’

Posted on December 20, 2011 - by Shannon Vannatter

So Not Ready

Every year, my husband wants the tree up early. I’m talking practically Halloween early. I love Christmas. Love my tree, but if it goes up too early, it’s in the way and gets on my nerves. I held him off until the week of Thanksgiving. He brought it in and put it up himself.

But I’m the decorator. I didn’t have the time or the energy this year. I’ve had to really focus on the book I’m writing in order to meet my deadline amidst countless distractions. So the tree sat there for almost a month with no decorations. Thank goodness it’s pre-lit, so it still looked pretty and every night, my husband plugged it up.

I wanted to finish my first draft before my son got out of school for Christmas break. I was on schedule with two and a half days and four thousand words to go. But then he got sick, so I had to keep him out of school. I stayed up until three AM the other morning and finished the book.

It took all my energy and brain power, so now I’m catatonic. But my son and I finally decorated the tree last night. Why bother when it’s only six days before Christmas? For this blog. How could I talk about what we do for Christmas when our tree stood bare?

So about the tree—it’s white. You see, I have matching issues. Green just doesn’t match my house. Two years ago, I saw it. Beautiful, white, pre-lit with multi-colored lights. The lights look pastel against the white branches and I love pastels. I know that red, sage, and gold are the in colors. But I’m a pastel kind of gal even when those colors aren’t ‘in’. But I’m cheap. So I wouldn’t buy the tree.

The next year, I went out to the shed to get our green tree out and to my delight I found the white pre-lit tree. For a few minutes, I couldn’t imagine where it came from. Then I had a vague memory of snapping it up for twelve bucks the day after Christmas the year before. I don’t know how I forgot that. I usually remember when I get a steal of a deal.

Anyway, my living room is mauve, thistle, pale aqua, and off white. Thistle is my favorite color and no one knows what color it is. It used to be in the Crayola coloring box. It’s like a mixture of mauve and lavender. So guess what color my ornaments and decorations are. Yep, they match the living room, plus some gold thrown in just because I love gold.

Other than typical ball ornaments, I have gold ribbons and iridescent nativity scenes, stars, and doves. But remember, I’m cheap. I’ve bought ornaments after Christmas at half of half off for years until I finally got enough to cover the tree to my satisfaction. My son really doesn’t get why we decorate the back of the tree. I even got  a gold tree skirt last year for $1.50. It’s so pretty, I almost want to wear it, like Berniece from Designing Women. It’s way too pretty to cover up with gifts.

I try to make our tree reflect what Christmas is really about. Right down to the wrapping paper, which has Bible verses, nativity scenes, or angels which is increasingly hard to find. So each year when I find it, I stock up. And I’m willing to pay full price for it. That way for the years I can’t find it, I’m still set.

There’s only one slight problem. It happened last year. We bought new furniture. I love my pastel flowered couch, which was hard to find since that style is so out of style. But it’s bigger than the furniture we had before and there’s no room for the tree.

We ended up putting it in the dning room and I like it in there. But my dining room is peach and off white. So my ornaments and thistle garland match my living room, but the tree is in the adjoining dining room. I’ve put up with it for two years now. Peach is out or I would’ve hit the stores after Christmas last year. No peach this year either.

By next year, I’ll either have to rearrange the living room to make the tree fit or buy new  ornaments. Maybe peach will be in by then. Maybe I subconsciously put off decorating the tree this year because my everything-has-to-match psyche just can’t take it.

As far as traditions, we attend the Trans-Siberian Orchestra each year. It was as awesome as usual. And we put one of their CD’s in the stereo when we decorate the tree, even when we do it six days before Christmas. At some point during our family gatherings and church services, my husband reads The Tale of the Three Trees and he always cries, so others always join him. I love that Christmas is on Sunday this year. It just feels right to be in church on Christmas.

We don’t have any dinners at our house. I do my best not to cook the main meal and so far I’ve gotten away with it. I’m a side dish and dessert kind of gal. Other than the tree, I don’t decorate. I did when we first got married, but I soon realized it’s a pain to store and a pain to put up and take down each year. So the tree is all I do and I’m happy with that. Or I will be once I find some peach ornaments.

I even have shopping left to do and I haven’t done my Christmas cards yet. At least I know what I’m buying for the few remaining gifts I need. I just have to get it done. The Christmas cards have to wait until we get our annual family picture taken. We’re scheduled for that tonight. They’re supposed to be back on Christmas Eve and Christmas is Sunday, so we can pass out cards with our pictures inside at church. Can you say cutting it close?

Maybe next year, I’ll be more ready. With my peach ornaments and Christmas picture taken in November and my cards mailed on December 1st. But I doubt it. I’ll probably fly through by the seat of my pants like I always do.

I threw in the picture of my shoes just for fun. More of my matching issues. I just don’t feel put together unless my shoes match my outfit. In my defense, about half a dozen of my shoes were given to me, several in black. I don’t often buy black. Why get black shoes when you can buy orange, gold, yellow, pink, peach, aqua, and red? And the majority of them were on sale or I had store coupons. Hmm, I wonder if I’ll get any shoes for Christmas?

Do you have all your shopping done? Do you have matching issues, or is it just me?

Posted on August 25, 2011 - by Regina

SOMETHING ABOUT THAT NAME

Favorite hymns . . . favorite praise songs . . . For a church musician, it’s like asking a mother which of her children is her favorite! Or asking an author which of her BOOKS is her favorite! A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about my favorite old-time hymn, Victory in Jesus. I could name several more, but that would be a book, not a blog post!

Once I settled down and really thought, it came to me immediately.

There’s Something About That Name.

It’s the song I sang to my babies as I rocked them. It’s the song I turn to when other lyrics escape me, and I just want to dwell on Jesus. His name.

I first remember hearing it when my cousin sang it at church, when it was still a new, “modern” song in the 70’s, and I’ve never let it go. Now it’s in my hymn  book!

Another favorite that I remember segueing into is I Love You, Lord. Then there was God Is So Good, Jesus Loves Me, and various modernizations of hymns – which is a whole ‘nother post that I’d LOVE to get into!

What is the connection between singing from my heart and certain songs that get me “right there?” It’s that intimate, family-relationship I have with Jesus that I wanted, and still want, so desperately to pass on to my children. Dwelling on His name, reiterating over and over that I DO love You, Lord, only draws me closer to the throne of Heaven.

I know that over the course of the last several years there has been a war waging between “traditional” and “contemporary” worship. Funny thing is, worship is simply giving glory to God. It has nothing to do with whether you put a Southern Gospel twang to a song or a modern rap beat to it. It’s whatever draws you to HIM. And more importantly, whatever GLORIFIES HIM, not us. Who knows, in Heaven, maybe souls will discern heavenly choir music in the genre they find glorifies God in their own hearts?

Interesting thought.

Me, I want to hang out with Fanny Crosby, Chris Tomlin, AND the Gaithers when I get to heaven. I mean, imagine it! You think the Gaither Homecoming choir is good? We’ll be in the BEST choir, and all we’ll care about is how much we love Jesus and pointing the glory to HIM!

I call the alto section!

Posted on August 16, 2011 - by Shannon Vannatter

A Wondrous Beauty I See

I’m a traditional kind of gal. I like traditional weddings with poufy dresses dripping in lace and satin, pastel colors, and V-shaped bouquets instead of round hand-tied. I love traditional print books where can run your hand over the smooth cover, turn the pages, smell the printing press, and have the author sign it. I love traditional hymns, holding the book in my hands, seeing the music notes—though I can’t read them—printed with the words, and knowing that thousands upon thousands of Christians have sung them for hundreds of years.

It doesn’t make sense for The Old Rugged Cross to be my favorite hymn. I don’t like the cross. I love the cross and what Jesus did there for me, but I don’t like it. I prefer to think about the resurrection part. Yet without the cross, there could be no resurrection.

When I was in the fourth grade and schools could still get away with such things, all of the students assembled in the gym to watch a movie about Jesus. Sitting cross-legged in the floor, when it got to the beating and crucifixion, I kept my eyes glued to my lap. The teacher came over and asked if I was okay. I assured her I was fine, I just couldn’t bear to watch.

Years ago, my husband and I went to see The Promise, a musical play of Christ’s life, in Branson, Missouri. Midway through the performance, the actor who plays Jesus carries his cross down the middle of the audience. We were close to the aisle. I literally sobbed, my shoulders shook, and I could barely stand to look in his direction. I’ve never seen The Passion of the Christ. From what I’ve heard, I know I can’t take it.

So singing about the old rugged cross where Jesus was crucified should be my least favorite thing to do. But I love the words, love the melody, love the timelessness of it.

Does your favorite hymn or inspirational song fit your other views or contradict what you normally love?

Posted on January 25, 2011 - by JerriLynn

Pushing Through the Fear

I’m not an adrenaline junkie.  I’m not a spotlight hound. I’m also not super fond of having the attention of anyone in the room, let along everyone.  But I deal with it.  Over the years I’ve trained myself, through schooling and personal efforts, to deal with it.  It’s not that I ever really expect to be famous.  Tech writers can be the most accomplished writers you’ve never heard of it.

No, the reason that I push myself into situations that really aren’t in my comfort zone is fear.  It’s that great paralyzing moment when you sit down at the computer, put your fingers on the keys, and then your brain starts in on you.

“Are you sure you want to try to do this?”

“Of course. I have this really great story to tell. And I know there are people who will want to read it.”

“I mean, really?  I could understand it if you had some talent. But you know you don’t right?”

“I have talent. My mother says so.”

“She only says that because she has to. You’re her child. What if she’s lying and you really don’t. And what if you make a fool of yourself, huh? What then?”

And so the internal argument goes.   That fear monster pops up when you’re least expecting it. Like when you have a story in your mind that you know you can write.  The fear monster pops his head up and makes you being to doubt. Or after the first book is published (or any book, for that matter). Fear will make you begin to doubt that you have another book in you.

The only way to take away the power of the fear monster, at least for me, is to ignore it. Push through the fear. I know, it sounds a lot like a self-help manual.  But there are reasons that so many have been written.  Fear is the leading emotion holding most people back. Fear of failure. And fear of success.  Because success comes with it’s own set of responsibilities.

I wrote my first book (like many other firsts in my career) as a fluke.  When it was all said and done, my agent (whom I also found through some cosmic coincidence) wanted to know what I would do next.  Next? You’re kidding, right? I have to write another one? I can’t write another one! What if everyone hates the first one?

Guess what?  Some of my books have been terrible. Honestly. I’ll own up to it. But I pushed through the fear, whichcaused me to doubt, and I wrote those books.  And others, too. I wrote training materials, and then got in front of audiences and taught them about the things I wrote about. I didn’t want to, but I instinctually knew that if I didn’t, the fear would win.

I always think of it as being a linebacker. You have a goal in mind.  Whatever that goal is, you have to focus on that and barrel through whatever is standing in your way.  Because if you don’t, that six-foot-five linebacker that you’re facing will scare the color out of your hair! He’s got a goal, too, and if he is more determined than you, he’ll go right through you to reach his goal.  If that means you’re left laying broken and bloody on the field…well, it’s a casualty of the game.

I wish I could say that I’ve leaned on Jesus through this whole journey, but that’s not true. It’s only been the last few years that I’ve had the comfort of Jesus and knowing that everything is in His time. But even with His support, I still have to move forward of my own free will. It would be easy to allow failures to mean that it’s not His will.  But I don’t buy that. I think He’s just preparing us for tomorrow and the next day. So, I push forward. Uncomfortable. Afraid. Sometimes doubtful. I still keep moving.

Posted on August 31, 2010 - by Shannon Vannatter

More Than I Can Imagine

My life has been so blessed. A perfect childhood with loving, nurturing parents. The saving grace of Jesus Christ. A wonderful, supportive, Godly husband. A son who at age eight already knows Jesus, and more about the Bible than I do. A growing church with a church family who loves us. A writing career. People reading the stories God placed on my heart. Readers who take the time to let me know they enjoyed my book. But even with all this, I look forward to an even better life. This is my shortest post ever, but I can’t think of a better way to say it, than to share this video. Can you imagine?

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xwzItqYmII

 

Posted on July 13, 2010 - by JerriLynn

I’m Not Unsinkable

“Unsinkable Faith” brings to mind images of water, Jesus and His disciples in a boat, or Jonah in the belly of a whale.  But that’s not what came to mind when I saw this topic.  Instead, I immediately thought of Job.  Talk about a man with completely unsinkable faith!  And God knew that.  So he allowed Job to be tested – a LOT!

Job withstood all of the trials that were thrown at him, and during it all his faith remained unsinkable.  That is the kind of faith that I want to have.  But if I’m being completely honest, having that kind of faith scares the daylights out of me.  It requires something I struggle with day in and day out – trust.

Trust is one of those hard-to-explain concepts.  It means believing that something or someone will behave or react exactly the way they promise to, without any specific proof of that behavior.  It’s faith that promises will be kept. And the whole concept gets a little skitchy when it comes to Christianity because we have the Bible as proof that God carries out his promises.

But I’m human, and as much as I would like to believe that the Bible is true and have faith in concepts that I can’t really see or completely understand, my human nature takes over at time.  Like Job, I consciously give my problems to God. “It’s yours.  I’ve made such a mess of it, surely you can do better.” But that’s where my similarities to Job end.

After I give that problem over, I can’t just trust that God will take care of it.  I worry over it.  I monitor the situation, and the instant that it seems to me that God isn’t handling it the way *I* want it handled, I grab that problem back.  “Maybe you better let me handle this one.  You don’t fully understand my thought process here.”

On the other hand, Job handed it over and let it go.  And in the end, he reaped great rewards for his faithfulness.  He just had to go through an earthly version of Hell to get there.  But he trusted his God and had faith that God would not allow anything to happen to him that didn’t have specific purpose.  No matter how bad it got, he maintained unsinkable faith.

Job is my hero.  To use a sports analogy, he kept his eyes on the prize.  I want to do that.  I want to be like that.  And when I start to slip, Job is the character that I look to as an example of how Christians should trust.  Over time, that trust gets easier.  Over time, God provides the little proofs that Christians need to help them build trust.  And over time, I’ve come to realize that God is unsinkable.  I can still be sunk.  If I let go, if I take my eyes off God, and when I think I have the strength to do it on my own–that’s when I sink.  But as long as I hold on to God, nothing can push me under or pull me down.

Posted on April 6, 2010 - by JerriLynn

4 Ingredients for the Perfect Hero

He’s handsome.  He’s strong. He’s sensitive…he’s everything a woman wants.  And while he might not exist in real life, the heart-stopping hero has real life in books of all kinds.  I have to admit, though, it’s been a while since I’ve read a book that had a hero in it that really stopped my heart and made me wish for someone in real life that loved me the way he loved the heroine.

Truly, the last time that I found a hero that made me pine for a real-life man like that was in Dee Henderson’s O’Malley Series. It wasn’t just one, either.  Any one of the men in that series is serious hero material.  They all have all the ingredients that makes a hero perfect.

I suppose that for everyone those ingredients might be different, so let me share with you a short list of the requirements that make a hero perfect for me.

1. A hero must be handsome. What’s handsome?  Everyone has a different definition of handsome, so a truly talented writer will give you just enough details to provide the “frame” of the hero.  You get to fill in the details with whatever your heart desires.
2. A hero must be strong. I’m not talking physical strength here (though that does help.)  It takes strength for a man to be honest. It takes strength for a man to admit when he’s wrong.  And it takes extraordinary strength for a man to mirror Christ.  He’s sweet and soft when it’s needed, but when the situation warrants he can be strong, firm, and confident.  If a writer can give a hero those qualities, I’m hooked and won’t stop reading until there are no more books in the series.
3. A hero must be human. To this point, I’ve described a man that couldn’t possibly exist.  But that doesn’t mean I expect my favorite heroes to be perfect.  In fact, a “perfect” hero kills the whole image for me.  Humans make mistakes.  We choose wrong, misinterpret, and generally make a mess of things.  But what sets one person apart from most everyone else is the way in which those moments of humanness are handled.  I want to see that in my hero.  I want to see him make a mess of things and then I want to be impressed by the way in which he cleans that mess up.
4. A hero must have his focus in the right place. Having a right focus means having a heart that’s in the right place.  For me, that’s focused on Jesus.  In the beginning, the hero might not even be a Christian, but as he develops, he’ll learn that Jesus needs to be his leader.  And if the hero is Christian, he might briefly lose his focus, but he’ll get it back, because when a person’s heart is in the right place, it can’t stand to be separate from Jesus for long.

It’s a tall order, I suppose.  I do have a lot of expectations for the heroes that I chose to invest my time in.  But it’s not impossible to create such a man.  And there are even a few of them here in real-life.  And I’m not so unforgiving that I don’t realize that both real-life heroes and fictional ones make mistakes once in a while.  I’m pretty tolerant, but in the end, that tolerance better pay off.

Posted on February 9, 2010 - by JerriLynn

Gritty, Tough, Sometimes Hurtful Romance

Romeo falls madly in love with Juliette.   Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet fall deeply in love. Even Edward and Bella were infected by the same ghastly illness.  They fall “unequivocally and irreversibly” in love. And, Edward was a vampire that isn’t supposed to be affected by such mundane human illnesses.  Ugh! I’m just not a fan of gushy romance.

That’s not to say that these weren’t good stories.  In fact, I was taken with every one of those stories for one reason or another, but not for the romance of the story.  To me, most romances are what we would like for our romance to be, but rarely are they what romance ends up being.  And reading a romance honestly makes me long for an unrealistic relationship.

I suppose that’s why the novel “Fireproof” struck me the way it did.  As a piece of literature, I won’t even pretend that it was the best written book I’ve ever read.  There were many places as a writer that I would have written differently.

But none of those differences were enough to make me put the book down.  I was drawn into a train wreck of a marriage, and at times as I read the story, I wanted that horrid relationship to end.  Why in the world should two people who wanted nothing more than to tear each other down continue in such a relationship?

It was that real-life conflict that really made “Fireproof” come alive for me.  In my experience, every relationship goes through rough patches.  Maybe not as rough as what Caleb and Catherine were going through, but there’s no relationship on the planet that’s ever all gushy and happily-ever-after.  It takes work and commitment to get through a relationship, even when it’s not marriage.  And sometimes it takes a lot more.

Perhaps that element of more is what really caught my interest in this story, because if I’m to be truthful, the greatest romance of all time (in my humble opinion) is the Bible. Now, there’s a true love story if there ever was one, and “Fireproof” builds on that love story.  Caleb and Catherine must learn what true love is before they can fully love each other, and there’s only one example of true love in all of history.

The book (which is actually an adaptation of a screen play) teaches a lesson—that true love is a covenant built upon the ultimate covenant that God made with his people – Jesus – and until you accept Him, you cannot truly know how to love another person.  Once you believe and accept God’s Son, then you can learn how you should love another person.

As it is so perfectly worded in the Scripture:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails… (1Cor13:4-8)

The prefect love is difficult to achieve.  Very few relationships in today’s society meet this set of guidelines for love, and fewer romance novels portray the real struggle it is to truly love your spouse.  So, forgive me if I shudder a bit when romance is mentioned.  It’s not that I dislike romance.  I just believe that romance isn’t gushy.  It’s gritty, and tough, and sometimes it hurts.  But for those willing to put forth the work necessary to achieve God’s plan for romance, it’s worth the fight.

Posted on November 3, 2009 - by JerriLynn

What He Knows that I Don’t Know

This theme has been a tough one for me.  ”Things that go bump in the night.”  Oh, you mean the stuff that scares me.  Great.  How to narrow this one down?  The truth is, a lot of things scare me.  I’m terrified of car accidents, losing my kids or the people I care about, violent crimes, and terminal illness.  But aren’t these the fears that everyone has?

So what fear do I have that’s uniquely mine?  Argh!  I can’t think of a single one.  Well, except that one.  There is one fear that I carry with me.  It’s not a fear I share or even acknowledge, very often, because I feel like it makes me less.  Lots less.

See, if I’m really to get to the core of my greatest fear, the thing that scares me more than anything else is that Jesus will choose me to live a life like Job.  See, Job was allowed to be tested because his faith was so strong.  During the testing he lost everything and everyone that he had.

Not only do I fear those types of tests, but I fear that once the tests of faith have been completed, I won’t prove to be as strong as Job. I’d love to pretend that I would be, but in truth I know there’s no way that I ever could.  I’m barely strong enough to get through the trials that I encounter now.  Anything more would break me.

But I believe that my Jesus knows this.  I believe He won’t ever ask me to endure more than I’m capable of enduring.  Still, I’m a little afraid of what He knows that I don’t know.  And I suppose that’s where faith comes in.  Faith to trust that He only has good planned for me.

Boy is that tough!  Maybe for some it’s easy to have that kind of faith, and I truly wish I was one of those people.  Unfortunately, I’m not.  So, I battle with this fear that my faith will be tested.  All the while knowing that even if it is, I’ll make it through it.

Posted on September 8, 2009 - by JerriLynn

Maybe It’s About Perspective

If you’re paying attention, life is full of unexpected blessings.  The sudden desire to pull off at a rest station while traveling just to find when you’re back on the road that you narrowly missed an accident.  The check you didn’t know you had coming that shows up in the mailbox about the time the checking account hits a $.68 balance.  The stranger you meet standing in line that turns into a lifelong friend.

Just a prevalent are the unexpected blessings that you probably don’t recognize.  The warmth of a hug from Jesus in the rays of a sunny; His whispers of reassurance carried on the wind.  The complete conviction of His glory as you stare across an ocean our mind can’t begin to measure or the certain knowledge that He is merciful when a disaster just misses you.

Unexpected blessings is almost an oxymoron to me.  Unseen blessings exist, and as we move through each day, I believe that we miss some of the most blessed blessings that God has to offer.  Because those blessings are unseen doesn’t mean that they should be unexpected. How…human must we be not to expect the best blessings from our God.

He promises blessings to us.  Deuteronomy 28:2, Proverbs 10:6, Proverbs 28:20 and so many other verses promise that God will bless those who are faithful to him.  And despite these promises, we don’t expect Him to bless us; we expect just the opposite.  We expect His wrath and His disapproval; we expect Him to be hands-off.  But we don’t expect His blessings.

Or maybe that’s just me.  I am shocked and amazed when He blesses me.  Recently, my dryer died. Well, it didn’t die completely, it just stopped heating.  I have to admit, I griped at God a bit about that.  I mean, the timing was bad, bad, bad.  I couldn’t afford to replace the dryer, and even if I could I didn’t have any way to move the old one out or the new one in.  And I didn’t have a man around to help me fix the appliance that’s pretty much the center of your life when you have a teenage daughter at home.  I wondered, didn’t God realize I’m single?

This was not a blessing by any stretch of the imagination.  So, I did what most people would do were they in my situation, I whined about it to my friends.  But my friend Amanda has never been one to be restricted by the concepts of roles.  “Can’t you just fix it yourself, Jerri Lynn.  It’s not like it’s that hard.”

Um.  Well, truthfully, I hadn’t thought about doing it myself.  I’m so accustomed to having someone else do those things for me that I went straight from denial to despair. Could I really change the heating element in my dryer by my self?

The short answer is yes. I could. I did. And then I looked at Jesus and said, “I see what you’re up to.”  I struggle with not having a spouse.  But God felt like I needed a lesson in self-sufficiency.  “My grace is enough for you,” he said to me.  My blessing?  The dryer broke. I fixed it. Alone.

So maybe, if I change my perspective a little I’ll see those ‘unexpected’ blessings.  Maybe, instead of wondering why the bad things happen I could just look at those challenges and expect the blessing that God uses them to bring.  I can learn to expect his blessings.  I just have to change my view and know where to look.