I never did before

New to blogging, I lost an interim post, but hope to be here more.

My house is walking out of its old layers. Spring decluttering. Like a snake sheds skin in the spring, my house has to rid itself of collected things. Too bad its not a natural process. I coax it along.

This past week on April 19th, I did something I've never done before. I signed a book contract. The agreement is for ACU Press/Hillcrest Publishing to publish a collection of my newspaper columns, formatted devotional style, into a book. Working title: The Stained Glass Pickup.

I'm most excited about sharing how I learned to pray in the name of Jesus, not tagging his name to the end, but actually praying in his name, in the way he life-supported me through the day. Today, I awakened at 3:30 AM and got up to be productive until drowsiness returned. Through that two hours, Jesus became my model for early Sunday rising, but he had the grandest purpose on Resurrection Sunday. My tasks were mundane, but needed.

Thinking about him, keeping my eyes on him is one of my goals. Watching with his eyes for today's opportunities to make God look good to others. My actions have the power to make God palatable or distasteful to my acquaintances, since they know I'm his child. Of course God doesn't need me to enhance his character. He can ably bring about events to bring him notice or glory.

One scripture stood out in my Bible reading this week. It's been the mull-over one, keeps bleeping back into my thoughts. Before his cross, Jesus tells his disciples to go into the city and untie a colt, and when they are asked why to tell the questioners, "The Savior needs it" (Luke 19:30-35). What things do I need to loosen my grip on before I may be of real use to the Savior? Jesus said, "Untie it and bring it here" (NLT).

A column for newspaper will arise out of that. Any readers may subscribe to the e-mailed version at

http://hundred-acre-woods.com/magic-list-v6/Cathys/

Until later.