I'd like to introduce to some and present to others my very talented sister of the pen, Stacy Hawkins Adams. I first met Stacy some years ago at a conference hosted by Jacquelin Thomas. Since then, our paths have crossed a few times at other events, but we've always kept contact via email. She's been a supporter of my work, as I have been of hers. Stacy may not know this, but I've gleaned a lot from her wisdom. Like me, she has two small children, a husband, a writing career, a heart towards God...and BIG dreams. Just by watching her operate in her gift inspires me to strive for excellence.
Her latest January 2009 release, The Someday List, will inspire you as well. I just started reading it on Thursday night, and I already have my pen and paper out.
(You'll know what I mean when you get the book!) Until then, please read a devotion written by Stacy as well as a little about her book. ENJOY!
DEVOTION
Theme Verse: Philippians 3:13b-14
But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God, in Christ Jesus.
But one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God, in Christ Jesus.
At the beginning of a New Year, my thoughts often turn to the fate of God's servant Lot, and his family, as told in Genesis 19. God was preparing to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because these cities were so wicked, but he agreed to spare the lives of Lot, the one righteous man He coud find there, and Lot's family.
Angels appeared to Lot's family and urged them to flee and follow one important command: Do not look back. They were being given the chance to depart from sin, jealously, greed, injustice and numerous other ills, as long as they kept their eyes on God and looked toward the future.
But because they were human (like us), the temptation to take one last look at what they were leaving behind got the best of one of them - Lot's wife.
She looked back, and in doing so, lost her chance to live a better life. She turned into a pillar of salt, and in essence, was destroyed with the rest of Sodom's residents.
This biblical account resonates with me because it's an ever-present reminder of God's willingness to give us new opportunities, new blessings and abundant mercy every morning when we awake. Lot's wife is proof, though, that unless we open our hearts to these gifts and trust that where God is leading us is much better than where we've been, we risk losing it all.
In my new novel, The Someday List, the main character, Rachelle, finds herself at a similar crossroad. She has to decide whether to forgive herself for long-ago mistakes and find contentment in all that God has blessed her with, or to keep looking back, trying to recapture a happiness and a love she once knew.
Many of us aren't so different from Rachelle, or from Lot's wife.
Look at your life and consider the things that are holding you back. What keeps you from taking a baby step today - just something small - toward achieving a long-desired goal? What keeps you from choosing to let go of the anger or bitterness that may be choking you, so your heart can smile again, even if the person who hurt you never acknowledges your pain? What is keeping you from loving yourself, and realizing that in 2009, God is not only doing historic and miraculous things for other people, he's ready to do them for you?
In God's eyes, you are worthy. Embrace that truth today, and don't look back.
Prayer:
Dear Father, I come to you with all that I am - broken, sinful and lost. Help me to be who you are calling me to be in this New Year and beyond. Help me realize that I don't have to be perfect in order to be used by you or loved by you. As I open my heart and my eyes to all that you are offering me, help me focus on you and on the good things you're sending my way. I want to release yesterday and hold my head high, knowing that because I am your child, I am forgiven and I am loved. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.
Angels appeared to Lot's family and urged them to flee and follow one important command: Do not look back. They were being given the chance to depart from sin, jealously, greed, injustice and numerous other ills, as long as they kept their eyes on God and looked toward the future.
But because they were human (like us), the temptation to take one last look at what they were leaving behind got the best of one of them - Lot's wife.
She looked back, and in doing so, lost her chance to live a better life. She turned into a pillar of salt, and in essence, was destroyed with the rest of Sodom's residents.
This biblical account resonates with me because it's an ever-present reminder of God's willingness to give us new opportunities, new blessings and abundant mercy every morning when we awake. Lot's wife is proof, though, that unless we open our hearts to these gifts and trust that where God is leading us is much better than where we've been, we risk losing it all.
In my new novel, The Someday List, the main character, Rachelle, finds herself at a similar crossroad. She has to decide whether to forgive herself for long-ago mistakes and find contentment in all that God has blessed her with, or to keep looking back, trying to recapture a happiness and a love she once knew.
Many of us aren't so different from Rachelle, or from Lot's wife.
Look at your life and consider the things that are holding you back. What keeps you from taking a baby step today - just something small - toward achieving a long-desired goal? What keeps you from choosing to let go of the anger or bitterness that may be choking you, so your heart can smile again, even if the person who hurt you never acknowledges your pain? What is keeping you from loving yourself, and realizing that in 2009, God is not only doing historic and miraculous things for other people, he's ready to do them for you?
In God's eyes, you are worthy. Embrace that truth today, and don't look back.
Prayer:
Dear Father, I come to you with all that I am - broken, sinful and lost. Help me to be who you are calling me to be in this New Year and beyond. Help me realize that I don't have to be perfect in order to be used by you or loved by you. As I open my heart and my eyes to all that you are offering me, help me focus on you and on the good things you're sending my way. I want to release yesterday and hold my head high, knowing that because I am your child, I am forgiven and I am loved. In Jesus' Name I pray, Amen.
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ABOUT THE BOOK:
The Someday List
Jubilant Soul Series Book One
by Stacy Hawkins Adams
Rachelle Covington has it all. A fabulous home, a handsome and prestigious husband, two beautiful children, and a place in the upper crust that's quite comfortable. But her life is not all it's cracked up to be. When her husband goes away on business trip and the kids are sent off to the grandparents for a month, Rachelle takes up the challenge of a dying friend to start a list of things to do before she dies. She heads back to Jubilant, Texas, to reconnect with her past, her purpose, and herself. But when her ex shows up in town looking very fine and very single, Rachelle must confront feelings she thought she'd long buried. Will she give up everything to recover the past? Or will she find a reason to plan for the future? The Someday List is an honest look at what makes us who we are and what can throw us off track. Author Stacy Hawkins Adams writes with a voice that is fresh, sincere, and completely real. Her characters jump off the page and into her readers' hearts.
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THE SOMEDAY LIST BLOG GIVEAWAY
Tell Us One Item on Your Someday List. Leave your answer in the comment section.
Participants will be entered into a drawing for the The Someday List Blog Giveaway. View the prize package below:
· $50 American Express Gift Card
· Autographed Copies of all of Stacy's books: Speak to My Heart, Nothing But the Right
· Autographed Copies of all of Stacy's books: Speak to My Heart, Nothing But the Right
Thing, and Watercolored Pearls, and the anthologies The Midnight Clear and This Far By
Join Us for an Hour Long Chat with Stacy on January 30, 2009. We will announce the GRAND PRIZE WINNER of the THE SOMEDAY LIST BLOG TOUR GIVEAWAY during the call.
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Continue to visit other stops on The Someday List Blog Tour at: http://www.stacyhawkinsadams.com/blog
