COURAGE: Guest Carol Stratton author of Changing Zip Codes

CAROL STRATTON, wife and mother of four, from Mooresville, North Carolina, is a writer and speaker. Her articles have been published in national magazines.. Her devotional, Changing Zip Codes: Finding Community Wherever You’re Transplanted published by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas, shares encouragement and humor learned in twenty-two moves. It’s available at: http://www.amazon.com/Changing-Zip-Codes-Community . Contact her at http://www.ChangingZipCodes.com/contact.

Part of the proceeds of the book go to Family Life for scholarships for military couples for their Weekend to Remember.



A NOTE FROM CAROL

I might mention I have a fund-raising event going on my FB page. I am asking people give me a birthday present on my birthday, Feb. 2nd (Groundhog's Day) The gift to me is to let me know a reader has made a contribution to Family Life for for military couples to be able to attend Weekend to Remember. Here's the link: http://www.changingzipcodes.com/give-me-a-birthday-present-pretty-please. I am matching anything donated. So far no responses but I really believe in what they are doing for the military . Military marriages have had a sixty percent increase in divorce in the last few years....that an increase.

CHANGING ZIP CODES

Courage for the little things…

For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right
hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
Isaiah 41:13 NIV

Sometimes I feel like I have courage for the larger things in life, like surviving a car accident, giving birth to a premature son, or spending time living in a foreign country. It’s the little things where I fail, like fearing the walk into an unfamiliar church, unpacking and organizing a sea of
boxes in my family room, or getting oriented to a new town. Yes, can fly across the globe to a Bible college in New Zealand, but, “Please God, don’t put me on a freeway two miles away from
my new house!”

Our Heavenly Father offers courage for all situations. He doesn’t rate our need and say, “You’re on your own for this situation; it’s only a 2.4 on the fear scale and I don’t mess with such trivial situations.” What kind of God would that make Him? No, He loves us enough to subdue our daily fears. When we do our part and take a first step, He will watch our back and take away our fear, but we need to make the first move. In his book, The Neurotic’s Notebook, Mignon McLaughlin says, “Courage can’t see around the corner but goes anyway.”

Lewis’s outlook on courage is: “Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.” If we are to be lean, strong men and women of faith, we can expect God to take us on some adventures where we know not where we are going. Courage opens the door and says “boo” to our fears.

What is your biggest fear about moving to a new area? Are you afraid your children won’t make friends? You won’t find a job? You will hate the weather? You’ll never see your extended family? You will never grow to love that dark galley kitchen? Look your fears straight in the eye and take one little action today to conquer them. God is great at matching our timid first steps and will be there to keep us moving forward.

Sometimes all we have is a community of two, but sometimes that’s enough…for a start.

Taken from Changing Zip Codes: Finding Community Wherever You’re Transplanted. This forty-day devotional for the uprooted, deployed, downsized, and displaced is published by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. It is available in print and ebook through Amazon.com
http://tinyurl.com/b7kaahx.

ENDORSEMENTS

“Carol Stratton has chosen to write to a topic that is addressed in few other
places: clinging to faith during times of change. The fresh daily format and
encouraging, biblical insights will encourage anyone who is struggling
through the idea of moving to a new location, as well as uplifting those who
are joyfully anticipating a move.”— Darla Knoth, Leadership Development/
Content Coordinator, National Women’s Department, Assemblies of God.
“After twenty-two moves, Carol Stratton is a relocation expert with a heart for
the newcomer. Carol’s warm and witty stories, based on personal experiences,
offer hope and encouragement to anyone faced with a move.” — Florence
Littauer, International Author and Speaker, Founder of CLASSeminar
ministry.
“Having moved fourteen times, I find Carol’s devotional book both encouraging
and inspiring for anyone relocating. Filled with biblical principles, it keeps
the reader focused on Christ during the upheaval of change that comes with
moving. Her hands-on experience with relocating adds humor and warmth
that will capture the heart of anyone who goes through the transition and
adjustment of a move.” — Susan Miller, Founder and President of Just
Moved Ministry and author of After the Boxes are Unpacked
“Using wit, humor, and entertaining facts (even about Zip Codes), Carol
Stratton provides helpful tips, insight, and cheerleading for those who are
facing the “big move.” She proves that God is everywhere, even among
new neighbors, new coworkers, and new church members. Let her words
encourage you.”— Dr. Dennis E. Hensley, author The Power of Positive
Productivity

Interview for THE NEXT BIG THING BLOG HOP

Blog hop interview
The Next Big Thing Blog Hop


Harry Wegley, author of Hide and Seek, an espionage thriller, invited me to the Next Big Thing Blog Hop. He blogged about his debut novel on his blog – http://weatherscribe.blogspot.com/ on Jan. 20. Here’s the link to purchase the book http://www.pelicanbookgroup.com/ec/hide-and-seek-softcover

Terrie Thorpe, author of Footsteps of Jesus, planned to join me,too, but had trouble getting all the connections. Check out her books anyway on Amazon.

Thanks for stopping by.

Today, I'm blogging about my debut teen novel, JOE THE DREAMER: THE CASTLE AND THE CATAPULT http://www.inkfromanearthenvessel.blogspot.com The interview was prepared by THE NEXT BIG THING BLOG HOP.

ADA BROWNELL

• WHAT IS YOUR TITLE OF YOUR BOOK (OR STORY)?
Joe the Dreamer: The Castle and the Catapult

• WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR THE BOOK COME FROM?
I was teaching an after-school and summers program for upper elementary and a few junior high students. During the summer, mornings were spent with devotions, intense Bible memorization, and faith-building teaching. I wrote the curriculum and I decided after a break for lunch and games, we needed relaxing time in the afternoon. But I still wanted to redeem the time. What I needed was a great fiction story full of suspense (a character with a problem) that would also tweak their interest in reading the Bible themselves (the character dropped into the skin of Bible characters in his dreams). I wrote a chapter one day and read it the next. The kids became excited and couldn’t wait for the next installment.

• WHAT GENRE DOES YOUR BOOK FALL UNDER?

Teen/adventure fiction

• WHICH ACTOR WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO PLAY YOUR MAIN CHARACTER IN A MOVIE RENDITION?

Joseph Adam Jonas (when he was younger).

• GIVE A ONE-SENTENCE SYNOPSIS OF YOUR BOOK?
After Joe Baker’s parents mysteriously disappear, he finds himself with a vicious man after him and he wonders if God answers prayer.
• IS BOOK SELF-PUBLISHED OR REPRESENTED BY AN AGENCY?
I went with Amazon’s CreateSpace. My first book, Confessions of a Pentecostal, was published by the Assemblies of God’s Gospel Publishing House. Traditional publishers today seem to want to work with younger writers and I wasn’t getting any younger, so I went with CreateSpace. I also like the royalty offered by CreateSpace, which also published my second book, Swallowed by LIFE: Mysteries of Death, Resurrection and the Eternal. Although I had some frustrations with this last book, when everything finally came together I have been quite satisfied with CreateSpace editors and designers.

• HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE THE FIRST DRAFT OF JOE THE DREAMER?

I’ve dabbled with the book off and on for 20 years. Yet, I know I can write fast. Being a newspaper reporter teaches you that. I joined American Christian Fiction Writers’ Novel Track in January 2011 and with a goal of 10,000 words and 7,000 already written, I wrote a historical romance, The Lady Fugitive. In five weeks, I had 80,000 words and the first draft.

• WHAT OTHER BOOKS WOULD YOU COMPARE JOE THE DREAMER TO WITHIN YOUR GENRE?

• Nightmare Academy by Frank Peretti, although my book is not speculative fiction. But it does have lots of suspense and ventures into danger and places the average teen wouldn’t see, such as a mental hospital’s juvenile unit. As a medical reporter, I’ve been in those.

• WHO OR WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE THIS BOOK? A need for young people to increase their faith and know God.

• WHAT ELSE ABOUT YOUR BOOK MIGHT PIQUE THE READER'S INTEREST?

• Robots, catapults, missing people, brain chips, spiritual conflict. Radicals who want to erase Christianity from the earth and plan to scramble the brains of effective opinion leaders, using Joe’s dad’s computer software knowledge, and using their captives to bomb places where Christians gather.

FULFILL YOUR DREAMS IN 2013

1. Make a plan. Write a list of things you hope will be in your future, as well as character traits and abilities you would like to have.
2. Research what it will take to accomplish your dreams. Find how others achieved similar goals.
3. Assume responsibility for your future.
4. Work on your character. Discipline yourself to learning something new at least once a week, loving someone who irritates you, and doing jobs you hate. Avoid Satan’s traps and pray for the fruits of the Spirit, such as love, joy, peace mentioned in Galatians 5.
5. Enlarge your territory by reaching out to people, volunteering in things you enjoy, and trying activities for which you might have talent to pursue.
6. Spend time every day reading the Bible, especially the New Testament and Proverbs, talking to God and seeking His will for your life.
7. Set realistic deadlines to accomplish some of your goals.
8. Monitor your success.
9. Don’t wait for perfect circumstances.
10. Have faith. Believe in yourself and the One who loved you before you were born and has a plan for your life (Psalm 139: 16).
© Copyright Jan. 2013 Ada Brownell

Questions for 2013--The standoff between Obama and Congress: Is compromise a righteous thing?

Who blinks first? Who caves? Is bending the will the only way to survive?
I try not to get too involved in politics, but I do have strong views about the huge problems our nation faces and they’re not going away.
But something worries me even more—the way Christians are compromising convictions, morality and even doctrine.
I heard this week that a well-known Christian missions organization is compromising with Islam in their belief about the divinity of Jesus Christ. (Muslims believe Jesus was a great prophet, but don’t believe He was God.)
Although some Christian business owners are refusing to pay for insurance that includes abortion, others are doing it without a squeak just like many so-called Christians watched silently as Jews were herded off to death camps.
But if my life would have been in danger, I might have done the same thing. I can’t judge the other person because I’m not sinless like God is. I can’t take care of the other person’s spiritual problems, either; my hands are full with my own.
There is value in being older and able to look back at temptations to compromise, and being able to rejoice because I “resisted the devil” as the scriptures say, and refused to bend.
After working out in the world I realized anyone who is willing can have an adulterous affair. All it takes is two people who are stupid enough to ignore that it can destroy your reputation, your career, your marriage, your family, your relationship with God and your eternal future.
The same thing is true with bending your will about staying away from mind-altering drugs and alcohol. These usually don’t affect a person as quickly as adultery, but they have the potential to do all of the above in the long run. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 20:2 “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”
Satan is said to walk about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8) so we should be vigilant because the enemy of our soul has all sorts of devious things to try to make us compromise our faith—some not evil in themselves. Or he attacks with things we might not recognize as evil such as gossip or bitterness.
My Janette Oke calendar recently had this quote from her book, Once Upon a Summer: “Wrapping ourselves in bitterness is like using a blanket of poison ivy; it’s warm at first but painful in the end.”
All sin is like that. I’m reminded of this admonition to the Roman church: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans12:2 NIV).
I think that’s good guidance for 2013.

FOR 2013: ENDURING FAITH

For several months I’ve been focusing on faith.

As with most people, I keep running into circumstances for which I need God’s help—and faith.

James tells me, “Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience” (James 1: 2-3KJ).

So there is a purpose, after all, for my battle with believing for great things.

The writer of Hebrews has even stronger words about faith. “Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: For yet a little while and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:35-38NKJ).

Hebrews 11 is the famous “Faith Chapter.” I do well with this verse: “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (verse 3). To me that’s the only thing that makes sense out of the marvels of our bodies and the universe--and even what we know about the laws of thermodynamics. For instance, matter can't be created or destroyed.

I think about the story I heard about God and Satan having a discussion.

"I can do anything you can," the devil bragged.

"Okay," God said. "Make a man."

So Satan stooped and began scooping up dust.

God tapped the evil creature on the shoulder. "Use your own dirt!"

But I digress for a joke.

Faith is an amazing force. I look back at Hebrews 11:1 and stand in awe,hoping and wondering whether I have faith like that: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

That’s the New International Version. Here it is in King James: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

I pray for that kind of faith. I want that kind of faith. I need that kind of faith.
Why?

I could say to meet my needs and the needs of my family, spiritual, physical, financial and emotional. But there is something deeper and more important: “For without faith it is impossible to please him (God), for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

We have testimony after testimony of people who believed God, and I have testimonies of God’s mercy and faithfulness also. He has done great things. He has done miracles in our lives. Our children and grandchildren are serving the Lord and have His Word in their hearts. We’ve had miracles and healing, God’s leadership, faithfulness and blessings.

Yet, I don’t always have faith and not every prayer I prayed in faith was answered the way I would have liked.

I need strong faith for the miracles; and I need strong faith when things don't go as I’d like them to.

Yet, I feel I don’t see nearly as many answers to prayer as I should because of lack of endurance. I read one version that talked about “staggering at the promise.”

Jesus told the father of a child who needed healing, “If you believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

The father cried out with tears running down his face, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9:22-23).

That’s my heart’s cry, too.

HELPING RELATIONSHIPS IN 2013-- HONEY-DO'S WITH SWEETNESS

I was interviewing Dr. Joyce Brothers, psychologist and television personality,for the newspaper where I worked when she said something that caught my attention.
“Married people should thank each other more often,” she said.
Her idea was to stop nagging your mate to do a job that needs doing. “You ask kindly and, if or when the job is done say, ‘Thank you,’” Brothers said.
She emphasized that mates treated in this fashion will help one another more, and the atmosphere in the home will change for the better.
I tried her advice, and it works. No, it didn’t happen the first couple of thank yous, but when I showed appreciation, I got more help. My own attitude also improved.
God gave us similar advice in the Bible. The loving person is kind, joyful, patient, gentle, faithful and full of self control. These are all fruit of the Holy Spirit and need to be cultivated (Galatians 5: 22).
Let us not be among those who in the perilous last days are unthankful, Paul told Timothy. (2 Timothy 3:2).
Thanking one another with kindness is a step away from that crowd.
©Copyright Ada Brownell 2013