His Handiwork

by | Aug 1, 2007 | Blog, creation, praise

I work in the middle of a high desert. We have to ride on a bus for almost an hour to get to work. This morning as I walked from the bus depot to my building, the sunrise was beautiful and awe-inspiring. The top of the dome of the sky was blue, but all along the rim of the sky were muted purples and pinks. As a side effect of Western fires, the eastern horizon blazed with orange and pink as the sun peeked out over the Teton Mountains and bathed the desert in early morning light.

There were a smattering of clouds to reflect some of the vivid colors of the dawn. It was just at the time when separate rays of sunshine could be discerned, flashing out to declare the coming of something powerful.

The sights this morning were beautiful enough. Coupled with the fresh clear air filling my lungs, peace radiated out from this.

Ah, God’s glory is evident in his creation. I was struck by the fact that the sunrise was so beautiful to look at, but I could only gaze so long before averting my eyes to prevent damage from our star. Just now I am starting to blink away the phantom image from daring to look just a little longer at the sight. So is God in His majesty. We look for Him, to Him. We hold on as hard as we can, yet we cannot fully know His splendor because it is too much for us. Still, we dare a peek, we try to grasp something of the transcendent to hold with us in our earth-bound lives.

Thank you Lord for the way You speak silently, in just the beauty and stillness of a desert morning.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Psalm 19:1-6

(Post best read while listening to contemplative music like Mark Heard)

His Handiwork

by | Aug 1, 2007 | Blog, creation, praise

I work in the middle of a high desert. We have to ride on a bus for almost an hour to get to work. This morning as I walked from the bus depot to my building, the sunrise was beautiful and awe-inspiring. The top of the dome of the sky was blue, but all along the rim of the sky were muted purples and pinks. As a side effect of Western fires, the eastern horizon blazed with orange and pink as the sun peeked out over the Teton Mountains and bathed the desert in early morning light.

There were a smattering of clouds to reflect some of the vivid colors of the dawn. It was just at the time when separate rays of sunshine could be discerned, flashing out to declare the coming of something powerful.

The sights this morning were beautiful enough. Coupled with the fresh clear air filling my lungs, peace radiated out from this.

Ah, God’s glory is evident in his creation. I was struck by the fact that the sunrise was so beautiful to look at, but I could only gaze so long before averting my eyes to prevent damage from our star. Just now I am starting to blink away the phantom image from daring to look just a little longer at the sight. So is God in His majesty. We look for Him, to Him. We hold on as hard as we can, yet we cannot fully know His splendor because it is too much for us. Still, we dare a peek, we try to grasp something of the transcendent to hold with us in our earth-bound lives.

Thank you Lord for the way You speak silently, in just the beauty and stillness of a desert morning.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Psalm 19:1-6

(Post best read while listening to contemplative music like Mark Heard)

Blog Tour – To Dance in the Desert

Blog Tour – To Dance in the Desert

by | Jul 31, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction, reviews

To Dance in the Desert

I’m a little late to the party for last week’s blog tour, but better late than never.

It is funny how you can “meet” people on the internet. It is an informal gathering of words and pictures, without the natural setting of relationships, yet people can still come across in their personality.

I used to hang out at the forum for Faith in Fiction. Unfortunately blogging has taken priority, so I don’t go there much any more. However, there are some really cool people there with hearts of gold. There always seemed to be people who took it upon themselves to keep the community spirit up over there.

So I “met” Kathleen Popa there. We heard with excitement when her book, To Dance in the Desert, was picked up by a publisher and rejoiced with her. It is pretty awesome to see the journey people make to publication.

I am looking forward to reading this book. I admit, I don’t usually read the romance or women’s fiction books offered through CFBA. There’s enough books to go around that I keep busy enough. This is one that I’m going to sit down and enjoy though. I wish I could’ve read it for this tour, but I was swamped with other commitments reading wise. However, I do have an original review for you, as my darling wife just finished it up and offers her thoughts below. She’s not used to reviewing, but she gave me a good impression of what she liked in the book.

By the way, doesn’t this book have the best cover? Wow.

Beccy’s impressions:

The main character, Dara, has been hurt all of her life. To Dance in the Desert takes you through the emotional path of healing in her life. Though she’s survived horrible tragedy, she wants to hide in the desert and stay where no one will find her. It is only when Jane Cameron is dancing in the desert, free from her burdens, that Dara starts to see a way out.

Beccy said that the book is very gripping at the start, drawing the reader in an emotional way by setting up your understanding of the character’s hurts. The characters are very true to life, and you feel what they are going through, and you care and invest in who they are. This is a great strength of this book. She kept going back to this point, so I could tell she was impressed by this aspect of the book.

She said the ending was a little crammed with so much happening at once. It worked, but it was a little thick in her opinion, pulling her out of the story a little bit in wondering what was going on. This wasn’t a major criticism, and overall she really enjoyed the book – she was up late one night reading, so I know she did.

For another glowing review (not to only highlight the good, but to explain how well Kathleen did on her debut), please check out Becky Miller’s review as well. Kathleen has more reviews listed on her blog also. Way to go Kathleen!

Blog Tour – To Dance in the Desert

Blog Tour – To Dance in the Desert

by | Jul 31, 2007 | Blog, CFBA, fiction, reviews

To Dance in the Desert

I’m a little late to the party for last week’s blog tour, but better late than never.

It is funny how you can “meet” people on the internet. It is an informal gathering of words and pictures, without the natural setting of relationships, yet people can still come across in their personality.

I used to hang out at the forum for Faith in Fiction. Unfortunately blogging has taken priority, so I don’t go there much any more. However, there are some really cool people there with hearts of gold. There always seemed to be people who took it upon themselves to keep the community spirit up over there.

So I “met” Kathleen Popa there. We heard with excitement when her book, To Dance in the Desert, was picked up by a publisher and rejoiced with her. It is pretty awesome to see the journey people make to publication.

I am looking forward to reading this book. I admit, I don’t usually read the romance or women’s fiction books offered through CFBA. There’s enough books to go around that I keep busy enough. This is one that I’m going to sit down and enjoy though. I wish I could’ve read it for this tour, but I was swamped with other commitments reading wise. However, I do have an original review for you, as my darling wife just finished it up and offers her thoughts below. She’s not used to reviewing, but she gave me a good impression of what she liked in the book.

By the way, doesn’t this book have the best cover? Wow.

Beccy’s impressions:

The main character, Dara, has been hurt all of her life. To Dance in the Desert takes you through the emotional path of healing in her life. Though she’s survived horrible tragedy, she wants to hide in the desert and stay where no one will find her. It is only when Jane Cameron is dancing in the desert, free from her burdens, that Dara starts to see a way out.

Beccy said that the book is very gripping at the start, drawing the reader in an emotional way by setting up your understanding of the character’s hurts. The characters are very true to life, and you feel what they are going through, and you care and invest in who they are. This is a great strength of this book. She kept going back to this point, so I could tell she was impressed by this aspect of the book.

She said the ending was a little crammed with so much happening at once. It worked, but it was a little thick in her opinion, pulling her out of the story a little bit in wondering what was going on. This wasn’t a major criticism, and overall she really enjoyed the book – she was up late one night reading, so I know she did.

For another glowing review (not to only highlight the good, but to explain how well Kathleen did on her debut), please check out Becky Miller’s review as well. Kathleen has more reviews listed on her blog also. Way to go Kathleen!

Fantasy First

by | Jul 30, 2007 | Blog, fantasy, fiction

For the fans of speculative fiction out there, a great article was up at Speculative Faith last week. I’m a little late to the party for posting it, but here it is. If people think Christian writers are just aping Harry Potter when it comes to fantasy, E. Stephen Burnett’s answer is the rebuttal.

Fantasy First

by | Jul 30, 2007 | Blog, fantasy, fiction

For the fans of speculative fiction out there, a great article was up at Speculative Faith last week. I’m a little late to the party for posting it, but here it is. If people think Christian writers are just aping Harry Potter when it comes to fantasy, E. Stephen Burnett’s answer is the rebuttal.