You're much too busy to hear any more stories, so as I close today, I'll keep it short and simple (K.I.S.S.). In fact, over the next 2 weeks, I'll send nothing but a few Christmas K.I.S.S.es, short and simple messages to keep you encouraged during the holidays.
As I think about giving thanks to God, sometimes my thankfulness is so shallow. My kiddie pool of thankfulness goes as deep as, "Thank you Lord for my house, my car, my bank account...". But I overlook God's grace as deep as an ocean. I overlook the patience of my loving family and the incredible gift of their support. Today as I splash around in my wading pool of superficial concerns, I'm reflecting on how much the stuff doesn't matter. Day-after-Thanksgiving sale...not even going to look at the ads. Computer repair guy...take all the time you need. I'm taking a step deeper and looking for the real blessings that God has given me, and I'm swimming out towards the whitecaps in search of something worthy of deep gratitude.
In these stories, people overcome desperate situations through a miraculous twist of fate—all during the most wonderful time of the year. A young boy sits down to read a Christmas book and discovers that his learning disability has vanished. A woman stranded in a blizzard is rescued by a mysterious stranger who she suspects is an angel. And a woman living far from home gets an answer to her prayer in the form of an unexpected gift. 
Marley Gibson is a young adult author whose first published books in the Sorority 101 series were released by Penguin Group in 2008 under the pen name of Kate Harmon. She has a new Ghost Huntress series with Houghton Mifflin written under her own name. She can be found online at www.marleygibson.com.
and helped me understand it much better. As the book progressed, I felt a sampling of how Cec must have felt in a time in his life when God seemed absent. Frankly, I didn’t like it. I didn’t like the sense of abandonment. I didn’t like waiting. I didn’t like the long unanswered requests for light from God. However, I liked the book very much and I was very glad to discover hope and joy along with the author. 
Cec Murphey's
When God Turns Off the Lights Blog Tour Gift Basket.
On October 22, all bloggers who featured Cec's book on tour this month drew one name from those who commented on their blog posts and entered that name into the grand drawing. And the winner is: Stephanie Shott who commented on one of my blog posts. Yay!
I was so thrilled that it was one of my readers! Enjoy the goodies Stephanie.
You have just 4 days to post a comment on any of my October blog posts to be entered into my monthly book drawing. This month's winner receives a free copy of Letitia Suk's "Rhythms of Renewal". How to comment
I'll announce the winner on the blog so check back to see if your name was drawn.
enough after touching her, we’d win. The giggles erased the sadness of saying goodbye and made it something fun instead. As she aged, Grandma couldn’t chase as fast, and sometimes she’d try to get us with her cane instead of her hand. We usually won. Now, I often let her win, but we still play the game.Medical AND political thriller? You bet! Liam Roberts is a debut novelist with characters who are bent on unraveling the genetic code...and applying it to the simmering situation between Christians and Muslims.I was intrigued, so I requested the free review copy of The Y Factor. I admit however, that I was skeptical. I figured Roberts would have a difficult time equaling well-known authors of thrillers. He's an unknown, writing under a pseudonym, published by a publisher I'd never heard of. But, within the first couple of chapters, I was hooked.
When your sons are engaged in the very real war in the Middle East and they tell you to keep a low profile, slapping your true name on the cover of a novel about Middle Eastern tensions isn't the smartest course to take. But what is a writer to do when he has a story that must be told? An idea that refuses to die, that will engage readers and do what great stories do...make them re-visit their opinions?
You invent a pen name. Something like, oh, Liam Roberts.
Roberts knows the technology and unrest of which he writes. A computer whiz by day, he has close family members fighting in the very region in which his story is set. His love of technology led to the question: what if technology allowed us to know something that would significantly impact the situation in the Middle East?
I've thought a lot this week about connecting dots. I love helping people see how their creative side, their plain old everyday life stuff, and their faith are all a part of one big picture, instead of a bunch of separate little pictures. I also enjoy how these things intersect in my own life. When I speak for women, I draw from my crafting and decorating hobbies for illustrations of God's love and provision for us. Often, when I teach on decorating with recycled objects and flea market finds, I also teach people how God can take our trash, our stress and painful experiences, and turn them into something worth treasuring. A few weeks ago, as I was prepping for one of these seminars, I decided to start a new blog for trash to treasure decorating. I had thought it would be a perfect extension of my speaking and I have had fun going around my house taking pictures of my decorations to upload to the site. 
earned that status with her own fiction and nonfiction writing, her speaking, her generous mentoring of new writers, and her writing resources. I received an advanced reading copy of "A Slow Burn" from Mary's publisher and it was the first of Mary's novels that I've read.
Where did you get the idea for the book?
I wrote the series of stories based on hearing friends of mine talk about their Christian homes that appeared great on the outside, only to hide abuse on the inside. This really bothered me. Daisy became the inciting incident to explore three people’s stories relating to authenticity and hiding. In book one, Daisy Chain, I explore a teenage boy’s perspective to a family in crisis. In book two, A Slow Burn, I examine what would it be like to have deep, deep mommy regrets enough to want to be free from them. In book three, Life in Defiance, I tell the conclusion of the story through a battered wife’s perspective.
I am not a teenage boy. Nor am I a neglectful mother. And I’m not a battered wife. But I’ve interacted with folks who are. It’s for them that I wrote these stories.
What are the major themes of the book?
You’re never too far from God’s grace and love and forgiveness. That God is a pursuing, redemptive, relentless God. He loves His children, even when they run far, far away. That Jesus comes to us in surprising packages, and sometimes we’re so bothered by appearances that we miss Him.
What kind of research did you have to do for the book?
I had to figure out how a drug addict acted and thought. I had to research what drugs do to a person, particularly the lure and the trips they take folks on. I had to get into the mind of a drug addict, which wasn’t easy for me, someone who is terrified of drugs. I created Defiance from my head and my two-year stint in East Texas.
With which character do you, personally, identify most and why?
That’s really hard. I see myself in all of them. When I feel guilty about my parenting, I relate to Emory. When I feel like an outcast, trying to do the right thing, I understand Hixon and Muriel better.
What do you hope readers will take away from your book?
That God is bigger than our sin, our regret, our hopelessness. He takes delight in intersecting the darkest of circumstances. He is there, available.
This is the first book by Mary DeMuth that I’ve read and I’m sorry I haven’t read one sooner. Her style is different from some of the syrupy sweet stories that I’ve grown tired of. She has a way of crafting words into pictures that resonate in my mind and draw me deeper into the story. She comes up with unique ways to express things like, “The porch had an incline a marble would love.”
DeMuth doesn’t wrap things up in shiny little packages that look nothing like reality. Instead, she presents a realistic story with plot lines that look more like the way things happen in our own lives and in the lives of our neighbors, grit and all. Her writing reveals a deep understanding of the shame of a secret.
A Slow Burn is the story of a woman who needs grace but can’t seem to accept it when it’s offered. Emory Chance lives in a swarm of regret that has consumed her. Her daughter has been murdered and a she has left are questions. In Emory’s story, DeMuth gives a voice to the power of forgiveness, and she doesn’t paste Jesus on at the end or stick him in a token chapter. Instead, she weaves the love of Christ throughout the book in the form of a man named Hixon.
Once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down, but at first I was a little bit disappointed with the ending. Without spoiling the story for the reader, I’ll go as far as saying that I longed for more closure. It’s the 2nd in a 3-part series, so I’m sure there’s more to come. There were other elements that I didn’t like about the end. Mostly because I’m too used to “they lived happily ever after” endings. But the more I think about it, the more beauty I see in this ending, the beauty of deliverance.
A Slow Burn is also on tour at these blogs. See other reviews by readers.
by Cec Murphey
If you sincerely desire to follow Jesus Christ, life won't always be easy. Many times the Bible promises victory, and you may need to remind yourself that there can be no victory without struggling and overcoming obstacles.
In my book, I used the image of God turning out the lights because that was how I perceived the situation. I felt as if I walked in darkness for 18 months. We all interact differently with God, and my experience won't be the same as yours. Even so, most serious Christians have times when God seems to turn away or stops listening. And we feel alone.
Perhaps it's like the time the Israelites cried out to God for many years because of the Egyptian oppression. "God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise...and knew it was time to act" (Exodus 2:24 NLT). God hadn't forgotten, of course, but from their perspective, that's how it must have seemed. It may seem like that to you if you're going through your own form of darkness.
Here are a few suggestions to help you:
1. Ask God this simple question: "Have I knocked out the lights by my failures? Have I sinned against you? After you ask the question, listen. Give God the opportunity to speak to you.
2. Don't see this as divine punishment (unless God shows you it is), but consider the silence an act of divine love to move you forward. This is God's method to teach you and stretch you.
3. Avoid asking why. You don't need reasons and explanations--and you probably won't get them anyway. Instead, remind yourself that this temporary darkness is to prepare you for greater light.
4. Say as little as possible to your friends. Most friends will want to "fix" you or heal you and they can't. They may offer advice (often not helpful) or make you feel worse ("Are you sure everything is right between you and God?").
5. Stay with the "means of grace." That is, don't neglect worship with other believers even if you feel empty. Read your Bible even if you can't find anything meaningful.
I chose to read Lamentations and Psalms (several times, especially Lamentations) because they expressed some of the pain and despair I felt.
6. If you don't have a daily prayer time, start one. Perhaps something as short as three minutes--and do it daily. Talk honestly to God. It's all right to get angry. (Read the Psalms if you're hesitant.)
7. Remind yourself, "I am in God's hands. This is where I belong and I'll stay in the blackout until I'm ready to move forward."
8. Pray these words daily: "But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults" (Psalm 19:12 TNIV). Some versions say "secret sins." These are failures and sins of which you may not yet be aware. One of the purposes of your darkness may be to bring those hidden problems to light.
9. Ask God, "What do you want me to learn from this experience?" You may not get an answer, but it's still a good question. Continue to ask--even after the lights go back on again. If you're open, you will learn more about yourself and also about God.
10. As you receive "light" about yourself while walking in darkness, remind yourself, God has always known and still loves me.
Cec Murphey's
When God Turns Off the Lights Blog Tour Gift Basket.
Gift Basket Includes:
When God Turned Off the Lights
1 Book Light
1 LED Nightlight
1 LED Flashlight
Select Dark Chocolate
