The sunshine of the past few days, a break from leading children’s church for a week, and the removal of my husband’s old Chevelle from our yard all worked together to give me a relaxed state of mind. I’ve experienced some stress over the past few weeks related to work issues, car problems and financial challenges. It feels good this morning to say, “I made it through the storm.”
God is so good to me.
He promised to never leave us nor forsake us, and His word is good. We don’t ever have to question whether or not He loves us. Sometimes we rebel against His authority, however. We want the things that we want when we want them, whether they are healthy for us or not. I’m not immune to having some unhealthy habits and making choices that are not the best for me. We all have challenges in life and sins we struggle with, but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t love us.
His love is unconditional. His love is true, faithful and honest. He makes the storms of life go away or helps us walk through them. I cannot comprehend how God can be in all and over all and know all, but I can believe it’s true because the Bible tells us so.
How can I question the God who raised Jesus from the dead?
Jesus’ disciple Thomas questioned Jesus’ resurrection. This passage is from John 20:24-29:
Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
We are blessed because we haven’t seen Jesus but believe in His birth, crucifixion and resurrection anyway.
I feel that blessing this morning as I start a new week.
I received notice from my boss of a cancellation for tomorrow. That means less money in my paycheck for next time.
But I guess God knows what I need. I’ve said since I started this job that God controls my schedule. I can’t control whether people get ill or cancel for other reasons, or when I might get sick and need a day (or days when I’ve had Covid) off.
Next week’s children’s lesson is the story about God providing manna for the Israelites when they were wandering through the desert.
The Bible verse to go with the lesson is:
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19
As I write the lesson point for this week’s lesson it will also be a reminder to me of how God provides what I need before I can ask.
Cora is a 6-year-old, spayed, domestic shorthaired cat.
Cora has a rather tragic story behind her.
Cora came to the Animal Rescue Coalition from a home with 13 cats when her owner passed away. She had noticeable eye issues so we took her to the vet and found out she had eye ulcers.
Cora was treated and her left eye is back to 98%. Her right eye will always have some white cloudiness and limited vision but the ulcer is gone.
Cora is loving, playful, and gets along with all the other cats at ARC.
She loves to strut around with a glitter ball in her mouth and loves attention.
This beautiful, playful girl would be a great addition to any family
If you have room in your heart and home for Cora, you may find out more about adoption through The Animal Rescue Coalition of Mecosta County, Michigan.
My guest today is author Christina Sinisi. She is here to tell us about the recently released third book in her Summer Creek series, Why They Call It Falling.
Christina, let’s start with telling us a little bit about yourself.
Thank you, Carol, for having me as a guest on your blog!
Why They Call It Falling is my fourth published book and I’m very proud of this one because, more than any of my other books, the story weds my two selves—psychologists and romance writer. I am a psychology professor and department chair in my day job.
My husband and I will be married thirty-six years as of August. We have two grown children and a crazy cat, Chessie Mae.
I have several cats myself, so I understand a crazy one.
I absolutely love this cover photo. What is Why They Call It Falling about?
Formerly the wild child of three sisters, Emma Marano grew up to be a single mom working two jobs, estranged from her mother, and lying to her friends. She’d told everyone that her daughter’s father wanted nothing to do with his child, but her own inability to deal with her mistakes and shame led to the biggest lie of her life.
Years later, Justin Lee stumbles upon what turns out to be a daughter he never knew he had. Angry and confused, he insists on having a relationship with his daughter, but to do so, he’ll need to rebuild some sort of relationship with Emma, too. As he gets to know his daughter—and Emma again—he soon realizes that his biggest mistake was leaving her all those years ago. Now, Justin has to decide if he can see past her flaws and forgive her lies, and together, they’ll have to work to reclaim their love and a faith in each other and in God, or they risk losing something precious in the process.
What is the inspiration behind your story?
Why They Call It Falling is the third book in the Summer Creek series, or it can be read as a stand-alone. The inspiration came from the first book—Emma did some pretty hard-to-understand things and I needed to understand why she did them. Everything went from there—why did she seemingly abandon a daughter she loved, why was her daughter’s father not part of the story, and how did she end up with him at the end of the first book? Hmmm…
You lead a very busy life. How do you find time in your day to write?
I am a psychology professor and department chair. The honest answer is, sometimes I don’t have time to write. Then, I forgive myself and know that I will get back to it when I can. In the summer, and on breaks, I write as much as I can. My advice to anyone is to be patient with yourself.
Are you a night owl or morning person?
I almost didn’t answer this one, but maybe I should. I have actually heard some people say that they thought all creative people stay up late at night. I don’t. I’m one of those regimented people—I need to be up in the morning to exercise and get to work so I calculate eight hours back to make sure I get the right amount of sleep. Then, I write when I can. If I need to write in the evening because that’s all I’ve got, I do. In the summers, writing becomes my job (once I get these darned annual reports done for the university). I get up in the morning, eat breakfast, shower, and then write as if it was my paying job. At best, I set word count goals. My best ever was 25 pages in a day, but my more typical is around 5 – 10 when I get going.
Do you reward yourself when a book is finished? If so, what is your favorite treat?
I love to lounge in a comfy chair on my screen porch with a fruity drink and a good book, get in the pool, read some more, repeat. 😊
Who was your favorite character to create?
My favorite characters are the children. I’m a child psychologist, volunteer in the nursery, just love the little ones. And in fiction, they can offer a welcome break from the heavy stuff the adults are going through.
I love to read books with children in them. They are precious, aren’t they?
How did you come up with the names of your hero and/or heroine?
I have a habit of choosing names from people I know, as a way of honoring them. The problem comes in when the original thinks the character in the story is supposed to be them. No, the characters are themselves, unique and different.
Are you a plotter or a panster?
I am a plotter and use story boards, but then sometimes the story takes over. I’ll refer back to the story boards every once in awhile but I am not a slave to it. I’m thrilled to be teaching a class for ACFW At Home Conference on storyboarding with faith. Hope some of your readers can watch the video!
Christina, thank you for being my guest today and sharing part of your life with us. What’s next for you as an author?
I have one book (a follow-up to Christmas on Ocracoke) under consideration, another book I need to edit, and I’ve started a third.
I want to give a heartfelt tribute to the men and women who have given their lives in sacrifice for the American lifestyle. They chose to serve their country and in doing so, served all of us and stood as a barrier between us and our enemies. Any day is a good day to honor their service and sacrifice, but today especially I honor them with my respect and gratitude.
Our community was hit with a violent loss recently that involved the deaths of children. Not unlike the 19 children who were killed in Ulvade, Texas, they died of gunshot wounds. I don’t have a television and rarely listen to the news, so I don’t pretend to know any details about either tragedy.
God’s heart is breaking even as He welcomed the children into His loving embrace. Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. The loss of any life is tragic, but the deaths of innocent children affects us all deeply. Even I, as a person outside the events looking in, cannot help but grieve the losses. To feel sorrow for the families involved.
I don’t know any of the families who were involved in the tragedies. I also don’t know anyone personally who died in combat.
But God knows each one by name.
He sacrificed His own Son, Jesus, to redeem us from an eternal death. With God, we can have everlasting life. He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us.
I pray today that God’s promises will comfort the hearts of those who have suffered the loss of their loved ones.
As the new year began, my blog took a backseat as I focused on self-care and on my daytime job.
I recently began working with children’s church and was elected for the role of director. I’ve always wanted to produce curriculum that teaches the Bible chronologically from the date of Jesus’ birth through Easter and the acts of the early church. Since we didn’t have specific curriculum for those lessons, I’ve worked with older materials that the church used in the past, along with fresh ideas gleaned from Pinterest. Putting together the lessons each week has been one of the most fulfilling and exciting projects I’ve ever worked on.
Working directly with children is not as easy for me as putting together the curriculum. I’m learning how to relate to the kids from my co-leader and God is helping me become a teacher. We have two young ladies who work with us and their enthusiasm and skills make our job easier. I also have someone very creative who has been putting together crafts that go along with the lessons.
What we are doing with the children’s ministry is successful, but as a small church we don’t have big numbers of children. Due to family obligations and sicknesses, we don’t have a consistent group each Sunday, nor a very large one. But each child is precious in God’s sight and in ours. They all have their own unique personalities and skills set. They are a joy to work with.
Because I have focused so much on my job and children’s ministry, my blog has been pushed aside.
My emotions have been all over the place lately as I fought depression and had bouts of anxiety. I also had moments where mania tried to break through, which led to some impulsive spending and emotional challenges.
It’s been 19 years since I suffered a nervous breakdown and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In all that time, I haven’t had to return to the psychiatric hospital, although I have been close a few times. Having the same doctor since the beginning has helped to regulate my medications, making adjustments as needed. It took a few years and a few different counselors before I found one that meets me where I’m at.
Bouts of depression and mania are the key components of bipolar disorder. While many people experience highs and lows, my emotional scale is higher and lower than most. Sometimes the changes are rapid. My counselor expresses that it is like a pendulum. When my emotions swing towards the high side, or mania, then it swings back to depression, and vice versa. Since the holidays I have run the gamut of emotions and had anxiety and some physical ailments thrown in for good measure.
Fortunately, my disorder runs more towards the depressive side than manic. I say fortunatley because my life doesn’t spiral out of control. I don’t get trapped in addictions as I try to manage my illness. The manic side of bipolar can be frightening as it causes one to make poor choices in relationships and spending money that can have long-term effects. For me, mania comes infrequently and lasts for a day or two, while I suffer from depression more often and for longer periods.
My counselor has helped me find tools that work for changing my negative thoughts, which in turn changes my behavior patterns. For the past few weeks, however, I let the storms of life and the stresses of my job affect my emotions, which led to even more negative feelings and depression.
Depression is typical for me for this time of year. Part of it is the winter months and the gray days. Another cause is that for a week in February, I am brought face-to-face with my grief over losing my husband. His birthday is the 12th, then there is Valentine’s Day, then our anniversary was the 17th. It would have been 32 years this year, but we only had 20 together before he passed away.
For most of the time, I am dealing okay with my loss. I have worked through my grief and have accepted that he is in a better place. I’ve become strong and independent. But then those days come up that bring me right back down again.
Like I mentioned above, I have experienced some bouncing around of my emotions in the past few weeks. But though the winds buffet, they cannot shake the foundation that is my faith in God. I feel like my feet are firmly planted in good soil, like a solid oak tree. Emotions are temporary, but faith and hope are eternal.
Unfortunately, most work on my blog has been suspended as I dealt with the changes in my emotions and daily life.
For the past eighteen months or so I’ve hosted a series on my blog that features books by other Christian authors. Each Friday I posted details about a book including the summary, an excerpt and author bio. I connected you to the authors via their social media links. I haven’t featured any books since before the holidays.
I also haven’t posted any new Cat Tails or any of the other features that I previously provided on my blog.
I am currently working on gathering stories for both the Friday Feature and the Cat Tails series. I also plan to post more recipes that use 5 ingredients or less.
I have so many good things in my life right now.
I’ve been at my job for a full year and plan to continue with it. For those of you who know me well, it is a miracle in itself that I have found fulfilling work that I can stick with. I still encounter some on-the-job stresses but am working with my counselor and my boss to maintain a professional balance.
Mentally, I find that anxiety is the biggest hurdle I face now that the depression is lifting. Most of the time I have control of it, but in certain social situations it almost overcomes me. I know that it is fear-based and I am leaning on God and learning how to cope with it.
Financially, I am in a good place. Not exactly where I want to be, but with the first year evaluation I received a performance raise. The mileage rate also increased. A little more in my paycheck each week will make paying my bills easier. Hopefully I’ll be able to set some aside. I want to go on vacation this summer and will need to save diligently to do so.
Physically, I am in worse shape than I was one year ago due to becoming lax with my diet and exercise. I am doing better and hope to be back in routine soon.
Spiritually, God has gifted me with creativity as I have given up some things that weren’t glorifying Him and listening better to His voice. I haven’t become all that I want to be yet, but do we ever arrive spiritually in this life?
We can’t reach perfection while we live in an imperfect world, but we can grow each day as we turn our back on the worldly viewpoint and allow God to influence our daily decisions.
I don’t speak out about politics especially not here on my blog. But I will say that I don’t believe this earth was supposed to last forever. The Bible says that there will come a new heaven and a new earth, which means the world as we know it will someday not exist anymore. Jesus Himself said that in this world we will have tribulation. But He also said to take heart, because He has overcome the world.
I’m so glad that God has promised redemption and an eternal home with Him. No matter what this world holds for me, I stand in faith in the One who gives me strength.
Inspirational Author 