The Father’s Great Love

 

Foul Weather Short Short Mystery

Just to let you know my short short story, Foul Weather, is still free on Apple, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and Overdrive. I love mysteries and decided to write a short spoof back in January. All puns in this parody are intended!

Here's the description and a link to get it on Amazon:

Everyone believes Mrs. Marestail committed suicide. After all, she left a note. But her assistant, Sunshine Weatherly, has her doubts, especially since she knows something the police don’t. Sunshine pits her wits against those of Lt. Storm, and the results are hilarious in this just-for-fun short short mystery parody by Claire Nance.

https://www.amazon.com/Foul-Weather-Mystery-Spoof-Short-ebook/dp/B0BSD2B317/ref=sr_1_5?crid=D1IJR1FVJA0M&keywords=claire+nance&qid=1682655202&sprefix=%2Caps%2C104&sr=8-5

If you enjoy the story, please consider leaving a rating/review. Thank you much!

My Place of Safety

Panic attacks leave you feeling there is no place safe, nowhere you can hide from the overwhelming feelings of fear and dread. That was me back in 2002-2004. It was diving deep into a Bible study that taught me how to pray God's Word during attacks. And soon I stopped having them. Praise the Lord! This morning God reminded me it's been a little over 20 years since I first started truly relying on Him with all my heart, reading His Word, and praying sincerely. 

I still pray God's Word back to Him. As a famous Bible teacher once said, the Bible is God speaking to us. We pray it back to Him as it fits our circumstances. Psalm 18 is one of my favorites to pray back to God, especially the first two verses. (New Living Translation)

I love you, O Lord, my strength. You are my Rock, my fortress, and my Savior. You are my Rock, in whom I find protection. You are my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.

"The power that saves me, and my place of safety." When all kinds of lies and fearful thoughts fill our hearts and minds, God's truth stands firm.

                                      Photo by Aaron Burden on unsplash.com

  

Don’t Follow Your Heart Unless it Leads You to Jesus

 The world tells us, “Follow your heart.” But God tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:10. 

We cannot trust our hearts. If we could, God wouldn’t have put Jeremiah 17:10 in the Bible, the Word of God. Only God know what’s best for us. That’s one reason Jesus tells us to seek Him and His righteousness.  And if we seek Him, believe in Him, our faith will be rewarded. (Heb. 11:6) No one person, no dream, no pursuit is worth missing God’s love, companionship, rewards in this life, and in the life to come. 

We need Jesus to sanctify our hearts. 

Summer Tanagers

 God graciously brought summer tanagers to my backyard as He has done for the past few years during April. These little birds are so beautiful and fun to watch. Reminds me of the verse that says, "Your works are wonderful; I know that full well." (Psalm 139) You can view my videos of the summer tanagers on my youtube channel. See below photos for link.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmoH5nexHqSYWiwe57NXEmvlxI1fzdnJv

Diaries of Years Past

While writing The Lindell High School Series, I used my diaries to get back into the mindset of a teenager and to remind myself what high school was like back then. I also used my husband’s notes that he wrote to me during high school to aid my memory of our dating life. I used this information as a foundation for establishing my characters and events. Because most girls kept diaries in the 60s and 70s, I had Dee Anderson, my female protagonist, keep one as well.

I thought it might be fun to show you a few of my diaries from the same time period. I began keeping a diary in the sixth grade, but I only have my diaries from the middle of the 8th grade through high school.

The tall one is from 1971-1972, the brown one is from 1970-1971, (I remember that was the only color they had at T, G,&Y so I had to get it), and the telephone one is from 1972-1973. I have a pink one from 1969-1970, but there are boys’ names on them and so shall remain private, in case my old crushes happen to come across this post. Ha, ha! The spine is also coming apart, so it looks a little beat-up. It's been through a lot!

This is the one I’m using now. I’m not sure I like the large coils. I may go back to a traditional diary after this one is filled.

Writing in a diary is a great way to process your thoughts and emotions. It's interesting to go back later and look up what you were doing or what was happening on a particular day. Hey! That's an idea for a future post! 

If you’ve kept a diary, or are keeping one, please leave a comment. I’d love to see how many still do.

 

Cedar Waxwings

Years ago, I first saw these beautiful birds while I was in my backyard with my camera. Back then God had been sending so many different birds to my backyard that I felt the desire to look up into the heavens and praise Him for them. And as I was doing this, suddenly a flock of little birds with golden tummies appeared on the horizon and flew toward me. They first looked like little bobbing pots of gold in the sky. They landed in my leafless sycamore tree just a few feet in front of me. I was beside myself with joy. You better believe I was praising God for this impromptu photo shoot. They stayed a few minutes and then flew away. I wasn’t sure what they were, so I ran inside and researched them. So ends my story of the first time God sent me cedar waxwings. The sycamore tree died after a hurricane came through our area, and now a mulberry bush grows next to our fence. The cedar waxwings have been coming every year to eat the berries. Most of the berries are still red in this picture. I’m praying when they turn dark blue, God will send tanagers and orioles to photograph like He has the past few years. 

God knows what delights us, and it makes us delight in Him more.

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37)