Thank God for Music

Last week during the meet-and-greet time of our church service, a song played that brought on a feeling I have had many times. A joyful ache, a sense of hope and promise, which happens even in a sad time. I don’t remember the song; I don’t even know if I knew it.

Often, I’ll get this swell inside when I hear a song, a certain sound. I may have no idea of the words—I might not even like the words if I remembered them—but I know that joy. The day opens up, and I feel lifted. I smile; sometimes I cry.

God gave this to us in waterfalls, in the drumming of rain, from birds and wild animals, the clomp of horses’ hooves, wind brushing through leaves, a baby’s laugh, the whispers from someone we love.

I get a sense of such healing possibility. Lord God, just another gift to thank you for.

“I Got a Name” by Jim Croce; “El Shaddai,” Amy Grant; “It’s a Big Old Goofy World,” John Prine; “What a Wonderful World,” Louis Armstrong.

 

  

Guest Author, Kathy Cretsinger

Kathy Cretsinger is so special to me. She was my first publisher, and I can never thank her enough for taking a chance with me. And she is a great author. I highly recommend this fun series.

 

Thank you, Kathy, for asking me to be on your blog. It’s a special honor from a special friend. I’ve known Kathy for several years. She and Murray plus all the children are dear to my heart.

Kathy asked me to write about my book coming out February 21, 2023. This is the third book in the series, Nothing Shady Ever Happens In Shady Valley. The first book, Bogged Down by Murder, is about Daisy McQueen and Harry Greer. Shady Valley is nestled in the mountains in what we call Northeast Tennessee. You know where the state juts out into North Carolina? That is very close to Shady Valley.

The second book, Death by Doubloons, is about Liberty Garcia and Matt Sluder. Gold Doubloons in the mountains of Shady Valley? Yes, in my imagination there are.

Now, for the next book, Shady Connections. This book is about Bruce Howard and Grace Manis, bodyguards for Daisy McQueen Greer.

Bruce and Grace fall in love after working together for five years. They slipped into love. Didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did without them noticing. Bruce and Grace are in their 40s, and two months after their elopement, they find they are expecting a baby. That is a shock because both were married before but never had children.

Shady Valley is such a unique place. It is so peaceful with mountain streams, cranberry blogs, and good people all over the place. The residents are peaceful, the summers are cool, and the winters are snowy.

There is only one way out of the valley without going over mountains. Bruce and Grace decide this is their forever home, after they find out who wants to steal their baby.  bit.ly/3laPlG2

Kathy Cretsinger lives in Kentucky, but she was born and grew up in Tennessee. Her husband, Jerry, grew up in Shady Valley, where some of his family still lives. Kathy invites you to check out her Facebook page at. facebook.com/kathycretsinger and her author page, facebook.com/kathycretsinger-author. She also writes a blog at www.kathycretsinger.com.

What’s up next? Two more books set in Shady Valley, Tennessee, and another one I’m not talking about now. Love suspense.

Kathy Cretsinger

Guest Author, V. B. Tenery

V. B. Tenery has been my critique partner for a number of years. I have enjoyed all her books, historical (World War II) and contemporary fiction. She writes with sensitivity and excitement.

 

A Time to Speak is filled with suspense and action.

A Few of My Favorite Things

I’m always bad when someone asks what is my favorite something. “I have a lot of favorites,” I complain. But as I was thinking about it recently, I came up with a few favorites.

 

Book: To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee. I read this book again not too long ago, to make sure it was still my favorite. It is. Still brings tears to my eyes.

 

There’s so much I can learn about writing from Harper Lee, and I want to be as good a story-teller as Scout Finch.

 

Food: Hamburger with all the fixings.

 

Song: “He Is,” by Aaron Jeoffrey.

 

Movie: The Sound of Music—“These are a few of my favorite things…”

 

Flower: daisies. Especially tiny wild ones.

 

Color: orange. I met a lady this week who said her favorite color is orange too. “It’s a happy color.”

 

I don’t watch much TV anymore, but I have a couple favorite shows I love watching reruns of: “West Wing” and “MASH.”

 

Book of the Bible: The Gospel of John. When I was in college, I was having trouble believing in God, and a minister suggested I read the book of John. Many years later, this book still touches me.

 

John 20:30-31: Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

 

Dessert: Chocolate anything. ’Cept maybe chocolate-covered bacon. Mmm, well, I guess I’d be willing to try that.

 

When my kids ask me, I always say I have five favorite kids—my favorite Ping-Hwei, my favorite Sarah… 

Grace and Truth, John 15, Our Promise, Our Advocate

 

Verses 18-19: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Verse 26 “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.

 

Jesus has chosen us to share about him in the world. What a privilege, to be chosen by Jesus. He warns us that this will cause trouble for us, but Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to us from God the Father. He is our Advocate, someone to stand by us and stand up for us. Thank you, Father. We do not need to testify about Jesus alone. We will not receive trouble from the world alone. 

More About Books Shared with Our Kids

I wanted to share some comments from my blog about books with our kids.

 

From Mary Lou: My daughter Christie enjoyed the Little House books.”

 

From Erma: “Thanks for the recommendations! I've read some of the same books to my children - loved their faces as they discovered the stories and then read them for themselves!! What fun!!:)”

 

From Kathy C.: “My granddaughter has asked for books for her baby instead of cards at her baby shower. I've seen this before, and I always give Christopher Robin. I can't think of the name of the book, but Winnie the Pooh. I love this book.”

 

From Patti: “Kathy C, one of my daughter's favorite Winnie the Pooh books was Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! One time we were in the doctor's office waiting room and that book was sitting on a table. We sat there and read it out loud together. We were laughing about it because she was already a teen-ager!”

 

From Nina: “I loved reading about sharing your love of reading with your children when they were small. It was one of the happiest times for me as a parent, reading about Curious George and Madeline and The Little Engine That Could.

“Brett was fascinated by firemen when he was tiny and we checked out a picture book from the library and renewed it until we reached the limit.  At 3 he felt the need to dress in a fireman’s costume every day and he was wearing it when the librarian gave us the bad news.  We could not renew.  He cried. She gave a deep sigh and checked the book in, then right out again to us.  The little fireman broke into a smile.  The book was ours again for 3 renewal cycles.

“I once bought a subscription to Highlights.  It’s a quality children’s magazine but it turned out to be a mistake for us.  The monthly feature, ‘Goofus and Gallant’ proved problematic.  No matter where they were- playing, at school, sitting at the dinner table with the family- Goofus was demonstrating poor behavior.  “Goofus jumps up from the dinner table without excusing himself and runs off to play.’   Gallant demonstrated admirable behaviors ‘Gallant thanks his mother for dinner and helps her to clear the table.’  Goofus cheats at games, talks instead of listening to the teacher, grabs the biggest piece of cake at a party.  Gallant, noble soul, helps his teammates, pays attention at school, writes thank you notes.

“Unfortunately, my son was fascinated with the awful behavior of Goofus and saw the short lessons and sketches as inspirational material for future misbehavior.  Goofus, he decided, was living a much more exciting life!  Sigh.  I didn’t renew the subscription!

“But books- we read and read.  Later it was the Narnia series.  Katrina loved the Babysitters Club and The Boxcar Children series.

“I hope to continue the joy of reading with Remy and Elden (her grandsons.)  Any books about things with wheels are a huge hit right now.”

Such joyful memories. 

Books Shared with My Kids

Reading was something we shared with our kids from their very early age.

We read the bible to them. I told bible stories, and we shared acting them out with enthusiasm. “Jonah was gobbled up by a big fish. What was it like in the fish’s belly?”

The kids would answer, “Icky,” “Stinky,” “Slimy.”

We shared so many books with them, and they started reading for themselves early on.

Some favorites I remember reading to the kids were The Little House Books, the Chronicles of Narnia, Magic Tree House books, Boxcar Children, To Kill a Mocking bird.

Now that they’re grown, I love it when they share a book with me, suggesting I read it because they loved it.

More than a dozen years ago, Rebecca told me about the O’Malley Series by Dee Henderson. I’ve read this series multiple times, and I will continue to. I’ve read as many other books by Dee Henderson as I can find, and she has been a wonderful mentor for my own writing.

The road back to you: an enneagram journey to self-discovery by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile.

Benjamin suggested this book to me. It’s a fun, easy to understand look at the enneagram, a Christian system with hundreds of years of history that looks at personality types.

The authors suggest that understanding ourselves and others better can help us be the person God created us to be. It helps us find grace for ourselves and others. I’ve also heard this system recommended for writers to use to make their characters more believable. The book is written with humor and compassion.

Rebecca and Sarah both talked with me about reading The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas. They warned me of its rating—a little sex, lots of cussing. But I feel so good that my girls considered me worthy of them recommending the book anyway. A story of a sixteen-year-old Black girl who watches her childhood friend be killed by a police officer. An incredible story of the love of her family, her friends, and showing her come to understand and accept her own identity.

From Caleb: What happened to the Bennetts by Lisa Scottoline.

This is a gripping story of suspense and quick surprising action. friendship and family bring the main characters through horror.

Caleb loves to read intense, heart-stopping suspense stories, and I love talking with him about what he’s reading.