Did You Pay Attention in High School?

You paid attention during 97% of high school!

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

HT to Lisa Samson for this fun quiz. I'm amazed I remembered anything at all!

~~Angie

Procrastination Creates Problems . . . tell me something I didn't know!

Last week I read an AP article on procrastination, a concept with which I am more than familiar. (And boy, that's an awkward sentence!)

According to a Canadian industrial psychologist who completed a five year study in ten years (ha!), procrastination is on the rise . . . and it makes people poorer, fatter, and unhappier.

University of Calgary professor Piers Steel wrote a thirty page study published by the American Psychological Association. In 1978, only about 5 percent of the American public thought of themselves as procrastinators. Now it's 26 percent. Why? So many other things to do: TV, the internet, cell phones, video games, iPods, Blackberries.

He estimates that the U.S. gross national product would probably rise by fifty billion dollars if the icon and sound that notifies people of new email would just . . . disappear. "People who procrastinate tend to be less healthy, less wealthy, and less happy," Steel said. "You can reduce it, but I don't think you can eliminate it."

For instance, a delay in filing taxes on average costs a person $400 a year, Steel found.

I can easily understand why procrastination results in weight gain. How many "last suppers" have you enjoyed? I've had more than my share, because it's always easier to begin a healthy eating plan TOMORROW. Ditto for the exercise plan.

But I have to rise to procrastination's defense. I don't procrastinate when it comes to things like cleaning house, paying bills, and dealing with taxes--the sooner those things are done, the better. But when it comes to work, I've found the following to be true:

1) I work better under pressure. Not crushing pressure, but steady pressure. If I build in too much lead time, I'm too relaxed.

2) Sometimes the old creativity gets a workout while your brain is occupied with a procrastinating activity -- an engaging game of Spider Solitare, for instance. Whenever I "hit a wall," I put off the work and piddle with something else. When I return to work, the problem often melts away.

3) Some ideas/concepts/characters need time to ferment. I call this "back burnering." Sometimes I know I'm onto something, but I just can't grasp the big picture. So I set the idea aside and work on something else for as long as it takes.

So--despite Mr. Steel's study, I would urge you to rethink the matter. Begin to eat right and pull on those sneakers and sweats, but remember that Procrastination wants to be your friend. It can charming . . . as long you don't spend too much time in its embrace.

Speaking of TV, I'm so excited: JACK'S BACK! I love 24! Are you as hooked as I am?

~~Angie

Financial Planning

I'll never forget the year I was asked to help edit a book on caring for your aging parents. One chapter hit me hard--it was about the importance of planning for your retirement--yes, now. The earlier your start, the better prepared you'll be.

I'm sure I don't have to tell you that people are living longer these days. Remember several months ago when I featured a link to a life expectancy quiz? Lord willing, I might reach 92, and I don't want to be cranking out several books a year when I'm ninety. (I'd like to be able to, just not required to. I'd also like to be thirty pounds thinner, but you know what they say about wishes and beggars).

Anyway, I just read this story in the New York Times: On May 1 of this past year, Timothy J. Bowers went to the bank, handed the teller a stick up note, and got four $20 bills. On his way out, he handed the bills to a security guard and said it was his day to be a hero.

He was arrested, of course.

At his trial in October, he told the judge that he was about to turn 63 and had lost his job making deliveries for a drug wholesaler. With only minimum wage jobs available, he preferred to draw a three-year-sentence, which would get him to age 66, when he could then live off Social Security.

So that's what he got. Three years at the Hocking Correctional Facility in Nelsonville, Ohio. Three meals a day, room, and medical care.

The prosecutor, Dan Cable, told the AP: "It's not the financial plan I would choose, but it's a financial plan."

Eeek. So . . . as tax time rolls around and you pull out those facts and figures and read up on IRAs and such, make plans to start investing in yourself. With every paycheck, tithe ten percent and pray about what the Lord would have you send ahead to heaven by investing in things that will matter for eternity--the souls of men and women. Then save ten percent for your retirement.

I wouldn't want to have to visit you in Rikers.

~~Angie

(January 7, 2007, NYT, p. 19, Sunday Business section).

News Alert!

Oh, my! I've just discovered the Everyman's Library Children's Classic set! I have to get this for when I have kids!

Wait-- (LOL--I forgot I've already had kids). Okay, I'll get it for when I have GRANDchildren! Or maybe I'll get it because I LOVE all these books to read even now!

Amazing collection!

~~Angie

Saturday Musings (typed on Friday night)

Have you ever had one of those weeks when you seem to get nothing done? I've just come through one. It was accompanied by a migraine that lasted for six days, and I suppose I did get some things done--read a couple of nf research books on funeral services, tried--and ditched--a new internet security program, had a four-hour lunch with dear friends from out of town, and managed to keep up with the blog. Even managed to revise a few pages of a ten-year-old book in dreadful need of tightening now that I'm older and wiser.

And I had several of those stare-into-space moments where you just think . . . and I suppose we all need more of these.

I started thinking about funerals and about how everyone (well, most people) wants to be loved. At our funerals, we all want a packed house and lots of mourners who will stand up and proclaimed how universally well-loved we were.

Well . . . what do you have to do to be well-loved? You have to love well. And deeply. And often. Selflessly. And there's a story in that.

And then I was looking through some clippings, and chased a story idea down a trail. It petered out, but for a moment there I felt that frisson of excitement that always comes when I contemplate creating a new story, a new world--I could make it happen! I hope that feeling never goes away. Reminds me of that delicious shiver I used to get after a great book or movie ended. I'd hug myself and wish the story world could continue forever . . . been a long time since I felt like that with the current crop of films.

Last week I was offered a chance to ghostwrite a novel. I declined, and I can't tell you how wrong, wrong, wrong this practice is. If people want to write novels, let them go through the time and trouble it takes to learn how to be a good novelist. Let this person sink or swim on his/her own merits. Why pay someone else to participate in the charade? I hope everyone turns the offer down. I really wish the practice would just DIE and go away.

And that's about it for today. I'm mused out. What have you been musing on lately?

~~Angie

Everyman's Library

An article in the Jan. 9th Wall Street Journal reminded me of the Everyman's Library, published by Random House. I'd seen these books, of course, but not in a long time. Reading the article pushed my bookaholic buttons, so I immediately went to the web page

http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/classics/

and subscribed to their newsletter. As soon as my "spending fast" is over (some friends and I are NOT spending in January as a way to atone for December), I'm going to order some of these books.

To recap: Everyman's Library began in 1906 when bookbinder/publisher Joseph Malaby Dent wanted to make great books available to the general public. And these were nice books--the kind with sturdy bindings and ribbon markers. They were also affordable--"For a few shillings," says Dent, "the reader may have a whole bookshelf of the immortals; for five pounds . . . a man may be intellectually rich for life."

Founder Dent died in 1926, but his library thrived. In 1990, British publisher David Campbell acquired hardcover rights to Everyman's Library and told his friend Sonny Mehta, president of Alfred A. Knopf, that he wanted an American partner. So Random House UK and Knopf picked it up. Since then they have done 500 titles and sold 12 million books.

They have a set called "Everyman Essentials" that's sold by Amazon.com . . . 100 books that help people build an instant library of classics. (Oh, I'm coveting!) Check out the complete list on Amazon.

Best of all, the books are NOT those fancy-schmantzy volumes that sell for hundreds of dollars (I know, those are beautiful. But they're just not practical.) Everyman's books are competitively priced. The line now includes contemporary classics by authors such as Toni Morrison and Cormac McCarthy. And quality? From the Amazon description: Everyman's Library continues to maintain its original commitment to publishing the most significant world literature in editions that reflect a tradition of fine bookmaking. Everyman's Library pursues the highest standards, utilizing modern prepress, printing, and binding technologies to produce classically designed books printed on acid-free natural-cream-colored text paper and including Smyth-sewn, signatures, full-cloth cases with two-color case stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, and European-style half-round spines.

So . . . when you feel the need for a book, check out the Everyman's Library. Or Everyman's Anything. I've a hunch you can't go wrong.

Goodness, I sound like a commercial! Sorry.

~~Angie

Amniotic Fluid Stem Cells Save Lives?

Yippe for the LA Times for reporting that researchers have found that stem cells in human amniotic fluid appear to have many of the "key benefits of embryonic stem cells while avoiding their knottiest ethical, medical, and logistical drawbacks."





Haven't we been saying all along that stem cells are also found in umbilical cord blood? Only makes sense that they'd be found in fluids. But there's more:





"Unlike embryonic cells [taken from human embryos], which can form tumors when implanted in lab animals, anmniotic fluid stem cells do not appear to do so." Two Swiss scientists, Dorthe Schmidt and Simon Hoerstrup, have used amniotic fluid stem cells to grow heart valves and are testing them in sheep.



You may recall that I've written on this topic before. If you need a refreshing of the facts, here they are:

While scientific debate swirls around us, certain facts are indisputable: first, those who debate when life begins are arguing the wrong question, for life does not “begin” even at conception. An egg and sperm are alive before they meet. Rather than “beginning,” life is passed from one living human to another. The thread of life winds back through generations and originates at the point where the Creator breathed into the first human.

A fertilized human egg will not grow to be a fish, a bird, or a monkey. It will become every bit as human as the mother and father who hold their baby in their arms. The difference is not in the quality of personhood, but size. Given time and opportunity, the embryo will grow.



Stem cell research has been in the news of late, as it should be. But let’s be clear about the exact nature of the research involved. Those who argue for stem cell research are usually talking about fetal cells when adult stem cells are far more useful for treating disease. Proponents of fetal stem cell research, which typically uses so many cells from frozen embryos that it destroys those lives-in-waiting, cite Ronald Reagan and Michael J. Fox as reasons why we should experiment on living human beings. Yes, we should feel concern for those who suffer from diseases, but should we not feel the same concern for those who are held in a state of cryogenic suspension?



Stem cells, which are valued because they are “plastic,” or able to transform into multiple cell types (blood cells, kidney cells, etc.), are not found only in preborn humans. They are also available in umbilical cord blood, children’s baby teeth, hair follicles, placentas, and even liposuctioned fat.



The Scripps Research Institute has recently reported that a small molecule called reversine allows mature cells to become “plastic” again. Researcher Dr Sheng Ding said: "This [approach] . . . will allow you to derive stem-like cells from your own mature cells, avoiding the technical and ethical issues associated with embryonic stem cells."



Scientists have now discovered that stem cells can be taken from amniotic fluid, , but those who lobby for the removal of restrictions on stem cell research are actually pushing for the right to use unborn humans for experimentation—a bizarre situation, considering that our government protects the rights of eagles and manatees to live free from human harassment. Should we do less for babies who have not yet reached a healthy birth weight?



The conflict at the heart of the debate involves the rights of already-born humans versus the rights of preborn humans. Yet researchers currently have access to adult stem cells, which have been successfully used to treat spinal cord injuries, regenerate heart tissue, and reconstruct corneas. Adult stem cell therapy has shown significant results in the treatment of diabetes, lupus, multiple sclerosis, anemias, leukemias, Parkinson’s, and Crohn’s disease. No embryonic stem cell treatment to date has come close to the success rate of adult cell therapies.



Out of mercy and compassion, we ought to try to discover cures for disease. Scientists and medical researchers have a moral responsibility to do what they can to improve the quality of human life. Out of the same mercy and compassion, however, we ought to forbid all uses of embryonic humans for spare parts. If the restrictions on embryonic research are lifted, the temptation to create human embryos for the purpose of experimentation may prove impossible to resist.



So what should be done with “extra” embryos created by couples who are battling infertility? Why not encourage couples to adopt them? My husband and I waited years to adopt our two children. If embryonic adoption had been an option when we were younger, we’d have signed on in a heartbeat.



The psalmist assures us that God designed the delicate, inner parts of our bodies. He knit us together in our mothers’ wombs. Embryos that have been frozen in the process of being miraculously woven and spun are continuing lengths in the thread of life.




~~Angie

From the news desk . . .

Now that we've completed another BOM cycle (and I hope the change of pace was enjoyable--I certainly enjoyed looking at those children's books again), let's go to the new clippings that have been piling up on my desk.

From the American Dialect Society--"Plutoed" has been chosen as Word of the Year. (Didn't we just hear that another group picked "truthiness" as Word of the Year?) In case you haven't heard, to "pluto" is to "demote or devalue someone or something," referring, of course, to the fact that Pluto is no longer considered a planet.

"Plutoed" won in a runoff against "climate canary" (An organism or species whose poor health or declining numbers hint at a larger environmental catastrophe on the horizon). Other words considered: murse (a man's purse), flog (a fake blog that promotes products), and macaca (a U.S. citizen treated as an alien). You have to know a bit of Spanish to "get" that last one, but I do and I do. :-(

Since apparently anyone and everyone can nominate a word of the year, I think I'll join the game. My word? (Goodness, so many to choose from!) Okay: notorious. (I choose this because I see it used incorrectly all over the place.) To be notorious is to be famous for doing something BAD. It is not a compliment.

More news later . . .

Have a great day!

~~Angie

BOM: Howie Hugemouth

Howie Hugemouth is another favorite of mine . . . and another that was inspired by my son (he had an exceptionally loud voice as a baby).

I wanted to write an adoption story, but, as always, when you write for children, the message has to be delivered inside a charming tale. So I wrote about Howie, who was adopted by a family who had to learn how to deal with his huge mouth. The story is told from the older sister's point of view, and she's not quite sure how she feels about Howie, either.

In any case, the book was published by Standard, it's now out of print, but you can get it for a quarter on Amazon! Whee!

Tonight was supposed to be a meeting of my book club but . . . .the Ohio State championship game knocked it back a month. My husband has been wearing OSU shirts for two months, so he can't wait for the game. Onward, Bucs!
~~Angie

BOM: Calico Bear

I have a girlfriend who can't read this one without crying. It's an inter-generational tale about a child's "lovey"--and the idea came to me because my son had a duck that he carried EVERYWHERE for about two or three years. The music box fell out, then the stuffing fell out, and I kept patching it and re-stuffing it. Tyler couldn't sleep without it, so we took good care of it.

The story is told from the bear's POV--he is in the arms of a little boy who loves him, and he grows old with the boy. Then the boy goes away and a young woman turns the bear into a quilt . . . and the next thing he knows, he's in the arms of a little girl (the boy's daughter), who loves him.

I also wrote a lullaby for this book, and I was able to actually sing it in the audio cassette version. Jeff Johnson did the music and wrote the tune to fit my lyrics, and it's a perfectly lovely tune . . . one that I used to sing to my own children.

This book is also out of print, but it'll always mean a lot to me because I see my children in it. And yes, my son's duck is tucked safely into a memory box in the attic. One day I'll pull it down and share it with his children, Lord willing. In time . . .

~~Angie

BOM: The Singing Shepherd

Leslie asked a good question (and don't feel silly because people ask it all the time): Why is my name sometimes "Angela Elwell Hunt" and sometimes "Angela Hunt"?

In the beginning, all of my books said "Angela Elwell Hunt." The name is always the author's choice, and I had this thing about how there aren't many Elwells and no boys in my family, so I thought I should use the Elwell.

I kept it as I moved into writing adult historicals. But as I began to write adult contemporary novels, one of my editors pointed out that my name could be BIGGER if I dropped the "Elwell." Hmm. Good point. So I dropped the "Elwell" on the adult contemporaries, and a lot of people thought I was two people.

Lately, however, I've noticed that the three name thing is being overdone, so I'm going more and more by the simple "Angela Hunt." And I think that people are finally realizing that the historical writer, the children's writer, and the contemporary novelist are all the same person. At least I hope they are.

On to today's book: I love The Singing Shepherd because it's about a boy who loves to sing . . . and can't carry a tune. The idea sprang from a nativity story. I began to think about the angels appearing to the shepherds, and I thought, "What if one of the shepherds decided NOT to go and see the child . . . and later regretted it?

So I created a child-shepherd who suffers from a lack of courage . . . and goes to find the child in Bethlehem much later than the other shepherds. But when he straggles into town, the angel has already appeared to Joseph, and soldiers are already checking people at the city gates, looking for a baby.

So the shepherd takes the baby and slips him into his shepherd's sling, and helps sneak the baby out of the city. The lamb of God carried in a sling for lambs . . . I love the image.

This book is also out of print now, but it will always be one of my favorite stories. If I had to write it over again, though, I think I'd cut out a few words. It's a wee bit too long for my tastes . . .

~~Angie

BOM: A Gift for Grandpa

The other day someone asked me about writing children's books and I had to point out that there are several different kinds, and each has its own "blueprint." There's a vast different between picture books, read-alouds, chapter books, and illustrated story books. All of the books I've featured this week are picture books (32 pages, equal balance between words and text, designed to be read to children).


I wrote A Gift for Grandpa when I wanted a way to illustrate that God supplies our financial needs . . . usually in unexpected ways. So I came up with a little boy who lives with his grandparents. They really need a new horse, but there's no way they can afford one, so they decide to get Grandpa a watch chain for his birthday.


As they sit on the front porch, a variety of people come by--all of them with a need, which Grandma is happy to fill. But in filling that need, Grandma is blessed, and by the end of they day they have a new horse . . . and the perfect way to get Grandpa the watch chain they wanted to give him for his birthday.

I actually made a big mistake in the first draft of this--I had Grandma come up with the bright idea at the end of the book. But then I caught my mistake--in children's books, the CHILD should always be the one who solves his problem. After all, he or she is the protagonist.

A Gift for Grandpa is out of print, but you can still find copies available on Amazon. It will always be one of my favorite stories because even though it's fiction, it's very true. :-)

~~Angie

BOM: Pretzels by the Dozen

Pretzels by the Dozen is a bit of a departure--it's a nonfiction picture book that relates the true history of pretzels. I read somewhere that the first pretzel was created in order to teach children about God, and that was all it took to send me on a quest to learn everything I could about pretzels.

They actually have an amazing history! So I created this picture book and combined elements of counting, rhythm and rhyme, and history--and even included a recipe for pretzels at the end!

You can even sing the book, if you know the tune to "Sing a Song of Sixpence." That's how I checked my meter in each verse--I sat there and sang it!

My favorite fan letter about this book came shortly after its publication--from Auntie Anne, of Auntie Anne's pretzels (those kiosks you see in lots of malls).

~~Angie

BOM: The True Princess

Clyde asked if these books will be reprinted--sadly, it's often very difficult to get a book reprinted after it's declared out of print. Publishers figure that if Company Y couldn't sell it, then they probably won't be able to, either.

However--many of them are still in print or are available through Amazon.com's used books. Only the ones which are rare (like "Long Hair") are expensive. Another good source is www.alibris.com or www.abebooks.com.


The idea for The True Princess came to me as I was thinking about what makes a person a Christian. A lot of people claim to be, yet Jesus said that people will come up to him, claiming to be his followers, and he will say, "Sorry, but I never knew you."

So--what makes the difference? Some people look like Christians and talk like Christians, but do they really love the King?

So I turned the idea into a parable about a king's daughter. The king has to go away, and the daughter is left in the care of her nanny, who teaches her how to dress herself, feed herself, and serve others.

And when the king returns many years later, other girls in the kingdom try to pass themselves off as princesses--by dressing in beautiful robes and acting the way they think a princess should act. But the father recognizes his daughter at the back of the room--not because of what she looks like, but because she is willing to serve him out of a heart of love.

The book was first published by Chariot/Victor, and has recently been picked up by Charisma Kids. It's one of my favorite books, one that teaches through parable, which is still my favorite way to teach. As I said, I've never liked didactic children's books. Kids are far brighter than we think they are.

I remember once talking about this story to a group of students. I asked who the nanny represented, and a young boy flung up his hand with the correct answer: "the Holy Spirit!" I've known adults who couldn't figure that out, but it was clear to that boy. :-)

That's one of the reasons I love working with kids. They're brilliant.

~~Angie

BOM: The Tale of Three Trees

After the publication of IF I HAD LONG, LONG HAIR, I sold another picture book to Abingdon--NAT THE BRAT. The book made it to galley stage, and then the publisher decided to pull the plug on their general market picture book line . . . and so not only did NAT never make it to press, but LONG HAIR would never be reprinted.

Well . . . that's the way the business sometimes works. I learned the hard facts early in the game.

And so I started looking for another book to write. Now--I really dislike didacticism in any book, including children's books, and a lot of Christian children's books are not my style at all. And then I remembered the old story about three trees--I'd heard it in a song and heard it told verbally in a much longer format.

So I changed it in several ways and put it into picture book format, then began sending it out. As Providence would have it, I sent it to Lion Publishing, a British publisher with offices in the U.S., whose goal was to provide "spiritual stories for secular people."

Perfect. After all, the story is centered around Jesus but never even uses his name. (Because of that, I've been able to read the story in places where more overt religious books would not have been welcomed).

The book was published and began to sell steadily. Most children's books go OP rather quickly, but The Tale of Three Trees has staying power. It's been translated into more than twenty languages and has literally gone around the world. I've received so many letters and cards from people who've been touched by this simple story.

I think of it as a God-thing. I didn't originate the tale (and freely admit this in the foreword), I

simply retold it in pared-down language. I love Tim Yonke's art, and the fact that Jesus looks like a linebacker when he's carrying the cross. No cartoon images here, but beautiful realism.

This may be the book that long outlives me. And for that, all the glory belongs to Jesus.

~~Angie

Books of the Month: If I had Long, Long Hair

Happy New Year!

I thought I'd start out 2007 in a different way and talk about picture books. I don't write many picture books these days because I'm concentrating on novels, but I got started in picture books and they have a special place in my heart.





Most people think that the way to get started as a writer is to write a picture book. After all, you'd think it'd be easy--they're short, they have pictures, and kids are easy to please, right? Wrong.





My experience was a fluke--more on that later. But you need to understand that picture books are among the most difficult books to write and sell because they're so expensive to produce. The art is expensive, the printing is expensive, and most of them are done in nice hardcover editions, often even with a dust jacket, so you're talking a pricey book. And unless you have a household name like Jamie Lee Curtis or Madonna, you're going to have to have an absolutely STELLAR story in order to sell it.

If I had a nickle for every man or woman who has come up and said that they've written a few stories for their kids or grandkids, so would I please explain how to get them published . . .

Or a mom will come up with a story that she intends to use as a moral lesson, and because "kids really need this," she's convinced her story will sell . . .

Without even reading the first word, I can tell that they haven't done their homework.

Don't even try to write a picture book without getting a book on writing picture books and studying the blueprint. Most picture books are 32 pages long, less than 1200 words, and they don't contain adjectives, etc. (or shouldn't), because the ART carries half the work load. You don't have to describe Mary's blue dress if the picture shows it. Picture books are like poetry (and I don't mean they have to rhyme), nor are they vocabulary-restricted. They are designed to be read by adults to children.

And children don't like to be preached at any more than adults do. The story must entertain first and foremost. It must be delightful fun for the child . . . and the adult who has to read it.

Back to my story: After I'd been freelancing articles, brochures, and whatnot for FIVE YEARS, I saw an article about a contest for unpublished children's picture book authors. Abingdon Press wanted to honor Lorna Balian, one of their authors, so they were going to publish the winning book.

Since I was unpublished in any book format, I ran to the library and got 1) books on how to write picture books and 2) every picture book I could find by Lorna Balian--not to copy her, but to see her style and tone. Because Abingdon was a Christian publishing house, I wanted to ascertain the level of Christian content.

My children were also wee ones at the time, so I had picture books galore in my house. I had a good feel for how they worked, the length, and the tone.

I discovered that Lorna Balian wrote books centered on Christian values, not a Christian message, which was fine with me. And so, after studying the blueprint, I sat down and wrote a story called If I had Long, Long Hair. Then, because the contest required three sketches and I can't even draw stick people, I found an adventrous artist, we talked, she drew three sketches, and we sent in our package.

Fast forward about three months. Etta Wilson, who was the children's editor at Abingdon at the time, called to tell me we'd won first place. Out of 531 entries, a panel narrowed it down to two books. They let a nine-year-old boy choose the winner . . . and it was us. (God bless that boy!)

Yes, I know this ranks right up there with the parting of the Red Sea--to me, anyway.

Suddenly I was a children's book author. And that first night I could barely sleep because until then, I'd been doing what I thought of as "transient" writing--things people read and tossed. But books live forever, and they change lives. They've certainly changed mine. I begged the Lord for boatloads of wisdom, because I certainly didn't want to mess up any kids . . .

And with fear and trembling, I set out to write another picture book.

Rest of the week: different picture books, including The Tale of Three Trees, A Gift for Grandpa, The True Princess, Calico Bear, Howie Hugemouth, The Singing Shepherd, and Pretzels by the Dozen. If you have any questions, just leave them in the comments and I'll answer them the following day.

~~Angie

Seeing the Old Year Out

It's done. Christmas is packed and put away.

Every year I try to be organized when I put things away--and yes, I'm one of those people who checks every string of lights and replaces all the burned out bulbs. I've wrapped everything, put it away, and climbed into the attic, where it's definitely hot (unusual weather we're having this year, isn't it?)

This year hubby and I even went to Home Depot and bought flooring to toss in the attic we've never used. I broke down and ordered an artificial Christmas tree on after-Christmas clearance, so as soon as it shows up next week, we're hauling the last of our holiday decorations into the new attic space and leaving it for an entire year.

Every year I pull out strings of lights and stare at the front of my house. I usually lay the strings along the flower beds, along the edge of the porch, over the porch railing. But now the hedges have grown up so you can't even SEE the porch railing, so this afternoon I sat down with a sketch of our house and drew in what I'm going to do next year--it might even be pretty. And organized. (The drawing is the front of our house--minus our now-fully-grown plants, of course.) Sorry, but I didn't scan in my finished drawing. At this point, it's all a matter of faith, anyway.

Whenever I have "free time" (defined as time without a deadline breathing down my neck), I tend to go into hyper domestic mode.

As I rearranged the house yesterday, I took down all my artwork and mixed it all up--different paintings for different rooms. The Klimt is now at the end of the hall, while the Monet has moved into the bedroom. (I don't have to tell you that these aren't originals, right?)

I dusted all the ceiling fans and painted over all the marks on the walls. I caulked all the cracks in the bathroom tile and stuffed new grout into all the cracked places in the kitchen.

I went to my favorite gift shop, where they had all floral arrangements at fifty percent off. Got two new arrangements which, with a couple of changes in furniture arrangement, make the house look different--to me, anyway. Went to Dillards and found some doggie cookies at 75 percent off. Gave them to Charley and Babe in honor of Charley's birthday.

Yesterday afternoon Babe and I sat on the front porch and simply enjoyed the quiet. I had to laugh--at one point a breeze blew across the porch, and Babe and I simultaneously lifted our chins so we could feel the wind blowing across our faces. Guess we both had the same idea.

And so we're ready to say goodbye to 2006 and hello to 2007.

My new year's wish for all of us--

May 2007 hold . . .

Enough joy to keep us smiling,

Enough tears to keep us tender,

Enough work to keep us busy,

Enough praise to keep us encouraged,

Enough honesty to keep us humble,

Enough trials to keep us praying,

Enough rest to keep us dreaming,

And enough love to keep us loving others.

~~Angie

Happy Birthday to Charley Gansky!

Happy fourth birthday to Windfall's Glorious Gansky, aka "Charley." What a love he is!

I want to thank all of you for your comments over the last couple of days . . . and the tone with which your comments were offered. :-)

I think it's interesting that Scripture lists stealing, greediness, drunkenness, and cheating right along with sexual sins--they're all wrong in his eyes. Sin is disobedience, period.

BUT--I do think it's important to know (and teach our young people) that sexual sins strike at the very core of a person. I was watching a TV show the other day where a young woman had trouble explaining to her current boyfriend why she wanted to break up. They slept together after every date, but while she was monogamous, he wasn't willing to be. She fumbled for words when he kept saying, "I'm just not at that point yet," and I wanted to yell: "But you've been BEHAVING as if you're at that point."

God designed sex to reflect the intimate sharing of two souls; of two people becoming one flesh. It's a living picture of the relationship between Christ and his church. But the evil one takes what is pure and holy and cheapens it by twisting it, overusing it, making it the object of scorn and a true trivial pursuit . . .

But now I'm way off topic.

Saturday fun (and yes, this is for real): At a recent gathering of animal rights advocates in D.C., the CEO of the Humane Society of the United States (not the same organization as the folks in your city who take in strays) made a proposal. He said the word dog is unworthy of dogs. So they should be called (drum roll, please): Canine-Americans.

LOL! Of course that opens the door for Feline-Americans, Equine-Americans, and perhaps even Amphibian-Americans, but you get my point.

If you've read Unspoken, you know I adore animals. I believe they feel, think, and communicate in their way, and probably will speak in the new heaven and on the new earth. (I think they probably spoke in Eden).

But the hyphenated thing has gone way too far.

Call me a mutt-American,

Angie

Followup to Yesterday

A further word about yesterday's post. Anonymous was disappointed that I would include a "gay" character in my book, but if you define "gay" as someone who practices the lifestyle (I would), then if a person is not practicing, you are left with a person, period. He may be attracted to people of the same gender without committing sexual sin.

(People who are married may find themselves attracted to someone else, but if they don't pursue it, they haven't committed adultery. As someone once said, "I can't stop a thought from flying through my head. I can prevent it from making a nest.")

My Fairlawn character is a young man who loves the Lord and also loves to do hair and makeup. And I've known quite a few men who fit that description, and not all of them would call themselves gay.

I've often puzzled over the following scripture (Matt. 19:8-12):

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended. 9 And I tell you this, whoever divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery—unless his wife has been unfaithful.*”
10 Jesus’ disciples then said to him, “If this is the case, it is better not to marry!”
11 “Not everyone can accept this statement,” Jesus said. “Only those whom God helps. 12 Some are born as eunuchs, some have been made eunuchs by others, and some choose not to marry* for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.”
* Some manuscripts add And anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Compare Matt 5:32.
* Greek and some make themselves eunuchs.
Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible : New Living Translation., "Text edition"--Spine., 2nd ed., Mt 19:8 (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004).

And I have come to agree with the following interpretation:

The Lord Jesus explained that there are three types of eunuchs. Some men are eunuchs because they were born without the power of reproduction. Others are so because they were castrated by men; oriental rulers often subjected the harem attendants to surgery to make them eunuchs. But Jesus especially had in mind those who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. These men could be married, and they have no physical impairment. Yet in dedication to the King and His kingdom, they willingly forego marriage in order to give themselves to the cause of Christ without distraction. As Paul wrote later, “He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord—how he may please the Lord” (1 Cor. 7:32). Their celibacy is not physical but a matter of voluntary abstinence.
Not all men can live such a life; only those divinely empowered: “But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that” (1 Cor. 7:7).
William MacDonald and Arthur Farstad, Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments, Mt 19:12 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997, c1995).

My Fairlawn character would fall into that third group. Here's the scene from my book. Jennifer, the POV character, has just met Ryan, who surprised and startled her in the kitchen of the funeral home she's just inherited. After he leaves, she speaks to Gerald, the mortician, about him:

I wait until I hear the front door slam, then I collapse into a kitchen chair. I’m not sure which has unnerved me more—the stranger in the kitchen, the talk of corpses settling, or Ryan Evans himself.

I press my hand to my forehead. “He scared me to death, Gerald.”

“Apparently the reaction was mutual.”

“And . . . I don’t know how to say this, but he still scares me.”

“Ryan? He’s harmless.”

Has the man no eyes? No gaydar? “Gerald—” I lean forward and peer up at his face—“I don’t want that young man around my sons. There’s enough gender confusion in this world without guys like Ryan adding to the mix.”

Gerald looks at me, his eyes clear and direct, and in that instant I realize he understands exactly what I’m trying to say. “You’re new in town,” he says, his voice cool and inflectionless, “so I don’t suppose you could know Ryan as well as I do.”

“Of course not, but I know an effeminate man when I see one. My boys, Gerald, aren’t going to be seeing much of their father this year and—”

“We haven’t really talked about this,” he interrupts, “but are you a follower of Christ?”

The question steals my breath away. I stare at him in a paroxysm of wonder, shame, and indignation. “I—of course I am.”

He lifts a brow. “That’s good. Then you should know that Ryan is one of your spiritual brothers. He’s a Christian, too.”

“That doesn’t mean—”

“He lives in an apartment in the Biddle house. Because he loves the Lord, Ryan lives as chaste a life as Miss Biddle herself, and that’s saying something.”

“I’m not implying that he—would—could—” Because my words are tumbling over each other, I pause and draw a deep breath. I’m so confused I don’t know what I’m saying or not saying.
I wish I hadn’t said anything at all. I wish Gerald hadn’t felt it necessary to ask about my spiritual life.

I wish I didn’t feel so far away from the Lord.

I prop my elbow on the table, then drop my throbbing head to my hand. “I’m sorry.”

“Apology accepted . . . on Ryan’s behalf.”

Gerald sips his coffee as I scoop up the pieces of the broken mug, toss them into the trash, and attack the coffee spill with the mop.

I’m so glad we won’t have to stay here. How could I expect my boys to form a proper masculine self-image if they shared a house with two women, an old man, a male makeup artist, and the occasional corpse?

*****

Jennifer comes to realize that in judging another, she is actually judging herself . . . and she's found lacking.

~~Angie

Surrendering Our Desires

Last weekend my paper had an article on a new gospel band . . . it's like many other gospel bands, but this one is composed of gay members.

I had to sit and think about this a while. I've wanted to talk about it, but I'm well-aware that this is an explosive topic. If you haven't noticed, there's been a real campaign on television to move homosexuality into mainstream entertainment. ER, one of the few TV shows I watch regularly, had two plot threads dealing with it recently, and both plot threads are ongoing.

So, for what it's worth, here are my thoughts.

I do not hate--or even dislike-- gay people. I've had several gay friends--one of my dear friends and fellow singers died of AIDS, so I have felt that loss. I associate with the gay couples in my neighborhood, have had them in my home and I've been to theirs. I have written a gay character into the first Fairlawn book.

BUT--my character in Fairlawn is a gay man who loves Jesus, and as a result, he lives a celibate life. (I have to credit Lisa Samson, who did this first in her novel, Tiger Lily.)

The problem, I think, lies in how you define "gay:" does "gay" mean someone who is actively living a homosexual lifestyle, or does it mean someone who is attracted to people of the same gender? Sexual temptation is not sin. Sexual surrender is.

When I first found out that my friend Glenn was homosexual, I called him and begged him to come to my city to talk to a Christian counselor. He fit the stereotypical profile: a sensitive young man, difficult relationship with this father, an artistic bent. He assured me that he wasn't living "that lifestyle," but he said he'd felt "this way" his entire life.

Obviously, he lived the lifestyle at some point, because he contracted HIV and AIDS. But his comment made me realize that this is not a problem easily solved. As Jeff Watson says:

"While a heritable gene may predispose a carrier toward physical height, heredity does not require anyone to play for the National Basketball Association. Stated differently, even though a person may be born with a vulnerability toward manic depression or alcoholism, one’s personal outcomes can be modified by choice and by experience. If a boy with a sensitive disposition is marked as “different” by his father and is subsequently rejected by male authority figures, peers, and potential heterosexual partners, he may experiment with the temporary anesthesia of homosexual companions. What starts out as a relatively “free” act can become less so over time because of the biological power of repetition.

"Homosexuality can be changed. The vast majority of young people who adopt homosexuality eventually give it up.10 An overview of secular therapies suggests an approximately 50 percent success rate, with Masters and Johnson reporting 65 percent in a five-year follow-up.11 Successful approaches focus on treating social anxieties rooted in father-to-son gender-identity injuries12 and on encouraging Christian forms of abstinence, self-discipline, and mutual accountability.13"

Angie here again: The current "politically correct" stance holds that anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, has the right to pursue sexual pleasure and gratification without limitation.

But Christians are commanded to follow the Scripture. We call Jesus "Lord," and by granting him that title, we are acknowledging a surrender of our rights. And what does Scripture say about sexuality to every follower of Christ ? Let's look at 1 Cor. 6:9-13:

9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies.

Blunt talk ahead: I am married, so I am not free to have sex with anyone other than my husband. If I were single, I would not be free to have sex with anyone else. If I were widowed, I would still be commanded to control my sexual impulses in a way that honored Christ. I am a slave to Christ, not to my own appetites.

Battling sexual temptation--of any sort--is not sin, but surrendering to that temptation is. If we habitually surrender to sin, Christ is not Lord of our life. If we really love Jesus, we don't want to hurt him, we want to obey him . . . because we love him more than we love our rights.

So--about that gay gospel band. If it is composed of people who battle a common sexual temptation, okay, and why not have a band for gluttons (I'd join that one) or chorus for coveters? Surely we all have enough besetting sins that we could form clubs of all kinds.

I wonder if it's good to focus on our besetting sins--we are to focus on victory in Christ. We who follow Jesus have been cleansed and made holy. We may stumble into sin, but we do not make a habit of practicing it . . . because we love the Lord and want to please him.

No matter what our temptations and weaknesses--and we all have them--we can find victory in Christ if we are willing to surrender and trust him. But we have to come to that place of surrender.

~~Angie

10 E. O. Laumann et al., The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 295.
11 M. F. Schwartz and W. H. Masters, “The Masters and Johnson Treatment Program for Dissatisfied Homosexual Men,” American Journal of Psychiatry 141 (February 1984): 173–81.
12 Joseph Nicolosi, Reparative Therapy of Male Homosexuality: A New Clinical Approach (New York: Jason Aronson, 1991).
13 E. M. Pattison and M. L. Pattison, “Ex-Gays: Religiously Mediated Change in Homosexuals,” American Journal of Psychiatry 137 (1980): 1553–62.

Jeffrey A. Watson and Charles R. Swindoll, Biblical Counseling for Today : A Handbook for Those Who Counsel from Scripture, Swindoll leadership library, 189 (Nashville, Tenn.: Word Pub., 2000).

Tyndale House Publishers, Holy Bible : New Living Translation., "Text edition"--Spine., 2nd ed., 1 Co 6:9 (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2004).