Set Your Sights On Things Above
We so quickly get our eyes off God. Let's get back into
perspective.
perspective.
5/20/2015
Seeing the Stricter StandardDo we ever see things from the stricter perspective?
Think with me here. Understand that just because someone has a stricter standard it does not mean they're judging you. We see someone else who has a more restrictive viewpoint, and we automatically see them as judging us. You understand, they want to be accepted by the people they go to church with, by the people they're in contact with every day. You also understand, sometimes they aren't accepted. But do you see that we can have a stricter standard without judging other people? Too often we think that the other person, the one with a little more open standard, the one who allows themselves more, is the one who cannot be judgmental. I'm here to tell you, I've experienced different. Do you see someone with some sort of stricter viewpoint as different? Do you treat them differently than you treat your other friends? Do you hold them at arm's length? Do you consider them to be judgmental even if they have never proven to be? Do you stand back and wait for them to say mean things to you? Do you imagine that they're thinking badly of you, even though they've never treated you different because of your differences? Do you talk about them behind their back, telling other people that they obviously think they're better than everyone else...simply because they have a stricter standard for themselves? Having the stricter standard is not in and of itself judgmental. Consider this - by holding them at arm's length, by assuming things about their thought processes, by talking about them behind their back with other people...you are the one being judgmental regarding standards. I'm writing this to point out that everyone can be judgmental. Neither one should be treating the other with disdain, or setting them apart as sort of strange, or whispering about them behind their backs. But I think we forget that it does go both ways. So don't forget.
5/15/2015
Christian Fiction Friday!This is an excerpt from my work in progress, a Christian science fiction / superhero story.
............................................................................................................................................................................... I had gotten away with it. The guard, W. Campbell…also known as ‘William-but- my-friends-call-me-Bill, hadn’t suspected a thing. And I did not flirt with him to get my way. My ethics prevent me from stooping to that…for the most part. Ms. Stantor was going to have to do some cleaning up in the morning, but it was all being blamed on an ‘animal containment malfunction,’ and I was being touted as rather the hero for discovering what had happened. On my way home that night, all the adrenaline from my adventure had drained away and I was left feeling cold and irritable. The entire evening replayed in my mind, from the moment I walked in the lab, to the strange pulse of energy that stood us still in time, to the look on the guard’s face when he saw the lab in complete disarray. It was still light out as I hadn’t wanted to push it too far by sticking around the lab after all the excitement. I pulled up to my house and just sat there for a few moments. Wishing things were different had never helped me, but it didn’t mean I could stop the wishing sometimes. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t tried. Knowing all the Bible verses about being content, resting in God, waiting for His timing…none of that meant I was perfect. I knew what I needed should be coming from God, but sometimes it was hard to remember that. This was one of those times. My little VW Bug was the only working car on the property. Two trucks sat overrun by weeds, one in the back yard, the other leaning precariously next to the garage. An even older minivan sat on deflated tires in front of the big unattached garage over in the far corner of the lot. Ours was the only house this far out on the dirt road. Lancaster had some notable claims to fame, one of them being its weird mix of civilization interspersed amongst wide swaths of backcountry, desert compounds and abandoned houses. My family’s home was one of those backcountry desert compounds, as well as having the added distinction of appearing abandoned…two birds with one stone, so to speak. I suppose I could have spent my every waking moment fixing the place up, since Dad wasn’t likely to do it himself anytime soon, but for the last few years I’d given up and just concentrated on graduating from high school and getting out of there. If I lost this internship that goal would be a little bit farther away. I gripped the steering wheel, knowing I’d risked my future that day. Christian Fiction Friday is a weekly blog hop where authors post short (400-word or less) snippets from their current works in progress. It is hosted by Alana Terry and Hallee Bridgeman.
5/1/2015
Bundle of books! New release99¢ or Borrow for Free with Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime:
Now together for the first time! 6 complete Christian historical western romances that will transport you back in time and are sure to warm your heart. Whether you have just a few minutes to enjoy a novelette, or the time to really get immersed in the dust and grit of a western town, there’s something here for everyone. Step into a day when outlaws ran free, the land was wild, and guns blazed at the drop of a hat! After the Rain Rand McCade made a promise to his dying wife to one day remarry. He doesn’t want to remarry, but a promise is a promise. Pressured to marry a violent man, widowed and pregnant Lettie Morgan seeks out an agency which finds brides for men in the west. Can two hearts, broken and grieving, put their pasts aside and blend their lives into one? A Lady in Defiance Charles McIntyre owns everything in the lawless mining town of Defiance. When three sisters show up stranded, alone, and offering to open a "nice" hotel, he is intrigued enough to let them stay...especially since he sees feisty middle sister Naomi as a possible conquest. Naomiwants no part of Defiance or the saloon-owning, prostitute-keeping Mr. McIntyre. It would seem however, that God has gone to elaborate lengths to bring them together. The question is, "Why?" Does God really have a plan for each and every life? Rocky Mountain Oasis When Sky Jordan hears that his nefarious cousin has sent for a mail-order bride, he knows he has to prevent the marriage. No woman deserves to be left to that fate. Still, he’s as surprised as anyone to find himself standing next to her before the minister. Brooke’s new husband turns out to be kinder than any man has ever been. But then the unthinkable happens and she holds the key that might save innocent lives but destroy Sky all in one fell swoop. It’s a choice too unbearable to contemplate…but a choice that must be made. Bounty Luke Jordan’s mother's dying words rang in his head. "Take these to your brothers." His brothers? The Jordan gang of outlaws. Why did he have to waste time tracking them down? Cat Cahill's morning rides are a pleasant diversion from her mother's lectures on marrying a civilized man from the east. Despite her prayers, Cat hasn't found the man she would want to spend the rest of her life with until she runs into Luke. One town trying to avoid a buyout, one gang worth their weight in gold, bounty hunters intent on taking the Jordan gang in more dead than alive = two in love and a bunch in trouble. Charity’s Gold Rush After Charity saves handsome Gabriel Williams’ daughter from being trampled he asks her to marry him. And Charity believes he’s the answer to her prayers. Gabe and Charity agree to a marriage in name only, although Charity is upset that now that she has found a man she could see herself making a life with, he isn’t interested in anything more than someone to watch his children, and he’s a gambler to boot – just like Pa who got her into this mess. By the beginning of the following spring, if both parties are in agreement, they’ll annul the marriage and part ways. Neither expects love to interfere with their plans or for God to intervene with a plan of His own. Jessie’s Bride Jessie Kincaid doesn’t plan to follow in his three older brothers’ footsteps, which seems to include being bachelors. Jessie begins writing Sarah Engle and sends her money, along with a stage coach ticket, to come see him so that they can be married. Not everyone is happy with their decision to wed. When the preacher said, till death do you part, did he mean literally? Or can a mail order bride and her groom truly have a happily ever after ending? http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00WYJ2M24 |
AuthorI'm Sherry Chamblee, aspiring author of Christian fiction, mom of six, wife to a cool dude, and caregiver to his granny. Besides that, I am just little old me - it's just a phrase, I'm not really old, honest. Check out my new release!
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December 2019
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