The Year of Grace

Excerpt Chapter 19 – Stand At The Cross Road: March, April, and May are crucial months for a retreat camp. They promise the best weather for outdoor activities, and the natural surroundings abound with the wonderment of new life.

            Our spring at Cross Roads was packed with so much commotion that it passed in a hectic blur. No kitchen at the camp, meant that every weekend both our homes were invaded by three or four people busily cooking three meals a day plus snacks, which we would then load into my suburban and haul down to hungry campers.

            And it was fun. When I was younger, I didn’t want people dropping in on me because my house might not be perfect. I was too insecure to be a particularly social person, so I didn’t have much company. Cross Roads changed all that. Cooking meals together was a joyfully communal endeavor, with Carol in charge bossing us around. I loved it.

                                          Carol Moreland    Melissa Dunn     Debbie Batts

ALL GLORY TO GOD! This is His story, please help me get it published  We are SO close just 3 Fans away...Re-posting this on your Facebook page AND asking your friends to become fans will help reach the goal of 200 Fans.  Remember, publishers look for a minimum of 200 fans to indicate a potential market for a book.  ... This is a story of how He still works today in and through individual lives. It is ultimately a story of the healing, hope and purpose available to everyone.

The Cross Walk

Excerpt from Chapter 18 – Stand At The Cross Roads: Unknown to the campers, people had been gathering at my house all morning, getting into costume and practicing their lines. Scott was nervous and uncomfortable about the enormous responsibility of portraying Jesus. He was determined not to put any words in Jesus’ mouth, to stick strictly with scripture whenever he spoke.

            Appearing at the top of the hill in costume, Scott started the Living History "Walk with Jesus" by beckoning to the campers.

            "Come, follow me," he called, and they ran to join him.

197 Fans  

Three more to go for the minimum needed to show publishers the book has a following!  

I KNOW you've got three more friends that would LOVE to become FANS!!!! 

Winter Rains

Happy St. Patick's Day!  

We're up to 191 Fans!!! 

THANK YOU!

Excerpt from Chapter 17 – Stand At The Cross Roads: Meanwhile, our little family continued suffering from too much togetherness. Four people in a space the size of a small apartment were often three too many. When we moved there from the rental house in Chriesman, I'd put all my furniture in storage, except for my bed. Scott and Jennifer’s furniture was wall-to-wall in our tiny living area. Even our clothes were crowded, because houses built back then had no closets.

            So we were popping out at the seams. As we continued with the mountainous repair work our pet goats, Dave and Judy, poked their heads up through the floorboards to watch. The tensions grew as the house seemed to get smaller by the day. 

Busy Hands, Busy Minds

Excerpt from Chapter 16 – Stand At The Cross Roads: For two months I was a basket case, anxiously waiting for the church to notify the winning bidder. Fortunately, with our frenetic schedule, I actually had little time to fret. We were determined to finish the cabins for overnight campers by spring.

            My friend, Mary, hosted a jumbo garage sale in the Baker Exploration parking lot in College Station, where she worked. She collected items from all over the Brazos Valley. Her garage sale raised $1,200, and after other folks chipped in with monetary donations, we finally had enough money to finish out the cabins and ready the camp for overnight retreats.

             Over the next two months we scheduled several volunteer workdays. Scott’s grand father, Jerell Fromme, helped with wiring. Vickie Novosad, her daughter Jennifer, and Brady Rockett from my church, Carol and her boys, friends Mike and Debbie Batts, my cousin, Mark Hellums, drove out from Austin to help, Jim and Kay Smith from Bryan and many others came to pitch in. Together, we stapled rolls of insulation between the two-by-fours in the walls and ceiling, cut and nailed sheet rock over it, then taped, floated, textured and painted. 

At long last the cabins were done!

          Brady Rockett                                                                                             Jennifer Novosad  

14 more FANS and we reach 200!                         

Catacombs

Excerpt from Chapter 15 – Stand At The Cross Roads: After a short break, Jennifer called the group back together. She explained how the early Christians had been persecuted and had to worship in secret. She demonstrated the signs and symbols Christians had used to identify each other, such as a fish (the Icarus) or a dove. She showed pictures of the real Catacombs in Jerusalem and talked about the painted symbols that still remain on the sides of the caves to this day, symbols that let others know where the fugitive Christians met to worship. Soon she had the kids brainstorming scriptures and Bible stories, explaining that the early Christians had no Bibles and had to rely on their memories.

            Then each camper painted a flat rock with a Christian symbol of his or her choice. Leaving the pavilion single file, we tramped silently down the narrow wooded trail to our newly erected Catacombs. Sitting solemnly inside the dark "cave," lit only by the flames of small candles gripped tightly in their hands, they shared all of the scriptures and Bible stories they could recall. Only the flickering light reflected in their eyes betrayed the excitement they felt by experiencing the dangerous reality faced by the early Christians. Finally, they left their rocks embedded in the cave wall to show others they had been there before them.

            Everyone walked back to the camp humbled and inspired by the experience. Days like these kept us going.

Today we are at the halfway point in the book and we have 181 fans!   WOW!!!!!  Join with me in praying that by the end of the thirty days we double that number!  Nothing is impossible with God – Right?  So, if you haven't already please go to the Stand at the Cross Roads Fan Page and click the “Become a Fan” button and then re-post this to YOUR Facebook page to encourage your friends to become Fans, too!  Let’s show those publishersthat contrary to what they think - people ARE interested in hearing about how God is still working in the lives of ordinary individuals today! Please pass it on!

Dumb 'n' Dumber

Excerpt from Chapter 14 – Stand At The Cross Roads: We hired the only house movers we could find who were available on such short notice. Available - that should have been a red flag...

We stared in disbelief at the shattered remnants of our house.

            "Okay, that’s it for today," Dumber said, loading up to leave. "We’re out of here."

            "See you on Saturday," Dumb added.

            That was two days away. Never mind that rain was on the horizon, with the two shattered halves of our house open to the elements. Never mind that we expected our first group of campers on Saturday and had no time to deal with protecting our investment from further ruin. Dumb 'n' Dumber were taking the weekend off.

            Too numb to cry, we erupted in righteous indignation and outright anger. What were we supposed to do now? Holding hands in front of our expensive piles of rubble, we prayed asking God just what He was thinking, and for guidance.

Before the move

After the move

                                                                                   
I can't thank each of you enough. Your support has completely overwhelmed me. This morning we reached 179 fans!  If you haven't already please go to the Stand at the Cross Roads Fan Page and click the “Become a Fan” button and then re-post this to YOUR Facebook page to encourage your friends to become Fans, too!  200 is the magic number publishers look for to see if a book might have an audience. I know in my heart that God wants this story told.  It is a true story about how His faithfulness, grace and providence is as relevant today as it was in ancient times.  Please pass it on!

The Barn Raising

The Barn Raising

Excerpt from Chapter 13 – Stand At The Cross Roads: Mid morning we sighted a truck at the bottom of the hill slipping and sliding, wheels spinning, as it attempted to pull a heavy trailer loaded with picnic tables up the drive. Half way to the top, it surrendered to the intractable mud. Within minutes, a swarm of volunteers encircled the truck and bravely mud-wrestled the tables the rest of the way up.

            Work details formed and dispersed to begin construction. Amazingly, women out numbered the men, and dripping wet, they wielded hammers, nail guns, saws, and all manner of tools as if they'd worked construction all their lives.

WHOO! HOO! 175 Fans as of this morning!   Keep spreading the word about joining the Fan Page and we'll get this book published before you know it!!!!!