A Christmas Journey Home Review by Yvonne Ortega

A Christmas Journey Home by Kathi Macias is not a warm fuzzy novel. Kathi Macias is a master at writing novels that make the readers think and question the depth of their beliefs. In this novel, she doesn’t disappoint her loyal followers.

Isabella, a pregnant woman in Mexico, lost her family to gang violence. She fears the same thing could happen to her and her husband, Francisco.

isabella’s grandfather provides the money for Isabella and Francisco to pay a “coyote” to guide them illegally across the border to the USA.

Meanwhile, Miriam Nelson in Arizona is furious with God because her border patrol agent husband, David, was killed in a skirmish with drug smugglers. Miriam is bitter and wants revenge for the death of her husband.

The desperate situations Isabella and her husband face leave Isabella overwhelmed with fear and wondering if God will take care of them and the child she carries.

Kathi Macias does not condone illegal immigrants. She does make the readers see both sides of the issue and causes them to laugh one minute and cry the next.

Kathi demonstrates the power of prayer and holds the attention of the readers from the beginning to the miracle meeting of Isabella and Miriam on Christmas Eve.

This is a must read and will make a fabulous Christmas present or stocking stuffer. Include tissue with the gift.

Yvonne Ortega  www.yvonneortega.com

 

Do We Fear Our Rescuer? by Hannah Alexander

Our pastor preached a fascinating sermon the other day, and pointed out something I had never considered. We all know that the first time the disciples got into trouble on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus was already with them on the boat, and they were frightened of the storm. They knew their rescuer was right there, so they woke Him up as they were freaking about the storm.

 

The second time they freaked, however, wasn’t because of the storm, but because of the very Rescuer who had saved them from the storm before. They’d seen him feed thousands, heal many, bring people back from the dead, but when they saw Him walking across the water they thought he was a ghost, and I can just imagine that no storm had frightened them as badly as Christ, Himself, did when they saw him on those waves.

 

Now, I’ve had some times in my life when circumstances have given me such angst that I made myself sick worrying about them. Not only have financial woes given me fits, but painful relationships, strange noises in the house, the house alarm going off, coming across strangers on the hiking trail, medical crises, automobile accidents, my mother’s dementia, and of course manuscript deadlines. I could name so many more.

 

But I’ve looked back on those times and discovered that those worries weren’t for nothing. The financial woes have, indeed, placed us into deep debt, but they have also kept us from spending money on things we don’t need, and once those debts are paid–when we’re in our seventies–we’ll have enough income to keep us going. I think God’s hand was in that. I also believe God’s hand was in the medical trials–showing me the fragility of life, and that I am NOT all powerful. Painful relationships have shown me that God is the true One with Whom I need my relationship. He is the One who will not fail me. I’ve learned so much through the trials God allows in my life, things that frightened and hurt me so badly at the time, but which I can look back on now and use in my novels, when counseling others, when trying to understand the fears of others.

 

I’d love to hear from you about something God sent your way–like Jesus over the stormy sea–that frightened you at the time, but that turned out to be an incident that increased your faith.

 

Blessings to you from Hannah Alexander

He Equips the Called by Julie Arduini

I have three school based memories that for decades cemented my fear to write despite my love for it.

• A middle school teacher who red marked a story to the point it looked like someone spilled ketchup all over it. At the bottom she wrote in the red marker that my writing was mediocre.
• A high school teacher returned papers my mom sent in regarding an invitation I received to take a correspondence writer’s course. The teacher told me to pass on the course, it was most likely a scam. After all, my writing didn’t have potential. I wasn’t in English honors and my grammar was average. Her advice? Throw the invitation away.
• Another high school teacher let the class know his grading methods for writing essays. Whether he was joking or not I longed to be taken seriously and learn the craft my peers in honors English were learning. He said he threw papers on the stairs and the ones at the top of the stairs received the best grades, and the papers on the bottom failed. I graduated from high school thinking my writing life had no chance.

The two academic writing experiences I only recalled in recent years when I finally surrendered to write no matter what.

• A middle school Social Studies teacher bent down to tell me how much she enjoyed my pioneer diary. She let me know my writing style carried a lot of emotion and a mature plot, one beyond other entries from classmates. She encouraged me to keep writing.
• I was in a class middle school newspaper setting when the teacher asked if anyone could write something last minute to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. I wrote a poem in 20 minutes and handed it in. The teacher asked to speak with me. She wondered if I wrote the poem just then. When I answered yes she let me know the poem was inspirational and moving and she never saw a student write something that fast. She challenged me to keep writing.

Unfortunately I let the top set of circumstanced dictate too many years. Even though I have a BA in Communications I pursued safe writing projects. My little stories were my secret children I didn’t dare let the public know about.

The thing is, the “stir of the pen” never stopped. By 2006 the call was so strong to write I couldn’t ignore it. I remember sitting in church and listening to the story of Abraham and Isaac. I knew the story well and felt I lived it given we nearly lost our baby daughter and had to trust God with her critical health.

This time around God gave me a new perspective on the Biblical story. He gave me a picture of my writing on the proverbial chopping block and asked if I loved Him enough to write for Him.

No matter what.

Could I dare surrender my fears of rejection to Him?

That day I made a covenant with God. Since December 31, 2006 I’ve been writing full-time for Him. All those years I worried about rejection and it was only in 2010 that I received writing-related rejection and even then I laughed. There was no devastation or any other negative impact. I knew I was average against my writing peers. I also grasped I’m a called writer, not the best one.

God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. That’s what keeps me writing whether it is a paragraph for a newsletter or the latest edit in my contemporary romance.

One of my favorite quotes is from John Wayne.

Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.

Eleanor Roosevelt also said something that helped me when red mark memories and doomed writing career predictions consumed me.

No one intimidates you without your permission.

Whether you write or not, God has birthed something deep down inside that is meant to be used. Do you have a calling, a dream, that you’ve been fighting? Like Abraham, I challenge you to put your fears and dreams together on the block and let God have the axe. Chances are your fears will dissipate while the dream blossoms.

Let Him equip you today.

Surrendering the good, the bad, and—maybe one day—the chocolate

Signature powered by WiseStamp

Photobucket image