Announcing the April 1, 2012 Birth of My Next Book!!!

"I can't believe you are sitting in my living room in your pajamas negotiating a book contract with your agent!" My daughter-in-law's reaction to the call telling me a publisher was sending a contract for my next book made us both laugh. Woo Hoo! If I had known, I would have dressed for the occasion.

Celebrate and pray with me as we plan the April 1 release of We All Married Idiots: Three Things You'll Never Change About Your Marriage and Ten Things You Can.

Martin Luther said, "If you want to change the world, pick up your pen." My prayer is that the words from my pen will change marriages and, thus, change the world. Afterall, that is why I write.

Have you considered picking up a pen? Perhaps you like the world the way it is, but I doubt it.

Thank you, everyone, for your daily encouragement to me. You are splashes of serenity to my soul!

Elaine

Dr. King had a Dream. I had a Nightmare.

Dr. King had a dream that changed his life; I had a nightmare that changed mine.

My nightmare was Hell. Literally. Sitting in Heaven upon a puffy cloud surrounded by angels ministering to my every need, I praised God for my plush pad. All was, well--Heaven. Then His Hand tapped me on the shoulder and pointed down. My eyes followed His finger past my Heavenly domain and into a fiery Hell. I saw flames burning people. Their tortured eyes gazed up at me. Looking closer, I gasped, realizing the faces were my relatives, neighbors, and friends all screaming at me the same sentence, "Why didn't you tell me about Jesus? You knew!!! You didn't tell me!"

Life hasn't exactly been the same for me since that dream. My heart burns with passion to tell people about the One who saves us from flames in this world and the next--my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Last week a horrified world watched the nightmare in Haiti. Our hearts hurt, our lips pray, and our check books give to ease the pain. I watched and thought this is only a small clip of the big picture of what Hell is like. Haiti will eventually recover, Hell is eternal.

The horror of Haiti, reminded me of a poem I read in Leslie Vernick's powerful book, "Lord, I Just Want To Be Happy." She quoted it from inside a Covenant House Christmas card:

"On the street I saw a small girl
cold and shivering in a thin dress,
with little hope of a decent meal.
I became angry and said to God:
'Why did you permit this?
Why don't you do
something about it?'

For a while God said nothing.
That night He replied quite suddenly:
'I certainly did something about it--
I made you.'"

God created me to give to the poor, comfort those who mourn, and tell a suffering world there is a Savior. My nightmare has become my dream to do all God made me to do to tell people about the One--Jesus--who rescues people out of the rubble of life.

Dr. King knew what God created Him to do. He had a dream. May all of our dreams come true as we do what God sent us to do. Don't sleep through it--do it!