Sabotaging Happiness

Have you ever thought about how kids sabotage their own happiness? If you're a parent, you probably know what I'm talking about. My kids -- especially my twins -- have a habit of throwing their blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, pacifiers, anything that gives them comfort when they're supposed to sleep out of reach and then crying because they don't have it. Give them a nice book to read, they'll rip it up. Give them a bucket of toys, they'll throw them around the room. Their natural bent is toward destruction, and it usually lands them in a state of misery.

Aren't we a little like that, when we really think about it? How many times do we take a great gift that God gives us and throw it away with both hands? How many times do we refuse to accept the help that will get us out of a bad predicament? Just as our children don't think ahead to the future, we tend to forget the consequences of our actions.

What is it we tell our children? Listen to me, because I've been there. I know. What you're doing now, you will later regret. If only we could take the words of our heavenly father to heart, we might be free from our own sabotage.

Partnership

In our dog-eat-dog world, it's good to know that someone has your back.

That's why I recently joined an authors' group that so far has been the best place I've found for authors collaborating, cross-promoting, and generally helping each other. It's a great place for authors and readers alike to get their finger on the pulse of the fantasy industry right now.

Take a look at the Infinite Worlds of Fantasy website and you will have access to hundreds of authors in the genre, of all points in the spectrum. Not to mention all the publishers, editors, and reviewers, too. It's worth a look.

Infinite Worlds of Fantasy Authors

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

Back to School. We've all seen those commercials with the parents dancing down the aisles as they buy their kids school supplies. I've never really identified with that sentiment, to tell the truth. I happen to like my kids, and I like to be with them.

Sure, there are the obvious benefits -- a little more quiet time, not to mention the fact that my kids are going stir-crazy to get back. But on the other hand, I miss them. And there's that nerve-wracking first day, bringing your kids into that sea of hyper children, straining to hear their names called and putting them into the hands of a stranger.

All in all, I'm okay with it, though. I know that beyond all the worries and missing them, God has them well in hand. That's all I need to know.

Messy Hands

We have a three-times daily ritual in our house. It's called wiping the twins up after eating. First, you get a wet cloth. Then, while using one hand to fend off the other grabbing baby hand and a biting baby mouth, we wipe down the first hand. Next, while holding the clean hand in a firm grip, we hastily wipe down the high chair tray so the clean hand stays clean. Repeat with the other hand, then the face, where the biting hazard increases significantly. If necessary, we do the hair, ears, neck and upper arms, too, and sometimes the legs as well. More often than not, this is done while the baby is wailing and gnashing her teeth. Then we get to do it all with the other baby.

The point is, this whole exercise reminds me of what God has to go through with us. We get our hands messy -- sometimes more than our hands -- playing around at life. We throw stuff all over God's nice world, too. But instead of meekly letting Him clean up our mess, we fight, kick, grab, bite, and scream at him. Sometimes we try to grab the cloth and do it ourselves. But when it's all said and done, if we really want to get clean, we have to let Him wash us. The great thing about God is He will wait until we're ready for Him.

Review for Dawn Thompson's Bride of Time

Tessa La Prelle, a scullery maid in 1903 London, dreams of a life better than her own. She finds an object for her fantasies in a local gallery - the work of Regency artist Giles Longworth. His brooding self-portrait is fascinating, but not as intriguing as the scandalously beautiful painting called The Bride of Time.

When a false accusation sends Tessa running, she never dreams that she will flee from the bobbies straight into the carriage of Giles himself. Before she can fully understand what has happened, she is bundled off to Longworth Abbey as governess to Giles' ward, the incorrigible young Master Monty.

Giles Longworth has problems of his own, Master Monty chief among them. There have been murders on the Cornish moors, his own unfaithful wife included, and rumours of werewolves. He has his own suspicions. When Tessa shows up on his doorstep, he's not inclined to ask where she came from. She is a godsend - a help with the problem of his ward, and the perfect inspiring model for his newest painting - The Bride of Time.

With the full moon on the rise, the plot is about to thicken.

Dawn Thompson's new book is a triumph, a delicate balance between the dark sensuality of the gothic romance, and the hedonistic gaiety of the Regency, the complexity of time travel, and the mystery of shape shifting. Her characters are multidimensional and realistic, her setting captures the imagination, and her story is gripping. I couldn't put it down. The literary community has lost a great talent in Ms. Thompson, yet her writing will live on.

Untangling the Slinky

Having kids brings to light a whole host of life lessons. Take for example the classic Slinky. My daughter has a nice, rainbow coloured plastic slinky that she brings to me about once every five minutes to untangle. Sometimes, it's a matter of a quick manoeuvre to get it straight. Sometimes, it looks so daunting I'm tempted to throw in the towel. Sometimes Caiti waits patiently for me to untangle it. Sometimes she wants to get her little hands in there and get in my way. Usually she takes it, goes away, and does the exact same thing with it that got it tangled in the first place.

Isn't that so much like life? If we try to fix our own problems, they usually end up more tangled than before. When we bring our problems to God and try to "help" Him fix them, we prevent Him from doing His best in our lives. And then we take this straightened out, fixed up life and do the same thing that messed it up in the first place, starting again from square one. The point is, God could get frustrated and just throw the whole thing out, or let us play with a tangled Slinky. But He doesn't. When we ask, he lovingly straightens us out again -- with the admonishment to be careful not to tangle it up again.

The Power of a Dream

I've always been fascinated by the phenomenon of dreams. They can be so many things -- tiring (as in work-related dreams), frightening, embarrassing, inspiring, or prophetic. I'm reminded that God often works through dreams to communicate to His people in the bible.

Dreams are a gold mine for a writer. I've taken some very interesting ideas from a couple of dreams. They'll both become fantasy novels, hopefully in the near future. Who knows if I would have thought of those ideas on my own. I put great stock in divine inspiration, and value the freedom of imagination found in dreams.