Who Can You Trust?

I've been thinking about this lately--who can I really trust? Not because I've been betrayed recently, but I want to use wisdom in where I trust my heart. No, I'm not looking for romance, as I'm happily married, and I do trust my husband. I also trust my mother, my kids and a few close friends.

That's not what I'm talking about here. When trouble hits and you want to talk to someone, but it's sensitive and maybe even hurtful, where do you turn? When everything seems to be falling apart, what do you do?

My husband and I have endured a lot of stress the past two years, with our business failing, Allen getting laid off recently, and getting hit with some health problems. I realized that, while I have friends and family who care, none of them could make the stress go away--none could offer the fix I wanted. So why was my first impulse to pick up the phone and call my mom, my grown kids, or a friend? Wasn't that putting my stress on their shoulders? Yes, they did pray, and I value that above all else.

But only God can change my circumstances. He is my provider, my healer, my comforter, my friend. He goes to war on my behalf, champions me when I'm despondent, fights for me when I'm under attack. He brings peace when I'm confused and gives answers where there are none. I can trust him. Totally. Completely. Forever. With everything.

Do Not Be Afraid--The Lord Will Fight For You!

By Kathi Macias    Communicating the vision… (Hab.2:2)

www.kathimacias.com

And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the
salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.

For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever.
The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." (Exodus 14:
13-14, NKJV).

At last, after years of enslavement and degradation, the Israelite's had escaped from Egypt! Not only had they escaped, but they had done so with jewels and money, livestock and clothing, and everything they'd been deprived of during their lengthy sojourn. Now they were free, and joy
bubbled up in their hearts and no doubt overflowed in their words and actions.

Then, in a brief moment, everything changed. They found themselves with the uncrossable Red Sea on one side and their infuriated former captors closing in on the other. There was no way of escape. None. The situation was as hopeless as it could get.

Ever been there? Who hasn't, right? You've been in the midst of a seemingly unending trial and then suddenly it seems deliverance has come at last. You've scarcely begun to celebrate when once again you find yourself on the verge of destruction. All hope of escape is gone. There is
nowhere to turn except to God. Which, of course, is what He intended all along.

Can you imagine the recently-delivered Israelite's level of terror and despair at that point? Their joy had just been turned to horror, and the only choice they had was between drowning in the sea or slaughter at the hands of the Egyptians.

Moses proved himself a wise leader at that crucial moment. He knew there was nothing he could do to help his people. Only God could deliver them now. And so Moses declared, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."

Do not be afraid.

The Lord will fight for you.

Those are the words we all need to hear, not just when we're between the proverbial rock and a hard place, but always-every day, at every juncture of our lives. There is no reason to fear because the very God who delivered us from bondage will fight for us! Can there be any better
assurance than that?

Romans 8:31 asks, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Who, indeed? Nothing or no one can harm or defeat us because God is the One who fights for us. Wow, what a great truth-one that should set our feet to dancing and our mouths to singing! For Romans 8 also declares that, no matter what difficulties or hardships we face, "we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (verse 37).

If you're hemmed in by threats or enemies or circumstance today and there seems to be no way out, don't despair. Remember, it is the Lord who fights for you, and you are more than a conqueror through Him.

Mothers VS Daughters--A Deep Hurt

Have you experienced pain in your relationship with your mother--or daughter? 

My upcoming novel, Blowing on Dandelions is a historical romance, but it's so much more. It's a deep look into the life of two women--a mother and her grown daughter--who love one another, but don't know how to show it, or how to relate to each other. There's a story behind why I wrote this book.

Blowing on Dandelions is a book driven by emotion, centering on the pain and joy of the characters. Their story consumed me and wouldn't let go until it was written—in fact, it still hasn't let go. 

It all started several years ago, when I spent some time with a friend, and she let slip little comments about her relationship with her mother. Let’s just say they were filled with pain and grief. Mama was alive, well, and still contributing to that pain and grief.

I could bear it no longer, and while giving her a hug, asked if I could pray with her that God would grant her peace and healing. Through barely contained tears she refused. Not that she wasn't grateful, but she couldn't tolerate the thought of attaining some kind of peace, only to return home to the same situation and have it shattered—or worse, new shards embedded into her healed heart. I went home heartsick and unable to shake the urgency to pray for my friend. I sensed her deep level of hopelessness that her life and relationship with her mother would never change. I prayed every time her name came to mind, which happened frequently. I couldn't forget the despair in her voice the last time we spoke.

As I asked the Lord what my next writing project should be, He gently directed me back to those memories. I knew He was showing me, over and over, that thousands of women ache with the same need—for approval, love, and acceptance, just as they are—from their mothers. He directed me to tell this story.

I wove a romance into the novel and set it in 1880 in the Old West, as so many of my readers enjoy a strong historical romance. But it's so much more than that....and I hope reading it will bless you as much as writing it has done for me. 

Releasing in four months, on June 1st via Amazon, Christianbook.com, or coming to a store near you. Available now at a great pre-order price on Amazon. 

Writing a Historical Novel? Research is the Key!

When I wrote my first historical romance, Love Find You in Last Chance, CA, I had a short panic attack. Not long, just a few seconds, as I'm not prone to panic, LOL! But I'd never written a historical before and wasn't sure I'd be able to find the information I needed to bring the story to life.

High school and one year of college taught me something about research, but that was years ago and so much has changed. The advent of the internet has opened a whole new world for fiction writers.

Here's what I ended up doing and have continued to do on each historical since.

*  Did a Google search on the town, the time period, and key words contained in the book

*  Joined an online historical writers' group where I could toss out questions and get help if I need it

*  Read other books set in the same time period by authors I trusted who created a realistic depiction

*  Checked out books from our local library. Some suggestions would be old memoirs, copies of journals   from your time period, nonfiction books written about the area where your book is set, and any books
containing information key to your story. i.e., ranching or mining in the Sierra Nevada Mts. of California, etc.


*  Visited the location and while there, talk to as many of the old timers as you can find. Visit the museums and historical society if available, and any local landmarks.

Next Week I'll be doing a blog and book drawing for Davis Bunn's book, Hidden in Dreams, a fantastic novel!! Be sure to check in and enter to win. 

Forty Years Ago.....

I married the man of my dreams--I was 18 (three weeks shy of 19),  and Allen was 19 (almost 20--mere babies).

We honeymooned at Wallowa Lake, Oregon, and spent our first year renting the parsonage from our church (our pastor built a house). We took care of the lawns for the church and house, as well as the flower beds, and only paid $50 a month in rent.

A couple of years later I was expecting my first child....a beautiful daughter we named Marnee. Later we added a son. This is a pic of Allen and I taken around our second anniversary.


The years sped by, we owned and operated a couple of businesses, took our daughter to riding lessons and I enjoyed hitting the trails on our horses with her. Our son got involved in stunt bikes, then dirt bikes, then airplanes. It wasn't long before they were grown and we'd hit our 25th anniversary. 

God has been faithful all these years and we're still in love. Sure, we've had tough times when we didn't FEEL any love, but we still pressed forward together. I'm so glad we did!

When Life Gets Tough

The old saying is, when life gets tough, the tough get going. But it doesn't always work that way. Sometimes when life deals you a hard blow, you crawl in a hole and pull the hole in after you. Or at least, that's what you might want to do, if you didn't have to keep living life daily. 


So, what DO you do? Call a friend and cry on her shoulder? Yeah, that works, but you can burn out friends pretty fast that way.


Eat chocolate or go shopping. Yum. Now that sounds enticing. But the problem with that one is the next day you'll pay if you over indulge. Sick stomach, empty wallet, and more pounds packed on.


Turn on the tunes and tune out? Yeah, that'll work for a while for all you music lovers. But at some point you have to come out and 'face the music'. 


Break something, fling angry words, or hit somebody? Unfortunately, this is the reaction of too many, and others end up getting hurt along the way to your 'healing'. 


How about--Call a friend and ask for prayer? Much better--most people are willing to listen and pray if they know you're sincere.


Or maybe--check in with God and place it in his hands. Yeah. I've been doing that this week as I've struggled with a 'hard thing' that hurt. But God knows, and my heart is pure and right before him. He knows my motives and my pain, and He's able to take it all and use it for His glory. 


I'm so glad....Yes. I think I'll pick the last one, although I'm certainly not against talking to a friend and asking them to pray. Did that and it helped. God is indeed good, all the time. 

Blossoms & Weeds--What's in Your Garden?

Today I've been mowing for an hour or so, then pulling weeds in my garden, planting tomato and green pepper plants, watering newly sprouted beans, peas, turnips, and more. Lots to do this time of year, but my least favorite is pulling weeds.

Why is it that no matter how much I hoe, till, and pull, the weed crop manages to outgrow the food crop? I'm even hitting them with Roundup, hoping to rid myself of them once and for all, but inevitably I miss a few.

It's a little like life. There are things I'd love to get rid of forever. My over indulgence in eating sugar, my poor exercise habits, attitudes that I'm not proud of at times--but like weeds, they seem to keep coming back.

I have two choices--keep pulling and poisoning and tilling the ground of my life, keeping them at bay, or ignore them hoping they'll not take root this time around. Doing that will lead to discovering they're full blown and taking over before I know it. Yes, it takes work to keep the weeds out of your garden or out of you life, but the crop you'll get when you do is worth it!

Do You Remember When?

Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older
woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."

The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today.
Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations."

She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to
the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and
sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and
over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we
reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags,
was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks.
This was to ensure that public property, (the books
provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our
scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown
paper bags.

But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every
store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't
climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two
blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the
throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling
machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry
our clothes back in our early days.
Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters,
not always brand-new clothing.

But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every
room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief
(remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In
the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have
electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail,
we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it,
not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then,
we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn.
We used a push mower that ran on human power.
We exercised by working so we didn't need to
go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup
or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled
writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the
razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just
because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their
bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour
taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire
bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a
computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites
23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.

But isn't it sad that the current generation laments how wasteful we old
folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Check Your Motives at the Door

Whew. Really? I have to figure out WHY I do the things I do? I was praying this morning and felt the Lord asked me to dig deeper. Why do I make some of the choices I make, and most of all, why do I react in certain ways?

Ouch. Do I have to, Lord? Can’t I just pray and ask you to cover my actions and bless my choices? No? Seriously, no? Sigh. OK.

So here’s the first motive that He asked me to look at. The need to be in control.

Are you wincing yet? I am. Typing it gave me the heebie-jeebies. Especially since my husband has gently pointed this out in the past—he thinks I NEED to be in control. No I don’t. Really. He just thinks I do.

Well. Maybe not.

OK, I’ll admit it. I like my world to be well ordered, running smoothly, and YES—at times I think my way is the best way. Who doesn’t! But if I’m not careful that attitude can hurt those that I love. Gentleness and meekness go a long way.

Uh-oh…know what thought popped into my head just now? Being real and honest here. If I’m gentle and meek at the right time, in the right way, I’ll bet it would help convince ‘them’ that my way is the best.

Yikes! Did I really think that? Yeah. I did.

So…next time let’s talk about hidden agendas and manipulation. Not sure I want to go there, but I hope you’ll chime in and help me, so I won’t feel all alone. 

Honest Reflections Scare Me Sometimes

A friend sent me a journal entry to read today, as she wanted honest feedback. I read it and choked back tears at the raw honesty poured out on the page. God has been prompting her to dig deep. To go beyond the surface in her relationship with Him and interaction with people, and she took it seriously.

I’m not sure I can be that vulnerable, but I'm willing to try. Looking at ourselves is tough in the best of times, but digging deep, discovering WHY we do certain things, checking our motives—well, let’s just say it’s oftentimes easier to sidestep those areas.

In the next few posts I’m going to share a few thoughts on what makes me tick, and I invite you to do the same. They won’t be long or even very sophisticated, but I promise to keep it real. If anything I write resonates with you, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Maybe I’m the only one who struggles with being real, but I’m guessing that’s not the case.  

The book I’m writing  has made me dig deeper. I’m dealing with the issue of a difficult mother/daughter relationship. The daughter is grown, the mother is aging, and Mama comes to live with her daughter. Sometimes the closest family connections can bring out the best—or the worst in us. At the very least they can cause us to look more deeply into who we are and why we act the way that we do.

So I invite you to come along on the ride if you dare. More in a few days…..