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Need a great kids’ Bible?

My kids and I attended Andrew Peterson’s Christmas concert back in December, which was phenomenal.  If you ever get a chance to see it, he tours every year with an amazing group of artists who put on his re-telling of the Christmas Story, called “Behold the Lamb”.  That night, he referenced this Bible – the Jesus Storybook Bible – and read an excerpt at the beginning of the show.

I ordered the Bible a few days later, and we have not been disappointed.  It is not a verse-by-verse Bible; it is a retelling of the stories of the Scriptures – really, of the Story of the Scriptures – in a compelling, connected way that will help you and your kids get the big picture.  Let’s face it – the Bible can be very hard to understand.  Sally Lloyd-Jones does a masterful job of drawing the reader consistently back into the Story (with a capital “S”) of the Bible – God’s loving pursuit of a lost mankind.  Every time I open this up with my kids, I find myself grateful.

CBD Catalog

Here’s one place where Spirit Fighter will be available in just a few short weeks – through CBD.  Christian Book Distributors is one of the largest Christian retailers online, so it was fun to see the first in the Son of Angels series listed on their back cover (right beside CS Lewis, which is probably just a coincidence… ).

We can’t wait around here until the general release, which happens at the end of March!  I’ll be sharing more updates and info on where the book will be available and what other fun things we’ll be doing to celebrate the launch soon.

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/catalog_viewer?issue_id=1104682&event=OLC&page=80

1/4

I can’t believe it’s been one year.

Susan passed away on 1.1.11, and a year ago today, we held a service to celebrate her amazing, beautiful life.  It has been a year of grieving, tears, sadness, and along the way, glimmers of hope.  Certainly, people move through tragedy all the time on their own, without inviting the help of God in.  Trudging through pain and hurt all alone.  But I find it hard to imagine how anyone comes through difficulty with any kind of hope, if they cannot see that God is present, real, kind, loving, and wise.

To say that this has been a hard year is like saying it was kind of chilly this morning.  (here in NC, it was a toe-freezing 16 degrees)  It has been the most difficult year of my life, and not just for me, but for others in our family who loved Susan so much.

But I am still here.  We are still here.  And God is too.  Which means that there is hope.

Hope for a future that is better.  For life, love, and joy to return.  For laughter and adventure and promise.  These things are starting to show back up again, little by little.

A friend shared with me sometime last year: “Things won’t ever be the same, but you won’t always feel the way you do right now.”  I can say that for me, these words (borrowed from Tony Dungy) are true.  There were days I never thought they would be…that I would never shed the blanket of sadness and pain I felt.  But I can say, today, that I’m in a different place than I was early last year, when it was so fresh and new.  I’m moving forward…not leaving Susan behind.  But moving, yes.  In a way, this movement is possible because of her.  Because of the way she loved me, and the way she let go of me, the kids, of everything in this world…freely, caught up in Christ, and with the deepest peace.

Our year of “firsts” has come to a close.  A new year is here.  There is hope.

Why do I decorate for Christmas?

Christmas has been looming for us all year.  It’s always been a highlight of the year for our family.  The excitement of the season.  The Christmas music.  The celebration of the real meaning of this holiday.  And of course, the presents, the giving and receiving, the Christmas tree, and everything that comes with that.

But this year, the best way to put it is that it has been looming, grey clouds rolling over the horizon.  It will be the first Christmas spent without Susan, and to be honest, I’ve been dreading it.  From getting the Christmas tree, to decorating, to hosting a party, to shopping for the kids…all of that has been hanging over me.  It is such a fun season, but doing those things by yourself is no fun.

I’ve been doing them, though.  In spite of myself, at times, I’ve been doing these things that she would have done, that the kids expect.  And in the middle of this, I’ve found something – there is a growing part of me that wants to do these things too.

I was wrapping our wooden banister with greenery the other day, trying to remember exactly how this is done correctly, tying and re-tying it, and trying to cover it with the appropriate amount of lights, topping it off with a couple of red bows.  As I was going through this decorating ritual, I had the distinct feeling come over me that, even though this was difficult and I had all those same thoughts of doing it alone, that it was also right.  That this was what I should be doing…not only ‘should be’, but the thing I needed to do.  Something in my heart flickered then, perhaps the sense that it just might come back to life after all.

I thought about why we decorate our houses.  That maybe it isn’t just for the kids, or to show off for our neighbors, and not simply for me.  Maybe it can be something that actually honors and celebrates God.  A way of preparing not only our homes, but our hearts, for Jesus, and all He can bring into our lives.  Decorating the house as a spiritual exercise – a holy expectation of good things to come.  That was a new thought for me.

Sometimes the hardest thing to do in life is to put one foot in front of the other.  But I have the distinct sense that that’s where life is to be found.  Ahead, on the path, one step at a time.  Which is why I found myself decorating the house this year.

Grace Covenant Academy

It was a privilege for me to head to Grace Covenant Academy in Cornelius, NC last week to talk to their fourth and fifth graders about Spirit Fighter!  They had a lot of terrific questions about the book, why I wrote it, and the writing process in general.  I could have stayed all day.  These kids are super-creative – in fact, some of them are already working on their own stories and books.  Can’t wait to see what they come up with.

In the meantime, here are a couple of photos from the event:

Quick update

I haven’t been as consistent as I’d like to be on the blog the past few weeks.  I have been working intensely on revisions for Book #2 of the Son of Angels series…which may sound crazy to some of you who haven’t read the first one yet, or haven’t been able to find it.  But the publisher likes to get way ahead on these things, and the reality is, we have a pretty tight schedule.  Spirit Fighter has been at Walmart as a “pre-release” kind of deal, and seems to be doing really well.  I don’t have any firm numbers, but I do know they placed a re-order, so that’s good!  It is set for general release in April 2012.

So if all goes well, Walmart will re-up for an exclusive on book #2 next fall, with the general release set for April 2013.

I’ll turn this revision in on Monday, so for now, I need to dig back into the world of Jonah Stone!  But I’ll be back next week with more news and regular posts.