An Easter visit from author Tricia Goyer

Before we hear about Tricia Goyer's latest book,
here's a clever thought from her about Easter.

Every year I help my husband put on an Easter
program for our children's church. And no matter
what part of the Easter story we share, we always
use the same slogan:
No Bunny Loves Me Like Jesus.

This year as you awaken with joy over the resurrection remember:
No Bunny Loves Me Like Jesus.

As you dress in your Easter finest remember:
No Bunny Loves Me Like Jesus.

As you see the delight in your children's eyes as they open their Easter treasures, tell them:
No Bunny Loves You Like Jesus.

And as we consider Christ's death in order that we might have life, let's celebrate:
No Bunny Loves Us Like Jesus!

Love it!

Now, Tricia tells us about the stories behind A Valley of Betrayal.

A few years ago when I was researching for my fourth World War II novel, Arms of Deliverance, I came across a unique autobiography. One B-17 crewmember I read about claimed to make it out of German-occupied Belgium after a plane crash due, in part, to his skills he picked up as a veteran of The Spanish Civil War. Reading that bit of information, I had to scratch my head. First of all, I had never heard of the war. And second, what was an American doing fighting in Spain in the late 1930s? Before I knew it, I uncovered a fascinating time in history—one that I soon discovered many people know little about. This is what I learned:

Nazi tanks rolled across the hillsides and German bombers roared overhead, dropping bombs on helpless citizens. Italian troops fought alongside the Germans, and their opponents attempted to stand strong—Americans, British, Irishmen, and others—in unison with other volunteers from many countries. And their battleground? The beautiful Spanish countryside.

From July 17, 1936-April 1, 1939, well before America was involved in World War II, another battle was fought on the hillsides of Spain. On one side were the Spanish Republicans, joined by the Soviet Union and The International Brigade—men and women from all over the world who have volunteered to fight Fascism. Opposing them, Franco and his Fascist military leaders, supported with troops, machinery, and weapons from Hitler and Mussolini. The Spanish Civil War, considered the “training ground” for the war to come, boasted of thousands of American volunteers who joined to fight on the Republican side, half of which never returned home.

Unlike World War II, there is no clear line between white and black, good and evil. Both sides committed atrocities. Both sides had deep convictions they felt worth fighting and dying for.

Loyalists—also know as the Republicans were aided by the Soviet Union, the Communist movement, and the International Brigades. If not for the weapons and volunteers from these sources their fight would have ended in weeks rather than years. While many men fought side by side, their political views included that of liberal democracy, communism and socialism. The Catholic Basque Country also sided with the Republic, mainly because it sought independence from the central government and was promised this by Republican leaders in Madrid.

Nationalists—or Francoists were aided mainly by Germany and Italy. The Nationalist opposed an independent Basque state. Their main supporters were those who believed in a monarchist state and fascist interests. The Nationalist wished for Spain to continue on as it had for years, with rich landowners, the military, and the church running the country. Most of the Roman Catholic clergy supported the Nationalists, except those in the Basque region.

During the Spanish Civil war, terror tactics against civilians were common. And while history books discuss the estimated one million people who lost their lives during the conflict, we must not forget that each of those who fought, who died, had their own tales. From visitors to Spain who found themselves caught in the conflict, to the communist supporters, Basque priests, and Nazi airmen . . . each saw this war in a different light.

These are the stories behind A Valley of Betrayal.
Tricia Goyer, October 2006

If you like, you can read the first chapter here.

And remember, No bunny loves you like Jesus!

Titus 3:4-8 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy statement....

Enchanted April: To those who appreciate wisteria and sonshine

To Those who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine.
Small mediaeval Italian Castle on the shores
of the Mediterranean to be Let Furnished for
the month of April. Necessary servants remain.
Z, Box 1000, The Times.

I am happily exhausted.

"Enchanted April" is over, my "play" mates scattered.

*Sigh*

But, like the characters who bonded in the lovely ambience at San Salvatore, we're already planning to get together, to see the play when another group performs it in another venue, and one member has invited us all to her lake house later this spring.

This was all an amazing blessing to me:

One of my favorite stories comes along and I get a part just the right size for me at my level of experience, plus, speaking a language I've always loved,and just having fun when I needed a break from nursemaiding dh after his foot surgery.

I see the Lord having made sure I read an article a few years ago about this ten-year-old movie I had missed, "Enchanted April." It sounded delightful.

Some weeks later, Blockbuster had a huge sale of old movies and there it was. I bought it and loved it.

Recently, although I usually read the news online, I picked up a local paper and saw the ad for the audition, and amazingly, got a part. In Italian.

Then, sweet, funny, talented people were chosen to be at San Salvatore with me in cast and crew.

All this falling into place just as when the main character, Lotty, went to London on a different day than usual, and read the ad in the paper at her woman's club--when
Rose, who Lotty wanted as her future traveling companion, happened to be there as well....

In the last scene, the cast crossed the stage slowly in couples or alone as they looked at San Salvatore one last time. I (Costanza, a "necessary servant") stood to the side waving good-bye, and the last time, my tears were real. :' ) I would miss these characters and the awesome people who played them in this imaginary place. And the awesome crew that kept things moving along.

After the closing matinee, we stayed behind to take down the set and clean up the Green Room. Then I went home to meet a daughter and her husband and child, who took us out to dinner.

I also found a surprise from them, a pot with a tall budding wisteria standing in the afternoon sunshine.

My husband planted it for me today.

This was a wonderful experience beyond my comfort zone, but with much more fun than fear. God is so awesome and so good and I look forward to throwing my arms around His neck one day!

If you like, read the online book.

April in Italy!

When I saw that one of my favorite movies was now also a play nominated for the Tony Award and about to be produced in my area, I auditioned and, amazingly, got a small part

My friend, author Mary DeMuth, has a to-do list for writers and number four is get away from your work and do something else for a while.

Well, I've done just that, for the sake of a change of pace and heightened creativity--and with other people.

Writing is such solitary work and full of long waits. Acting gets you into a different world, working with others face to face, and garners instant feedback: It works or it doesn't and the director is quick to tell you which.

"Enchanted April" is light dramedy in the Merchant Ivory tradition (think Room With a View, Howard's End,) based on the 1922 book by Elizabeth Von Arnim. It also became a lovely movie seventy years later.

It received great reviews although that one left out the wonderful Alfred Molina.

The play has recently become available, so it's now showing or in production in many areas this spring.

Two desperate London housewives in 1922 rent a small castle in Italy for a brief escape from the rain--and their less than stellar marriages. They find two more women--one difficult, one exotic--to share expenses and off they all go--into more rain. But they waken to the enchanted beauty of San Salvatore and some lovely surprises....

The movie shows four servants at the castle, but the play has only one, Costanza. That's me. And my lines are all in Italian, except breakfast and marvelous. I had studied a little Italian, plus French and Spanish in school, plus a little Japanese and a little Hebrew. I love languages. So the translations make sense to me and it was not too hard to learn. Easier than learning the sequence of my seven entrance cues in one scene.

San Salvatore is represented by Castello Brown in Portofino, Italy (now also on my to-do list) and in our lovely theater set surrounded by blue water and terrace furniture to match. So a little corner of London plus San Salvatore make up our alternate reality for now.

The cast and crew are talented and share a sweet chemistry and it's all just so much fun. Just like playing, but all grown-up. (Relatively speaking!) Like, "Hey, watch this, let's pretend," and off we go.

As for writing, one of the character/husbands is an author of novels another character calls "salacious." His own wife, Rose, says, "One shouldn't write novels God wouldn't want to read."

LOL I wouldn't even recommend critiquing and helping others write novels God wouldn't want to read.

Whether or not I ever audition again, time will tell.

And I'll definitely write again.

But right now,
I'm being blessed by this play. God is so good, He does give us the desires of our hearts! It isn't often a part comes along for a woman "of a certain age,"
let alone a clean, uplifting story you could bring older children to, let alone a favorite story in a lovely setting.

"All'Italia--" "Marvelous!"

Very interesting--Israeli paper Haaretz: Sanhedrin just bought sheep for sacrifice....Moving right along....

If you've ever read Jesus' reference to the book of the prophet Daniel in the Bible, you may recognize the significance of this announcement in one of Israel's newspapers:


Present-day Sanhedrin court seeks to revive ancient Temple rituals

The present-day Sanhedrin Court decided Tuesday to purchase a herd of sheep for ritual sacrifice at the site of the Temple on the eve of Passover, conditions on the Temple Mount permitting.The modern Sanhedrin was established several years ago and is headed by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. It claims to be renewing the ancient Jewish high court, which existed until roughly 1600 years ago, and meets once a week.Professor Hillel Weiss, a member of the Sanhedrin, told Haaretz on Tuesday that the action, even if merely symbolic, is designed to demonstrate in a way that is obvious to all that the expectation of Temple rituals will resume is real, and not just talk. ... More here.

The usual Easter attack on Christianity

Once a year on the tv calendar, Easter shows up as time to refute Christianity. The producer of "Titanic," James Cameron, has produced a show claiming to feature the bones of Jesus Christ.

Professor Amos Kloner, Jerusalem, in photo, points out that these alleged bones of Jesus of Nazareth and family were found far from Nazareth. That Mary and Joseph could not have afforded a middle class tomb like this. And the names, Jesus, Mary and Joseph were as common as the name Mary was in the last generation today.

Besides, as is pointed out in an excellent booklet from Intervarsity Press, "Have You Considered Him?" , which I recommend ordering in quantity to give away, the followers of Jesus Christ were willing to suffer torture and death because they would not stop saying they saw Him alive. After the resurrection.

Cameron claims he is not trying to "sink" Christianity, that Jesus' spirit could have been seen resurrecting, but that His body could have been buried.

Not if we believe the Word of God.

For more refuting these titanic claims, click here and here.

Awesome Books, Awesome Blog

Today, I'm directing traffic to the blog of Bodie and Brock Thoene.

Their incomparable fiction reflects all different stages of Christian history.

And today, their commentary on today's church is so timely, urgent and important, I will let it speak for itself. Please click here and read it carefully and prayerfully.

Divorces Among my Friends

I feel sad about several divorces among my friends.

I know we all see divorces in our social circles and ache for those involved.



When I was fifteen and an older boy wanted to get married, my mother told me, "Marriage is not all moonlight and roses, it is just life. And it can be good and bad. It is life, not a cute Doris Day movie. So don't rush into it."

And I cooled my jets and did not get married until I graduated from college. To someone else, when we were both older and wiser. And we're still married, for better or for worse. And there's plenty of both, LOL

I would love to be able to share with these discouraged, divorcing couples some guidelines from the Lord--guidelines for a happy, healthy family that I don't always find easy to follow, myself, that's for sure. But they make a difference:

Eph 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Again, that's: Eph 5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Specifically, here's how:

Eph 5:22 Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved he church and gave himself up for her

Eph 5:28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their
wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves
himself.



Eph 5:33 However, each one of you also must love his wife
as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

Read these in context right here for yourself, if you wish.

Then, this from Colossians:

Col 3:18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

Col 3:19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.

Col 3:20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.

Col 3:21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.

The Jews have a proverb, "Do not make your wife cry for God counts her every tear."

Wow. They base this on Psalm 56:8 "Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: [are they] not in thy book?"

So God does not ignore it when we make each other cry. Tears and fighting in the home actually grieve the Holy Spirit, God within us. Here, Paul writes to the Ephesians:

Eph 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

Eph 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:

Eph 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

I love that last verse, and the word, tenderhearted.

I love these ancient writers, these men so madly in love with God. How they desired the world to love Him and each other!

In some relationships, one's kindness and consideration--and tenderheartedness--may not often be reciprocated. That's when we can do good to the other just for the sake of our love of God. He promises He will reciprocate!

Col 3:23 And whatsoever ye do, do [it] heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

Col 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

Col 3:25 But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

I feel responsible to add that forgiveness does not mean staying in harm's way, where there is abuse. And to point out, Paul said, "But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart; a brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases. But God has called us to peace."

I'll stop with this prayer for my family and all families of the whole world for 2007:

Eph 3:14 For this reason I kneel before the Father,

Eph 3:15 from whom his whole family* in heaven and on earth derives its name.

Eph 3:16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

Eph 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,

Eph 3:18 may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, [Description of the cross!]

Eph 3:19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Eph 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

Eph 3:21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Relationships are so complicated. Sometimes I have to wonder if some people have unrealistic expectations of marriage. Good relationships take time and effort. And the chemical PEA which has to do with attraction and which runs out after about two years. By then, other elements of a relationship should ideally be firmly in place.

This is not to make anyone feel guilty.

This is just to make them stop and reconsider.

God still loves and uses divorced people. But God hates divorce because it hurts people. Maybe these scriptures will help some people renew the love in their marriages.

And accepting counseling from an objective outsider demonstrates humility and strength and maturity, too.

For those who tried even that and still gave up, I ache with you.

New Year's Resolutions?

Not me, I make'm and break'm all year. PBPGIFWMY!*

But if you want to make some resolutions, such as try to eat better, work faster and accomplish more goals, I recommend Marla Cilley's wonderful routines that teach how to work smarter, not harder, whether you're a complete slob or just want to spend less time to have a lovely home.

For instance, the most important routine of the day is the Bedtime Routine:

1. Lay out your clothes for tomorrow
2. Take a few minutes for yourself
3. Check your Calendar for Tomorrow's Events
4. Spend 2 minutes clearing off your Hot Spots
5. Shine your sink
6. Wash your face, moisturize, brush your teeth and floss
7. Go to bed at a decent hour

She also divides the house into five zones, one for each week of the month, and advocates fifteen minutes a day cleaning them. No Spring Cleaning necessary, it's all done.... And her service is free. God bless Flylady.

My character, Maggie, was pretty organized until the untimely death of her Navy pilot husband. This followed the death of a cab driver who had been kind to them on their honeymoon. Putting two and two together, she blames herself for both deaths and searches in the wrong places for the powers she needs to restore peace to her life. In spite of a spirit-lifting trip to Paris, her fun-loving self disappears in a dark place, and a man who loves her gives up and makes aliyah--moves to Israel where he learns some atonishing things....

Her name is similar to mine, not as an ego trip, and not because of any similarities with the novel, but because what she and I both learned about the name's original meaning, and the effect it had on our lives. This startling information will be available when an editor picks up my book!

There's a good resolution for some savvy editor!

Happy New Year!

*Please Be Patient, God Isn't Finished With Me Yet!

The Fight for our Christmas--Pass it on

Merchants want our Christmas dollars but not our Christmas doctrine. They take our money and trash our beliefs.

Charlie Sheen just blatantly dissed Christmas and Christian with vulgarities on tv. Please click here. The networks would cry political correctness and never allow any other group to be so horribly disrespected.

So, we can make nice and sit home and pray, or we can put feet, or at least, fingers, on our prayers and send in *courteous* complaints to those in charge.

But if we don't speak up, it will be open season on Christians.

And we can pass on this poem I received in email this a.m. It says one thing that isn't true: "Not a Christian is praying or taking a stand." Many are doing just that. Will you?

"The worst evil happens when good men do nothing." Edmund Burke

The Fight Before Christmas

T'was the months before Christmas
When all through our land
Not a Christian was praying or taking a stand
Why the P.C. Police had taken away
The reason for Christmas - no one could say
Children were told by their schools not to sing
About Shepherds, or Wise Men, or Angels and things
It might hurt some feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a "Holiday"
Yet shoppers were ready with cash and with credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it:
Madonna CD's, an X BOX, an I-pod
Something was changing, something quite odd--
Retailers promoting Ramadan, Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda
As Target was hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the word Christmas - nowhere was found
At K-Mart and Staples, at Penny's and Sears
You won't hear about Christmas; it won't touch your ears
"Inclusive," "sensitive," "diversity"
Are words that they use to intimidate me
Now Daschle, Now Dean, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzer
On Boxer, On Clinton, on Kerry, On Rather
To the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, from all public matter
And we spoke not a word, as they dissed to our face,
We're forbidden to speak of salvation and grace
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season was stopped where it started
So, celebrate "Winter Break" beneath your "Dream Tree,"
But while sippin' Starbucks, just listen to me ...
Choose your words wisely, choose what you should say
It's MERRY CHRISTMAS to all ... not Happy Holiday!


MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Spiritual (lack of?) Disciplines

I've been thinking about this, and I guess the answer changes over time as I or my needs change. Coming from a mainline denomination, I loved three-hymns-and-an-anthem-type services. And I still love the hymns so much. But I now love the praise and worship I find in some other churches, the freedom to stand up with arms upraised in praise and *affection* to my Creator, Lord and Savior.

In dh's mainline church the other night, I heard the most beautiful new Christmas songs about worshiping. It was very hard for me to sit there and not participate as above. I wouldn't say they weren't worshiping as they sat there, listening, participating with full hearts. But my favorite form of worship is different, now.

(One dictionary gives "affection" as a definition of "reverence." And it's not to get attention, but is based on the scripture, "Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless (make happy) the Lord." Or the last of the Psalms, which even call for dance. Why not?)

Now that we're retired, I love my newest ritual--pour a cup of coffee and get back under the kivvers with coffee and Bible. I go over previous sermon notes, or just freely look through the Word to see what stands out that day. Moreover, I find if I'm in an organized Bible study with daily homework, Beth Moore being a favorite, I see God's hand in my life more than when I'm not. I love to sit there with pen in hand and underline and make notes in the margin. This morning, I learned that Herod was an Edomite. Edom is where the descendants of Esau went. That figures, huh? I visited the capital of Edom--Petra. Fascinating place, featured in my wip.

I find this topic a most interesting study, possibly coming true as we speak: Click here.

Then there's one I'm not very good at, fasting. Derek Prince once wrote that we speak about prayer, we ask for prayer, we rejoice in answers to prayer, we discuss prayer. But we've almost lost a great spiritual weapon, fasting, because we don't talk about doing it. The few times I've been successful at it, I can't even say I've seen direct answers to the prayers I prayed. They were huge, long-range prayers and I haven't seen the answer yet, unless it's "Wait." Or sometimes, fasting and praying for someone's healing, and they were not healed. But I didn't feel ignored for it. And God has His reasons.

"I believe, therefore, I speak." I'm seeing if praying aloud is more effective in my relationship with the Lord than is praying silently. I love the discipline and the lack of "discipline" in prayer, a running conversation with my constant Companion.