I Give God the Glory

Hellllooooooooo! Is anyone there? If you are, as you know, I'm hardly ever on my blog these days. Ever since I got better, I started homeschooling, and it's hard to find the time and the energy to keep up with anything, let alone my blog. 

But you know what? I miss sharing my thoughts. I miss hearing from my readers. I miss just rambling on my blog like I used to do so often. It happens a lot that I go to bed and think of some "amazing" thing ("yeah, right!") to share on my blog, but I'm just too tired to do it. 

In the beginning, I rambled on my blog A LOT. I did it to gain readers for my books (after all, that's what the publishers said to do), but once I got started, the more I enjoyed it and had something to say. 

Then cancer hit. Ever since getting better, I've been feeling overwhelmed with life. I can't do enough! And I wonder how anything got done when I was so sick. 

Which brings on the following thoughts. As many of you know, I beat my cancer with a vitamin. Plain and simple. Vitamin B17. I was so blown away with the simplicity of it, I had to share the news with one and all! And I did! I started a blog about it, made some YouTube videos about it, and told as many people as I could. In fact, I thought I was finally living up to my name. The name "Sandi" means "Helper and Defender of Mankind." Despite all these highs and hopes for saving lives, I'm feeling rather down ... discouraged.

Why am I discouraged? Because Vitamin B17 isn't healing EVERYONE. Even when they do all the "right things." Why is that, Lord? Why? I've been asking Him that a lot lately. Then it occurred to me. 

God has all our days numbered. Job 14:5 "A person's days are determined; You have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed."

This made me realize . . . yes, God used B17 to heal me, but really and foremost, it was GOD who healed me. I mean, I KNEW this already, but did I really know it was ALL Him? He wasn't ready for me to come home yet. I did ask Him to promise me something if He did take me away from here. I made Him promise me that He'd find someone who would love my kids as much as I do and get them to heaven in the end. Well, He let me live, so I got my answer. I was the best one for my kids, even when I thought I wasn't. But that's another subject. 

Allow me to repeat something important here: GOD let me live. Sure, He may have used B17 to do it, but when it comes down to it, HE saved my life! He gave me more time on this planet, just like He did for Hezekiah (Isaiah 38:5 and 2 Kings 20:6). He gave him 15 more years to live (and then Hezekiah blew it; I can't tell you how much I pray I don't end up like him in the end). 

Anyway, I just can't help but give God the glory He DESERVES, and I fear I haven't done enough of that. I had two different individuals (when I first got better) say I was giving this vitamin more glory than I was God for my survival. The fact that TWO DIFFERENT people approached me with this should have made me realize that I wasn't giving God enough of the glory. Don't get me wrong, I always believed HE saved me, but I also put too much faith in this vitamin that's not working for everyone. Plain and simple. I should be spreading the gospel of salvation the way I've been spreading the "gospel" of vitamin B17!! Wouldn't that be a much better calling? To get excited about God's ETERNAL salvation for mankind? 

God, I love You. Please forgive me for not giving You the total glory. Help me to be pleasing to You. Help me to calm down and rest in You. In Jesus' Name. Amen. I love You, Lord!

Dear "Black Lives Matter"

If you’re looking for justice, I’m afraid it’s not going to happen on this planet. It will come on the Day of Judgment. Ask God to take care of your enemies, and pray for them, that they will change. Because if they don’t, they will have to face the Heavenly Father who rules ALL. “’Vengeance is MINE, I will repay!’ says the Lord,” Romans 12:19. Trust in the heavenly Father to do that.

We ALL belong to the Father of Lights who created both the black and white people, and all those shades in-between. He is our Father, and He loves us so much that He gave up His only Son to die for us (would you give up your child for anyone? I certainly wouldn’t). We are ALL sinners and need to repent and die with Christ through baptism (Romans 6).

Because we ALL come from the same Father (Creator), that makes everyone of us brothers and sisters, no matter what color we are.

So we need to LOVE each other!

1 John 4:20 “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

God is LOVE! 1 John 4:16, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

God also tells us in His Word that the only person you can change is yourself. That’s what’s going to make this world better. “Let the filthy be filthy,” He says in Revelation 22:11, along with “and let the righteous continue to practice righteousness and the holy to continue to be holy.”

When it comes down to it, “you” are the only person you can change. Trust God to do the rest.

Blessings,

Sandi

"Tag! You're it!" and a SNEAK PEEK

My littlest sister, Charis Joy Jackson, asked me to join her in a “Blog Tag” game! So . . . she just tagged me, and now I’ll tag a friend. But in the meantime, these are the questions I’m supposed to answer.

So . . . here goes!

   WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT?

Well, I’m actually excited to share! I’ve been working on the sequel to OUT OF THE ASHES from my Chicago Fire Series titled INTO THE FIRE. It's a story of Nathaniel's brother, MICHAEL. He's a brooding, hot-tempered character who falls head-over-heals in love with the feisty, God-loving heroine, NICOLETTE. 

Want a sneak peek? Here’s the opening to Chapter One:

Nothing would stop her. Not the midnight sky that suffocated her with its weight of death. And certainly not her stepmother.

“I’m not alone,” Nicolette whispered between the hay and manure as she crept into the dark stall, the words choking her as tears streamed down her hot cheeks. “Right, Lord? You’re with me?” She secured the bit into the horse’s mouth, and her fingers trembled on the reins as she mounted, the emptiness of her life crushing against every strained breath. “I’m not alone.” Perhaps the more she said the words, the more she’d feel them?

Ducking, she kicked the horse into a gallop and charged through the opening and into the dark, empty Chicago street, its shadows engulfing her. “Go before me, Lord,” she said as the hooves beneath her clattered against the cobblestones leaving her father’s elite townhome behind. “Why did he have to go? Why did You take him from me?” She sobbed as the wind ripped back her cloak, revealing the red party dress to any onlookers. Thank the Lord no one was out to witness her escape.

Why would her stepmother force her to go to a party when her father was so weak? How could she be so unfeeling? Callous? The pounding of Nicolette’s heart reverberated against her father’s heavy ring as it rested against her chest. Just moments ago it had been on his finger, but in desperation to hold on to some part of him, she wrenched it off.

Flying down the street, she ran away from the truth, the truth that chased her heels, mocking her with the horrifying reality. Her father, her protector, her confidant … was dead.

Knuckles bleeding and swollen from the last fight, Michael Ward strode up the dark street. What a great match. A bundle of cash from his winnings bulged in his pocket. He breathed in the night air, filling his lungs. A full moon lit his path along the road that led to the Goldman suburbs. They were nice homes, and it sure beat living in the slums in a dingy shanty closer to town … or in the streets.

He’d been off the streets for quite a while now, but the streets weren’t off him. Not yet, anyway. With the city behind him, he stepped into the shadows, learning from a youth to stay hidden, unnoticed. 

In the distance, sounds of a galloping horse echoed through the night air. He glanced over his shoulder. A silhouette charged from the direction of the city.

The rider, low in the saddle, urged the horse on. It came toward Michael at a reckless pace, and as it flew by him, he caught sight of a woman, a cloak lifting like wings off a red gown. The scent of rose wafted in her wake, and Michael’s feet suddenly shot roots into the boardwalk.

She yanked on the reins and rounded a corner, a corner that was usually rife with drunkards near the saloon. It didn’t take long. A scream rent the air, and Michael sprinted toward the commotion. The woman, reining in her horse, tried to get around several hoodlums. They jeered and catcalled. One grabbed the horse’s reins, yanking the animal toward him. The horse kicked one of the men and he went rolling in the dirt. The mount yanked then bucked, tossing the woman into the street, a mass of black hair, cloak and red fabric landing in a pile on the road.

Michael charged toward the thug nearest him and cracked him in the jaw with his bandaged fist. He hit so hard, his knuckles hit bone, despite his padded fingers.

“It’s the Arab!” one of them shouted . . .

   HOW DOES YOUR WORK DIFFER FROM OTHERS IN YOUR GENRE?

This is a series of light historical romance novels, all with a Christian worldview. My other novels are predominately historical with a small romantic element, of course, they are also Christian based.

   WHY DO YOU WRITE OR CREATE WHAT YOU DO?

I love helping others overcome, and I love putting a smile on the faces of my readers. I’m a storyteller, and I love to entertain. So, if I’m going to entertain, I’d love to do that while revealing bits and pieces of my God and Savior and who He is, and showing readers how they can overcome difficulties in their lives.

HOW DOES YOUR WRITING/CREATIVE PROCESS WORK?

I used to be able to write in chaos. But ever since my battle with cancer, I have a hard time focusing if my kids are around. I’m not wiling to miss any of the precious moments, no matter how minor, so my writing doesn’t get done very easily around my children. So, if I want to get any writing done, it has to be done in the evening after everyone goes to bed (and usually by then, I’m too tired), or I designate a day to go to the library, a coffee shop, or a bookstore. Usually I’ll take care of my kids first, and when I can see there’s a moment to get some writing done, I write. But I’m very easily distracted if my kids are around. It’s been quite a juggling act, and one thing that helped me to get my last book, OUT OF THE ASHES, written was that I was invited to a writing retreat that gave me the jumpstart I needed. I can only hope that’ll happen again this year.

Okay, so now I’m supposed to TAG someone else... it's my friend and fellow writer: 

KELLI HUGHETT! 

TAG, you're it!!!

COVER REVEAL!

Welcome author Rachelle Rea for the cover reveal of her next book The Sound of Silver from her Steadfast Love series!

Rachelle Rea plots her novels while driving around the little town she's lived in all her life in her dream car, a pick-up truck. An Oreo addict, she is also a homeschool graduate and retired gymnast. She wrote The Sound of Silver the summer after her junior year of college.

ABOUT THE SOUND OF SILVER:

The stalwart saint and the redeemed rebel. One is fighting for faith, the other for honor…

After Dirk rescues Gwyneth from the Iconoclastic Fury, she discovers that faith is sometimes fragile—and hope is not as easy as it may seem. Gwyneth continues her quest to learn more about the love of God preached by Protestants she once distrusted.

Meanwhile, Dirk’s quest is to prevent his sullied name from staining hers. Will his choice to protect her prove the undoing of her first faltering steps toward a Father God?  Once separated, will Dirk and Gwyneth’s searching hearts ever sing the same song?

Drum roll please ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ as we await the revealing of the cover from The Sound of Silver!

TA . . . DA!!!

If you'd like to learn more about Rachelle Rea's first book The Sound of Diamonds, read below!

THE SOUND OF DIAMONDS

Her only chance of getting home is trusting the man she hates.

With the protestant Elizabeth on the throne of England and her family in shambles, Catholic maiden Gwyneth seeks refuge in the Low Countries of Holland, hoping to soothe her aching soul. But when the Iconoclastic Fury descends and bloodshed overtakes her haven, she has no choice but to trust the rogue who arrives, promising to see her safely home to her uncle's castle. She doesn't dare to trust him...and yet doesn't dare to refuse her one chance to preserve her own life and those of the nuns she rescues from the burning convent.

Dirk Godfrey is determined to restore his honor at whatever cost. Running from a tortured past, Dirk knows he has only one chance at redemption, and it lies with the lovely Gwyneth, who hates him for the crimes she thinks he committed. He must see her to safety, prove to the world that he is innocent, prove that her poor eyesight is not the only thing that has blinded her but what is he to do when those goals clash?

The home Gwyneth knew is not what she once thought. When a dark secret and a twisted plot for power collide in a castle masquerading as a haven, the saint and the sinner must either dare to hold to hope...or be overcome.

Here's where you can find Rachelle and her books:

Website: http://RachelleRea.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/InspiringDaring/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/RachelleRea/ Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/RachelleRea

Instagram: @RachelleDianeRea

Amazon: http://is.gd/7z9vls

Kindle: http://is.gd/EZ7DJ1

Barnes & Noble: http://is.gd/qhoCTc

Books a Million: http://is.gd/M2y5P2