Bikes, Boats, and Trees

Last week, Ken and I loaded our bikes onboard the “S.S. Badger” in Ludington, MI for a bicycling excursion with our friends Paul and Jacki. The 71-year-old “Badger” is the last coal-fired passenger steamship in operation in the U.S., ferrying up to 600 passengers and 180 vehicles back and forth across Lake Michigan. The summer day was perfect for our four-hour voyage, with blue skies and calm waters. The lake is so huge that the shoreline was out of sight for most of the journey, leaving a view of the vast, open water all around us.

We had to travel light, packing everything we needed for the overnight trip into our bike’s saddlebags. After an uneventful voyage, we landed in Manitowoc, WI and set off to explore. The city is a very bike-friendly, and we rode the beautiful Mariners’ Trail, a scenic path that goes right along Lake Michigan.

Before long, we came to a serendipitous surprise—the magnificent “West of the Lake Gardens” overlooking Lake Michigan. Pictures can’t convey how breathtaking this privately-owned estate is—and it’s free, and open to the public. I removed my shoes and walked barefoot in the soft, green grass. It was heavenly! I think Eden must have looked like this garden!

We got back on our bikes to explore more parks and beaches in the area before stopping for the night at our hotel in Two Rivers, WI. We ate several great meals on this trip, and even sampled the famous Wisconsin Cheese Curds.

Rain was forecast for the following day, but thankfully, we made it back to Manitowoc without getting wet. Once there, we visited the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, and toured the USS Cobia, a WWII era submarine. One of the museum’s displays chronicled the approximately 1,500 shipwrecks lying beneath Lake Michigan, including “The Phoenix,” which I featured in my novel “Waves of Mercy.”

It was a little unnerving to read about shipwrecks because the stormy weather had arrived with 6-to-8-foot waves by the time we were ready to re-board for the trip home. Rain lashed the ship, which rocked from side to side the entire way, making it a challenge for a land-lubber like me to walk without staggering. But we arrived safely home again, bringing lots of great memories with us.

One of my favorite sights on the trip was this enormous willow tree along the shoreline of the lake. It must be hundreds of years old, and has probably survived hundreds of storms in its lifetime. Psalm 1, which is one of my favorites, compares a righteous person to a thriving tree like this one, planted by the water.

The psalm says that “Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.” It’s much too easy to follow the crowd, walking in the way of popular culture. It’s even easier to sit at our computers and join in with the mockers, ridiculing those we disagree with. But blessed is the person who doesn’t do those things. “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night.”

Someone asked Jesus which was the most important Law—the one we should meditate on day and night. He replied that we must love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves. What would my life be like if I meditated on His words every morning and asked Him to help me love God with all that I am? And what if I asked how I can love my neighbor today? And my enemies? It’s increasingly clear that Christians have enemies in this world who mock us and seek to silence us. When I read the news headlines, fear washes over me like those powerful waves. But God is in control. Perhaps for every hour I spend reading the news, I should spend another hour in prayer!

The psalm ends with this promise: “The Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” When the storms of this world rage, those of us who are righteous in Christ Jesus will look just like that magnificent tree, “planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.”  I long to stand tall and solid like that tree.

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A Sweet Aroma

We could smell the beautiful fragrance of lavender as soon as we stepped from the car. It drifted on the breeze and grew in strength as we walked from the parking lot toward the rows and rows of pastel-colored plants on the Lavender-Life farm in Caledonia, Michigan. We were told that the plants were past their peak, and that we’d missed the harvest festival by one week. I couldn’t imagine it smelling any more beautiful than it did.

I don’t know about you, but I often don’t notice smells unless they are unusually beautiful—like this farm—or potently horrible—like the pig farm we passed on the way here. Sitting on our back porch at home, we often smell the lovely aroma of evening campfires from the nearby state campground. Or the delicious smell of barbeque when our neighbors fire up their grill. Lately, though, we have noticed the faint stench of something dead in the vicinity of our back deck. We’ve searched and searched for a dead animal, but haven’t found it. The smell of death is always unwelcome, while the fragrance of roses or pine needles or lavender is invigorating.

Have you noticed that a smell can trigger memories? The scent of cigars always reminds me of my grandfather, who loved to smoke them. The smell of a new book brings memories of working in our village library where my mother was the librarian. Newly mown grass reminds me of long, lazy, summer days—even though I had to take a turn at mowing the grass when I was a kid.

Our sense of smell is amazing. I wasn’t one of the unfortunate people who lost their ability to smell when I had Covid, but I sympathize with them. Without smell, food loses its taste. At the lavender farm’s snack bar, we can sample lavender-infused lemonade, lavender scones, and lavender cheesecake. The gift shop offers multiple products, such as lotions, bath oils, and a lavender-scented candle to bring home. I love that one candle can fill our home with perfume—and maybe overpower the scent of death near our back porch. With the gorgeous fragrance of lavender all around us, it’s easy to understand why aromatherapy soothes and calms us when we’re stressed.

Fragrance is also an important part of worship in the Old Testament. After the flood in Genesis, Noah offered a sacrifice to God and “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in His heart; ‘Never again will I . . . destroy all living creatures” (Genesis 8:21). The pleasing aroma of the sacrifices became a regular part of Israel’s worship in the Tabernacle and later the Temple. Added to it was the specially-formulated incense that was burned daily in the Holy Place, and represented the prayers of the people ascending to heaven.

The same imagery is used of Christ in the New Testament where it says “Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Eph 5:2). When the Philippian church took up a collection to share with those in need, Paul called their gift “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God” (Phil 4:18). As members of Christ’s body, this is the picture of us that is shown in 2 Corinthians: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.” Just as the fragrant lavender plants fill the air with their aroma simply by growing and flourishing and flowering, we also can spread the knowledge of Christ like a beautiful fragrance wherever we go. “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved” (2:14-16). My words and actions can poison the air with the scent of death, or perfume it with Christ’s love. I hope the things I say and do spread a fragrance that’s as potent and soothing as a lavender farm.

Pause and inhale a deep breath . . . what do you smell? What memories or images does it bring to mind? Do you know someone whose presence in your life is like sweet perfume?

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Course Correction

            Ken and I traveled halfway across the country on vacation recently, using our car’s GPS navigation system to keep us on course. Along the way, if we made a wrong turn or took an unexpected detour, or got off at a different exit, the system got us back on track so we could reach our destination. Our old GPS used to say “recalculating” (in a rather annoyed voice) whenever we made a mistake, so we knew right away that we had goofed. But this new system is more patient and doesn’t comment on our errors as it quietly guides us back to the right road.

            While driving those long hours, Ken and I reminisced about our long journey together for these (nearly) 54 years. We both admitted to making some dumb decisions over the years, whether in haste, or fear, or perhaps a lack of trust in God. We wished we had chosen differently, or had waited, or had asked for advice and help. Yet in hindsight, we saw that God, like our GPS, faithfully got us back on track, even when it meant navigating some scary, bumpy roads.

            My most glaring wrong turn came after I hastily signed a one-year teaching contract. I had finished writing my first novel and had found a publisher who was interested in it. But after I’d waited nearly a year for a contract, the publishing company decided to reject my book. I knew it could take another year, at least, to get that far with another publisher, so I put the manuscript in a drawer and signed a teaching contract. I didn’t pray about it or ask anyone’s advice. To be honest, I was angry with God for the long wait and discouraging result, so I gave up trying to become a writer. I started walking in the wrong direction because I hadn’t yet realized that God had called me to be a writer. It was His chosen destination for me, and He was determined to get me back on track.

            Three times during that year of teaching I ended up in the doctor’s office—with three different illnesses that got progressively more painful. Each time, the doctor told me my symptoms were the result of stress. Several different factors in that school system made that teaching job one of the most stressful experiences I’ve ever had. But I finally got the hint. It was time for a course correction.

            I thought of Jonah, who traveled in the opposite direction from God’s calling and ended up in the belly of a whale.

Even from there, God could “recalculate” Jonah’s journey and get him back on track after Jonah repented. I didn’t want to end up inside a whale, so I started writing again while I waited for my teaching contract to end. I began to see success when several of my magazine articles were published. You know how the story ends—with 30 published books, 2 novellas, and 2 non-fiction books. All by the grace and leading of God.

            Ken and I thought of a few more examples of God’s course corrections that have occurred throughout our married life. Those detours and the lessons we learned from them are much easier to see in hindsight. But our journey could have been much smoother if we hadn’t taken a wrong turn in the first place. In one of my favorite promises from the Psalms, God offers this guidance: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you” (Psalm 32:8). I just need to remember to ask, and then set my navigation system to His destination.

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A Lesson From The Trees

Every fall, when the green trees of summer turn into barren branches, I always think of my sister, Bonnie, who passed away in November, some years ago. The afternoon was gray and bleak as we stood at her graveside, and the trees all around us, clothed in black, seemed to be mourning with us. Her death felt so final. So permanent. Yet I knew if I returned there in the spring, those trees would be alive again, resurrected from the death of winter as the earth tilted back toward the sun’s life-giving warmth and light. The seasons serve as a reminder to me that Christ has conquered death. Like those trees, my sister Bonnie and other loved ones are still alive, awaiting the resurrection of their bodies at Christ’s return.

I sometimes wonder how Adam and Eve felt as the seasons changed from summer to fall to winter for the first time in their lives. God had said they would die if they ate the forbidden fruit, and during the first autumn they were banned from the garden, they experienced death for the first time. But the trees weren’t dead, they were simply waiting for spring. Adam lived to be 930 years old, so he had many opportunities to witness the cycle of seasons, and to watch springtime conquer the death of winter again and again, bringing hope.

There have been several small “deaths” in my life recently, that have brought an end to seasons in my life that I have enjoyed. A favorite vacation spot was destroyed by a hurricane, ending our yearly vacations there. Health issues for us and our friends forced changes to activities we’ve enjoyed. Changes in leadership and worship at our church caused me to leave and seek fellowship and worship someplace else. These are just small examples, but they are representative of the losses we all experience many times over in this life. One season comes to an end, and it seems like death has won. But God isn’t surprised by change. He can create new life from our losses if we turn to Him in trust.

I’m reminded of the story in the Book of Acts, when Christians began to be persecuted after the death of their first martyr, Stephen. The close fellowship they had enjoyed in Jerusalem came to an end, and the young church was scattered. Yet the death of the Jerusalem church brought about the birth of new churches all over the known world. The Apostle Philip traveled to Samaria with the Good News, and “there was great joy in that city” (Acts 8:8). Death brought new life.

All three of the main characters in my newest novel, “All My Secrets,” face change after the death of the family patriarch. His wife Sylvia wrestles with grief and loss, and the changes his death have brought to her life. She is offered this advice: “Change is never easy, is it? . . . But it’s the only certainty in life. And I think you may find that the challenge of doing something new will help you move forward.” None of us enjoy having our lives turned upside down, yet change is natural from the time we leave the womb until life’s end. It’s difficult to embrace something new if we’re still clinging to the old, becoming bitter about what we’ve lost. But as Sylvia will learn, the best path through grief is to accept the challenge of doing something new, allowing God to reshape us, and make us stronger. Death is not the end of the story. We can wait in hope that God will bring renewed life—perhaps in surprising ways—as we turn to His warmth and light.

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The Very Best Christmas Gifts

Do you remember the sweet wonder of Christmas when you were a child? The tree with all its trimmings, Grandma’s cookies, the familiar carols—and Christmas presents! I remember waking up on Christmas morning, so excited to see all the gifts beneath the tree.

Years later, I would run around town shopping for the special toys that my own children wanted for Christmas. A Cabbage Patch doll for my daughter. Lego sets for my sons.

Why spend so much effort? Because we love the special people in our lives and long to experience the joy of watching them open their gifts.

We have a Heavenly Father who loves us even more than we love our children—I know, that seems impossible! He also delights in giving us gifts. The Bible says “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights…” So, here are some very special gifts for you:

To: God’s beloved children

From: Your heavenly Father.”

JESUS

We celebrate Christmas every year remembering that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son.” What wondrous love is this, that moved God to give His Son as a helpless baby so we could become children of God?

When we see the infant Jesus in the manger, we also see the cross. Jesus came to die for our sins, so we could be reunited with our Heavenly Father. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” The gift of Christ is freely offered to each of us. All we need to do is accept it.

THE HOLY SPIRIT

 Jesus told His disciples: “Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift my Father promised…” His followers received the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost and received the power to transform the world. We can do the same. Peter preached, “Repent and be baptized…and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

The Holy Spirit guides us when we need wisdom; comforts us when we grieve; opens scripture to us so we can understand God’s word; empowers us to live like Jesus; and enables us to be fruitful for His kingdom. 

And there is also a gift within this gift. The Holy Spirit gives spiritual gifts to each of us “to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Sadly, some people never open or develop their gifts. The Apostle Paul told Timothy “Do not neglect your gift, which was given to you…”  “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you…” All we need to do is freely accept the gift of The Holy Spirit.

These generous gifts would be more than enough, but God gives us even more.

LIFE

He gives us “the gracious gift of LIFE!” Hear these words of the psalmist as if they were spoken directly to you: “For God created your inmost being; He knit you together in your mother’s womb. . . When you were woven together in the depths of the earth, God’s eyes saw your unformed body. All the days ordained for you were written in God’s book before one of them came to be.”

Life is a gift that comes with so much joy! Yet sorrow and loss are also a part of life in a fallen world. Jesus promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you,” and He hasn’t! We’ve sensed His presence in difficult times. We’ve experienced His care through members of His Body as they’ve used spiritual gifts such as compassion and wisdom.

For those of us who know Christ, whether we look back at our life, or forward to the future, we have the assurance that our life has meaning and purpose. We were created for a reason. We are part of God’s redemption plan that began in Genesis when He promised a Savior, and will continue until the end of the age when “The kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ. And he shall reign forever and ever.”

Even though we can’t see how our struggles fit into His plan, we can trust His love and goodness, and “Know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

So, here we are, in this place and time in history, blessed with life from the Father. A wonderful life. A purposeful life.

And there is still more!

ETERNAL LIFE

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” We need only to accept His gracious gift of eternal life.

It’s a Christmas Tradition to not only receive gifts, but to give them in return. Yet what gift can we possibly give our Heavenly Father? The hymn writer Isaac Watts summed up my feelings the best when he wrote this:

“Were whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small.

Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all!” 

May we offer these gifts to God who has freely given us so much!

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The Joy of The Torah

“Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law . . . Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:18, 105)

This past year I have been studying the Torah—Genesis through Deuteronomy—with a dear, Jewish friend. She reads each verse in Hebrew, then I read it in English and we discuss it together. The version we’re studying includes short commentaries on the text from Jewish sages. She is also teaching me a little Hebrew, which has increased my understanding of the verses a great deal. We’re in the last book now, and nearly finished, but what we’re doing isn’t a scholarly endeavor. It’s merely two friends from different backgrounds, sharing God’s Word and talking about how it relates to our everyday lives.

I’m also learning a lot about the Jewish holidays from my friend, and the deeper meaning behind them. The latest one, celebrated in the fall, is Simchat Torah, which means “the joy of Torah” in Hebrew. The Jewish people divide the first five books of the Bible into daily portions so they can read the entire Torah in one year. Jews all over the world read the same portion every day, and it’s a tradition to discuss each week’s reading during the Sabbath meal.

On Simchat Torah, the last chapter of Deuteronomy is completed, and the Torah scroll is rolled back to Genesis so they can begin reading all over again. The holiday is celebrated with singing and dancing and great joy. The Torah is taken from the sacred ark where it’s kept and people take turns dancing with it, holding it high above their heads. There’s joy in completing the Torah but also in anticipating a new beginning, reading the familiar stories, and seeing what new insights and lessons can be learned. It’s a reminder that even a lifetime of study can’t exhaust all that the Bible has to offer.

I love the idea of rejoicing and celebrating Holy scripture. The Bible is a treasured gift to us from God that I don’t ever want to take for granted. In it, the Creator of the Universe has revealed Himself to us as “the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished” (Exodus 34:6). Scripture also reveals who we are—God’s children, created in His image, rescued from sin through faith in Jesus. It instructs us how to live as His redeemed children, and promises a glorious future in heaven with Him. I thank God for the Bible, His holy Word to us.

It was on this beautiful holiday of Simchat Torah that Hamas terrorists massacred and kidnapped more than a thousand innocent men, women, and children in Israel. I don’t believe the day was chosen randomly. For one thing, Israelis were celebrating the holiday and weren’t on high alert. But I also believe that the reason the enemies of the Jewish people have sought to annihilate them throughout the centuries—whether it’s Hamas, Hitler, or Haman—is because Jews are people of The Book. God speaks to us in His Word, and the ultimate goal of His enemies is to silence God and erase all traces of His will for His creation. Without scripture, there is no moral law, so “anything goes.” There is no concept that we’re created in His image, so humans can be slaughtered or abused or enslaved indiscriminately. And without God’s revelation of Who He is, mankind can make gods in their own image and worship them in a multitude of pagan ways.

As Christians, we not only have the heritage of God’s written Word, but also the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Living Word. Do we take advantage of this treasure and read it every day? Most of us faithfully feed our bodies three times a day, but what about feeding our souls? Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy 8:3 when He said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). I like to think of daily Bible reading as receiving a daily email from God, reminding me of His great love and instructing me how to live each day. I don’t want to become so busy that His email remains unopened in my inbox.

I wish we had a yearly celebration of joy like Simchat Torah to thank God for speaking to us and showing us the way of salvation. Since we don’t, maybe I’ll borrow the day from my Jewish friends and dance with my Bible in joy and thanksgiving.

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A Time To Speak

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under Heaven … a time to be silent and a time to speak”

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7

I’ve often wondered what I would have done if I had lived through the horrific years of Nazi occupation in Europe. Would I have had the courage to speak out against the persecution of Jews? Would I have joined a resistance movement or risked hiding Jews in my home like Corrie Ten Boom’s family did? Their courage led to their imprisonment in a concentration camp where Corrie’s father and her sister Betsy died. Corrie tells their story in her autobiography “The Hiding Place.”

I’ve researched and written two novels that are set in those perilous times of Nazi rule. I’ve read dozens of first-person accounts of heroic Christians—ordinary, everyday people like you and me—who decided to take a stand at the risk of their own lives. Many of those heroes, such as Diet Eman’s fiancé, Hein, did not survive. She tells how they rescued Jews in her book “Things We Couldn’t Say.” I once had the privilege of hearing Diet Eman speak, and she said, “If you had been there, you would have done the same thing.” I wonder.

In my novel “Chasing Shadows,” set in the Netherlands, I used true accounts of Nazi atrocities and the people who resisted them, gathered from survivors’ memoirs. In “Long Way Home” I told the true story of the S.S. St. Louis, which sailed from Germany in May, 1939 with 900 Jewish passengers who were desperate to escape Nazi persecution. They had purchased landing permits for Havana, Cuba, but when they arrived, the Cuban authorities refused to honor the permits. Neither the United States nor Canada would take in the refugees. Few people in the U.S. spoke up for them. Again, I wonder what I would have done. In the end, the ship returned to Europe, putting the Jews in Nazi hands once again. We all know how that ended.

After World War II and the deaths of 6 million Jews, there was a worldwide outcry to allow the Jews to resettle in their homeland, Israel. Those Jews who had managed to survive the holocaust had nowhere else to go. Many of their homes had been looted and stolen, and many of their former neighbors had been complicit in handing them over to the Nazis. So, they made Israel their new home. The day after the United Nations declared Israel a nation, their surrounding neighbors declared war.

Seventy-five years after the Nazis were defeated, anti-Semitism is still alive and growing in the world. I’ve heard people say that this current war in Israel is a political issue, but I believe it is much more than that. How else can the long succession of hatred and persecution of Jews throughout the centuries be explained? I think of Haman. Herod. Hitler. And now Hamas and Hezbollah. Political aims can never justify the terrorizing and slaughter of innocent Jewish men, women, and children. It’s time to stand up and speak out.

I’ve asked my Jewish friends what Christians can do. Here is their response:

“Gather in your churches and pray for Israel and for Jewish communities. Post about it. Voice support for Israel. We need to see Corrie Ten Booms.”

            “This is the time for all Christians to stand up for the Jewish people. Speak to your mayor, speak to any leaders that you know in your community and encourage them to pray and reach out to the Jewish communities.”

“Let us see and hear from Christian communities that they care and are praying for us.”

Psalm 94 pleads:

“Rise up, O judge of the earth . . . How long will the wicked, O Lord, how long will the wicked be jubilant?”

Then it asks God’s people this question:

“Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?”

Here I am, Lord. I want to use my platform as a bestselling author to take a stand and speak up.

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Greetings From Germany!

Greetings from beautiful Germany! I’m writing this month’s blog while Ken and I are on a book tour with my German publisher, Francke. The German translation of my newest book, Long Way Home has just been released over here. I hope you’re enjoying some of the pictures I’ve been posting on Facebook and Instagram.

I’m traveling by car all across the country with the publishing team, sometimes giving two speeches a day to groups as large as 200 people in bookstores and churches. Ken plays his trumpet and I share God’s Word through a translator, telling how to find hope in God during difficult times. Our goal isn’t only to publicize the book but to spread the good news of God’s love.

I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to do this with Ken, and I sometimes have to pinch myself to see if I’m dreaming. When we married 53 years ago, neither of us could have ever imagined being used by God in such an amazing way.

I wish I could describe how thrilling it is to be among hundreds of Christians, singing God’s praises in German to familiar tunes such as “Bless the Lord, O My Soul,” and “In Christ Alone I place My Trust.” It’s a little taste of heaven when we’ll be part of a great multitude from every tribe and nation, praising God together.

I’m struck by how at home I feel here.  Even with the language barrier between us, we feel like brothers and sisters. That’s because we are all children of God and citizens of His kingdom. In my devotions this morning, I read the passage in 2 Samuel 7 where God promises King David that “your house and your kingdom will endure forever before Me; your throne will be established forever” (v.16). That promise is fulfilled in King David’s descendant, Jesus Christ. Our true citizenship isn’t in the U.S. or Germany but in the kingdom Jesus came to establish.

It seems like so many things divide us these days. But when we’re part of Christ’s kingdom, national barriers disappear, and racial and ethnic barriers become meaningless. We’re children of God and citizens of Christ’s kingdom. We’re His ambassadors and representatives in a broken world. Whether at home or abroad, speaking to hundreds of people or just one, I pray that I can reflect His character and His love wherever I go. 

Thank you for your prayers!

Lynn

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Offering Hope

I’m often asked why I write novels. The short answer is, “because I want to offer readers hope.” I’ve always loved to read, but the theme of so many books seems to be, “Life is hard and then you die.” I agree that life is hard—but God is good. And I want to share my faith in a good and loving God in my stories. I place the characters in my books in difficult situations to show how trusting God brings meaning and hope to even our worst heartaches.

My biblical novel “Gods and Kings,” tells the story of King Hezekiah, a good and godly king who cleaned up his father’s idolatry, purified God’s temple, and turned his nation back to God. “In everything he did…Hezekiah sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.” This is how we want our lives to go, isn’t it? When we follow God we should be happy and blessed. Bad things shouldn’t happen to good people.

But then the Bible says: “After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done…then the king of Assyria came and invaded” his nation. The Assyrians were the most powerful army the world had ever seen. Hezekiah’s tiny army was hopelessly outnumbered.

And that’s where we find ourselves so many times. After all we have faithfully done, trying to follow God, trying to do what’s right . . . then disaster.  It’s natural to ask God ‘why?’

Two years ago, our son married a lovely Christian woman and adopted her son as his own. They were faithfully following God . . . then our son fell at work when his ladder collapsed. He broke his pelvis, and shattered his shoulder. He was still recovering from two surgeries when he learned that he no longer had a job. 

We typically react in one of three ways when we’re suffering. First, we can become angry and give up on God since He seems to have given up on us. But when we turn away from God, we often end up depressed and in despair. This is what happens to one of the characters in my novel “Long Way Home.” As an Army medic in World War Two, he had witnessed so much suffering that he lost his faith and tried to end his own life. When we turn away from God, we have no one else to turn to.

A second reaction to suffering is to try to rely on our own strength and plans. This is what King Hezekiah’s father, King Ahaz did. When an enemy threatened his nation, Ahaz sacrificed his own sons to the fire-god Molech, and made a bad situation much worse.

Waiting is hard. God doesn’t operate on our timetables. Our struggles may take years to resolve, but scripture says, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall soar on wings like eagles. They shall run and not grow weary. They shall walk and not grow faint.”  Waiting and trusting God makes us stronger and deepens our faith.

The third way we can react to suffering is to give the situation to God. We can say, “Here are all the broken pieces of my life. I can’t fix it. But You can.” We may have to keep trusting Him even if we don’t see any evidence that He’s answering our prayers. But “In every situation, God is working behind the scenes in a thousand ways that we may never see or know about.”

After everything that King Hezekiah had so faithfully done, 185,000 enemy soldiers surrounded Jerusalem and demanded his surrender. Their commander shouted to Hezekiah and all the people on the city walls. “The gods of all the other nations didn’t help them, and your God won’t help you, either! Surrender before you all starve to death!”

Hezekiah went up to God’s temple and laid the enemy’s threats before God. He fell on his knees and prayed, “O Lord, You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. Hear, O Lord, how the enemy has mocked you. Deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms on earth may know that you alone are God.”

Did Hezekiah surrender? Was his nation invaded and defeated? I’m leaving you without an answer because this is where so many of us are right now. We’re in a situation without a resolution—yet. Our son is still healing from his injuries. He still doesn’t have a job. He’s learning to wait, to trust, and to draw closer to God. 

We might have to wait a lifetime to see how God has worked everything together for our good and for His glory. But I write novels like “Gods and Kings” to offer you hope as you wait and trust. In a novel, the whole story unrolls in a few hundred pages and we see how God has been working behind the scenes. It’s my prayer that through my stories, you can get a glimpse of how God might also be working in your life. You can trust Him as you wait and pray and believe. Life is hard—but God is good.

oninFaith, Life
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Have a Memorable Vacation–Maybe?

“Tell us about a memorable summer vacation.” At a luncheon with my publishing company, recently, the sales team and I were asked to do just that. I heard about a lot of interesting vacations from the other team members, and as I awaited my turn, dozens of great memories came to mind. A tour through seven European countries with Ken and our kids. A bicycle trip around Europe’s Lake Konstance with our son, Ben. A road trip early in our marriage from Connecticut to Anchorage, Alaska. Camping on Cape Cod with my parents and two sisters. Long, lazy summer days at my grandparents’ home in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains.

But the memorable vacation I settled on—and it had been the first one that popped into my mind—was a camping trip we took with our kids when they were young to visit some of America’s national parks. We lived in Canada at the time, and Ken had learned that if we bought a U.S. National Parks’ pass, we could visit all the parks for free. It was a bargain too good to pass up. We set off in our Toyota station wagon, pulling a borrowed “pop-up” tent trailer, and headed south and west, starting with Rocky Mountain National Park.

Hundreds of miles and many scenic wonders later, we arrived at the Grand Canyon in time to watch the sunset. Magnificent! Up until that time, we had been able to camp along the way without any trouble. But all the campsites at the Grand Canyon were full. It seems most people are wise enough to make reservations in advance. The Grand Canyon is in the middle of nowhere, so the only other campgrounds were a 2-hour drive back in the direction we had just traveled.

After a spirited discussion about our lack of planning, we decided to park the car and trailer in a parking lot behind one of the lodges for the night. Ominous signs are posted all over the park warning of stiff fines for camping anywhere except in designated sites, so we decided not to “pop-up” the pop-up. Technically, we would not be “camping.” So, we emptied the car and spent the night sleeping in our Toyota. Our two sons slept in the driver’s and front passenger’s seats, tilted back as far as they would go. We folded down the back seat, and Ken and I and our 6-year-old daughter slept in the back of the station wagon. I use the term “slept” very loosely. Throughout the night, I kept waiting for a park ranger to knock on the window and issue us a very expensive “no camping” ticket. My reply would have been, “Do we look like we’re camping?

But by morning, the entire parking lot was filled with vans, trailers, and motor homes. We weren’t the only ones who hadn’t made reservations. Our kids had slept quite well and were eager to begin exploring the park. Ken and I, on the other hand, were quite rumpled and disgruntled. At least we had drawn closer together as a family, I joked.

We visited many great national parks on that vacation and saw a lot of magnificent sights. When we returned home, I asked the kids what they remembered and liked the best, and guess what they said? “The night we slept in the car at the Grand Canyon.”

Isn’t life like that, though? A lot of days and weeks and months pass by when we do the same-old, same-old, and nothing seems particularly memorable. But it’s those challenging times when the unexpected happens that seem to make a much deeper impression. I spent hundreds of blissful summer days at my grandparents’ home in the Pennsylvania woods, but which one is most memorable? The dark night of torrential rain when the dam upriver threatened to break and we were forced to evacuate to higher ground. We sent up a lot of prayers that night!

I find that it’s in challenging times like that long-ago, rainy night that we draw closest to God and cling the hardest to Him. We can forget that we even need Him when the sun shines and everything goes according to plan. Perhaps that’s why He allows us to go through those wilderness times. Not only do we draw closer to Him, but we also learn important lessons about His power, and faithfulness, and love for us. We learn we can trust Him, and that makes the experience deeply memorable.

So, what’s your most memorable summer vacation?

I would wish you all a memorable summer vacation this year, but maybe you would rather have a quiet, uneventful one, instead.

oninFaith, Life
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