Recent Facebook Changes in Groups & Professional Pages

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

One thing we can count on in social media is the fact that it's always changing. This is never more true than when we're dealing with Facebook. 

We can whine and complain all we want, but the truth is this: Facebook is valuable to authors as a way to connect with our readers. Because of that, we need to stay current with all the changes.

Facebook has made some pretty major changes in the way we find certain things, especially in regard to GROUPS and PROFESSIONAL PAGES. Last week I posted a screencast on the Author Roadmap site, giving a tour of these changes. I'd love to introduce you to the site and let you have a chance to view the screencast. So if you're interested in learning more, Click 

Recent Facebook Changes in 

Groups and Professional Pages. 

Elusive Truth

by Sarah Van Diest @SarahVanDiest

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians 3:17

Why does truth, though perhaps accepted by our minds, so often elude our hearts?

A teenage girl, beautiful by every standard of beauty we hold, thinks she’s ugly. She despises her teeth, her chin and her general appearance. The truth of her beauty has been told to her many times over the years in words and in the way others respond to her, but she can’t quite believe it. She tortures herself. Loathes herself. Gives herself away. She simply doesn’t believe in her heart the truth of her beauty and worth.

A mother whose son took his own life blames herself for his choice. She knows it was his decision, but she cannot shake the feeling it was her fault. Though she loved him dearly every day of his life, her heart is crushed under the belief that she caused it to end. She tortures herself. Loathes herself. Her life slips away into nothingness.

These stories are so sad, but we’ve all seen them. Or maybe we’ve lived them, and maybe living them today. The truth that maybe we are able to hold steadily in our minds won’t sit still in our hearts. It may come now and then to rest there, but it flies away, chased off by the feelings of blame, shame, disbelief or some belief that isn’t Truth.

We compound the issue by believing that healing means no more pain.

We compound the issue by believing that healing means no more pain. Somewhere along the mostly Christian road we were taught that pain from the past goes away when our Savior heals us. He wipes all our tears away if our faith is strong enough, they say. The converse, then, must be true: if our faith is weak then He won’t. Pain, they continue to tell us, is evidence of our anemic faith. In walks the self-blame, feelings of inadequacy, and shame.

The promise our Savior gives of wiping away our tears is for a future none have yet seen or known. He gave us those words as hope. How we find a way to be self-condemnatory out of a promise meant to bring hope is astounding! But we do it. Our souls are trapped in the shame of our pain, unable to allow the Truth to penetrate our desperate spirits and bring freedom.

Winter

Tied and wrapped up, bulging at the seams, yours is a stifled soul.
Contained, restrained, restricted and denied, yours is a thirsty spirit.

Winter...

A chill breaks in a burgeoning breeze, and wisps and whips; a gathering wind.
Frost covers and cocoons, envelops and holds still and stiff the stifled soul and thirsty spirit.
Penetrated deeply and contorting in its grasp the held is manipulated and mauled by cold.
Frozen.
Unmoving, unbending, quiet.
Deathly silent.

Yours is a stifled soul.
Yours is a thirsty spirit.

Blown on by the Spirit sent as Comforter,
The winter white breaks, falls off and drops below.
Uncovered now.
Unburdened now.
Unleashed and unfurling.
Undone and enduring.
Movement.
Freedom.
Life.

Yours is a stifled soul.
Yours is a thirsty spirit.

Though the spring of life flows out
And sprigs and twigs burst forth,
A memory lives in the stifled soul and thirsty spirit.
Reminders of a winter past and another yet to come.

It is not cold or snow or frost that holds the soul or contorts the spirit,
It is the belief it should not be winter.

The greatest distance for truth to travel, I’ve been told and I believe, is from the head to the heart. The difficult journey is riddled with traps, wrong turns, road blocks and walls. We defend our hearts from Truth as if a brutal enemy were invading and the castle walls were about to be torn down by a ruthless foe. The great irony is that it is Truth walking up to our fortified structure gently extending love and grace and freedom, and our resistance to Truth is our demise. We have been bewitched. Our vision confused.

Truth holds our hope and we send it away. We deny it access to the place it is meant to live and thrive.

A mind renewed by Truth is a life transformed. A soul convinced of Truth is a life of abundance and freedom.

TWEETABLES

Elusive #Truth for a thirsty spirit - @SarahVanDiest (Click to Tweet)

"A mind renewed by #Truth is a life transformed." - @SarahVanDiest (Click to Tweet)

Sarah has worked in Christian publishing since 2005 as both an editor and an agent.

Currently, she works with her husband, David, in their agency, the Van Diest Literary Agency. Writing is a growing passion for her as she hopes to bring hope to hurting hearts.

When You Can't

by Beth Vogt @BethVogt

There are days I wake up thinking about all the things I have to do — and how I probably won’t get them done.

Of course, those are the days where I fell asleep the night before thinking about all the things I had to do when I woke up in the morning … and all the things I left undone that day …

It’s a wretched, wretched cycle, isn’t it?

And sometimes I get halfway through those days before I realize I’ve left God entirely out of the equation. Sometimes I may have given him a passing nod — a “Be with you in a moment, God” kind of acknowledgement.

As if all that other stuff is more important than God.

As if what I have to do is more important than what he might have to say about the next 24 hours, about me, about the other people in my life.

How presumptuous.

How foolish.

Why do I rush past the God who is able … and wonder why I’m so exhausted at the end of the day?

Why do I forget that he can accomplish what I can’t … he can keep me in the center of his will when I feel off-kilter … he’s never bewildered. He has a plan — and I’m invited to be part of it.

I just have to accept the invitation — day by day by day.

In Your Words: What do you need God to do in your life today? Accomplish? Provide? Help? Save? Keep? Subdue? 

TWEETABLE

When we can't, we must remember God can - @BethVogt (Click to Tweet)

Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” 

A nonfiction writer and editor who said she’d never write fiction, Beth is now a novelist with Howard Books. She enjoys writing inspirational contemporary romance because she believes there’s more to happily-ever-after than the fairy tales tell us. Connect with Beth on her website, Twitter, Facebook, or check out her blog on quotes, In Others’ Words.

10 Tips for a Great Speaker Demo Reel

by Vonda Skelton @VondaSkelton

I've come to learn—and I'm sure you have, too—that this speaking and writing stuff consists of so much more than speaking and writing. 

When I first felt called to such a ministry, I dreamed of sitting at my desk, writing life-changing books, messages, and devotions, and then sharing those written words from the stage. I never envisioned the hours and energy I would spend getting those words out to those who needed to hear.

I never envisioned marketing.

Short But Not Sweet—Quick Read Writing Books

by Lynn H Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn

I’ve read a lot of writing books over the past few years, and I’m always looking for new books to help me improve or to inspire me in some way. 

This year I had made a goal to read at least four new books on writing, and to reread a few that are particularly pertinent to me and where I am in my career.

And then life happened.

My New Prayer Journal is Out!

http://www.amazon.com/While-My-Soldier-Serves-Military/dp/1617955892/

Today is one of a few, purely self-promoting posts you'll see on this site. But I'm so excited about the beautiful journal that Worthy Inspired has created from While My Soldier Serves, I just have to share. 

Email Etiquette for Writers

by Molly Jo Realy @RealMoJo68

Welcome to The Right Conversation. I’m one of your social media ninjas, navigating you through the cyber-world with all its twists, turns and rabbit holes.

This month’s topic: Email Etiquette.

In today’s world of instant gratification for questions and answers, it’s important to pause before you hit send. Whether you’re initiating or replying to an email, here are few guidelines to help you maintain a respected and respectable email reputation: