tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12766788080549900652024-03-19T07:28:00.297-04:00The Writer's CrucibleBringing Glory to God through our writing.The Writer's Cruciblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13710458959224484849noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1276678808054990065.post-70941188432124642942010-09-06T22:28:00.001-04:002010-09-06T22:30:44.091-04:00Where is God When Your Daughter Leaves Home?<span style="color: #073763;">Where Is God When Your Daughter Leaves Home?</span><br />
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I hoped I would never have to ask that question even though I already knew the answer. He’s right there with you. As a mother of three daughters, I prayed they would stay rooted in their Christian faith throughout their lives. When our youngest daughter chose to turn her back on her faith and walk away from God, my husband and I faced one of the most difficult and painful times of our lives. <br />
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Questions plagued us. What had we done wrong? How had we failed our daughter? Had we treated her differently as the youngest? What would become of her as she deliberately pursued a dangerous and addictive lifestyle? Would our prodigal daughter be able to hear God’s voice as she wandered far from the One who loves her with an everlasting love?<br />
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I’ve been a Christian for many years and have learned from experience that God is always with us no matter what circumstances we are going through. During these years when my heart was broken time and time again, His Word became my anchor in the raging storm. Spending time in His presence strengthened my faith and brought peace to my heart.<br />
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When I asked my questions He reminded me of His unfailing love for our daughter and assured me that He was at work in her life. Even when I pray and see nothing happening or things get worse? I asked. Yes, even then, He whispered. <br />
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Several years later, God impressed me to share our story as an encouragement to the many hurting parents who are sitting in our pews. When I mentioned it to my daughter, she told me she felt God urging her to do the same. Together we prayed that God would use this story for His glory. Our prayer is for parents and teens to read this story of forgiveness, grace and redemption together and be strengthened in their faith.<br />
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CUT THE STRINGS is the true story of a mother who experienced the agony of watching her daughter walk away from everything right and good, ending up in a life of degradation and shame while each of them lived in their own reality.<br />
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It is also the story of a daughter’s desperate search for a life of fulfillment and acceptance who found herself instead chained in a prison of emptiness, addictions and despair.<br />
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Best of all, it is a story about GOD, the one who relentlessly pursued a willful young woman, protected her life, and sustained a family through it all.<br />
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CUT THE STRINGS is now available at Chapters and at Emmaus Family Books.<br />
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Book signings:<br />
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Emmaus Family Books Saturday September 11th 1-3 pm<br />
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Chapters Saturday October 16th 1-3 pmThe Writer's Cruciblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13710458959224484849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1276678808054990065.post-59788463280421017902010-07-29T21:49:00.000-04:002010-07-29T21:49:49.656-04:00Cut The Strings - Book Review<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiabjybREAlUpjZCIRCB2GH14yPVhQPZaQ1P3x8_Fmxhq1QYih3P5GNtkEyq6b12fsAfbQVMUueGEsQJ1ysCV3gywLnqxFZqWIlViu3w7avdvv0A62DRiUKmzdGyPutcANcHeTQO4w02Jh9/s1600/Cut_The_Strings_Web_Cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" bx="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiabjybREAlUpjZCIRCB2GH14yPVhQPZaQ1P3x8_Fmxhq1QYih3P5GNtkEyq6b12fsAfbQVMUueGEsQJ1ysCV3gywLnqxFZqWIlViu3w7avdvv0A62DRiUKmzdGyPutcANcHeTQO4w02Jh9/s400/Cut_The_Strings_Web_Cover.jpg" width="255" /></a> God is faithful! This message comes through loud and clear as we watch Sharon Cavers, her husband and family, and daughter Amy Jackson navigate through the storms of teenage rebellion. Second to that, we see how Sharon and her husband Bill have their faith tested; and it comes through as pure gold. And third, we are caught up with them in their longing to see their youngest daughter wake up to the realization of the dangerous path she is on, and come running into the waiting arms of her Heavenly Father.<br />
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Sharon and Bill are parents to three daughters. Things go along fairly smoothly for them, as they raise the girls in the fear of the Lord, with the support of a loving church family. Until Amy, as a young teenager, begins to step outside of Christian boundaries of behaviour and lifestyle into a world that is scripturally forbidden for all, and certainly not allowed for anyone raised to know and obey God.<br />
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Sharon and Amy take turns in the writing, each speaking in the first person. Having both made journal entries over the period of time when the story takes place, they are able to give us a glimpse into each of their thoughts and hearts. Sharon faces each challenge brought by Amy's increasingly rebellious lifestyle with a mixture of emotions. As a worried parent anguishing over her daughter's life and soul, she experiences fear, doubt, and finally finds peace in remembering just Who her God is. He is her rock, her strength, her wisdom, and her hope. The journal entries are her emotions spilled onto the page; all of her heart is poured out to her God, with nothing held back.<br />
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As I read through the book (in two evenings), I was almost praying along with Sharon and her husband, praying that Amy would take that one step toward her Saviour, and be rescued from the darkness she was in. She endures a pain-filled journey over several years, sinking into the clutches of drugs and alcohol, trying to prove to the world that she can handle anything. But all the while, inside she is a frightened young girl, longing to be "home", but not sure where that is or how to get there.<br />
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I applaud both Sharon and Amy for their courage in telling their story. I know that they have both prayed that God will use it, and I know He will As I said in a previous post, real life stories are my favourite. Of course, knowing both the authors of this book made it even more "real" to me. However, I know that just about anyone who is a parent or a teen to grown up child will be able to relate.<br />
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You will find it hard to put this book down, and you will find your own faith strengthened as you read this beautiful story of faith and redemption.<br />
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Find out how to order a copy for yourself by visiting <a href="http://www.gardenpathinspirations.com/book.htm">http://www.gardenpathinspirations.com/book.htm</a> <br />
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by Maureen BreakspearThe Writer's Cruciblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13710458959224484849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1276678808054990065.post-56497238279770990552009-12-24T09:08:00.000-05:002009-12-24T09:08:14.545-05:00GOD WITH US<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiyzUOUySl9WWq7JJneSs2vpKnuihT7dDoakBLkBbaAueDQLDj55BQ7A5Oj0i3ivL2Kr9tmOjQ4DULTMaaOpDrvvyB-2HArT6yd2LGco60SQBGCEMvh5jRUV5svEv7oQRwYSK-9AmyLvgb/s1600-h/jesus_birth_1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiyzUOUySl9WWq7JJneSs2vpKnuihT7dDoakBLkBbaAueDQLDj55BQ7A5Oj0i3ivL2Kr9tmOjQ4DULTMaaOpDrvvyB-2HArT6yd2LGco60SQBGCEMvh5jRUV5svEv7oQRwYSK-9AmyLvgb/s320/jesus_birth_1-1.jpg" /></a><br />
</div>Winter is upon us! Up until recently, it looked as though we would be having a green Christmas. Now a sudden blanket of snow suggests the opposite. No matter what the weather, however, the season and all that it entails, is always celebrated with the usual enthusiasm.<br />
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Of all the images that surface this time of year, my favourite is the nativity. I love nativity scenes, and the Christmas Story. I love thinking about that time, when Mary gave birth to Jesus; she knew He was special and not just any baby. The angel had come to her and explained what His role would be:<br />
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“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.” (Luke 1:31-32)<br />
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Mary’s husband Joseph also had an angelic visitation, in a dream. The angel spoke to reassure him that he should proceed with his marriage to Mary:<br />
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“She will bear a Son and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 2: 21)<br />
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The prophet Isaiah spoke also of Jesus, foretelling His birth: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel (God with us)” Isaiah 7:14<br />
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Imagine, God coming to us in the form of a tiny baby! But the story does not end at that stable in Bethlehem. We love to gaze on that scene, on baby Jesus, so sweet and helpless. But that babe grew up; a man, yet fully God. He walked with humankind, and experienced life as they did. He was Almighty God, yet left the glory of that position to show us what God is like. Not only that, but He gave His own life in payment for the sins of the world. <br />
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We love the warm fuzzies we get when we decorate, hang pretty lights, and listen to Christmas Carols. But there is so much more to the Christmas Story than the babe and the shepherds and the wise men. That baby became a man, died for us, and is now alive in Heaven. He was born, not to give us a reason for a Christmas season, but to make a way for us to be reconciled to God. So when you see him there in the manger, fast forward to our ultimate cause for celebration, God’s great love gift to us: He came to die, so that we might have life.<br />
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</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Maureen Breakspear 2009</span><br />
</div>The Writer's Cruciblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13710458959224484849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1276678808054990065.post-81438977483524705152009-12-09T20:16:00.003-05:002009-12-09T20:18:17.674-05:00In the Heart of a Scotsman<span style="color: #274e13;">Christmas time more than twenty- five years ago I went to a nursing home with a children’s choir to sing carols. I stood up in front of a small gathering of people whose faces were creased, showing their true age, but I could see in their gleaming eyes the twinkle of very young hearts experiencing the true joys of the Christmas season. Their enthusiasm brought a smile to my face and I sang as if I was performing at an opera house.</span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #274e13;">Afterwards an elderly Scottish man came forward. He gave me a hug and asked me my name as he commented on my big blue eyes and the dimple piercing my cheek. I told him my name is Beverly, but in the ignorance of my youth, I forgot to ask his name. As I went to leave, he pressed a small piece of paper in my hand. Later I read the following words. </span><br />
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<em><strong><span style="color: #274e13;">“Sweet Beverly fair will you sing for me a love song in the morn, with the dew like jewels clinging to the flowers newly born, and a lyric song at sunset at evenings gentle close. For I have seen your eyes that brightly shine like the dew drops on the rose. Twas thy voice loving in the Beverly and thy winsome winning smile that made this world a happier place Bonnie Beverly of Argyle.”</span></strong></em><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;">The piece of paper was unsigned. I believe it is a poem he wrote for me. Although, some have thought it may have been the words to a song. To me it was something special. I have saved this small ragged piece of paper all of these years and a smile comes to my face every time I read it. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;">Recently while I was studying my family genealogy, I discovered that my ancestors were from Argyleshire Scotland. The memory of this poem flooded my thoughts, and I found it very ironic that the man had put Bonnie Beverly of Argyle. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;">Music has a way of connecting us. It touches our hearts and souls. I have always felt a tug at my heart when I hear the sound of Celtic music. It does not matter that I cannot understand the word often sung. There is something about the music, which calls me home, to a place, I have never been, and I find comfort there. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;">I cannot help but think that maybe our singing that night brought the Scottish man back to the days of his youth. Back to fond memories of the land, he once knew with its green countryside, mountains and moors.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;">This Christmas season let us not forget that sometimes the most simple of gifts from the heart have a way of reserving a place in our memory more deeply than any store bought gift. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13;">(c) 2008 Beverly Kent-Helmond</span>The Writer's Cruciblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13710458959224484849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1276678808054990065.post-17537553127453198252009-12-09T16:07:00.002-05:002009-12-09T19:08:19.593-05:00Glory to God in the Highest<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">“Glory to God in the highest,</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">And on earth peace among men</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">in whom He is well pleased.”</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Luke 2:14</span><br />
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<span style="color: #bf9000;">This ,I believe is the best translation of the text. Peace, not, toward men, but among men. Not good will toward men, but peace among men of good will. This was the angels song that celebrated not only the birth of our Saviour but the effect of that birth as well. And that is not the first time that the angels rejoiced, for it is recorded in the book of Job that when God laid the cornerstone of the earth, The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. The song of creation and the song of the advent are both songs of rejoicing.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #bf9000;">Adam was part of God’s first creation. The birth of Christ, our last Adam, announced a new commencement in human history. For the Bible tells us that in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. Herein lies the cause and the cure for the sad state of the human race. The cause? In Adam all die. The history of this human race is the history of conflict and pain. It is the history of bondage to our own sinful nature, a bondage that is the root cause of all the evils in the world. Look across the landscape of this world’s experience and you will be hard pressed to find much to sing about. War and rumors of war, famine, disease, poverty, insurrections, environmental decay, the threat of nuclear annihilation; all of these are our constant companions. Is there any sign at all that God loves us, or even cares?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #bf9000;">The cure? The answer to the world’s problems lies wrapped in swaddling bands but the world does not want Him. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. He stretched out His hands in peace to governments and to people and they crucified Him. Light came into the world and the world loved darkness rather than light. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #bf9000;">Does anyone believe that the world is at peace? The world’s national peace is a mockery. After centuries of conflict and negotiation all we have achieved is nothing more than an armed neutrality based on suspicion. If you remove from human history this Christ child there is no evidence that God has any sympathy with us at all. If this story is a myth, as some would claim, we have no peace in this life and no hope beyond. This matter set before us here is a Christian ideal and can only be realized when by faith men and women enter into the Christian experience.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #bf9000;">What is that peace of which the angels sang? Here it is; Peace I leave with you; My peace I give unto you: Not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #bf9000;">Take this Christ child away and the conditions of this world become unbearable and death is an appalling darkness. Take this Christ child away and peace on earth is impossible. </span><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">God is not dead nor doth He sleep;</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">With peace on earth, good will toward men.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #bf9000;">by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow</span><br />
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<span style="color: #bf9000;">Arthur Franklin</span><br />
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</span>The Writer's Cruciblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13710458959224484849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1276678808054990065.post-12870497786472263702009-12-08T22:33:00.002-05:002009-12-08T22:38:12.921-05:00A Christmas Wish<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" er="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_IQEoBeqmQe23an29y16sCyS2C7KtS9pdOKCUjcEOBChez5NQiuD8BzsvsaYxXQOX0TPYITAZiBHSEwxtypGN4UqhAUBCxSE0cLn4EvOzCu84uDawN0hgvvKyPWAPnE9icGRG9ggpJM-L/s320/NativityScene.jpg" /><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong>I'll spell out in this little rhyme</strong><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong>My wish for you this Christmas time.</strong><br />
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</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>This season special, though it be</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>is not the only time, you see</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>To celebrate and praises give</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>for what God did so we might live.</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>We love to look with tender eye</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>On Baby Jesus, where He lie</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>And wonder at Him, sweet and mild</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>This precious, tiny, Saviour Child.</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>But did you know that even now</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>He reigns above, and we should bow,</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Give worship, honour, and adore;</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>He’s not a baby anymore!</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>He grew up like us, so He knew</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>All that we face; He faced it too!</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>He knows our greatest need is met</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>When He forgives our sins, and yet</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>We still resist, and He must move</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>To open hearts, and to us prove</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>That He is all we’ll ever need,</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>And in us place one tiny seed</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Of faith that saves, and holds us fast</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Until we see His face at last.</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>And so my wish, my prayer for you</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Is that in grace, He would so do</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>If you have not Him yet received</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Into your heart, then I would plead</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>That you might please consider then</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>Long past when Chrismas Season ends</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><br />
</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>This Jesus Christ, Who owns each day;</strong><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong>He is the Life, the Truth, the Way.</strong><br />
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</div><div align="left" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Maureen Breakspear 2007</span><br />
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</div>The Writer's Cruciblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13710458959224484849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1276678808054990065.post-27049249094851233882009-12-08T21:29:00.006-05:002009-12-09T09:46:50.376-05:00Sightings by Sharon Cavers<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><strong>Sightings</strong></span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Jesus,</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Someone said he saw you</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">On a dark and dirty street.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Said you were gently washing</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">An alcoholic’s feet.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">They saw you in a nursing home</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">With those who need your care,</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Caressing trembling, wrinkled hands,</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Brushing tangled, snow-white hair.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">You found the frightened runaway</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Who bristled at your touch.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">You didn’t offer her advice,</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Instead you shared your lunch.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">You were crouching in a doorway</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Beside a homeless man.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">You wrapped him in a blanket,</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Spoon-fed him from a can.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">You were spotted doing dishes</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">At a mission for the poor.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">You slipped money to a blind man,</span><br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Helped a wino through the door.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">They saw you at the ballpark.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">You were cheering, standing tall</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">When the boy who had no dad</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Tore the cover off the ball.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Someone saw you in the prison</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">With a man who killed his wife.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Your heads were bowed in prayer,</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">You spoke to him of Life.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Someone said he saw you,</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">And I believe it’s true.</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">What he saw was your Church at work,</span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Doing just what you would do.</span><br />
<span style="color: #e06666;"></span><span style="color: #e06666;"><br />
</span><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">© Sharon Cavers 2001</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #e06666;">Garden Path Inspirations</span><br />
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</div>The Writer's Cruciblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13710458959224484849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1276678808054990065.post-91052689657810968752009-12-08T21:26:00.000-05:002009-12-08T21:26:37.822-05:00Sharon Cavers<span style="color: blue;">Sharon Cavers In 1992, Sharon founded The Writer’s Crucible, a critiquing group designed to offer help, encouragement and support for Christian writers in the Peterborough and surrounding area.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><em>The shapes and rhythms of words have fascinated me since my early days in school. I’ve loved words and books for as long as I can remember.</em> “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” Charles W. Eliot</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Sharon is a freelance author whose work has appeared in more than 34 national publications for adults and children. Her writing also finds expression in a new line of inspirational greeting cards, poems and gifts, launched in 2005 under the Garden Path Inspirations logo. </span><a href="http://www.gardenpathinspirations.com/"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.gardenpathinspirations.com</span></a><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">A wife, mother of three grown daughters and grandmother of three adorable grandchildren, Sharon is an avid reader and gardener. <em>When I’m stuck on the plot for my story, working in my flower gardens stirs creativity. Quiet moments spent beholding the beauty of God’s creation refresh the soul, and energize the mind. </em></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Sharon and her youngest daughter have co-authored a book for parents and teens. “Cut The Strings” is the true story of a mother who experienced the agony of watching her daughter walk away from everything right and good, ending up in a life of degradation and shame while each of them lived in their own reality.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">It is also the story of a daughter’s desperate search for a life of fulfillment and acceptance who found herself instead chained in a prison of emptiness, addictions and despair.</span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Best of all, it is a story about GOD, the one who relentlessly pursued a willful young woman, protected her life, and sustained a family through it all.</span><br />
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<em><span style="color: blue;">We feel this book will be an encouragement to Christian parents who are praying for their prodigal children, and hope that it will be a story parents and teens can read together and discuss. With the increasing numbers of young people leaving our churches in search of what they are convinced is a more exciting life, Christian parents are left hurting and guilt-ridden over their prodigal children. My heart breaks as time and time again moms and dads share with us through their tears the stories of their wayward sons and daughters. At present we are asking God to direct us to a publisher.</span></em><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Sharon is also working on a book of poetry and a devotional book. Her passion is to reach a lost world with the Good News of the Gospel through her writing, and to faithfully use her God-given abilities and giftings for His honour and glory.</span>The Writer's Cruciblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13710458959224484849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1276678808054990065.post-3761342414272271012009-12-07T23:31:00.001-05:002009-12-07T23:32:21.845-05:00LET'S DO AWAY WITH CHRISTMAS<span style="color: red;">“LET’S DO AWAY WITH CHRISTMAS!”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #e06666;">In North America we are in the midst of preparing for Christmas. The stores have put up their decorations, and stocked their shelves. The frantic shopping and endless parties have begun. At a meeting this week, I heard a pastor say, “I’d like to do away with Christmas. It’s ruined.” </span><br />
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<span style="color: #e06666;">Many Christians lament what has happened to our wonderful Christmas celebration. Complaining doesn’t bring change. I remind you that Jesus is born not once a year but everyday with the birth of every child. We can close our hearts and minds to our society’s commercialized Christmas but we cannot stop the birth of Christ.. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #e06666;">To regain our religious celebration we need to begin with ourselves. As you do your Christmas baking, ask for God’s blessing on the people who will be enjoying it. With each spoonful of cookie dough onto the pan, name and give thanks for your family and friends. Stir prayers for peace into your Christmas pudding.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #e06666;">Listen for God message to you in the Christmas Carols, the jingling of the Salvation Army bells, the excited voices of children, the tears of a grieving friend. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #e06666;">Search for places to share your many blessings. Give gifts of time at nursing homes, with kids activities, visiting the lonely. Remember that Jesus enjoyed a party. He’ll be present with you as you celebrate. Light the advent candles of hope, peace, joy and love for everyone you meet. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #e06666;">In your mind keep a running conversation with the baby Jesus. “Is this what you would have me give to my child…my spouse…my friend…a stranger? On December 25th read the Christmas story. You are the Wisemen searching for the Christ child. You have given him his gifts..</span><br />
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<span style="color: #e06666;">Remember, Jesus will be born. We need only open our hearts to receive him.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Wisemen from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?... …the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was…they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. ..they returned to their country by another route. (Luke 2:1, 2, 9-12 NIV)</span>The Writer's Cruciblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13710458959224484849noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1276678808054990065.post-5299705730393395122009-11-20T14:44:00.002-05:002009-12-08T21:51:14.888-05:00Reverend Janet L. StobieRev. Janet L. Stobie<br />
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A teacher, family counselor and ordained minister, Janet has worked with people all her adult life. She served with Bethany, Pontypool and Dunsford United Churches from 1989 until 2008, when she retired to focus on her writing and her family. Janet is married, and together with her husband Tom, has five grown children and seven grandchildren.<br />
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Four years ago, with the encouragement of her congregations, Janet published her first book of short stories, A Child Speaks, which was enthusiastically received and has sold out. Jan writes a monthly devotional for the Millbrook Times as well as occasional articles for other local newspapers. She is welcomed as a storyteller at fundraisers and group meetings.<br />
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Jan's two latest books, Spectacular Stella, and "Can I Hold Him? Christmas Stories For All Ages, are available for sale at $10.00 each on her blog, revjantheauthor.blogspot.com and in area bookstores. Spectacular Stella is a children’s picture book about the Christmas star written for children ages 3-8. Can I Hold Him? is intended for readers as young as 10 and as old as 100. These Christmas books make great stocking stuffers. They add a gentle touch of faith to your Christmas celebrations.The Writer's Cruciblehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13710458959224484849noreply@blogger.com0