Trusting in God

Isaiah 50:10

"Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant?   Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God."

Losing Charlie, the Dog

We just lost our beloved Shih Tzu, Charlie, last Tuesday.  Charlie was 13 years old and suffered from kidney disease.  We adopted Charlie 1.5 years ago from a relative's friend who was going into a nursing home and could not care for him any longer. 

I've had dogs most of my life, but Charlie was the sweetest and funniest dog I've ever had.  He loved to be scratched behind his ears.  Charlie even "purred" as he lay on the couch while being petted.  Sometimes, while standing, he'd swing his hips gently from side to side, gently hitting one side against against the furniture leg, ready to play.  But the funniest thing of all was when Charlie surprised us by dancing the cha-cha-cha with my daughter.  Did someone teach him that or was that just part of his wonderful nature?  We'll probably never know. 

In the end, despite continuous care and treatmentl, Charlie sucummed to kidney disease.  He had seven seizures in less than eight hours.  The vet said his kidneys had failed and there was no hope.  He was suffering so much.  It was time to let him go.  He died in my arms.

The pain is still fresh.  It has been really, really hard for us to lose Charlie.  He brought so much love and joy into our lives.  I hope he knows how much we still love him. 

God's Plans for Us

Jeremiah 29:11-13

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart."
(ESV)

A Sure Hand in a Crisis

Psalm 9:9-10

 ^"The  Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you."

(ESV)

SPEAKING EVENT | Greater Mount Joy Church, Wash., DC

I will be speaking at Greater Mount Joy Church of Christ, Sunday September 16, 2012, 11:oo AM Service. The church is pastored by the Rev. Delores Allen. Location: 1619 Frankford Street, SE Washington, DC. (202) 678-0762. 

SUMMER 2011 — FREE BOOK CONTEST!

WIN FREE BOOKS!


Christian Author and freelance writer Barbara Hemming will release her new book, Bible Miracles: 32 Daily Devotions and Journal to Inspire Today's Woman.


The Summer 2011 Free Book Contest is now open. Giving away 10 free copies of "Bible Miracles: 31 Daily Devotions and Journal to Inspire Today’s Woman"! Ten people will be randomly selected. Therefore the chances of winning this Christian devotional book are enhanced. Contest ends July 1st. For details, visit my blog at http://barbarahemming.com/

Barbara Hemming Publishes New Devotional Book

"Inspiration. We all need it. Without inspiration, we trudge along, numb with the sameness of yet another day, our spiritual knuckles dragging the ground. We need to be motivated to look beyond the dirty diapers and sullen teenagers to something greater than ourselves—to Someone Who can help to make this point in our lives gratifying! Bible Miracles: 32 Daily Devotions and Journal to Inspire Today’s Woman does just that."

With those words from the back cover, Barbara Hemming sets the scene for her newest Christian devotional book, Bible Miracles: 32 Daily Devotions and Journal to Inspire Today’s Woman. Written to encourage and inspire women to trust God in their daily lives, the book includes moving devotions, with journal prompts so women can journal insights from the Holy Spirit. This is a book that women will want to read again and again and to give to others as a gift.

For details on pre-ordering signed copies, email the Author at hemmisur@yahoo.com.

Announcing New Book Release!

Christian Author and freelance writer Barbara Hemming will release her new book, Bible Miracles: 32 Daily Devotions and Journal to Inspire Today's Woman.

"Women lead such hectic lives," Hemming said recently. "I wanted to encourage and inspire women in their daily activities and in their walk with the Lord. What better inspiration than the miracles from the Bible?"

This book is not an ebook. Rather, it is an expanded version of an ebook that is no longer available. It is a beautiful paperback book that women will want to read again and again and to give as a gift to others. I hope the book is an encouragement to all who read it, including men who have women in their lives.

In addition to warm devotions based on the miracles in the Bible, the book also contains journal prompts to encourage women to seek the Lord and record what the Holy Spirit is speaking to their hearts.

For details on pre-ordering signed copies, e-mail the Author at hemmisur@yahoo.com.

Generation Z is Waiting!

Move on over, Boomers. Outta the way, Generation X and Generation Y. Generation Z is waiting to take over--and they are in a hurry!

Over the weekend, I got a chance to spend some up-close time with one representative of this new generation, born between 1990 and 2009. From what I saw, I have two words to describe them: Smart and Proactive. Though we were meeting for the first time, I thought I'd have to spend some time putting this young child at ease. Not so. She immediately took a no-nonsense approach to the task at hand.

And what was the task at hand? To interview me in connection with the publication of my new book, Bible Miracles: 32 Devotions and Journal to Inspire Today's Woman. She came armed with her questions already written down. I found her interview to be thoughtful and probing. She asked many questions, including, "What is a freelance writer?" "What did you study in school to become an author?" "How can I prepare to become an author?"

And to think--she's only 9 years old!

I can hear your snorts and snickers all the way over here. You're probably thinking right about now that I'm such a pathetic writer that I had to settle for a 9-year old to interview me. Well, depending on how successful my book promotion is, you may be right. But here's the real reason for the interview. She's the niece of an acquaintance and is spending some time in this area for the summer. The auntie is tutoring her so she retains her skills over the summer (I admire that). She wanted her to meet an author in person, instead of just reading about them in her textbook.

Ta Da! That's where I fit in.

I have to say it was an honor and a joy for me to be able to touch the life of this young child even in such a minor way. I don't know if she will remember my name 20 years from now. But there's one thing I hope she does remember: that I took time out for her. I hope she remembers that. And I hope she turns around and tries to give an outstretched hand to those of the next generations coming behind her.

Intentionally taking the time to reach those that follow on after us....Those are good words no matter who we are.

Final Book Format Poll Results

Finally, the informal book format poll results are in.

The poll closed sometime ago, so it's too late now to try to enter it. When the poll was active, I asked you what book format you preferred for reading books. I blogged about it here as follows:

"What's all the buzz about the different formats for books? What's the best format to offer to book readers? As a writer, I need to know the answer, whether in the future I'll be providing copy for ink on paper, electronic readers, or computer screens, etc. It probably won't affect the content but it may determine how I decide to present the information and how you will receive it. So, I went searching for the answer and asked the question on a few of my networking sites, including this blog."

Results

The results for this informal poll are in. Here they are:

1. Traditional books
10 votes 66.6%
2. Ebooks (for electronic readers i.e., Kindle and the like)
3 votes 20.0%3.
3. Online (reading from the computer screen)
1 vote 6.6%
4. Audiobooks
1 vote 6.6%
5. PDF books
0 votes 0%
6. I don't read books
0 votes 0%

Numbers were rounded off.

Comments
Are you surprised? I thought more people would vote for ebooks. But what was even more interesting were the comments as to why readers voted the way they did.

--Most favored traditional books because of the "comfort factor" (ability to get comfortable with the book), for underlining, and making notes in the margins. They said they liked the covers, as well as the look and feel of paper books.

--Some said ebooks were more economical than traditional books, others said not so.

--Several said audio books were hard to focus on--their minds kept wandering.

--Others did not enjoy reading online and said PDF's cost more than books because they had to be printed out.

Most acknowledged that ebooks are the future but thought they would only get an electronic reader when they felt absolutely compelled to do so.

These poll results tell me that for the time being, a traditional paper book is preferred by the vast majority of my readers.

Many thanks to those who took part in this informal poll. It's been a lot of fun for me and an eye opener as well. I hope it has been for you also.

Happy Holiday and Stay Safe!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful 4th of July holiday. In my area, we are under water restrictions because of a broken pipe. No outside water use. Limited indoor water use. Bummer. But this is a day to celebrate the wonderful country God has given us to live in (despite its shortcomings and flaws). We can all send up a prayer of thanksgiving.

Blessings to all and be safe...

Staying Connected--Lesson Learned

Today I visited someone who had just been released from the hospital. She had a serious illness and got sick without warning. I hadn't seen her for a while and believe me it was really GOOD to see and talk to her today. I think we wait too long to reunite with people we care about. We get busy, and push time for friendships to the back burner. I don't think I'll make that mistake again. The Lord gives us friendships for a reason. With God's help, let's honor them in the best way we can. And those are always good words.

Poll Results Coming Soon

What's all the buzz about the different formats for books? What's the best format to offer to book readers? As a writer, I need to know the answer, whether in the future I'll be providing copy for ink on paper, electronic readers, or computer screens, etc. It probably won't affect the content but it may determine how I decide to present the information and how you will receive it. So, I went searching for the answer and asked the question on a few of my networking sites, including this blog.

The poll is now closed, but the results are almost finalized. I'll be sharing them with you shortly.

Reconnecting With Our Children

The weather is starting to warm up and it's almost time for school to let out for summer vacation. OK! I hear you.

Some of you who are parents of school-age children are groaning at the prospect of having kids underfoot or of finding worthwhile things for them to do over the summer. Some are looking forward to it with anticipation, as a time to reconnect with the entire family. When my children were younger, I admit that I viewed summer vacation time with a lot of trepidation. The main issue was transportation. I was always worried about being stuck in traffic an hour away and being late picking up my child from day camp. The stress levels were always high. So, yeah, I hear you.

But despite all that, why not try something different this year? If you haven't done so before, why not deliberately schedule a few evenings with your child just gently and quietly talking and reconnecting with each other. No computer games; no TV; no telephones or visitors. Just you and them. Just listen and allow them to talk about whatever they want to talk about. Don't offer any advice-yet. Just listen.

Everyone has a need to be heard. Children especially want to be heard by adults. So often we overlook them. The older ones will probably think what you're doing is dumb. If you genuinely listen to them, they may warm up to the whole idea after a while. Be strategic about it and you might be surprised at what you hear. These quiet moments with your child may lead to greater closeness and understanding, and perhaps later on, opportunities to instill deeper values and godliness.

In prayer, ask the Lord to help you and your children to stay closely connected, despite whatever craziness is going on in all your lives. Staying connected. Listening to others. Those are good words.

Did You Get Your Free Ebook Yet?

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How to Get Your Free Inspirational Ebook

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