| Lessons from Bestselling Authors | ||||||||
Janet's Journal
A FREE GIFT . . .
FOR ‘GOING CRAZY' MOMS
Are you a mom . . . Or do you know a mom . . .
with kids who can drive you crazy?
Send your name and snail mail address to Janet Bly, janet@blybooks.com, or P.O. Box 157, Winchester, Idaho, 83555.I'll send you ONE copy of an adaptation of my booklet, If My Kids Drive Me Crazy, Am I A Bad Mom? (by NavPress), with permission to make AS MANY COPIES AS YOU WISH.
It's a 20-page (10 pages if printed back-to-back) 6-lesson hard copy, plain paper 8 1/2 “ x 11” study guide for individuals, two-somes or a group of moms. . . with stories, questions, projects and scripture applications. Topics include: What No One Told You About Kids, Creative Choices For Harried Moms, Being There and Finding Yourself, Getting To Know The Strangers At Your House, How To Know If You're A Good Mom
No job on earth takes more mental, physical, emotional, social and spiritual strength than being a good wife and mother. If a woman is looking for the easy life she might try teaching tennis, cutting diamonds, or joining a roller derby team. There is nothing easy about good mothering. It can be back breaking, heart wrenching and anxiety producing. And that's just the morning.
from How to be a Good Mom, by Stephen & Janet Bly, copyright@1988****************
LOST AND FOUND
Teri was finally getting her life together. She had endured years of a long series of deadends, painful losses, and tragedy. But that was in the past. Now she felt she had it all: a loving husband, three wonderful children, and no major crises.
She didn't know her husband was planning a surprise. He had found a way to search for the two other children she had lost long ago. “I was 21,” Teri explains, “an orphaned divorcee with only a basic education. My first husband had an intact extended family, education, and financial resources. He got custody of our kids.” Eventually, because of circumstances beyond her control, Teri no longer knew where they were.
Her husband's news delighted her. She would truly be complete now. All she lacked was the full circle of her family—renewing the companionship of the children she had to give up, letting them know how much she loved them.
Then came the fateful day. “I had in my hands a computer printout that told me all about my firstborn son. He was 5'10” tall, He weighed 160 pounds. His eyes were still hazel, his hair had darkened to brown. He started driving on his 16th birthday, the year before. I also had the phone number that would connect me to his voice and the address where I could see and hug him and his sister again.”
Then Teri saw a word that chilled her. “Deceased!” Why was that on the page? Deceased? That couldn't be true. How could my son be dead?
A police report was included: suicide. In that moment, Teri's mind and emotions shut down. “My heart was completely dark. I felt God was out to get me, punishing me for my many wrong choices. It was like a cruel joke. My poor husband tried to do what he could, but basically I no longer existed. What he meant for a joy turned into trauma of the first degree. It was up to him to take care of our family. I had checked out. All I knew was my firstborn son was dead and later my firstborn daughter refused to meet with me. Who could blame her? I was sure I was the cause of her brother's death. Me and God.”
Teri had struggled with depression before and learned how to pull herself out. But not this time. She didn't want to. She was afraid of what might happen next. If she stayed in those dark depths, she wouldn't have to face the agony of guilt and despair. At least she knew what to expect in her cave: nothing. Nothing but pain and hopelessness.
Hope didn't just happen for Teri. Time by itself healed nothing for her. She needed time plus love.
Teri's load was lightened when someone sat beside her and listened. God worked through her family and a special friend to soften and redirect her exploding anger, the gripping regrets, the gaping wounds of sorrow. To hope again, Teri needed . . . (to meet) Myrn, “an honest-to-goodness earthbound guardian angel.”
Slowly Myrn and Teri shared bits and pieces of their lives. They discovered each had suffered great pain and heartache. But there was a big difference. Myrn was grateful for her life, while Teri was bitter and angry.
Teri determined to find out why.
(read more about Teri's story and many others in Hope Lives Here, copyright 2000, Janet Chester Bly, Discovery House Publishers)
*****************
“Janet, you are a gift! I love Hope Lives Here. Just love it. With my daughter's illness, hope has been a treasure I seek daily. God knew I needed to ‘bathe' in hope. So you kindly sent your book! Thank you! And thank God!” Mary Beth Carlson, concert pianist and recording artist of Peacegiver, MBC Productions, MN, www.marybethcarlson.com
“I'm telling you, folks, Janet's thoughts and insights are just what I've needed during this difficult time. If you're wondering at all about the future, or things seem to be getting you down, by a copy of Hope Lives here. This lady knows how to speak to the heart.” Lisa Samson, author of The Church Ladies, Songbird, www.lisasamson.com
“What a gift God has given to me through your book. It came at just the right time to be here during a ‘hopeless' time in my life. Thank you for writing it. It has been a balm for my wounded, broken heart. I thank God for your ministry.” Robin Lee Hatcher, author, The Forgiving Hour
“In her book, Hope Lives Here, Janet Chester Bly writes, ‘God uses people to kindle hope.' After reading her book, I can truly say that God uses Bly to kindle hope. Bly fills her book with story after story of people in seemingly hopeless situations. If you're like me, you will need a tissue box handy. Hope Lives Here would be an excellent read for anyone who has ever been tempted to lose hope.” songwriter, Jason Mitchener, www.jasonmitchener.com
What kills hope?
Fear or rage will.
Guilt and doubt try to.
Sin does.
Death can.
To be without hope
is to believe you'll never be happy again.
God uses people to re-kindle hope in another.
Be a bearer of hope for someone today.
from Hope Lives Here, by Janet Chester Bly, copyright@2000******************
“In Hope Lives Here, Janet Chester Bly reinforces the truth that hope is just a Person away. Bly knows how to weave a story, and keep the reader's interest. She has a way of phrasing things that is really a delight to read . . . and she delivers what she promises.” Lisa Crayton, author of A Student's Guide to Toni Morrison
“Hope Lives Here was such a blessing to me that I don't dare lend it, so I am purchasing copies for people I know it will touch. In May I lost my job. It was the job I prayed for, one that I was excited to go to. That same weekend my fiance told me that he didn't think he loved me and did not want to marry me. My pastor reminded me that when God closes a door he always opens a window. I thought, ‘to jump!' After reading only the first chapter I was reminded of the fact that God is good all the time! (I have that book of yours too!).” Kelly V., NY
CHILDREN WHO DREAM
Wonder
lies cold
hard and yellowed
like corn kernels tossed
on a black cast-iron worldThe sun briefly burned off the foggy haze and pushed through the clouds. The snows drained into splashing puddles and trickling creeks. Not a day for sensible people to be sloshing outside, muddying their shoes.
And on my to-do list: six shirts and three blouses to iron, a half dozen get-well cards to send, lots of e-mails to answer, a new crop of cobwebs to dust, and delightful menus to force from a half-empty cupboard. But Miranda wanted to hike to the bridge.
So we set out for the state park just down the road, stopping to read signs, guessing who or what had made the prints in the drifts, and picking up treasures and litter, egg-shaped stones and pop cans. When we reached the bridge, I stood for a moment with the 4-year-old, then turned to go back home.
“But, Grandma,” a small voice said, “look at all the trails on the other side. I've never been on any of those.”
Miranda was the leader as she plowed down narrow, winding paths, over boulders, and around fallen timbers. Then, she suddenly stopped. “Look, an F -stick!”
She picked up a small limb with two horizontal bends. A few steps later whe reached for another stick, insisting it was an I. “Grandma,” she exclaimed, “this forest has letters in it. Let's find all the words and make a story!”
Most children have it: the ability to see the wonder, the stories in the forest . . . But many lose their sense of wander along the way.
Miranda and I tried to find some of the stories in the forest that day. We sat very still and listened to the quiet end-of-winter sounds. We could hear birds sing, squirrels running and chattering, a truck's brakes on a far-away road. And Miranda thought she could detect snoring from the sleeping trees that had fallen on the forest floor.
Perhaps some night we'll come here with a tent and listen to the night noises and sniff campfire aromas. We may even hug the trees and feel the rough bark and sticky sap. Someday I hope we'll go deeper: try to learn the stories beneath the surface, about why the mighty ponderosas grow here and their age; smell and name each plant, flower and wild rose. We'll discover factoids about the loggers who once milled here, the Native Americans who hunted here, the floods and storms and historic gatherings and famous persons who visited. And, I suspect, we'll still only scratch the surface.
Wonder can grow on any spot on earth, especially when a child's in it.
(from AWAKENING YOUR SENSE OF WONDER , copyright @1997, Janet Chester Bly, Discovery House Publishers)
“ I needed your book Awakening Your Sense of Wonder. In many ways it was very painful to read. I left my daughter when she was 3 years old. She turned 6 on May 10 th . You began Chapter 5 with Hilary's recipe for Canteloupe Pie. She was 4 ½. I never knew my daughter at 4 ½ and it grieves me. If only I had known God before this. But I have Him now and I will bring my daughter to Him, when I am released. Thank you again for your book. It has given me hope.” Darcy, #699126
“I am amazed at the wisdom recorded in Awakening Your Sense of Wonder. This book should be in every library and school in the USA.” Ralph S. Moore, hybridizer of Moore Miniature Roses, Visalia, CA
Wonder is something we see or perceive that causes our spirits to soar and our minds to marvel at a world beyond our own.
from AWAKENING YOUR SENSE OF WONDER, by Janet Chester Bly, copyright@1997*****************
The sense of wonder is looking at life backward. What we seem to lose is really gain. What looks like a downer means we're on the way up. Real life is a paradox. Victory comes through defeat, healing through brokenness, finding ourselves through giving ourselves away.
from AWAKENING YOUR SENSE OF WONDER, by Janet Chester Bly, copyright@1997****************
The sense of wonder is the masterpiece quality of the human soul, something we have in common with angels. No other creature down here has it. It happens when our minds are overwhelmed by something totally beyond our imagination or expectation.
from AWAKENING YOUR SENSE OF WONDER, by Janet Chester Bly, copyright@1997*****************
“How much your book Awakening Your Sense of Wonder has meant to me. What a wonderful book! I just bought it by ‘chance' (no such thing, right) while on vacation and read it in 2 days. I then made a promise to read it every year or more, to remind myself of the wonder all around me. As a mother of five I sometimes get bogged down with the responsibilities of life and forget the wonder of it all!” Kim Jones, NC
“Awakening Your Sense of Wonder is truly an important book. It has helped me to be more conscious of how unconscious I am much of the time due to always being on the go. The many activities of this life sometimes overshadow all of the special gifts God has given us here that pale in comparison to what He has in store for us throughout eternity.” Connie Sue, MT
It is God alone who can tell us what true goodness is. Immersed in a monstrous drama of human cruelties and sorrows, we don't have the right perspective . . . Only God has witnessed thousands of autumns, but in His goodness he shares a few of them with us, in hopes we will hear, in hopes we'll respond to, His quiet, urgent voice.
from GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME, by Janet Chester Bly, copyright@1999****************
This plagued soil needs a good God to keep it going, otherwise we would become an endangered species. His goodness upholds us all, whether we acknowledge it or not.
from GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME, by Janet Chester Bly, copyright@1999*****************
It is God alone who can tell us what true goodness is. Immersed in a monstrous drama of human cruelties and sorrows, we don't have the right perspective . . . Only God has witnessed thousands of autumns, but in His goodness he shares a few of them with us, in hopes we will hear, in hopes we'll respond to, His quiet, urgent voice.
from GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME, by Janet Chester Bly, copyright@1999****************
Breathless Tales
I would rather
clutch my invitation
and wait my turn
in party clothes
prim, proper
safe and clean
But a pulsing hand
keeps driving me
over peaks
ravines
and spidered brambles
So I'll pant
up to the pearled knocker
tattered
breathless
and full of talesJanet Chester Bly
from Managing Your Restless Search, copyright@1981,1992
Click here for Writing Advice from The Novelists of ChiLibris
