Monday, July 10, 2017

SEASON OF HOPE BY SARA JANE JACOBS

Sara Jane Jacobs is my blog guest today. Sorry I couldn't get Blogger to upload the photos and other art to go with the post, but you can see the photos if you click on the link below that was supposed to upload the photos.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
I began writing as a hobby while raising my two children. In 2015, I dusted off my stories and my dreams to see if I could turn my hobby into a career. My first story, Season of Hope, was inspired by summer vacations which always included a trip to Franklin, North Carolina, to visit family and explore The Smoky Mountains. When I'm not writing, I enjoy spending time with family. I love most any activity that involves being outdoors, especially camping, hiking and spontaneous excursions to splash in the ocean. I currently live along the Emerald Coast of Florida with my cat Selah and her delightful offspring, Colby, Jack and Tuesday.


THOR CONTACT LINKS:











ABOUT THE BOOK:

When Amanda Jarvis prays that a special friend will move into the vacant house near her isolated mountain home, she isn't upset when God sends a boy instead of a girl. But Amanda's not the only one receiving unexpected answers to her prayers. After fleeing with his mother from an abusive father, Tyler Armstrong finds much-needed love and acceptance with Amanda's family over the next ten years.

As high school graduation nears, Tyler is shocked when one carefree afternoon with Amanda churns up an inner turmoil he would have never imagined; he's crushing on his best friend. And for the first time in his life he's hiding a secret from Amanda. Convinced the timing is all wrong, Tyler pushes his feelings aside as he and Amanda prepare for the future. He will soon begin training to pursue his dream of becoming a Navy SEAL, while Amanda makes plans to spend the summer in Manhattan with her aunt and then return home to the community college.

When Amanda's summer job catapults her into a modeling career, she readily accepts the much-needed distraction. Tyler's impending deployment is turning her world upside down. Along with the fact that she's falling for her best friend. And, for the first time in her relationship with Tyler, she's hiding a secret, too.

Phoebe Garrison, Amanda's controlling aunt, is thrilled when she is given the power to act on behalf of her underage niece. Bored with her Fortune 500 advertising agency, becoming Amanda's manager is just what she's been looking for to rekindle her aspirations. But as Tyler becomes aware of Phoebe's obsession to push Amanda into supermodel status, tensions rise. As the three of them become entangled in a mass of concealed ambition and desire, each will make decisions that will send ripples of turbulence across their futures.


BOOK LINKS:








GIVEAWAY:

                                           




Enter to win the SEASON OF HOPE giveaway! One person will win the following items…


·        An eBook of Season of Hope

Enter below!













People often ask what inspired me to write, Season of Hope, and it was such a combination of things that it’s never a simple answer. Oh, how I wish that I was journaling when I began writing. It would be fun to go back and find out exactly what I was thinking!

It started with a short story contest that I heard about on the radio back in the early 1990s. I don’t remember what the prize was but it must have been something that interested me since I started writing. I never did enter that contest but I held onto the beginning of that short story which would eventually turn into two books over the years.  I had spent most of my time learning script writing and working on a pilot for a television series. But, when a friend suggested that I turn my stories into books, I started focusing on that particular story again.  (The scenes that I had written take place much later in what is now book two in the Seasons Series.) I knew I needed a starting point somewhere that could get my characters to the scenes that I had written for the short story. I went back to when Amanda and Tyler were seven. I wanted them to be best friends. I’ve always loved a friends-to-more story.

As I began to spend more time on the manuscript, I was living in a small community outside of New Orleans called Belle Chasse, Louisiana. I had a dream to live in North Carolina and open a coffee shop. My dad was from Franklin, and our family would go there every summer to visit my grandparents. I loved those visits! I envisioned the pasture that ran along the side and back of the house for a lot of the scenes in book one and two. After I was married, we still took trips to Franklin. My grandparents were no longer alive but my aunt and uncle owned the house that I had spent so many summers in. We would have family reunions there, literally spending every waking moment outside. My family and I also took vacations around other parts of the Smoky Mountains. Those trips kept the inspiration going until bits and pieces made their way into the stories.

One of my favorite things about the story is that Amanda and Tyler live on the fictitious Nathan’s Mountain outside of Bryson City, North Carolina.  Here’s a link to a video of Bryson City - https://vimeo.com/121147905 - that I share on my website. It’s creator, Chuck Farris, was kind enough to let me borrow it. I have had it on my page for so long now it kind of has a “theme song” feel for me. I love how it captures so much in an around Bryson City.  I can imagine Tyler and Amanda walking the streets and exploring the countryside together.

I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to share a little bit of the inspiration behind the story with you. If you get the chance to read Season of Hope, I hope that Nathan’s Mountain and the love and friendship shared between these two families comes alive to you.














BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE:




June 26 – Truth to Shine

June 27 – ASC Book Reviews

June 28 – Meagan Davenport


June 30 – Barbara Brutt


July 4 – Faithfully Bookish



July 7 – Bookworm Mama

July 10 – Tell the World

July 11 – 2014 and Beyond

July 12 – Tammy Karasek

July 13 – Rebecca DeMarino

July 14 –  Julie Arduini

July 17 – Laura Bennet

July 18 – All Betts Are Off


July 20 – Rebecca Van Daniker

July 21 – Leslie L. Mckee





                                                      

This blog tour was coordinated by A Latte of Literature Blog Tour Services. Find out more:



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A SEASON OF HOPE BY Sara Jane Jacobs


Readers, I should have illustrations to go with this but I couldn't get Blogger to copy the photos and other art. So here it is without all the beauty and color I couldn't get to work. You could look here, though and see what should copy here:

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
I began writing as a hobby while raising my two children. In 2015, I dusted off my stories and my dreams to see if I could turn my hobby into a career. My first story, Season of Hope, was inspired by summer vacations which always included a trip to Franklin, North Carolina, to visit family and explore The Smoky Mountains. When I'm not writing, I enjoy spending time with family. I love most any activity that involves being outdoors, especially camping, hiking and spontaneous excursions to splash in the ocean. I currently live along the Emerald Coast of Florida with my cat Selah and her delightful offspring, Colby, Jack and Tuesday.



AUTHOR CONTACT LINKS:











ABOUT THE BOOK:

When Amanda Jarvis prays that a special friend will move into the vacant house near her isolated mountain home, she isn't upset when God sends a boy instead of a girl. But Amanda's not the only one receiving unexpected answers to her prayers. After fleeing with his mother from an abusive father, Tyler Armstrong finds much-needed love and acceptance with Amanda's family over the next ten years.

As high school graduation nears, Tyler is shocked when one carefree afternoon with Amanda churns up an inner turmoil he would have never imagined; he's crushing on his best friend. And for the first time in his life he's hiding a secret from Amanda. Convinced the timing is all wrong, Tyler pushes his feelings aside as he and Amanda prepare for the future. He will soon begin training to pursue his dream of becoming a Navy SEAL, while Amanda makes plans to spend the summer in Manhattan with her aunt and then return home to the community college.

When Amanda's summer job catapults her into a modeling career, she readily accepts the much-needed distraction. Tyler's impending deployment is turning her world upside down. Along with the fact that she's falling for her best friend. And, for the first time in her relationship with Tyler, she's hiding a secret, too.

Phoebe Garrison, Amanda's controlling aunt, is thrilled when she is given the power to act on behalf of her underage niece. Bored with her Fortune 500 advertising agency, becoming Amanda's manager is just what she's been looking for to rekindle her aspirations. But as Tyler becomes aware of Phoebe's obsession to push Amanda into supermodel status, tensions rise. As the three of them become entangled in a mass of concealed ambition and desire, each will make decisions that will send ripples of turbulence across their futures.


BOOK LINKS:








GIVEAWAY:

                               
Enter to win the SEASON OF HOPE giveaway! One person will win the following items…


·        An eBook of Season of Hope

Enter below!

People often ask what inspired me to write, Season of Hope, and it was such a combination of things that it’s never a simple answer. Oh, how I wish that I was journaling when I began writing. It would be fun to go back and find out exactly what I was thinking!

It started with a short story contest that I heard about on the radio back in the early 1990s. I don’t remember what the prize was but it must have been something that interested me since I started writing. I never did enter that contest but I held onto the beginning of that short story which would eventually turn into two books over the years.  I had spent most of my time learning script writing and working on a pilot for a television series. But, when a friend suggested that I turn my stories into books, I started focusing on that particular story again.  (The scenes that I had written take place much later in what is now book two in the Seasons Series.) I knew I needed a starting point somewhere that could get my characters to the scenes that I had written for the short story. I went back to when Amanda and Tyler were seven. I wanted them to be best friends. I’ve always loved a friends-to-more story.

As I began to spend more time on the manuscript, I was living in a small community outside of New Orleans called Belle Chasse, Louisiana. I had a dream to live in North Carolina and open a coffee shop. My dad was from Franklin, and our family would go there every summer to visit my grandparents. I loved those visits! I envisioned the pasture that ran along the side and back of the house for a lot of the scenes in book one and two. After I was married, we still took trips to Franklin. My grandparents were no longer alive but my aunt and uncle owned the house that I had spent so many summers in. We would have family reunions there, literally spending every waking moment outside. My family and I also took vacations around other parts of the Smoky Mountains. Those trips kept the inspiration going until bits and pieces made their way into the stories.

One of my favorite things about the story is that Amanda and Tyler live on the fictitious Nathan’s Mountain outside of Bryson City, North Carolina.  Here’s a link to a video of Bryson City - https://vimeo.com/121147905 - that I share on my website. It’s creator, Chuck Farris, was kind enough to let me borrow it. I have had it on my page for so long now it kind of has a “theme song” feel for me. I love how it captures so much in an around Bryson City.  I can imagine Tyler and Amanda walking the streets and exploring the countryside together.

I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to share a little bit of the inspiration behind the story with you. If you get the chance to read Season of Hope, I hope that Nathan’s Mountain and the love and friendship shared between these two families comes alive to you.




BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE:

June 26 – Truth to Shine

June 27 – ASC Book Reviews

June 28 – Meagan Davenport


June 30 – Barbara Brutt


July 4 – Faithfully Bookish



July 7 – Bookworm Mama

July 10 – Tell the World

July 11 – 2014 and Beyond

July 12 – Tammy Karasek

July 13 – Rebecca DeMarino

July 14 –  Julie Arduini

July 17 – Laura Bennet

July 18 – All Betts Are Off


July 20 – Rebecca Van Daniker

July 21 – Leslie L. Mckee

                                            

This blog tour was coordinated by A Latte of Literature Blog Tour Services. Find out more:



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Monday, July 3, 2017

Faith: Use Your Own Dirt


 CHRISTIAN FAITH IN THE SECULAR COLLEGE CLASSROOM:



 USE YOUR OWN DIRT



By Ada Brownell



An excerpt from Ada Brownell's motivational Bible study for youth

Imagine the Future You






A psychology professor openly ridiculed Christians in one of my university classes. As the instructor made sarcastic remarks about Christians in the news and preached his atheistic ideas, I wondered why no one challenged him. One day I raised my hand.

 “You said this textbook will be outdated in ten years,” I began. “So what you're teaching might not be true in ten years?”

The questions flowed.

“Can you prove evolution? Isn’t it true you accept it by faith? Are you aware many scientists threw out missing links because in the more than 100 years since Darwin they can’t find them? Did you know scientists are even putting forth the idea that man might have fallen from outer space?

“How did creation turn out so perfectly without a Designer? Why aren’t monkeys turning into humans now?”

He admitted that, yes, the textbooks and the theories and knowledge in them would soon be outdated; that he didn’t have all the answers; and, “Yes, we do accept some things by faith. But when something is universally accepted, we treat it as fact.”

I should have asked, “Then because the God of creation and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ are universally accepted, that should be treated as fact?”

Although I accept that many Christians believe the theory with God starting the process, a few weeks later, I asked a science professor if the laws of thermodynamics violate evolution. The teacher had opened the class on the environment stating everything would be based on evolution.

No more than thirty-five pages into the text, Living in the Environment, by G. Tyler Miller Jr., the class was studying the law of energy degradation, also known as the second law of thermodynamics. The law states that matter, if left to itself and undergoing physical or chemical changes, will always change in the direction of decreased order and decreased energy content. The entire universe obeys this law, and this includes every chemical reaction.

In words plain and simple, the law means anything left to itself will slowly fall apart. Every old barn with the roof sagging and the walls falling in demonstrates this law. Despite galaxies thought to be expanding (are they expanding, or are we increasing our knowledge?), scientists will tell you the entire universe is slowing down, growing old, and, as the saying goes, is running out of steam.

The second energy law also tells us energy tends to flow or change spontaneously from a compact and ordered form to a dispersed and random, or disordered, form.

“No one has ever found a violation of this law,” Miller states.[1]

When the teacher read that, I put up my hand. “Isn’t evolution a violation of this law?”

In order for evolution to occur, many complex chemical changes must take place, and they must all be in the direction of increased order and energy to move from the simple to the com­plex.

The teacher paused a moment, cleared his throat, and said, “Well, evolution is the only violation.”

The theory of evolution also violates the first law of thermodynamics, which simply says energy (or matter) neither can be created nor destroyed.

A story goes that God and Satan were having a discussion.

“I can do anything you can,” Satan said, stretching his puny body so he looked taller.

God smiled. “OK. Make a man.”

Satan bent over and began scraping up dirt.

God grabbed his shoulder. “Use your own dirt.”




[1] G. Tyler Miller Jr., Living in the Environment (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.), 34–43.
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Monday, June 19, 2017

DEAD HORSE POINT


DEAD HORSE POINT

By Ada Nicholson Brownell



A few miles down the river from Moab, Utah, is a miniature Grand Canyon, Dead Horse Point. Vast scenic deserts, snow-capped mountains, aspen and pine forests, are all encompassed in a single view.

Red rock canyons with spires and pinnacles reach as high as fourteen hundred feet off the canyon floor in almost unbelievable color variety. The rock formations are fantastic giant monoliths of colored stones, wind-sculpted scenes that are breath taking, leaving little to the most fertile imagination and much to challenge the most exacting color photographer.

Two thousand feet below this point, one can trace the rugged Colorado River as it winds its way through the canyon.

Dead Horse Point got its name from what now is a legend. A wild horse herd in search of water in the hot, dry desert came to the point. They could see the river below, but the steep precipice made it impossible for them to reach it. The sight of the water was probably what kept the horses at this point, but looking at the life-giving waters was not enough—and the horses died from thirst. Their bones testified to that.

How many people today are standing on ‘Dead Horse Point? In Christian America they know where they can get life-getting water. Some talk, plan, and have good intentions—putting off their day of Salvation until they die—still thirsty.

Many have said, “Someday I am going to take seriously this matter of preparing for eternity, but their resolutions always are for the future. Suddenly death strikes and it’s too late.

Jesus said to the woman at the well, If thou knewest the gift of God … thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water” (John 4:10).

This woman carried within her a heart that longed for spiritual satisfaction. She may have felt she was miles from the answer when she came that day to the well where Jesus rested, but Jesus had the answer to her need. She might too have looked and longed, for there were many barriers and precipices between her and the life-giving waters.

She was a social outcast, a hated Samaritan. By her own sins she had place herself in this dry desert place where even social fellowship with other women was denied her. It must have seemed that his sinful woman would surely die as she had lived—longing for spiritual reality. But however inaccessible that River of living water had seemed to her as she approached the natural well, Jesus made her see the answer to her longing heart was hers for the taking and she eagerly grasped her opportunity.

A famous film actor who died not long ago left behind him a strange testimony. He had stood on the peak of fame and had lived in luxury, his wealth enabling him to enjoy anything this world has to offer.

But there is thirst that can’t be satisfied with fame or frolic. And while this man tasted one pleasure after another, there must have been a strange consciousness he was missing something—something this world wasn’t giving him. So forcefully was this feeling of emptiness stamped upon his life that, instead of having his initials monogrammed on his personal belongs as so many famous personalities do, all of his belongings were marked with a question mark! And he seems to have gone in God’s eternity without the question answered and the emptiness filled.

Yes, this man must have driven past many churches—and he must have had access to a Bible in which the answer to his biggest question could be found.

How like this was King Solomon’s testimony up to the point where he summed up all his disappointment in all the world offered him, and having tried everything he said, “All is vanity and vexation of spirit, and there is no profit under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11).

But thank God, he did not stop here, but turned to correct supply for his lack and said, “But I will seek him whom my soul loveth.”

A teenage hoodlum did just that. Though he had been raised in Christian home, this boy found himself as it were on a high barren rock—a user of illegal drugs, and in trouble with the law. Nothing had satisfied his spiritual thirst, but he surrendered his heart to God—and just in time. Soon after his conversion his former companions—the pals with whom he doubtless would have been had he not given his heart to God—were in an auto accident. One was paralyzed and the other killed. Today this young is an evangelist preaching the gospel.

The horses at Dead Horse Point could not reach the river. The sinner has but to take what God offers. No matter on what point in life’s arid desert you may find yourself, His blessed call comes to you now, “Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).



--THE PENTECOSTAL EVANGEL.
--Copyright Ada Brownell








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Monday, June 12, 2017

DAD! HELP!



Note: This article and others that appeared recently here first were published in The Pentecostal Evangel, and will be part of a book soon to be released.


By Ada Nicholson Brownell



The orange rubber raft loaded with three men and a small boy churned with the foaming rapids. Suddenly the convulsing waves flipped the occupants into the turbulent water.

  Don choked as the currents sucked him under. He panicked as he thought of his little boy, Gerald, but reasoned the boy would be OK because he had a lifejacket on.

Desperately the young father tried to swim, but the current was too powerful. His nostrils cried for air as his lungs pressured him for oxygen.

The waves tossed Don high enough to gulp a little air, then sucked him below again.  His body slammed against the boulders. It seemed he couldn’t hold his breath a moment longer.

The young man was exhausted; his lungs ready to explode. He was about to give up his frantic fight with the river when his face rose able the surface again—this time long enough to see Gerald clinging desperately to a large rock, his life jacket barely hanging from one shoulder.

“Dad! Help!” Gerald screamed.

Don was sucked Don under again, but new strength flowed through his body. He had to get to Gerald.

Fighting the current with every muscle, he mentally cried for God’s help.

Suddenly he shot out of the swirling rapids and swam to his boy. He laid his son on the river bank, then collapsed at his side.

Fortunately a person on the shore had seen the raft overturn, and the other men were in the process of being rescued. Soon someone gave Don artificial respiration.

When an ambulance loaded up Don and Gerald, Don thanked God for life—and that he still had his son. He was glad he didn’t give up.

The salvation of many a boy can be credited to his father who didn’t give up. Not just his physical salvation, but spiritual also.

I remember a man whose son went through a period of rebellion that was about to destroy the boy’s relationship with God, as well as his relationship with his parents. But his father wouldn’t give up, even though it seemed the boy did everything to discourage him.

The father stood firm through it all—and at the same time showed his love. But most of all, he prayed.

Every evening after work, instead of relaxing while dinner was prepared, he went to the basement to pray. He wasn’t ashamed when he got so involved with talking to the Lord that everybody in the house heard him.

When he sat down to dinner, he didn’t care if his eyes were red from the tears he’s shed. All that mattered was his boy’s salvation.

In time the son’s rebellion changed to submission. Today he is a minister of the gospel.

Many boys are crying, “Dad! Help!” Maybe not in those words. To listen to their talk one might get the opposite impression. It may seem the last thing they want is help from their father. But the cry is there, though they won’t admit it.

Dad, your son needs you. Don’t give up. He’s fighting currents too strong for him. Perhaps his life vest is only hanging by a string. He could be in danger of “drowning” in the waves of sin.

You may feel you’ve struggled to the point of submission. You may think it’s hopeless, but hold on in faith. Keep praying. Keep loving. There’s strength and salvation to be found through Christ in every situation.

Believe with the Apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me” (Philippians 4:13).

--THE PENTECOSTAL EVANGEL, August 24, 1975




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Thursday, June 8, 2017

DON’T BE FOOLED BY YOUR FEELINGS




By Ada Brownell

There’s a line of an old popular song that says, “”How can it be wrong when it feels so right?”

It’s possible to be fooled by our feelings.

A middle-aged man left his wife and four children. While attorneys arranged the divorce settlement, the man began living with the woman he planned to marry. He changed churches, sat by his mistress, and took an active part in church functions.

Everyone in the church thought the couple was married, until someone who knew the man visited the church.

When his sin was exposed, the man told the pastor, “I never felt more at peace with God in my life.” He tried to justify his conduct by his feelings, regardless of the Biblical teaching on the subject.

WE tend to place too much importance on feelings. It is true that joy and peace—both important by-products of a close relationship with God. But how we feel does not necessarily indicate our spiritual condition in His sight.

One pastor remarked recently that in his counseling sessions he is finding it necessary to put greater emphasis on obedience to Scripture.

“If the Bible says it’s wrong, it’s wrong no matter how you may feel about it,” he said.

How can we guard against being fooled by our feelings?

First, we should get a proper understanding on conscience—which probably contributes to our feelings of peace or guilt.

Conscience is defined as “the moral sense” and was given prominence by God when He made a new covenant with man by writing His laws in human minds and hearts (Hebrews 8:10).

An Indian described conscience this way: “Conscience has three corners. It stands still when I when I am good, but when I am bad, it turns around and around in my heart, and the corners hurt. If I keep doing wrong, the corners wear off. Then it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

In his letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul wrote of in sensitive people whose conscience has become “seared with a hot iron” (1Timothy 4:2). In his letter to another church Paul pointed out that some people are “past feeling,” meaning their consciences could not be pricked (Ephesians 4:19).

Next, we should examine ourselves to see whether peace has come over us because we have fed our egos. A good feeling may come from satisfying our desires and lusts or for building ourselves up.

Ego enhancement is the basis of most illicit affairs, according to some counselors. Some people are willing to sacrifice everything they hold dear to satisfy their egos.

Third, we should ask ourselves if the feeling of peace comes from doing what is easiest.

When we face an obstacle or a mountain of work, there is the temptation to look for an easy way out. It is much easier to give up and slide downhill than to conquer a mountain. It is obvious, however, that we probably will be injured by giving up and sliding down than by continuing the struggle and reaching for the top.

Nevertheless, a good feeling envelops one when he gives up responsibility. I remember well the peaceful feeling that came when I gave up certain church tasks over which I had lost sleep and shed many tears. Inactivity takes a load off one’s back, but the sense of relief may not indicate one is doing God’s will.

Fourth, we should consider whether our sense of peace comes from how society views our conduct.

Society today accepts the murder of millions of unborn babies. It condones all kinds of sexual sins –and even crime sometimes.

Recently at a state university someone informed the sponsor of the campus newspaper that one of the young men elected to student government had been arrested, was on probation, and was obligated to make restitution of several thousands of dollars. The newspaper sponsor simply shrugged his shoulders. He said, “So what?” and pointed out that other student government officers were of similar reputation.

Society may refuse to look at something as sin, but we can’t measure our conduct by society’s rules. God’s Word is the only accurate guide.

Finally, in analyzing our feelings of peace we should ask ourselves whether we have sincerely sought God’s will.

Someone has said God isn’t interested in revealing His will to satisfy our curiosity. God wants us first to be committed to doing His will—then He will lead us.

We know it is God’s will for us to obey His Word. He will never lead us to act contrary to the Scripture.

Because something feels good does not indicate it is God’s will. Sometimes doing God’s will won’t feel good. It might be painful and frustrating, as it must have been to Paul when he went out to preach and landed in prison.

Yet when it’s all done, we will have reached the desired goal, as Paul did. Even though we have to endure perilous times, we can have the joy that is unspeakable and full of glory because God is with us. He will keep us in perfect peace if we walk with Him.

--The Pentecostal Evangel, Feb. 6, 1983


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