A NeeNee Factoid

My nieces, 7 and 5, call me NeeNee and I love it. Anyway, I thought I’d share with my adoring readers (okay, so I write fiction) some tidbits of my incredibly exciting life. And I’ll call them NeeNee Factoids

Hopefully, you’ll laugh at them. Maybe you’ll cry. Or maybe you’ll yawn in total disinterest. Nevertheless, I’ll share them with you.

Here is the first:

I sleep in glasses. I call them my sleeping glasses(as opposed to reading glasses).

Why do I wear glasses to bed, you ask?

I want to be able to see my dreams clearly. After all, I’ve had some great book ideas come from dreams.

My unfinished project, Unplanned Mission, came from a dream about a man running with a small boy at his side. As they look back, a plane swoops down at the two, obviously in pursuit of them. I didn’t have a clue what was going on in that scene, but it gave me the beginning, at least, of a book I want to one day finish.

So, do you feel you know me a little better after reading this factoid?

Fireproof

If you’re having problems in your marriage…

If you’ve grown apart…

If you hate your spouse…

If the spark of romance has long since been extinguished…

Then see the movie, Fireproof, starring Kirk Cameron.

I saw it this weekend and loved it. Go see it soon before it is out of the theaters.

The Copper Scroll by Joel Rosenberg

If you like watching…

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

National Treasure

A Season of 24

…then you’ll enjoy reading The Copper Scroll by Joel Rosenberg.

Also read his non-fiction book, Epicenter.

The Economy

Have you been distressed about the economy, the stock market, auction rate certificates, banks going belly up, etc?

For the last couple of weeks there has been a song floating through my head. I wish I could link the song to my blog and I wish I could reference the writer:

My riches may not get me far.

I could lose them in a day,

but I’ve got something in my heart that can’t be taken away.

This love that Jesus gave to me is far more precious than gold.

Greater than all the wealth this world can hold.

What does the Word say about riches?

Proverbs 23:5
Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Ephesians 2:6-8 (New International Version)

New International Version (NIV)

6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Rhapsody in Red by Donn Taylor

 

I hate repeating myself, but I must in this case. I’ve said before that I love quirky characters and they usually happen to be detectives of some sort.

Well, here is another quirky sleuth I must recommend:

A widower professor with musical halluciantions becomes a sleuth to solve a fellow instructor’s murder.

 Unfortunately for Preston Barclay, he is one of the suspects and he must solve the crime to prove his own innocence.

Musical hallucinations. Sometimes they fit the situation like the musical scores to movies, but sometimes they didn’t which made for many funny moments. The book is full of humorous quips.

Okay, so I think this author is brilliant.  Go buy the book, Rhapsody in Red, by Donn Taylor to see how the author was able to pull off the musical hallicinations by using words.

Here is an excerpt(as he remembers the night his wife died while listening to Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto no. 2):

I know no movement more filled with passionate longing, and Faith’s smile came again as the music’s emotion deepened. At long last the violins returned with the fullest, most intense development of the theme. And at that moment of singing violins Faith’s spirit slipped away from her body, which yet lay with a smile on its face, its lifeless hand in mine.

I think it was also that  moment when the music passed from Faith’s soul into mine, where it still resides.

Toby Mac – At the North Carolina State Fair Oct 18th!

I can’t wait to see Toby at the NC State Fair. Here’s a video.

By the way, this song was featured in the movie, Game Plan, starring The Rock. That is a wonderful movie.

Click HERE for more videos by Toby Mac.

Courageous in Seastorm

I’ve been surprised many times by the relevancy of scripture to whatever is happening in my life.

For example, in the mail one day I received a copy of the book of Psalm in the Message version(or is it translation–I don’t know the difference). I took it to work with me the next day which happened to be my birthday. I read it while my computer booted up. I got to chapter 2. This is what it said:

7-9 Let me tell you what God said next.
He said, “You’re my son,
And today is your birthday.
What do you want? Name it:
Nations as a present? continents as a prize?
You can command them all to dance for you,
Or throw them out with tomorrow’s trash.”

I thought, Wow, God sent me a birthday card. How amazing.

Today, I’m watching the weather reports because there is a hurricane heading my way. In fact, there may be two hurricanes heading my way.

I remember Hurricane Fran which caused quite a bit of damage in my area in 1996. My power was off for 3 days. Others weren’t so lucky. They were without power for more than a week.

This is what I read today as I waited for my computer to boot up:

Psalm 46 (The Message)

The Message (MSG)

A Song of the Sons of Korah

1-3 God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him.
We stand fearless at the cliff-edge of doom,
courageous in seastorm and earthquake,
Before the rush and roar of oceans,
the tremors that shift mountains.    Jacob-wrestling God fights for us,
God-of-Angel-Armies protects us.

Thank you, my Lord, my God, my Savior, Jesus, for your protection.

This is the satellite image of Fran from Sept. 5, 1996. It is hard to believe it was 12 years ago. Hanna, which is a tropical storm at this writing doesn’t appear to be as menacing.  I would have slept through Fran had a tree not fallen on the house. I heard the thump, woke up and thought my son who was 2 at the time must have fallen out of bed.