My Hero

Tate Publishers

I love King David. Next to Jesus, David is my favorite Biblical character. He’s the one I want to see next after Jesus when I get to Heaven. He’s the one whose hand I want to shake. I want to tell King David how much his life has touched my own. You see, I relate to David’s writings in the Psalms. Friends relate to Job, Peter … you may relate to a different Biblical character. I relate to David.

David is my hero. He was a man after God’s own heart. David had an awesome relationship with God, and because of that relationship he had faith enough to slay a bear, a lion and a nine-foot-tall giant. It is said that David was a very young man when he accomplished these tasks, probably in his early teens. Yet he knew who he was, and Whose he was. He was a shepherd at the time he slew Goliath. He tended to the few sheep his father owned. Still, he knew in Whose army he fought; “… for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (I Samuel 17: 26) David was well aware that no power could defeat his God. “Thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou has defied.” (I Samuel 17: 45) Then he picked up five smooth stones, and with one of them, he slew the giant who caused the whole of Samuel’s armies to tremble in fear.

Yet as close as David was to the heart of God, he still made mistakes. Some of those mistakes were serious, and horrendous consequences followed them. Throughout the course of his lifetime, whether by fault or by persecution David had many times and instances of intense trepidation, causing him to cry out to God in great distress. He wasn’t afraid or ashamed to voice his concerns to God, either. Yet somehow, somewhere deep inside of him, David knew. He knew who God was. He knew God’s power and majesty. He knew God’s might. When he cried out to God, his grievances never had a period (.) at the end of them. They always had a comma (,). The end of the sentence (prayer, i.e. psalm) never came until after David acknowledged who God is. David’s heart felt pain, and even death. He struggled much of the time while he was walking through his “valley of the shadow of death.” However through it all, he always ended his cries by acknowledging God’s presence, as well as His authority, in any given situation that he happened to be experiencing at the time. David knew … the Lord is God!

David struggled, as have I. In my own life, I, too, have cried out to God with heartfelt tears. I’ve known David’s tears and I’ve known David’s fears. I’ve known his defeats and his victories. I relate to David. And like David, I’ve also known the majesty, power and authority of God’s mighty presence in my life. Again like David, I can say, “Oh God, Thou are my God.” It’s in recognizing who God is, and His presence, power and authority to sustain us as we walk through the “valley of the shadow of death,” that times of refreshing come. It’s in acknowledging God’s life within us, that life comes to us.

Hope for Recovery

Xulon Press

I’m a licensed belief therapist, an author and speaker. All that came about because of a long bout with grief. There were 11 deaths of immediate family members in a short span of time, at the time I wrote my first book, “One Foot on a Banana Peel.” But there were also things happening in LIFE that took my breath away. Those were even more difficult, and could have destroyed me and my family. I found several interesting things during the time of research for this work. I was startled to find out how many people were suffering from grief and/or depression. Sooooo many! Another thing I was surprised at was that many believed that grief and depression are two totally separate entities. It was said that grief is only suffered at the death of a loved one. This is just not true, and it’s not Biblical either. I do realize that there can be a clinical depression that is deeper than “normal” (whatever “normal" is these days), but one thing I found out about this total separation between the two was that people were not able to connect with HOPE, or a recovery, because they didn’t know what it was they were dealing with! Knowing what the problem is, is half the battle … right? There IS hope! And there can be recovery! I’m living proof!

Step Away From the "Best Sellers"!

When going to a book store or looking on Amazon.com, take a moment and step away from the "Best Sellers". Why? You may be overlooking some really good books by beginning authors. It is very difficult to break through the pack and become a "best selling" author when there are one million book titles produced each year in the United States.

Many of the books making the list are there, not for the content of the book, but for the popularity of the author. Unless an author is a celebrity, many readers will not give a book a second look. While they may be great books, there are other books out there to look at.

If you area an avid reader, take the time to go to book fairs and book stores and make it a point to meet the authors at their booth. Many of them have great personal stories of how their book(s) came to be published. These beginning authors will devote time to converse with you. They will be happy to sign your book purchases also.

After reading the book you have purchased, please do not forget to review it on one of the major book sites on the internet. Barnesandnoble.com, goodreads.com, amazon.com and others are a good choice. If you really would like to be an encouragement, send an email or note to the author. Encouragement goes a long way. After all, you are the reason writers write.

God bless you.

Spiritual and Emotional Healing

Tate Publishing

One day as I was driving in my car, the Lord showed me a picture in my mind's eye. The picture was of me, standing there in my spiritual armor. There I was ... fully "dressed." I had on the helmet of salvation. My loins were girt about with truth. I had on the breastplate of righteousness. My feet were shod with the gospel of peace. I had the shield of faith in my left hand, and the sword of the Spirit in my right. I was decked out to the max!

It's the shield of faith that I'd like to tell you about here. At that time, I noticed two things about my shield. One was that it was full of arrows. God's enemy and ours, Satan, had thrown many "arrows" my way. This shield ... faith ... stopped them from reaching me. I was grateful beyond words to my Lord for this wonderful gift of faith.

The second thing I noticed was not so good. That shield, as wonderful as it was, was very small. At that point in time, I didn't give this detail a second thought. I just went about my business and drove to wherever it was I was going.

However, in later years the Holy Spirit brought this vision back to my memory. Specifically, He caused me to focus on the size of that shield. I began to think that perhaps there were MORE arrows shot my way. Maybe some had gotten past the shield because it was so small. Maybe it didn't catch all of them. I wondered about all the arrows that had gotten past that small shield ... where did they all go?

What's the purpose of a shield? Where is it located on our bodies and what does it protect? Well, we carry it ... therefore it resides in our hands. When an arrow is shot at us, we protect the vital parts of our bodies with this shield ... our head (mind) and chest (heart). Those arrows that made it past that shield had lodged themselves in my MIND and in my EMOTIONS!

Once I realized this truth, the Holy Spirit reminded me of the Scripture that talks about removing the log from our own eye so we can help remove the speck that is in our brother's eye. (Luke 6: 42) For a split second in time, I wondered what that Scripture had to do with arrows shot past a shield. Then the "light" came on ... and I knew. Just as we must remove the log from our eye, so it is that we must remove the arrows from our mind and emotions! When we get a splinter in our finger, it must be removed. If it's not removed, it stays under the skin and eventually begins to fester. The same thing happens with those wiles of the enemy that have been shot at us and get past our shield of faith. Those arrows "fester" in our minds and in our emotions. In order for our minds and emotions to be healed, they must be removed!

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

Thank You, Jane!

I am very excited about your invitation to be one of your guest bloggers. I promise to not take over your site! It looks great.
You have wonderful books that are a big help to the Body of Christ.
God bless you,
Elaine Littau, author

How & Why I Began Writing

“Would you like to move back to Iraan,” Jerry asked me. “Tommie & I have been praying about it ever since I made the decision to retire. We believe that now is the time, and God is calling us into full-time prison ministry. Do you want to join us?” I had been working with Jerry & Tommie in prison ministry ever since they started … 15 years, at that point. So, of course I said, “Yessss!!!”

So began a long series of events which led to writing my first book, “One Foot On A Banana Peel.” “One Foot…” is a description of grief and an expression of the hope and healing that lie beyond trauma and tragedy. The simple experience of moving in itself can be a cause for grief, and I’m not so sure I wasn’t actually experiencing some of those emotions at the time. I had been widowed in March of 1988. Raising two young children, working and moving three times during the course of those years ~ yes, I wanted to continue in prison ministry, but I was also sure I was feeling some “trauma” over the upcoming move.

Shortly after I moved back, Tommie came to me with an offer. She felt it was time to expand our ministry and move into the area of counseling in the “free-world,” (A term used by those in the prison system, referring to anyone who is not incarcerated). She asked if I wanted to join them in taking some courses. So, off we went to Crockett, Texas, to attend school at Therapon Institute, where we later became licensed belief therapists. During the course of our schooling, we had to write a 10-page paper on any subject for which a person might come to us for counseling. Up to that point, there had been 11 deaths of my immediate family members in about 7 or 8 years. So, it seemed appropriate for me to write on the topic of grief. My 10-page paper turned out to be 29 pages long! The Director of the Institute said it was a good work, and that I should turn it into a seminar. So, I spent the rest of that year and part of the next, writing and re-writing. Condensing and expanding. Dealing with life’s problems, and adding what I had learned to what I had already written. One major thing I learned in the process of all this, was that it seemed most people had the idea that grief only occurred when a loved one passed on. This is just NOT TRUE, nor is it Scriptural. There are a multitude of causes for grief, and there varying degrees of its intensity. Most of us experience it to one degree or another, and usually more than once during the course of our lifetimes. So, what about it … is there any hope?

Well, of course there is! And hope was what I wanted to share in the writing of that paper. Hope is still what I want to share. The hope that can come through even that long, dark tunnel of grief. The hope and healing that lie beyond trauma and tragedy. There have been many other trials, temptations and struggles in our lives since the deaths of all those family members, all of which produced symptoms and stages of he grief process in varying levels and degrees. Any one of these events could have had major destructive power in my life.

But the inspiration for the writing of “One Foot…” came to me one evening shortly after that when my sister (my only sibling) called to inform me that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. My reaction to her dilemma surprised me. I was REALLY angry! I felt that ONE MORE TIME my hands were tied. Here was ONE MORE TRAGEDY that I could do nothing about. While I definitely do not have one foot on a banana peel and the other one in a grave, the reality of the situation was that I was too old to start over again … become a doctor so I can “fix” this situation, or begin in research to find a cure for cancer so my sister could be healed.

At some point during this tirade, I began to pray. It was while I was thinking about all these things and praying, that God spoke to my mind and heart. He said, “Take all that you wrote about grief and put it into book format. Reach as many hearts as you can with the light of HOPE.” Thus began my writing career, and my first book, ”One Foot On A Banana Peel,” was born. My Heavenly Father sustained me through all of those experiences that could have devastated me and my family. He sustains me still. He was the One who created hope in the first place. It is He who planted hope within my soul. So, I give honor and glory to him through the writing that I do. But it is YOU that I’m writing for. It is YOU who I pray finds hope within the pages of the books and seminars I write. It is YOU whom I know that God wants to bless with peace and HOPE. He sustained me … and He will sustain you.

http://livinghope.tatepublishing.net/
http://www.gentlespringsofhope.org/

"One Foot on a Banana Peel" With so much pain in the world, "One Foot..." is a breath of fresh air and a light of hope. "One Foot..." is a description of grief and an expression of the hope and healing that lie beyond trauma and tragedy.