A Time To Fish Or Cut Bait!

Excerpt from Chapter 4 - Stand At The Cross Roads:  Cross Roads wasn't going to save my marriage.  With the nauseating realization that I was starting over again, I began the legal process of disentangling our two lives.  I had no idea how I could carry on with what I knew God had called me to do.  I'd been out of the work force for quite some time, was at an age where few prospects for meaningful employment were available, and was facing the reality of leaving the marriage with minimal resources.

For my entire life, I'd heard calls to faith, countless calls to rely on God.  Where God guides He provides. Was it true or not?   If not, then I'd wasted a lot of time in church.   It was time to decide what I really believed.   It was time to fish or cut bait.

The Eyes Of My Heart Opened

Excerpt from Chapter 3 – Stand At The Cross Roads:  Sitting there beneath the oak trees, the thought occurred to me that if I could do anything in the world for the rest of my life, this would be it: Provide a place where God can break through the chaos of everyday life to touch, change, and empower young people. Watching the kids this weekend experiencing their spirituality at a deeper level than most adults experience in a lifetime, a striking revelation had hit me. Most youth camps I’d ever heard of were missing the point, with their swimming pools, basketball courts, and all the latest jazziest equipment for entertaining kids.  Those same distractions existed in kids’ everyday lives.  Here in this minimal, unsophisticated camp, they had embraced the simplicity of faith.

What might have changed in my life had I experienced God in this way at an early age? I realized then that I would give anything to help save one child, one person, from the pain of making some of the mistakes I’d made.

God's Guide Posts: Learn as You Go

Excerpt from Chapter 2: Stand at the Cross Roads   
I knew nothing about using a chainsaw, but God placed one in my hands anyway.  I knew nothing about moving a house, but God gave me one anyway - and boy, did I fail that test, at least the first time around.  Before doing that, however, he gave me 160 acres, thick with yaupon scrub and thorny greenbrier vines.  He expected me to clear the land and build a retreat.

In preparation, many, many years before that, He gave me three beautiful children....

Daughters Jennifer on my right and Nina on my left.   (Son - Jeremy not pictured)

In pursuing the goal of publication, I need at LEAST 200 Fans, as recommended by several Literary Agents!  If you enjoy following the story, please recommend this Fan Page to your friends and family! 

Discovering Community

Excerpt from Chapter 1:  Stand at the Cross Roads - The youth program's mission at my Houston church was to provide fellowship, build faith-forming relationships, learn to live life abundantly, and to worship passionately.  Although I'd always known intellectually that Jesus is there for us, I'd never realized that one way He accomplishes this feat is by working through His people.  In guiding me to volunteer with the youth program, He gave me the opportunity to learn.   I was learning what I taught as I taught it.  Yet as I coached these kids to be open, trusting, accepting, and to seek support and guidance from their Christian friends, I felt like a complete fraud.

 

Markers In Our Faith

I have heard from several publishers and agents with input on the "process" of getting a manuscript published. The advice ranged from "re-evaluate your commitment" to "embrace the challenge".   Rest assured I am continuing to work toward the goal of publication!  

Several agencies recommended building a following for the proposed book by blogging, so, I'm gonna get better at blogging.  Stand at the Cross Roads consists of an introduction and thirty-three chapters. Starting now I will publish a short except from each of the thirty-three chapters, one every day for the next thirty-four days.  Today's excerpt will be from the Introduction which was written by someone  near and dear to many of you. 

My goal is to attract between 200 to 500 "followers", as recommended by several agents.  If you like what you read - please officially join this blog by becoming a Follower and share this link with your friends.   Blessings to each and every one of you and thank you so much for your prayerful support of Stand at the Cross Roads as God guides it through "the process"!

 INTRODUCTION            

 Markers In Our Faith 

"I feel the spirit of God when I go through the gate at Cross Roads, and I like to think it is also the spirit of all the people whose lives have been changed and are being changed as you read the story of faith in the pages that follow.  If we were to place a plaque to mark the spots where the lives of men, women and youth were transformed at Cross Roads, we would be surrounded by names - in the conference room, the dining hall, the chapel, the outdoor tabernacle, the prayer trail, the ropes course and everywhere in between."   

Rev. John Warren

St. John's United Methodist Church 

Rockdale, Texas

ROT

Today's excerpt from Stand at the Cross Roads:

"The state of decay was irreversible. Not only were the buildings unusable, they were also unmovable. A pine tree had fallen through the roof of one. Others were rotten from the ground up or had gaping holes in their roofs.

            Our hopes, which had been so high, nosedived at the dizzying speed of light.

            "Oh, sure, they need a little fixing up," Mr Strube said. "Y’all can do that, strong young man, three strong young women."

            "I’m not sure," I stammered. Concealing the depth of our disappointment from the gracious gentlemen and his wife was impossible.

            "It'd be a help to us both," he persisted. "Y’all need the buildings to get started, I need the land cleared and a tax receipt. A wonderful opportunity all around."

            Scott and Jennifer were dumbstruck. Mr. Strube’s precious camp buildings were not an option.

            "We haven’t actually secured our tax exempt status," I reminded him.

            He chuckled and said four precious words I’ll never forget, "Just send it in."

            "But I’ve heard it’s not that easy to - "

            "Naw, don’t be afraid. Just do it. The IRS will mark it up in red ink and tell you what you need to fix. No one gets approved the first time. Y’all make the corrections, send it back in. May take two or three times. Let the IRS be your lawyer, and just don’t be afraid."

            The very next day I took our application out of the drawer and mailed it in. We’d done our part, now all we could do was wait. The wheels of the Internal Revenue Service turn extremely slow. Once again, however, God had sent an angel to open a door for us, and once again it wasn’t the door I expected to open."

As you know, The Upper Room passed on publishing Stand at the Cross Roads.  My husband, Pat, thinks that was a good thing.   He believes they were to small of an outfit to do it justice.  He's not prejudiced at all, ya' think?!   

Well, I've done my part.  The book is written and I've sent it to several Agents and posted it online with christianmanuscriptsubmissions.com!   It will be exciting to see what door God is going to open!

PLEASE JOIN THIS BLOG BY CLICKING THE  "BECOME A FOLLOWER" BUTTON ON THIS PAGE..... AND PASS IT ON TO A FRIEND, TOO!

One Foot in Front of the Other

This excerpt from " Stand at the Cross Roads" seems particularly relevant today....

"In the movie What About Bob? Bill Murray as Bob Wiley has been told by his therapist that he can do anything he wants if he takes it in baby steps. That is absolutely my favorite movie.

            Throughout the film, Bob is murmuring "…baby steps… baby steps… baby step to the elevator... baby step into the elevator..."

            At Cross Roads, we found ourselves so many days just putting one foot in front of the other, moving determinedly toward whichever current goal we’d set for ourselves. Occasionally, I found myself murmuring, just like Bob. "Baby steps, baby steps. Baby-steps to improve our houses… baby-step to enclose the pavilion…."

            As I looked back at the previous year, I couldn’t help wondering if God was using the massive boulders that kept bowling me over to teach me not to move so fast. Maybe He was saying to me, "Slow down, pay attention."

Why is this particular excerpt relevant?  Because yesterday I FINALLY received a letter from the Editorial Assistant at Upper Room Publishing informing me that while my "writing has merit" the proposal doesn't fit with their publishing goals.    She encouraged me to send it other publishers and wished me well.  Bummer.

However, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God wants this story of hope and His faithfulness published.  So, it's back to baby stepping!  

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