What bible verse are you living this week?

 

One of my characters in my fiction work-in-progress is Sister Clara who felt led to take in some new believers under her wing and teach them more about the bible. She started with Psalm 23, particularly emphasizing verse 1.
 

“The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.” Psalm 23:1 NLT

 
As she explained to the bible study ladies: “Everything we need to make it in this life will be given to us. We are to live our lives believin’ that and standin’ on it. When lack comes knockin’ at your door, slam the door in its face and say, ‘My God shall supply my need, Lack, you go away and don’t come back!’”
 

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In my own life, this week this verse is speaking to me:
 

“May integrity and honesty protect me,
    for I put my hope in you.” Psalm 25:21 NLT

Since I have a horror of confrontation, sometimes it is tempting to smooth things over. But some things cannot be smoothed – to do so would be a lie.
 
I’m trusting in God to work out things for He knows my heart is to always honor Him above all else.
 

“To do righteousness and justice
    is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” Proverbs 21:23 ESV

Have you ever had to make an unpopular choice to stand up for integrity?

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

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This is Day 5 of taking my reader along a journey with me as I birth my book. I hope you consider checking in daily to see my progress.

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home.

Sharing at Sweet Tea & Friends

The Book that Changed My Life

There are books you read that make an impression. Some of their words stick in your brain forever.

 

The book that changed the life of my character, Morgan Ford, in my fiction work, “The Hesed Files: Morgan’s Redemption,” in surprising ways was Grandma Rose’s bible. It wasn’t just the penetrating words of scripture in the bible that first affected her so deeply. That would come later.

 

It was the recording of the births in the pages of the bible that first caught her attention. She learned the names of the father and the grandfather she had never met.

 

There was a card in its pages that surprised her: a card from her mother to her grandmother expressing gratitude for the Proverbs 31 woman she had modeled for her. Up to that point, Morgan had never heard her mother say a word of thanks to anyone.

 

But the shocker was the newspaper clipping, old, yellowed, and tucked in the back pages that revealed the family secret.

 

Her mother had thrown away the bible after Grandma Rose died. But Morgan had found it and hid it away from prying eyes. 

 

The day she found it changed everything. Morgan set in motion a plan to leave town and never come back.

 

 

I, Jerralea, also had a bible change my life. I’d had different copies of the bible all my life, but I well remember the first study bible I ever had. It was a Dake Study bible, by Finis Jennings Dake, King James Version. I got it when I was in my late twenties because I was hungry for more and Bro. Chamblee, my pastor, recommended a Dake. 

 

I had never had a bible with commentary before! I dove in and highlighted my favorite verses. I wore the gold leaf finish off the sides of those pages in no time.

 

Nowadays, I do most of my study online. There are a wealth of commentaries and versions to study and compare. I especially love finding out what the original Greek and Hebrew words mean. Sometimes, it changes everything.

 

I don’t use my Dake as much anymore because of the fine print. But it will always be special to me because it instilled in me the love of searching out the meanings of the scriptures.

 

Is there a book that made a difference in your life? Leave a comment and let us know!

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

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This is Day 4 of taking my reader along a journey with me as I birth my book. I hope you consider checking in daily to see my progress.

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home.

Sharing at Sweet Tea & Friends

Grateful for Salvation Stories

 

It's good every day to reflect on the good things in our lives. An attitude of gratitude is important.

My main protagonist in my book, accepts Christ as her Savior in her sixteenth year; but by the time she turns eighteen, she learns some hard truths and turns away from Christ. For nine long years she neglects God and barely speaks to Him.

But over time, she learns the lengths to which the Father will go to find that one lost sheep. Once she realized her value to the Father, she became bold to testify about her story.

 

My salvation story contains a near-death experience when I was fourteen. A Sister at church had witnessed to me just a week earlier. I told her I would give my life to Christ later. I had things I wanted to do first. She ended the conversation, “Don’t wait until it’s too late.”

Days later, my family and I were travelling in a car that had a carbon monoxide leak.  I was discovered when my parents stopped way earlier than they normally did for lunch and realized I was in trouble. Rushed to the emergency room, I was revived in time to hear the doctor tell my dad, “It’s good you stopped driving when you did. I don’t know how much longer she would have lasted breathing in that poison.”

I thank God for that story because it woke me up. No one is promised tomorrow – not even a 14 year old girl!

The day of salvation (accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior) is today!

Don’t wait!

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

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This is Day 3 of a taking my reader along a journey with me as I birth my book. I hope you consider checking in daily to see my progress.

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home.

Sharing at Sweet Tea & Friends

What's in your cup?

The characters in my story drink one thing: tea. They live in a small southern town and they drink tea in two ways: sweet tea over ice, preferably sipped from tumblers while sitting on a swing in Grandma Rose's rose garden. Or they find solace in drinking Sister Clara's tea served from a steaming kettle accompanied by white chocolate macadamian nut cookies.

But, I mustn't forget Kai. Kai is an angel sent to minister to the family. Although Kai is an angel, he has learned to love a "cup of joe," and is delighted to find one of his assignments is being a barista at a coffee shop where he ministers to all sorts of amazing people.

As a writer, I always have my trusty insulated cup nearby while I'm at the keyboard. I used to be a sweet tea addict but lost the taste for it when I had COVID. Now, my drinks of choice are ice water or iced coffee; or when cooler temps prevail, hot coffee with peppermint mocha creamer.

I can type for hours without stopping to eat if I have something in my cup.

What's in your cup? Inquiring minds want to know.

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

This is Day 2 of a taking my reader along a journey with me as I birth my book. I hope you consider checking in daily to see my progress.

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home.

Sharing at InstaEncouragements Link-Up

Morning Routine

Good morning, dear Readers. Today, I want to talk about how we begin our day.

Now, I don't claim to be an expert on mornings. There are others more qualified than me. For instance, Jennifer Dukes Lee, who calls herself a morning evangelist, has written a whole book about it, entitled "How to Love Your Morning." I highly recommend it.

However, in August, I'm taking you along on a journey of birthing my book, sharing my life as a writer and the story God has given me.

I feel the most important thing to start our day is to wake up thinking about God. Our first thoughts influence our day.

If I want mine to be about God, it starts the night before. I use the Lectio 365 app and play the nighttime selection for that day, listening to it as I drift off to sleep.

You'd be surprised how often I wake up with some of the words said in Lectio 365 swirling in my brain. 

Another thing that helps is to listen to praise and worship music throughout my day. I often hear the words to a song reverberating in my brain when I awake. (I hightly recommend the song, "I Know A Name." I listen to the CeCe Winans version.)

My first task after waking, getting dressed, etc., is to take one scripture, ask God for direction, then write a prayer about that verse.

Then, I can start tackling the to-do list. 

As a writer, I'm looking for blocks of time where I can work on my book everyday. Monday's are writing days where I devote the whole day in some way to writing. Editing, blogposts, listening to a teaching, and writing outlines are all good ways to refining my message.

But there must be time for actual writing somewhere in my day. 

I've laid the groundwork for inspiration when I have thought about God, prayed to Him, looked at His word. Now, I can expect His inspiration to show up as I work hard.

Inspiration shows up when there has been perspiration!

How about you, dear Reader? How do you start your day? What is your first thought when the alarm goes off?

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

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This is Day 1 of a taking my reader along a journey with me as I birth my book. I hope you consider checking in daily to see my progress.

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home.

Sharing at Sweet Tea & Friends, InstaEncouragements Link-Up

I can't afford to wait.

Readers, I'm in the last third of my life and I can't afford to wait any longer to share the story God has given me.

I'm hard at work on my fiction series in progress called "The Hesed Files," stories of how God uses His angels to participate in unfailing love and mercy. Book One, Morgan's Redemption, chronicles a family's journey through secrets, pain, bitterness, loss and transformation into children of God.

I wrote it to bring you hope. Because, all believers are being transformed into what God had planned them to be. You are, after all, His masterpiece.* But I know life can be discouraging and dark.

I want to share with you the hope I find in scripture. My passion is to show you through the words and ideas I share with you to convince you no one is beyond redemption.

Never give up praying. While there is breath, there is hope.

I also can't afford to miss telling you something the Lord impressed upon me in 2019 because I feel He wants me to share it with everyone. 

What if you believed, reqally believed, that goodness and mercy is chasing you down?**

Would that belief make a difference in your outlook? I believe it can.

Join me in the coming days and weeks. I'm going to take you with me on the journey of birthing my book. Dear Reader, will you come?

* Ephesians 2:10

** Psalm 23:6

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

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I write for believers, but if you are not a believer and would like to know more, visit A Ticket Home. to find the way Home.

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This post was written in response to the prompt, "afford," provided by the Five Minute Friday writing challenge. We write for five minutes on a prompt. (Adding links, scriptures, graphics, etc. takes longer.)

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Sharing at Five Minute Friday and Sweet Tea & Friends

Come Follow My Journey Through the Phases of Becoming a Published Author

 A phase is a distinct stage in a process; a single part of a larger plan, project, or process.

As a writer, I'm in the developmental stage of achieving my dream. I've written my manuscript, I've worked on it with a coach, and now I'm in the editing phase. 

At some point, I will be in the launch phase where I encourage others to help me bring my message into the world

I found these statistics about wanting to be a writer:

80% to 81% say they want to write a book.
15% actually start writing.
3% manage to finish a full manuscript.
1% or less get a book published. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Hey! I'm excited! I'm in the 3%.

Since so many are interested in writing, I thought it might be fun to invite you follow me through the phases of being a writer.

In August, I will be writing a series of blog posts about the process of publishing a book.

I hope you will be a part of the series, read and comment. I can't know what readers want if I don't ask.

Here's my first question:  do you want to be a writer?

All photos created in PicMonkey by Jerralea using personal, family and stock photos. Please do not copy. 

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This post was written in response to the prompt, "phase," provided by the Five Minute Friday writing challenge. We write for five minutes on a prompt. (Adding links, scriptures, graphics, etc. takes longer.)

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Thanks for dropping by the Journey! I want to always share my post, A Ticket Home. for those who might not know the way Home.

Sharing at Five Minute Friday and Let's Have Coffee