LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!

Jan & Janet

A counselor once told a friend of mine, "You've never really had a childhood. You need to play more."

So the two of us pulled shoes and socks off and tiptoed barefoot in a park fountain. We did an over-nighter in sleeping bags in my yard. We painted pictures with our fingers. We caught butterflies in jars. We threw popcorn at critters. Then, for a finale, we rolled down the slight slant of a hill on my front lawn. . .which brought the neighbor out to ask us, "What's going on?"

A mini-break doesn't take much time or expense. It can be a dance in a meadow. Or a walk in dawn's light. Or drawing forms in the sand. Planting a flower or herb garden on the window sill. Getting out the old instrument you used to play. Watching the different ways flocks of birds fly. Creating a new recipe from ingredients in your cupboard. Looking out your window long enough to notice something you've missed before. Writing a song. Hopping on a horse. It's like giving a shout-out of praise to God.

Child's play is serious stuff. No matter your age or stage, you've got to make time for fun. Do something that guarantees laughter. Go watch a comedy. Get close to a funny person. Find humor in your mistakes and stresses. Chuckles are good. A big belly laugh or two is better.

Norman Cousins, former editor of Saturday Review and author of Anatomy of an Illness, wrote that "laughter is jogging on the inside." It's inside-out aerobics. Every system in your body gets a workout. Muscles relax. Neurochemicals called endorphins release into the blood stream. 

"Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound best when praising. Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs! Play his praise on a grand piano! Invent your own new song to him; give him a trumpet fanfare." (Psalm 33:1-2 The Message)

Can you take a moment to celebrate life and praise your Maker today? How will you do that?

Janet Chester Bly

Copyright©2008

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Got turmoil? Can’t get a grip? Want some tips to cope? Click this link to find free download for "31 Days To Win The Fight For Personal Peace." http://blybooks.com/wordpress/free-stuff/articles/

ON THE OWL-HOOT TRAIL

By Stephen Bly 

Copyright©1993,2010

Thin population made the Old West an easy place to hide, for any who wanted to. And many did. They came West to run from some past event or somebody.

A slew of terms sprang up to describe such folks. How many of these have you heard before?

They were said to be ‘among the willows,’ ‘brushing up,’ GTT - ‘gone to Texas,’ ‘hankerin’ to sniff Gulf breeze,’ ‘heading for the settin’ sun,’ ‘holed up,’ ‘on the dodge,’ ‘pulling for the Rio Grande,’ ‘taking to the tules,’ ‘traveling the lonesome places,’ or ‘watering his horse at night,’ ‘riding the coulees … or the high lines … or the owl-hoot trail.’

         

It’s natural to avoid your mistakes, to run from ruin, to hunker down from humiliation. Only the truly courageous man or woman of character faces up to the consequences of their actions.

It started with Adam and Eve.

After they disobeyed God’s one command, they “hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8 NIV). But God found them.

Pretty funny to think that the only two humans on earth think they could squat behind a plum tree and not be noticed by God.

Even with the billions on the planet now, He always finds those who try to cover up: “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” (Psalm 139:7 NIV)

Ignore the Bible. Skip church. Flip away from Christian channels. Avoid Christian friends. But you can’t escape your heavenly Father. About as silly as a mammoth hunkering behind an aspen.

So, when you’re ready, jump out and say, “Here I am!” He’ll set you free. You’ll be sane again. And you won’t have to spend so much time and energy spiritually taking to the tules or watering your horse at night. . .or riding the owl-hoot trail.

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When are the times you most want to hide-away somewhere?


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COMING MARCH 2012:  
Stuart Brannon's Final Shot, by Stephen Bly, with Janet Chester Bly, Russell Bly, Michael Bly & Aaron Bly

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Throw The Devil Off The Train

Find Throw The Devil Off The Train and other Bly Book releases at http://BlyBooks.com/store.htm/

STANDING ON THE PROMISES

by Janet Chester Bly

Copyright 2008

When do you get personal peace when you feel like you've gone into free fall after a bungy jump?

Peace comes when you know...

what to do next

when to speak

what to say

where to go

why you’re here

but especially...

whom to trust to land you in a safe place.

The kind of trust of really deep down in your gut kind of certainty that this one will pull you through.

It’s called faith.

Have you discovered your own promises from God...for comfort? For help? For peace? The sort of assurances that penetrate past your doubts? Every bit of unbelief? 

He’s got words meant straight from His heart to yours. Find them. Listen to them. Allow them to permeate deep within until you know He will not withhold any good thing from you.

When’s the last time you’ve claimed promise verses for yourself and those you love? Below you’ll find a few samples to examine.

Note the context.

Detect what comes before and after too.

Pay attention to any pre-conditions to be met.

Memorize the key ones.

Every good thing the Lord had promised them came true. (Joshua 21:45 TLB)

Psalm 4:8 - promise of sleep and safety.

Psalm 29:11 - promise of strength and peace.

Psalm 55:16-19 - assurance of deliverance from threats of harm.

Psalm 119:165 - promise of great peace.

Psalm 121 - promise of help, protection and watchful care.

Isaiah 26:3 - promise of perfect peace.

Isaiah 32:17 - promise of peace, quietness and confidence.

Isaiah 33:6 - promise of salvation, wisdom and knowledge.

Isaiah 54:10 - promise of peace, no matter what.

Proverbs 16:7 - promise of peace with enemies.

Matthew 6:33,34 - promise of provision of every need on this day.

Matthew 7:7-11 - promise of answered prayer and good gifts.

Matthew 11:28-30 - promise of rest for the weary.

John 16:33 - promise of peace and coping with world’s troubles.

Romans 5:1,2 - promise of peace with God through faith in Jesus.

What particular promise do you trust in today?

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Free download of “31 Ways To Win The Fight For Personal Peace” at www.BlyBooks.com/articles.htm/

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Check out: Words To Live By For Women

WHEN LIFE GETS DERAILED

By Janet Chester Bly

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Anonymous

Jan Grueter and I were on our way to a womens’ retreat in Washington and stopped to get our hair done. The stylist croaked out his greetings as he clipped a wrap around my friend’s neck.

“You don’t sound so good,” Jan said. “Are you sick?”

“I sure am. I think I have the flue.”

“We stole a look at each other, then she offered, “Maybe we should come another time.”

“Oh, that would be great. I just want to go home and collapse.”

Road To Palouse Falls by Brian Forrest

We were glad to get away from his germs. However, we had dippy hairdos and headed to an event where I would speak and my friend would assist me at our book table. We drove on down the highway. . .until we came to the Palouse Falls sign.

“Hey, I’ve always wanted to go there,” Jan remarked.

“So have I, but we never have time.”

Palouse Falls from the top

Since we had several extra hours that day, we turned off for this side trip. Over a high bridge. Past some donkeys in the tiny village of Starbuck. And we didn’t mind a bit when it began to drizzle. Wouldn’t hurt our coiffures as we overlooked the canyon and falls.

Palouse Falls by Cindy Kassab

When we arrived at the conference grounds, we fussed with each other’s hair and pronounced that we looked fine. Just fine. But we’ve never forgotten that serendipity. . .our detour of delight. And we realized we really can ‘make do’ when we have to.

“I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders” (Psalm 9:1).

When has life derailed you and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise?

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taken from "31 Ways To Win The Fight For Personal Peace" available as a free download at http://BlyBooks.com/articles.htm/

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Awakening Your Sense of Wonder

 AWAKENING YOUR SENSE OF WONDER 

by Janet Chester Bly 

available at http://BlyBooks.com/store.htm/

3 WAYS TO ENDURE AN EARTHQUAKE

Janet Chester Bly

Copyright©2008,2011

We used to live in California near the San Andreas Fault. We know what it's like to endure the rolling, surging, rumbling of terra firma. 

My world’s been shaking for a long time now. It’s like I’m treading an earthquake fault and the big blow’s going to happen any day. That’s what it feels like to come alongside someone you love dearly who is critically ill.

Old comfortable routines get blown away. Familiar road signs blur. Safe standards like security and settled in your place with your people get reassigned.  Nothing’s sure. The ground rocks as I fight for balance, sanity, some way to regain some small part of all that’s being taken away from us.

But some anchors stay the same.

1.) I still walk with God. 

I know him. Well, not everything about him. I don’t grasp every insight about his character, every nuance of his wisdom, each facet of his personality. I look forward to all eternity for that closer up and more personal study. But it starts now.

He continues to speak to me through his words. For any specific situation. Like when I wondered where the guardian angels were when my hubby who has suffered so much took a nasty fall … he reminded me of Job who said, “Though he slay me, yet will I praise him” or those three guys tossed in the fiery furnace who stated, “Our God can deliver us. But if he doesn’t, we will still honor and obey him.”

2) I’m keeping on the journey to understand spiritual truth. 

All that information that’s been tucked away after years of church attendance and Bible studies and devotional readings of my own. It’s all there in the brain files. Even so, I don’t always recall the particular principle, the relevant law, one of those divine commands … upon demand. I have to keep processing the accumulated body of facts, the growing vision, until certain soul sparks glow with the Father’s Word of the Day: “Here it is. Pay attention. Live this out right here and now.”

3) I continue to meditate.

Reading and ruminating brings the power of peace to me. My old, tattered Bible’s alive with God’s Spirit. It’s sturdy. Well used. Full of scratches and notes. Pages wrinkled and worn. But then, on occasion I pull out a fresh, new copy and start over … for a cleaner, clearer perspective. I love it when precepts and promises jump out like they’re made just for me. The delight of discovery’s in sifting through ancient verses to filter into present crises and encounters. I’d rather walk by the awesome glow of massive eternal light than rush around by the puny flicker of my own self-made fire.

What have I been reading lately? Psalm 23 … as we walk through a personal  valley of the shadow of death. Psalm 91 … as I need gut-level trust in him more than ever. John 14 … to search the heart and hope of Jesus.

When was the last time you felt you were experiencing a personal earthquake?

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Adapted from “31 Ways To Win The Fight For Personal Peace.” The full article’s available for free dowload at http://BlyBooks.com/articles.htm

God Is Good All The Time

Hope Lives Here

Books such as  

God Is Good All The Time 

and

Hope Lives Here

available through our bookstore at

http://BlyBooks.com/store.htm

PEACE WHILE YOU WAIT

Janet Chester Bly

Copyright©2008,2011

Stop. Look at a clock. Watch the second hand tick around. . .for as long as you can bear. Now, assess your response. Do you consider this. . .

A rare break of pure rest?

A moment closer to a personal finish line?

A moment closer to your entrance into eternity?

Wasting time while you age away?

All of the above?

None of the above?

Minutes count. Let them mean something. Here’s a suggestion.

Carry a small book or Kindle® in your purse. Or in the car. Have it available most all the time. Redeem any moment by giving your mind an assignment. Muse in a creative way. If you can’t think of anything, dip into your book. Even better, open The Book.

Aim to read some Bible verses every day. To receive guidance. To get to know God better. To help you see people and problems from His point of view. To know the record of how God has interacted with humans through the ages. No matter where you open this inspired, God-breathed book, you’ll find some truth that relates to your situation. If your mind’s open. If your heart’s willing. If your spirit’s ready. 

“I read it straight through once,” a woman once told me. “Once is enough. I don’t have to read it again. I know what’s in there.”

Whoa, does she ever miss the treasure. I once rode straight across Italy in a tour bus. Saw all the signposts to the great cities and stopping places. Sped through the streets of Rome. Been there. Done that.

Mine the insights. Meditate on the wisdom. Study every facet. Until light breaks through the fog, the dark. It will take all eternity to know all there is to understand about God. Meanwhile, what does He have to say to you today? Pick out a page. Pause until you find peace. Until you hear His voice.

"Don't be impatient. Wait for the Lord, and he will come and save you! Be brave, stouthearted, and courageous. Yes, wait and he will help you" (Psalm 27:14 TLB).

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What's the best thing you've discovered to do to make use of the time or to find a moment's peace while you wait. . .in line, at the airport, by yourself in a crowd, for road work, etc.?

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Download comp copy of "31 Ways To Win The Fight For Personal Peace" at our website: http://BlyBooks.com/articles.htm 

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CAN LOVE TRIUMPH OVER TREACHERY?

Bathsheba, the novel

BATHSHEBA

A new novel from The Wives of King David Series

By Jill Eileen Smith

Bathsheba longs for love. 

With her husband away fighting the king’s wars, she battles encroaching loneliness–making it frighteningly easy to succumb to the advances of King David. Will one night of unbridled passion destroy everything she holds dear? Can she find forgiveness at the feet of the Almighty? Or has her sin separated her from God—and David—forever?

With a historian’s sharp eye for detail and a novelist’s creative spirit, Jill Eileen Smith brings to life the passionate and emotional story of David’s most famous—and infamous—wife. You will never read the story of David and Bathsheba in the same way again.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING:

“Thoroughly engrossing. Jill Eileen Smith receives my highest recommendation as an author of biblical fiction.”—Kim Vogel Sawyer, award-winning author of My Heart Remembers

“Bathsheba is Jill Eileen Smith’s finest work to date. It vividly portrays the devastation caused by selfish passion and betrayal, and the incredible blessing of repentance and restoration through God’s grace.”—Jill Stengl, award-winning author of Wisconsin Brides

 

“This well-researched and beautifully crafted story will resonate in your heart and mind long after you’ve read the final page. An excellent read with a message that transcends time.”—Judith Miller, author of the Daughters of Amana series

COPING WITH HIGHER & HIGHER

Janet Chester Bly

Copyright©2008

In a rush to get to my 20^th floor room at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida hotel, I didn’t realize until the door shut: glass elevator!  Distracted by the beautiful surroundings and excitement of the moment, one of my fiercest fears rudely intruded. I don’t do moving heights too well, especially when I can view it happening.

My traveling companion quickly surmised the situation. She turned me around, pushed me against the one solid wall. I shut my eyes and tried to quell the rising panic.

Since I was the main inspirational speaker for the womens retreat, I didn’t think it too cool to take up the director’s offer to move to a main floor room. A coward's choice. Surely I needed to provide some sort of courage model. Determined to conquer the descent and ascent … if not with aplomb, at least with a sort of coping mechanism intact … I walked (okay, sometimes I crawled) down the very narrow hallway that overlooked the lobby far, far below … to get to my room.

I did survive the weekend … by taking as few elevator rides as possible, by seeing how long I could go without squeezing my eyes and hang gliding on the door. The best part … this trial provided great fodder for my talks. The laughter and teasing even softened the terror.

“I asked the Lord for help, and he saved me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4 CEV).

Note: I’m reading a wonderful devotional book for 2011: Max Lucado’s Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear … so helpful for life’s dreads and disquiets.

Download the full article, “31 Ways To Win The Fight For Personal Peace,” at http://BlyBooks.com/articles.htm/

A LOVE INSPIRED Suspense Romance

Legacy of Lies

by Jill Elizabeth Nelson

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Secrets Buried Deep!

Evidence from a decades-old murder is the last thing Nicole Keller-Mattson expected to find in her grandmother’s back yard, but the finger-pointing and accusations leveled at her family came as no surprise. Everyone in Ellington is eager to blame the Kellers—but after an attack leaves Nicole’s grandmother in a coma, only Nicole can clear the family name. 

Legacy of Lies

With the assistance of police chief Rich Hendricks, she stands a chance of solving the mystery . . . if she’s willing to accept Rich’s help. Nicole lost her policeman husband in the line of duty—getting close to another cop is too painful. But keeping her distance could be deadly.

AUTHOR COMMENTS ABOUT LEGACY OF LIES:

I’ve always been fascinated by social dynamics in a small town. Having lived in rural communities all my life, I’m intimately familiar with the unique politics involved. Crafting a story about the shadow cast over a town by its founding family came readily to me. 

I was particularly interested to explore the affect past sins and secrets can have on a tight-knit community and how the illusion of power is always trumped by the immutable laws of God. We do reap what we sow, no matter how grand and invincible we imagine ourselves to be. 

The verse I used at the front of the book: "A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace" (Psalm 37:10,11 NIV).

I comfort myself with these words quite often when I see the injustices in the world.

Jill Elizabeth Nelson

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

“My first and only marriage is still going strong after 29 years. We have four kids who've pretty much flown the coop. Yet the chickadees keep coming back to roost. Puzzling phenomenon. We must not give them enough incentive to stay away. At least now there’s a son-in-law and a grandchild, and they know I do need my grandbaby fix!”

“By day I masquerade as housing manager for a senior apartment complex. By night I throw off my mask of conformity and turn into a wild and crazy writer who can hardly wait to jot down all the cool things my characters are telling me, so I can share them with my readers.”

“Did I say I hear voices? Alas, I've been like this most of my life. At least since sixth grade, when I penned—er, penciled—my first mystery novel. No trace of that youthful manuscript exists today, and the world is grateful.”

“My writer's journey has taken me in many different directions. I’ve walked the roads of journalist, columnist, essayist, poet, story teller and book reviewer. My current path is the one I've coveted all along—novelist. My Guide and Mentor in all my travels is my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory!”

Visit Jill on the web at http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com for book giveaways, excerpts, and information.

Follow her blog: http://www.jillelizabethnelson.com/artisticblogger.html

OTHER Love Inspired Suspense books by JILL E. NELSON:

Calculated Revenge

Witness to Murder

Evidence of Murder

Jill’s special verse:  
"Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near" (Philippians 4:4,5)

 

RELEASE REMORSE

Janet & Jan

Janet Chester Bly

Copyright©2008,2010

A friend and I discussed the points of a sermon we heard Sunday morning. We both agreed that even though we know that God loves us … one of the hardest things we struggle with is feeling free to be ourselves. We don’t want to offend. We don’t want to stand out. We want others to like us.

We both shared times when we acted out, or blurted words, perhaps part of our true natures, that reaped embarrassment or guilt.  We’ve blown it. This caused us sometimes to be reticent to say or do anything in a similar situation again.

“How do I release the dumb things I’ve said or done and find relief to be the person I really am?” she asked.

We all dread dredging up past painful memories. When we’ve done wrong things. Or failed to do something right. We fired lightning sparks in the situation, instead of enlightenment. We flunk the tests of life. Guilt’s our grade.

But at least guilt’s better than a dead conscience. Still, finding a way to reconcile, to make peace with ourselves, with others, with God … that’s glorious. Working through the trips of guilt proves our spirits are alive. We’re responsible persons. We’re accountable citizens. We’re spiritual beings. We repent, turn around, and go the other way.

In all sorts of moods and weather, finding true inner peace when we disappoint ourselves, when we hurt others, can take a long time if …

We won’t admit it when we’re wrong.

We know we’re wrong, but we’re full of excuses … such as, blame others.

We’re unable to admit we’re capable of wounding words or fatal flaws.

We refuse to apologize without qualifiers.

We’re unable to accept forgiveness and go on.

We fail to realize we’re as faulty as those we judge.

We won’t allow God to heal us, to put us together again, as only he can.

We make peace with shame when we give our moral failure to God’s Son, Jesus (1 John 1:9). We call it what it is. We place a name to the deed.

My friend and I discussed the need to transfer every detail of wronged relationships and their aftermath to God, our best Friend.  To surrender to his wise and powerful keeping everyone involved and affected.

When we depend on him to make crooked places straight, when we do a free-fall into his love, his acceptance, his grace … we rid ourselves of remorse. We release that best part of us we call personality, our unique gift to the world. He heals our souls.

“They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed” (Psalm 34:5 NKJV).

When do you experience the most freedom to fully be yourself … and have no need for later regrets?

You may download the free article, “31 Days To Win The Fight For Personal Peace” at http://BlyBooks.com/articles.htm