The Power of Prayer

During the past couple of months, I've been busy with book signings.

Because of spinal fusion, the bending and standing for lengthy periods has caused me much discomfort. Last Sunday night my right hip felt so weak I feared it might give way, so I went up for healing prayer. By the end of that prayer, my pain had eased to a dull ache. Next morning, I was pain free! Jesus is indeed the great healer.

The promise is in Psalm 103:2-3 "Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits--who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases".

What a promise from the great creator. I believed, and I have received and been healed. All praise goes to him.

Sometimes I doubt the power of our almighty God. I'm wondering if my doubts hold me back from receiving the healing he wants me to have. Jesus performed healing throughout his ministry and we learn about the many successes he had. God is with us through the holy spirit so there shouldn't be any reason why we can't receive his healing today in all areas of our lives.

Do you believe in God's healing power? Are you receiving strength and grace that is freely available to you?

If you're struggling emotionally, physcially or spiritually, I encourage you to ask for healing only Jesus can give. You'll be amazed at the results.

Paula Vince ... Award Winner

A couple of weeks ago Aussie author, Paula Vince, won the Fiction: Religious Fiction category of the 2011 American International Book Awards with her novel titled, Picking Up the Pieces. It's an exciting time for Paula and I congratulate her on her award which will no doubt lead to a re-release of this terrific novel.

Best Forgotten by Paula Vince

Her latest book, Best Forgotten, has recently been released and is a book not to be missed.

Protagonist, Courtney Lockwood, gets amnesia when he is hit by a car. When he returns home from hospital he is confused and unsure of whether he liked the person he was before he got amnesia. When he finds out his best friend, Joel Connell, mysteriously disappears he's concerned his friend, Jasmin, and he may have had something to do with with their friend's death, but he can't think how he might have been involved in the incident.

Courtney's girlfriend, Jasmin, doesn't want to talk about their relationship before the accident and she does everything to remind him they aren't to discuss their relationship before amnesia. His parents have divorced but he wants to re-connect with who he used to be, but as he reconnects with the people who mean so much to him the mystery of Joel's death escalates until Courtney's and Jasmin's lives are threatened by a person Courtney least suspects.

Amnesia is a very difficult theme to write about. Paula Vince has skillfully kept her reader engaged with the characters in the story by adding mystery that rushes the reader along to the end.

In the beginning, I felt the pacing was a little slow and Jasmin's character wasn't as well-rounded as I liked for such a major character, but I'm glad I continued because once Courtney began to get his memory back, the pace picked up and had me wanting more. The ending left me feeling good and satisfied the right people got what they had coming to them.

Take time out to read Best Forgotten. It's a great read where you can lose yourself for a few hours.

Paula Vince's blog can be found at http://appleleafbooks.com/pages/paulas-blog.php

African Hearts Confirms A Reader's Future

Sydney is a city that goes, goes, goes. It's a place I really enjoy visiting to catch up on family and friends, and find the new and interesting things I hadn't done when we lived there about fifteen years ago. It's a vibrant and exciting city, and full of the unexpected.

We did book signings at West Ryde and met some wonderful people who really wanted to get to know me at a personal level. One of the most surprising moments was when three people approached me with quizzical looks on their faces and asked me if I'd been to Africa to have written African Hearts. I wish! But I was pleasantly surprised when the young lady said seeing my book was a sign that she had asked God for to encourage her to go to Africa and work with the orphans. I became so excited for this young lady and her husband. The looks on their faces was a mixture of pleasure, relief and a little anxiety. They also told me they nearly didn't make it to the signing. They'd arrived half an hour before I was to finish. They saw this as another sign that they were meant to be there to speak with me.

After much excited discussion they left feeling they were to follow their hearts and go to Africa to work with the orphans. This was an extraordinary experience for me that God would use me to encourage young people to understand what God was saying to them. Some authors say book signings are not their favourite thing to do. After this experience, I believe it's a very important part of the marketing process to connect with my readers in so many ways. No matter how tired I might be at the end of the day, I believe the time has been well spent. Encouraging others is what I love to do to see them reach their potential in their chosen field. If part of the process means standing for four hours in a book store I will. Connecting with my readers is what motivates me and helps me get through the days when the writing is not going so well.

Thank you Koorong, West Ryde for your commitment in helping me help others and fulfill God's purpose for my life.

Facing Your Fears

Back in January, I blogged about our motivations for achieving our dreams and goals. I hope you've had time to think about your motivations for your project. This was a great time for me to evaluate why I write, too, and I thought I would share that with you today.

I write because I'm compelled to write. It's part of who I am. Through my writing I hope to encourage others who may have a dream but are so paralysed by fear of failing that they can't get started. Fear used to be a constant companion of mine during the transition from the numbers world to the world of words. If I was called to be a writer, I had to get over my fears.

I believed God called me to write when he was planning for my life on earth. Under his Laura O'Connell file he wrote "Fiction writer- experience required: numbers, deadlines, stick-to-itiveness, life experience, ie. trials and trauma that can be used as fodder for characters; and the ability to learn words".

He put me into the accounting field first so that I could learn the discipline of working on my own, what it means to meet deadlines, and how to work at a project until it was completed. There was no point in handing in a Balance Sheet to my boss if it didn't balance.

He gave me life experiences for making my characters into real people: he put me youngest in a family of twelve; orphaned at eight years of age; scoliosis; scuba diving; wife of a serving soldier; business owner; mother of Aspergers Syndrome child; stress attack that held me captive for eighteen months; unemployment; and the fear and uncertainty that comes with a change in career. All good stuff for drawing on when creating characters for a story.

Working on your own can be a challenge, especially when the day is hot and the surf's up. Oh why am I stuck in this claustropobic room when I could be out there riding a wave. So why didn't I get up from my desk and walk out. Because I wanted to achieve my goal of being a writer. That meant I had to sit at my desk and get the words done. No one is going to do them for me. How can I encourage people when there are no words written to encourage them?

That is the truth of the writing life, or any other endeavour that you may be undertaking to achieve a dream. It doesn't get done by itself. The job gets done by applying ourselves to the task and chipping away bit by bit until the dream is achieved. When motivation is strong and time is short it's easier to keep going. If you don't have a deadline to achieve stage one or stage six, the going will be harder. Set a realistic time frame to achieve that first stage and work towards that goal. Define what it is and make smaller goals along the way that have to be met.

My goal was to plan to write African Hearts in a year. I broke the year down into segments: six weeks for planning, two months for research; four months for writing the first draft; and four and a half for editing and polishing the work. This was my rough plan. The actual time frame ended up being written and off to a publisher within nine months. This now gives me a bench mark for subsequent books. I saved time on writing the first draft which only took 2 months and my research only needed a month.

So I want to encourage you to overcome your fear with a verse from Isa. 41:10:

"So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous hand."

With God anything is possible, it's the fear that holds us back.

Get Debt Free - For Free!

Can you believe you can be debt free at no cost to you? Amazing! But it's true!

Click on the link to see for yourself: www.capaust.org Christians Against Poverty is an organisation committed to changing people's lives. Please take the time to visit this website to see the work this organisation does, and if you feel led to make a donation be assured you're helping to change a life, too.

Being in debt and seeing no way out has to be one of the most depressing situations for anyone to be in: it's demoralising, stressful, breaks family relationships and can lead to deep depression and related health issues.

Thankfully, in 1996 John and Lizzie Kirkby felt God calling them to help the poor and needy in their hometown of Bradford, UK. This courageous couple stepped out in faith and today have a ministry that started in a bedroom of their home extending to Australia and New Zealand. Their organisation has helped thousands of people and will continue to help many more thousands of people who have been bound by debt.

When times are good we don't always think about the future, then suddenly, someone in the family loses their job, no income; someone gets sick and needs extensive medical care, no income to pay for the doctor's fees; and no income to pay the electricity, gas, rates, telephone and all the other bills that have to be paid.

When debt comes in the door, spirits dive to a place of hoplessness where you feel as though you are in a dark place and there's no light to guide you out of that dark place. It's difficult to admit you're in debt even though it may be because of a negative change in circumstances.

Nevertheless written by John Kirkby is an inspirational biography. It is an account of his life and his walk of faith when he heard the call of God. He committed himself to helping others get rid of debt and to restore their self-worth.

John Kirkby is an amazing man on an incredible journey that started when he was in his own hole of debt and he needed to find a way out. God took him on that journey so that he could help others who were also in need of inspiration. It started in a bedroom of his home and has grown to the organisation that owns a refurbished factory and spread across the world to Australia and New Zealand. The end result has come because of his deep faith and desire to change thousands of people's lives.

John's program is designed to help people by taking control of their debts. Officers and counsellors work together and liaise with financial institutions so the debts can be paid back over time, then they prepare a plan for the future that will keep them debt free. By the time the plan is implemented the client's self-esteem is restored and they are given enormous hope for the future. You can read the testimonies on CAP's website.

If you're in debt, and most people hit this position at some time their lives, take time now to contact Christians Against Poverty to get out of the dark and into the light and get your life back on track.