A SWEET JESUS DAY

I always tell my kids on the way to school or wherever, "Have a sweet Jesus day," and then at the end of the day I ask them, "Did you have a sweet Jesus day?"  In the morning, "Did you have a sweet Jesus sleep?"
Do you know, they have never, ever answered No.  It's always Yes.  Never No.
I've come to the conclusion it is just impossible to have a bad Jesus day.  I mean, when you've been blessed and prayed over and loved into the Kingdom, how can the day be "bad?"  Well, that's not to say we have no trials or troubles, but a sweet Jesus day takes the sting out of trouble, takes the ouch out of sorrow or pain.
I've just finished writing a book about the most extreme suffering I've ever heard of in an American family, and yet I can see the sweet Jesus day occuring in their lives through it all.  (I'll tell you more about this book in later blogs)  I'm also preparing "The Emancipation of Robert Sadler" for re-publication, and working on that book with its horrors of slavery is utterly wipe-outsville, and my tears are rusting out my keyboard-- yet again, through it all, there's a Sweet Jesus Day.  Victory, joy and the power of overcoming and prevailing in Christ Jesus.
So have a sweet Jesus day, dear one-- and when you sleep tonight have a sweet Jesus sleep.
You're very much loved.
Love, Marie

DO YOU LOVE TO READ?

I read a survey taken recently to see which cities in the USA were the most well-read.  Guess what the two top cities were.  -- New York City and Minneapolis, Minnesota.  This just confirms my personal theory that when the weather is bad we tend to become more cerebral.  Blizzards and snow storms inspire us to read, to study, to learn something.  At least that's my thought. (I wonder if the bookstores and libraries are packed with readers now that these winter storms are hurtling about the nation.)  Me, a transplanted Minnesotan/New Yorker, to live in Southern California where it doesn't snow, I find it amazing at the huge number of readers I encounter.  With the beach calling and the surf boards glistening, there are still vast numbers of readers curled up in well-lighted corners with a book.  Granted, we're surrounded by colleges and universities and book clubs on every corner, but isn't it something that  in a part of the country known mainly for its year-round tans and Mexican food that people are reading?

I like to read after dinner and before bed.  The only problem with that is if I'm really engaged in a book, I'll read into the wee hours and my schedule will become skewed.  The other night I was re-reading THE EMANCIPATION OF ROBERT SADLER, and when I looked up, it was 5:30 in the morning!  (And it's not just because I wrote the book either!  Ha)  BTW, The book is coming out again next January, and I couldn't be happier. This story has to be heard again.

 As a writer, I read all the time, of course.  I read for the sheer love of words.  One book that kept me up late is THROUGH IT ALL HE WAS THERE by Sharon Libby, who writes about her life in a wheelchair as a post-polio victim.  She's a friend and a beautiful person, and I highly recommend her book.  You can order it directly from Sharon at http://www.sharonlibby.com/ 

I hope we meet in a book!  I love hearing from you.
Love, Marie