Author Michelle Stimpson & the Strength of Surrender

My guest today is author and speaker Michelle Stimpson. She shares about "The Strength to Surrender." Here's Michelle:

"I’m the oldest child and the oldest grandchild of a strong woman who was the oldest among her siblings. Given my genealogy, I was quite prone to making quick decisions and taking action. I called it “taking charge.” My husband called it “taking over.”

Generally, once I’d made up my mind about something that seemed pretty obvious to me, I’d jump in with both feet and get to swimmin’. I’d talk to God about my progression in a “Look, God, no hands!” kind of way. Needless to say, when I’d come to the end of myself and made a complete mess of things, I would go crying to God and He would rescue me for His namesake.

The main character in Last Temptation, Patricia “Peaches” Miller, happens to be on one of those self-appointed super-woman missions. (Wonder where I got that idea from?) Driven by guilt piled on top of guilt and regret, she quickly finds her life spiraling downhill in a series of compounding bad decisions.

God is certainly a present help in the time of trouble (Psalm 46:1). No matter what the circumstances, He has promised us that if we return to Him, He will return to us (James 4:8). I’ve found Him to be not only faithful to rescue us, but gracious about the rescue as well.

Perhaps even better, the Spirit of God can lead us and guide us around unnecessary drama, pain, and flat out foolishness if we’d simply consult Him before we go off on these wild goose chases. Can I get an amen?

Like Peaches, I’ve come to experience God’s strength in practical daily issues. A few weeks ago, I was peacefully writing in a corner of Panera restaurant when a man came into “my” area cursing and talking loudly on his cell phone. My first thought was to ask the man to lower his voice. But his conversation was so offensive, I wasn’t quite sure this guy was reasonable. My second thought was to move, but I already had my stuff strewn across the table. Now that I was out of Michelle-based options, I said a quick prayer and asked God to “do something.” Within just a few minutes, the man’s cell phone lost its signal. And within twenty minutes, he left without even unpacking his laptop.

No extra drama, no need for repentance, no ungodly display of Ruth’s oldest granddaughter. That’s the power of the Holy Spirit activated!

The truth is: no matter how smart or capable we think we are, the most perfect thing we’ll ever be able to do is surrender to God. It takes a strong, yet simple faith to realize that the sooner we come to the end of ourselves (assuming we have any power whatsoever), the more we’ll know His strength in every area of our lives. "--Michelle

Her latest book:

Will a dream come true push one woman to her limits?

Sensible single mother Patricia "Peaches" Miller isn't about to follow in her mama's footsteps and become dependent on a man--no, that would be too easy. But when she doesn't see eye to eye with the man she wants to marry, she knows that returning to a life of girls' nights out, retail therapy, and chocolate peanut clusters just won't do for her. Then Raphael, her son's father, steps back into the picture--and makes it clear that his attraction to Peaches is stronger than ever. There's just one problem. Raphael has already pledged his heart to another woman.

Peaches has been praying for a perfect family for a long time. Deep down she knows this can't be God's idea of an answer--but can you blame a girl for hoping? Now, as she battles with temptation, and with her faith, she's not sure which will win. . .

"Michelle Stimpson does a wonderful job of creating characters that are believable and loveable. The Divas of Damascus Road will make you laugh, cry and laugh some more." --Good Girl Book Club

Michelle Stimpson Bio

www.MichelleStimpson.com

Bestselling author Michelle Stimpson has penned several works, including Boaz Brown, Divas of Damascus Road, Breaking Bondage to Biscuits, The Good Stuff, Trouble In My Way, and her latest release, Last Temptation. She also publishes short stories through her educational publishing company. Michelle is a part-time language arts consultant and serves in the Creative Tyme Ministry at her home church, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. Michelle lives near Dallas with her husband, their two teenage children, and one crazy dog.

Thanks, Michelle, for sharing. I think you and I have a lot in common. I've had to learn to let matters go and depend on God. When I don't--bad.--Lyn

For more info:

Links:

Website - www.MichelleStimpson.com

Blog - www.Womengic.blogspot.com

Author Terri Reed & The Difference between Strong & Foolhardy

My guest today is Love Inspired Author Terri Reed and a story about a friend who found out that sometimes it's good to seek help.

There are many strong women in my life; it's hard to pick just one to talk about. I firmly believe that God has called me into friendships with the women in my life because each brings a unique perspective that has helped me to become the woman I am. For most of my life I've felt alone. I didn't form close friendships with very many kids while in school. And during my adolescent years, though I had friends I didn't have a best friend. It wasn't until college that I formed a bond with a woman, who to this day, some twenty-odd years later, I consider to be my dearest friend. Anne and I grew close when we worked at the same department store and then took some college classes together. We were there for each through our weddings and our children's births. Whenever we get together it feels like no time has passed since the last time, even though we live thousands of miles apart now.

Several years ago my friend caught a cold that turned into pneumonia. Being a strong woman, wife and mother, she thought she could beat the sickness on her own, she could tough it out. She didn't go to the doctor right away. By the time she did, her body started to shut down. She fell into a coma and for five months the doctors didn't think she'd make it. But Anne's spirit was strong. With the aid of experimental drugs, she slowly began to recover. When she finally awoke from her coma, she could barely speak, couldn't walk or really move. But she was alive. And for the next couple of years, she worked hard to recover not only physically but emotionally as well. Her marriage faltered but she wouldn't give up. Through her ordeal I prayed continually for her and her family. As I have witnessed her will to live, and live fully, I am reminded what a precious gift life is.

This past April I caught a cold that started with a sore throat, then a cough. I most likely would have let it run its course if not for the lesson that Anne's illness taught me. By day five, I decided I'd see a doctor, even though I was convinced he'd tell me it was a cold virus and to rest. I was sure I was wasting his time and my money. However, the doctor was pleased I had come in, because I had pneumonia. Thankfully, we caught it in the early stages. The illness still knocked me flat for another fourteen days.

Thank God for the lessons we learn along the way in this crazy thing called life. I hope you too will head this lesson. Go to the doctor if you feel sick. Don't try to tough it out. Sometimes we need to be weak in order to be strong. Asking for help, relying on others isn't a sign of weakness, but of wisdom.

This was one of the lessons my heroine in Covert Pursuit needed to learn. She was a tough cop who wanted to prove herself and uncover the truth, but she couldn't do it alone. Seeking help grated but in the end she discovered not only the truth but love, a most precious gift, indeed.

to learn more about Author Terri Reed, drop by

http://ladiesofsuspense.blogspot.com/

www.loveinspiredauthors.com

http://craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/

Thanks, Terri-Lyn

Author Anna Schmidt & Women for Women

My guest today is a longtime friend, Anna Schmidt who writes for Love Inspired, both contemporary and historical. Today she has something great to tell us about! Here's Anna:

Hi all! I'm delighted to be guesting on Lyn's blog. Two things come to mind as we approach the holidays: Number 1- For several years I've supported women struggling to survive through an organization called Women for Women International (www.womenforwomen.org). My current sisters include a woman in Kosovo and another in Iraq. Through my sponsorship they receive education and training in skills ranging from making a living to raising a family. In return I receive these fabulous letters telling me of the progress they have made and introducing me to their families. Let me know if you want more info!

Like Miss Nola (the heroine of AN UNEXPECTED SUITOR) these women have often taken on sole responsibility for making sure their family members are cared for and like Miss Nola they sometimes have to learn that caring for themselves may be the first step to achieving that goal! Number 2 is a far less noble holiday note -- I hope you'll stop by my website and check out my 'cranberry recipe/memory contest!!! Off to make a deadline that's looming. Will check back later! Anna

The Last Day of MEGA May

This has been a month of heartwarming stories. I'm so happy that six readers shared the stories of their mothers. I'm happy that 46 readers posted at least one comment and a few of you several. Commenting really gives that two-way street that blogging is meant to be.

Very soon I'm going to put the names of the readers who posted comments and shared stories into a hat and draw out the name of the winner of the MEGA May gift basket.

I'll be announcing the winner sometime this week. When I started this blog, I did it to have a way to converse with readers and to start a source of stories that inspire women.

No matter what career we choose as women, we always have family to care for and love. (We won't talk about children in the teen years. GRIN) And I think it is heartening to hear the stories of other women who show strength and bravery in this life that can be so hard at times. From what readers and authors have posted, many of us are in the sandwich generation where we have adult children and parents who need us. We carry a heavy load of love.

I hope you'll invite friends to join us here at StrongWomenBraveStories.blogspot.com so they can be inspired to stand strong for themselves and their families.

Every woman has a story. Share yours!--Lyn

Author Roxanne Rustand Praises Her Mom

Roxanne Rustand is back today to tell us about her mom whom I also love. After all, she loves my books! Here's Roxanne:

"Strong women, brave stories. What a wonderful theme Lyn has, to carry through all of her novels! I love her books for that very reason--along with the wonderful writing, of course. I think so often of my own mother and grandmother, when I see Lyn's brand. My mom grew up during hard times, as everyone of that generation did. When the depression hit, her family lost the very rural Kansas farm they'd been living on--which had never prospered at any rate-- and they ended up living in a dirt-floored basement. Not a house--because nothing but the basement of this place could be completed, after times got hard.

Mom talks of how my grandmother tried to keep it clean, but how do you keep a home and four small children clean with a dirt floor? During those years, a toddler sister drowned and the beautiful, eldest sister was killed in a car/train accident on Christmas Eve. Life must have been unbearably difficult on many levels, yet my grandmother soldiered on, baking bread every day for the neighbors, bartering it so that her children could have a ride to grade school and have an education. To attend high school, my mother had to move to a distant town and work as a live-in maid.

After that, this girl who grew up dirt-poor gathered the courage to move even farther away, to attend nursing school in Winfield, Kansas, where she became an R.N. Despite her early poverty and hardships, at the age of 93 my mother is still one of the most gracious ladies you could meet. She is still fiercely independent, still maintains her own, beautiful home, and refuses to have regular help despite some physical infirmities that make some days very painful for her. Though it's more of a challenge for her now, she is still a delightful hostess who loves company and must have everything "just so," and she still has a wonderfully sharp sense of humor.

She also still has her strong Swedish stubborn streak--inherited from her indomitable mother--though when she digs in her heels, it's always with a firm smile. Maybe that's part of the secret to overcoming troubles in life--the tenacity, stubbornness, determination and faith in God to take what comes and to rise above it--along with a dash of humor!

Reader Amber Pays Tribute to her mother

Another reader shares how her mother drove her nuts for her own good. (That's one of the things we moms hate to do but it's out job!) Here's Amber:


"I wanted to tell you a little bit about my mom, the strong woman I have come
to respect more and more as the years go by. My mom and I always "butted"
heads while I was growing up. She was out-going, and I was a book worm who
liked to keep to myself. Over the years, she pushed me past my comfort zone
to become independent and self-reliant. I fought her all the way because I
just didn't want to have to take responsibility for things that may have
been easier for my mom or dad to take care of. Still, she kept up the
persistence, even when I made it difficult for her with my teenager
attitude.

Now, at 24, I see the sacrifices that my mom made to help me become a
strong, faithful, convicted and respectful woman. I am proud to tell people
I am her daughter. I was never a rebellious child when it came to drugs or
hanging out with the wrong crowds, but I would hurt her with words and
actions of indifference toward her. I know now that my mom and dad could
not have gotten through the difficult growing-up years without their faith
in God and each other.

My husband and I were married last October, and I can only hope that
we are able to raise our children with the same consistency and moral
values that my parents instilled in me and my brother. Now, my mom is the
person I go to when I need that wonderful, motherly advice and she has
never given up on me or made me feel unworthy. She is the strongest woman
that I know.

Thank you, Mom--Amber"

Thank you, Amber, for sharing your story and your mom.

2nd Book Monday-The Desires of Her Heart

Another Book Monday. Usually I will be featuring books by other authors but this year I will let you know four times when one of my new offerings has been released.

First in Lyn Cote's Newest Historical Saga

The Desires of Her Heart. Avon Inspire. (Texas: Star of Destiny, Bk. 1). Feb. 2009. c.320p. ISBN 978-0-06-137341-1. pap. $12.95.

"After gambling away his family's estate, Kilbride decides to pack up and move the family to the new Texas territory, where land is free for the taking. But 25-year-old Dorritt knows her stepfather doesn't have the sense or character to lead them there; instead, she relies on their wagon train's rugged scout to guide them. Dorritt trusts Quinn until she discovers his prior business dealings with Kilbride. Dorritt, who wants to be free of her stepfather so she can live her own dreams, discovers, though, that her dreams may include a man after all. In her new series launch, the RITA Award–winning author (Blessed Assurance, "Women of Ivy Manor" series) demonstrates her skill at creating strong female protagonists in compelling stories that will captivate historical romance readers." Library Journal

I was especially pleased to read the phrase, "...her skill at creating strong female protagonists in compelling stories...." That is what I try to do in all the stories I write.

Please drop by my website: www.LynCote.net to find out more and see the lovely cover art the book received. And as always, my books can be purchased from my website. If you can't afford to buy it yourself, please ask your local librarian or church librarian to get it for you.

12 Days of Christmas!

Today, I'm going to suggest that you drop by http://www.craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com and read my post on the 10th day of Christmas--a completely new version.

My topic is Ten Hunks a Strutting!

And of course only a strong man can appreciate a strong woman!

Drop by the other site and read the fun posts. And you could win $50!

Merry Christmas!
Lyn

Sandra Byrd's story, Finding Strength in God

It's Tuesday and today, Sandra Byrd one of my fave authors shares about her story and her latest novel, Bon Appetit.

I’d never thought of myself as a particularly strong girl – I couldn’t pass the presidential fitness award due to my poor showing on the flexed arm-hang – but as I grew into a young woman, and then a woman, my idea of what a strong woman was grew, too. I began to see evidence of strength in my friends, and even in myself, though the form it took in each of us was often very different. In my life, strength began to manifest itself as a willingness to take risk.

Being willing to take a risk, take a chance, means that you’re willing to be and look imperfect, to fall on your face in the pursuit of chasing something new, of understanding that you will never keep a perfect 4.0 in life. Why not? Because you’re constantly trying something you haven’t mastered - but would like to. When I went to college I went on a writing scholarship, but when I got there I panicked. Who gets published, hardly anyone! I thought. And I’ll have a student loan to pay back nevermind bills to pay. I promptly changed my major to something safe and lucrative – business real estate.

I liked real estate. I still do. But I didn’t love it, and hadn’t changed because I wanted to; I changed because I was unwilling to risk failure in writing, and because of good old fashioned fear. But God got me around to where I needed to be anyway. I went to work for a real estate publisher. And then became an editor. One day I’d told God that I really still wanted to write…but the odds! He whispered to me, do you lean on odds or God? I jumped into the water and found that it was fine.

My latest series, French Twist, is for lovers of romance, of food, of life, of France. The books, Let Them Eat Cake, and Bon Appétit are for women who want to take a risk, at any time in their lives, to follow their passion and do what they love. It’s for, and about, a woman who is willing to politely set aside the expectations that others have for her life and figure out how God has created her. I still can’t do the flexed arm hang. But I’m living a very satisfying life.

Please visit me at www.sandrabyrd.com to learn m ore about the books, and to email me about how risk taking (or lack thereof!) has affected your life, too.

--
Sandra

Second half of Coffee Cake Recipe & My Mom

Second half of Coffee Cake Recipe & My Mom

Hey! This is the day I launch my first story of a strong woman and half a recipe.

Now for the recipe first. I posted the ingredients on a brand new blog today, called Craftie Ladies of Romance by Love Inspired Authors. So if you want the ingredients, go to http://www.craftieladiesofromance.blogspot.com/

And here's the how to:

Spray bundt pan with non-stick oil. Open tubes of biscuits, pat each biscuit larger, then put about a teaspoon of cream cheese on each, fold over and seal with fingertips. Dip in butter and then in nuts. Arrange in a row around the bottom of the bundt pan and sprinkle each layer with cinnamon sugar. This recipe should make around 3 layers in the pan. Then bake at 400 F. for 20 minutes. Take out and upend on holiday dish.
Optional glaze: Take 1/2 cup of orange juice and mix with 1-2 cups of powdered sugar. Should be pourable. Pour over cake.
Done!

Now this recipe can be tailored to your family's tastes. I used honey-nut cream cheese this time and I had some apple and cinnamon and sugar juice I had poured off a few pies that were overflowing their pie shells (oops I didn't say that, did I?--My pies never run over!)
so I used it with the powdered sugar. You could also substitute lemon juice or a buttery mix of cinnamon, sugar and water warmed and stirred till sugar is dissolved. Be creative! What would make this a favorite with your family? And if you have younger children or grandchildren, this is a perfect recipe for them to help with.

Now to finish this post.

I have known many strong women in my life. However, I think it only right that my first post of a strong woman be my mother. She passed away over a year ago. Unfortunately, her last years were clouded with dementia and its paranoia. I'm sure many of you have had similar experiences. After her funeral, I began remembering all the remarkable things about her. And especially what a fun mom she was when my brother and I were kids. I grew up in Waukegan, IL, which is on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee. Waukegan had the most wonderful beaches! These were the days before pollution took its toll on water quality. Waukegan's North Beach had beautiful white sand, a WPA built bathouse, a lovely shady picnic area and miles and miles of shoreline.

The highlight of summer were the days when the usual westerly wind would shift to an east wind. An east wind drove the warmer waters back to the shore in HUGE waves that gave us hours of fun. My mother was running the family business (May's Floors), kept a spotless house, cooked fantastic meals and still took time for afternoons at the beach. And she didn't even like to wade! So it was just me and Bobby. Whenever I hear the call of a seagull, it takes me back to those wonderful times, dancing in the waves, shouting and laughing and splashing and making friends with every other child lucky enough to be at the beach. Did you have a fun mom too? What is your best childhood memory that your mom made possible?

The first post of the new blog

I love stories. I love to read them as well as write them.

I have waited to set up my own blog until I decided what I wanted to write about and read about.

I decided to write blog posts about what I love most Stories of Strong Women. My brand is Strong Women, Brave Stories because even though I write different types of novels, all of them have this in common.

I plan on blogging twice a week and Tuesdays and Thursdays. I will be inviting other authors of the different types of inspirational fiction to tell us about their own stories of strength, endurance and victory. And also about their strong heroines in their stories.

And I also ask that you share your own stories (without violating anyone's privacy. Please change names and places to hide identities. After all, everyone who surfs the Net are not nice people-you understand? )

But I would love you to share your own and your family's stories of strong women.

I just finished a manuscript and am doing my sorting and getting rid of clutter before the holiday season is upon us.

And I'll be starting another manuscript as soon as my house is "bustled" into shape.

So I will be starting regular postings the week before Thanksgiving--I hope.

Until then, I wish you a happy fall season.
Lyn