Looking Forward

I know a lot of people use the end of the year to reflect on the past year, but I'm refusing to do that. Instead, I'm choosing to look forward. It doesn't matter what I did or didn't do during 2012. It doesn't matter what regrets I might have, or what successes I achieved. What matters is what's yet to come. Where will I go from here. Where will you go?

2013 is going to be a good year for me - a great year. Why? Because I'm trusting God to make it so. Of course I know there will be challenges and probably some heart ache - that's life. Jesus didn't promise us a life of ease, but told us that we would have trouble in this world (John 16:33). But He also says that He came so that we could have life - and have it to the full (John 10:10).

As I'm looking ahead to the coming year, I can't help but think of the things I want to do, and yet, this year I sense God telling me not my will, but His be done. I don't know where this year will take me, but as long as I keep my eyes on Christ, I know it will be worth it.

I do want to leave you with a few things that I'm looking forward to this year:
The launch of my newest book - "A Year of Book Marketing" is tomorrow and Mr. Monday is returning!

So for this first Mr. Monday post, I wanted to start a list of reason's that I'm thankful for my Mr. I invite you do join me as well if you want. You can link up at the bottom of this post. I'm planning on this being a series, where the last Monday of every month you can link up with new reasons you're thankful for your Mr. until we reach 100 :) Ready? Go.

10 Reasons I'm Thankful For Mr. Amazing:

1. He loves me - I know, it's a selfish reason, but he does and I'm thankful for that!
2. He doesn't smoke - We just moved to Texas, and I don't know why, but it seems like 90% of the guys here smoke! *Little known secret, when we first started dating, I smoked, Mr. Amazing never has. I quit when I got pregnant with the girls. I guess reason #3 would be that:
3. He loves me despite my imperfections (such as past habits mentioned above) - I know I already said I was thankful that he loves me, but loving me despite my imperfections really is different. His love doesn't try to change me, he loves me just the way I am. And I'm thankful for that.
4. He works hard to support our family - he really does. It isn't easy getting up every single day and leaving the house to slave away for people you don't care about. My first husband chose not to do so, and I'm thankful that Mr. Amazing isn't like that.
5. He's the perfect snuggle partner - I know, it's mushy, but it's true. My favorite time of day is snuggling with him in the morning, and I'm thankful for that time - with his old job he had to leave for work at 2 am and we didn't have that. So this is nice.
6. He's a great dad - he is. He helps the boys with their homework and teaches the girls new things all the time. He takes them for bike rides and blows bubbles so they can pop them. He's just all around awesome - I mean Amazing. ;)
7. He's thankful for me - I know, that sounds selfish too, but he is - and I love it. He isn't one of those guys that wonder's what his wife does all day. He knows I work hard and he's thankful for it. He's thankful for my love, and he's thankful for what I do with the kids. So I'm thankful for his thankfulness.
8. He's willing to help - Again, a little selfish. He helped me complete a work project this month that I was behind on, and he constantly offers to help with other things, or asks what he can do to help me out - not because he thinks I'm slacking, but because he knows it's not easy being me. He works hard all day, and is still willing to help out when he gets home. Go ahead, admit it, you're jealous.
9. He pushes me to be better myself - he might not think that I'm thankful for this, but I am. He knows I like to stay in my comfort zone and pushes me to expand my horizons - and when I'm doing so...
10. He encourages me - when I'm scared of doing something new, or feel like I'm failing at, well, everything, he encourages me and lets me know that he's there to support me and thinks I'm doing a fabulous job. :)

It's hard to stop at 10, but that's the first round. I can't wait to write more next month! What reasons are you thankful for your Mr.? List a few in the comments or write your own blog and link up below...

Trusting God When Bad Things Happen - Guest Post

Trusting God When Bad Things Happen

Guest post by Shelley Hitz

My heart continues to be heavy for all those grieving today across our country.  I don’t believe it was a coincidence that I published a book this past week called, “Trusting God When Bad Things Happen.”  And even before the tragedy in Connecticut, I felt led to offer it free on Smashwords this month. 

Trusting God In The Midst of the "Storms" of Life

When bad things happen, what is your reaction? Do you trust God even when you don't understand? 

There was a dark season in my life when it literally felt like an earthquake had occurred. Everything in my life seemed to be falling apart...my family, my finances, our church. And I asked God the simple question, "Why?" This book is the result of my own search for answers. In the end, God gave me illustrations that I will share with you and brought healing to my heart and my distorted view of Him. I was able to trust Him again, even though my circumstances had not changed.

I pray that God uses this short eBook to deeply impact you as well. I have included questions for reflection for you to go through individually or as a group.

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I (Jesus) have overcome the world!" - John 16:33 

One Reader’s Response:

"This book has Biblical answers to the 'Why?' we are hearing so much today after the shooting tragedy in Connecticut. Thank you, Shelley, for the timeliness and wisdom." ~Barbara

Download This Book for Free

For anyone interested, you can download the book "Trusting God When Bad Things Happen" FREE this month.

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/263666

100% Off Coupon Code: HB95F

Expires: January 1, 2013

This book is also available for $0.99 on Kindle http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ALLQW5A

Please feel free to share this book and coupon code with anyone you think could benefit from the topic.

Just a Heads Up

I've been organizing a Christmas Book Sale for the company that I work for. It's going on now, and I knew you would want to know about it - because you're awesome like that. So, here's the scoop:

By visiting our sales page, you can score up to $200 in savings and get over 60 books for free or reduced price. There are both fiction and non-fiction books listed and tons of Christian titles.

After racking up savings on books (or before) you can also enter to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card.

So hop on over and check it out at:
http://bit.ly/ChristmasBookSale

There vs. Here

I've been meaning to write this post for a while, maybe even making a series out of it. But since we just went through a major move - Denver, Colorado to Small-town,  Texas (exact location not disclosed) - I wanted to outline some of the differences. Here's a few:

Colorado - If you wave at someone you don't know, you might get shot, but at the very least, you'll get a dirty look.
Texas - Everyone waves at everyone. If you don't wave, people wonder why you're having a bad day.

Colorado - If you want to say hi to someone, you nod your head up.
Texas - You nod your head down - or just wave.

Colorado - The mail man leaves packages on the ground near the mailbox.
Texas - If you get a package, the mailman brings it to the door. If you don't answer and your door is unlocked, he'll just set it inside for you.

Colorado - If you want to have your electric turned on, you call them up and they need a credit card on file.
Texas - You must physically go in and fill out paperwork, then they don't do cards, you have to pay with a check or cash.

Colorado - If you have a birthday party, you send out invitations and people RSVP.
Texas - You send out birthday party invitations requesting an RSVP and no one responds, then several people show up anyway.

Colorado - The high on Thanksgiving: 62
Texas - The high on Thanksgiving: 87

And here's my favorite:
Colorado - they have already had their fair share of snow - it even snowed 4 inches in October before we moved. School isn't delayed or cancelled for anything under 2 feet, they don't even do indoor recess unless the temp is under 20 degrees.
Texas - we had a quarter inch of snow today and school was delayed 2 hours. Of course, we weren't expecting that anyway and took our son in. There were several other parents dropping off children, so Mr. Amazing let him out of the car and drove away. Little did he know the door was locked and all of the other kids would return to their cars... When he got to work, someone mentioned that school had been delayed for an hour, so he called me to inquire. We don't have T.V. so I have no idea how to find out other than calling the school. No one is at the school - assumingly because school has been delayed. It's 28 degrees, so I'm not overly concerned, but go about getting the small children ready to drive to the school and see what's going on. Planning on making sure he has some place warm to sit, or waiting with him until the door is unlocked. As I'm backing out of the driveway a police car pulls up... Kainen gets out of the back and the officer explains that they would have been their sooner, but Kainen only knew our house number - not the street name. Of course, we've lived here all of 1 week, I'm not surprised by this - actually, I was surprised he even knew the number already. Then the officer explains that school doesn't start until 10 because of the snow - the 1/4 inch that I mentioned. He also suggests registering for text messages from the school - GREAT idea.

Which brings me to the next difference:
Colorado - You want to register for mobile updates, you sign up online.
Texas - You want to register for mobile updates? You go to the schools website, find the number to call for instructions (which you had to search for because it isn't obvious). The man that answers the phone doesn't know how to do that, but thinks it has something to do with Twitter. I should call back after school starts at 10 when someone else is there that might know how I can get set up... I'm from Colorado. I just find them on Twitter (not listed on their website), and sign up to follow them and get mobile alerts for their tweets (as they only have three in their entire history, two being tests at the beginning of the year and one being about the delay this morning, I'm assuming I won't get a ton of updates I don't need).

So yeah... things are a bit different here.

Here's a nice photo of our new house
(still being remodeled, so it won't always look like this) 

with the nice snowfall that delayed school for 2 hours....

Guest Post: When Dealing with Infidelity

When dealing with infidelity 

by Naty Matos

In Today’s society Christian women are not exempt of dealing with the ugly monster of infidelity. Unfortunately in many Christian homes women have had to deal with the fact that their husbands have shared intimacy with someone else.

Adultery breaks the heart of a woman, especially the one that believes that is living with a man after God’s heart. The first question on a woman’s mind is what did I do wrong? I came to bring you the answer. You did nothing wrong.

Although it is true that in a troubled relationship there are two sides of a story and that both parties shared the responsibility, the final choice to act belongs to the individual. You did not make your spouse cheat, he chose to do that.

I think that’s a liberating thought, as many women blame themselves for the actions of their husbands in this particular. There’s no amount of conversation, intimacy or pleasing that would have made him make a different choice. Yes, those things may have influence his decision, but it was ultimately his decision to act on it. Adultery is not the actual problem; it’s just the symptom to major issues in the relationship that were not addressed on time.

Can a marriage be saved after one commits adultery? Yes, but it takes many of things and both parties need to be willing to work together to achieve it.

• The husband needs to repent for his actions; to God first and to his wife.
• The husband needs to end the adulterous relationship Hebrews 13:4 “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”
• The wife needs to forgive her husband. This is very important. If for the rest of your life you will be bringing the issue up is not going to make the healing process any easier. Yes, it’s not going to be easy and that’s where prayer and counseling will have to help. Remember the word on Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
• The husband needs to make amends to his wife. Matthew 5:23-24 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift”
• The wife needs to find her identity in Christ and her security in him and not her husband. When a woman finds out that her husband has cheated on her; many insecurities arise. Am I attractive enough? Was I intimate enough with him? Am I good enough? It takes a toll on her self-esteem. This is when she needs to remember that she’s not who she thinks she is or who her husband says she is. She is who God says she is.
• They should seek counseling to mend the relationship and deal with the issues that triggered the situation.

In my new novella, “Season’s Greetings for Amelia” our main couple deals with the issue of infidelity. Can this marriage be saved? Find out by getting this intense story for your Kindle just 0.99 cents.

About Naty Matos:

Naty Matos was born in the city of New York. She grew up in the beautiful Island of Puerto Rico and now lives in the city of Atlanta.

She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Clinical Psychology with a Minor in Mass Media Communications and a Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling.

Naty writes Christian fiction and non-fiction. She maintains a blog on Christian Living Topics at www.therisingmuse.com

Copyright © The Rising Muse 2012

Book Description

Daisy has the perfect life, beautiful children and a wonderful husband. And Christmas is right around the corner.  Tis the season to be jolly... Or is it?

Daisy's life is flipped upside down by strange letters that are sent to her by her best friend, Amelia. And as her life continues to quickly spiral out of control, she realizes that something BIG is about to happen.  Can she put aside her confusion, hurt, and anger in order to solve a mystery that may have a horrific ending????

Can Daisy's life ever return to normal regardless to whether she does or doesn't?

You can get your copy of Naty's new book by clicking here.