MY BLOG POSTS
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
I love Christmas.
Everyone says that, but I have actual reasons. That’s right. Reasons. If I were on trial for loving Christmas, I would be found guilty. Given a life sentence of Christmas cheer.
So why, you ask? Why this arrogant assumption? This preposterous proposition?
Because during Christmas all of America loves what I love all year long:
- Jesus
- Old music
- Classic films
That’s right. Folks might say “Happy Holidays” at the department stores, but “Silent Night” is still playing in the dressing rooms. Jesus is everywhere during the Christmas season. Nativity scenes fill shelves and yards and window displays. Christmas trees are topped with angels or a star — both reminders of the story of Jesus’ birth.
And when “Silent Night” isn’t playing, what is? Top 40’s music? Rap? Country? Oh, no. Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, Dean Martin. Great singers crooning great music that is 50+ years old. I listen to that music all year long. They did sing more than just “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Lots more. And it’s fabulous.
And when families gather together around the Christmas tree with hot chocolate and popcorn, what movies do they pull out? The classics — “It’s a Wonderful Life”, “Miracle on 34th Street”, so many more. And musicals — the epitome of entertainment — are on TV everyday. Ah, the joy of seeing people spontaneously break out in song at any moment.
As a matter of fact, I’m thinking of doing that right now…
“Do You Hear What I Hear?”
Why Esther? Part 3: The Sunshine State
(In case you were wondering, that drawing is illustrating Emily Dickinson’s poem, “Success is counted sweetest”…Yes, it’s even worse at second glance. And that is why I teach English and NOT Art.)
Anyway, Part 3 – The Finale (insert dramatic music – dum dum DUM).
2008. Tampa, FL. God had given me my dream job – teaching AP English at a Christian school. I wasn’t writing much at the time – unless, of course, you count corrections on papers as writing. Which, technically, I guess it is. But no book loosely based on Esther was being written in the margins of my students’ essays. Not intentionally, anyway.
That fall, the vast majority of my female students were completely enamored with a certain book series. The series isn’t important. Stop trying to guess. (Like you don’t know it – who am I kidding? But that’s not the point.) They were so enamored that I had to read these books just so I’d be able to have conversations with the girls at school. So I took them home three years ago this week and read them.
I got it.
I wasn’t halfway through the first book before I knew exactly why the series was so popular: it tapped in to a longing teenage girls – and grown women – have. A longing to be loved. Not puppy love. Not first love. Not even passionate love. Unconditional, you-are-the-center-of-my-universe, I would die for you love.
When I finished this series, though, I felt sad. Not because the books are “bad”, but because they are so right. We do long for that kind of love. But it won’t come from a guy, not even a great guy. I happen to have an amazing husband who does put his needs above mine and who loves me in spite of all my flaws. But he doesn’t meet all my needs. He can’t — no human can — because he isn’t my savior.
Jesus is.
Jesus did love us enough to give his life for us. He is the one for whom our soul longs, the one who gives us purpose and hope and joy, the one who never disappoints, never leaves, never makes a mistake.
And, so, in December of 2008, I started thinking, “Someone needs to write a book where Jesus is the hero, the great love of a girl’s life. A book where romance with a boy is secondary – it’s a good thing, but it isn’t THE thing.”
And then I thought, “Maybe I could be that someone.”
(Disclaimer: I am in no way saying I am the first person to think of that. There are many wonderful fiction writers who point their readers to Jesus.)
But I knew this book shouldn’t be too preachy. I know my students get “preached at” enough. They need to laugh. But it needs to be full of biblical truth, too. I didn’t want to just entertain. I wanted more than that.
And then I remembered Esther. The study I had done several years before (See “Deep in the Heart of Texas” post). I had studied other books of the Bible since then, of course, but the lessons from that study stayed with me. God is always at work in the lives of his people. That is the theme of Esther, and that truth is played out every day in my life and the lives of everyone who knows him. So, I thought: “Hey, I could write a modern version of the Esther story!” But how?
My wheels started turning. I am a HUGE “Veggie Tales” fan. I mean HUGE. My kids all slept on Veggie Tales sheets in a Veggie Tales nursery underneath a handmade Veggie Tales quilt with hand painted Veggie Tales pictures surrounding them. I started watching Veggie Tales before I even had kids. I love what Veggie Tales did to Bible stories. They made us look at them in a whole new way – Joseph was a wild west cucumber, David an adorable asparagus. Those videos were funny, but they spoke truth and they pointed the readers to the author of truth.
That’s what I wanted to do. But in book form. For teenagers. Minus the veggies.
And that’s how it started. My desire as a writer is the same as my desire as a teacher – I want the young people God places in my life to know how much God loves them, to know the Christian life is exciting, a little scary, sometimes dangerous, but always fulfilling. I want them to know the love they are looking for isn’t lost at all. The love of our lives is right here with us, waiting with open arms for all who choose to accept him.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. ” Romans 8:38-39
Why Esther? Part 2: Viva Espana
2006 -our family was living in Spain. Yes, that’s right. Living. In Spain. It is just as glorious as it sounds. If you walk the cobbled streets of downtown Madrid, you’ll see a little peice of my heart – right beside the Starbucks in the Plaza Mayor.
If you haven’t read the previous post, here is the condensed version: I lived in Texas and studied Esther and loved both very much.
But, even when I lived in Spain, I still hadn’t thought about writing a modernization of the book of Esther where a shy seventeen year old goes on a reality TV show to try and win a date with the President’s hunky son. I was thinking about whether to see the world-class museum or the beautifully restored castle. To catch the Metro into town to see a bullfight or go outside of the city to see a 2000 year old aqueduct (above). Decisions, decisions.
But while I was living there, a friend in the states encouraged me to write an article for a Christian teen magazine called Brio. I had never really thought about writing as anything more than a hobby, but I thought – why not? So when I sat down to write, racking my brain for a topic, guess what popped into my head?
Esther!
I was still thinking about all I had learned from that study several years before. So I took some of those ideas and turned them into an article. The editor at Brio liked it and published it. I was a writer! Kind of. But I didn’t really think of writing fiction. I did continue to write articles, though, and blogs. And lots of e-mails. I even kept journals. Looking back, I realize that I really did like to write. My computer’s hard drive was filled with all kinds of little bits of writing, from newsletters we sent out to supporters to skits that I wrote for church. At the time, I had no real purpose for it all except that it was something I enjoyed and, especially when we lived in Spain, it was fun to communicate in a language I didn’t completely butcher.
But a book? No way. Not me. I love to read, but write? A whole book? I didn’t think I had it in me.
And I didn’t. But God promises to show His strength through our weakness. And a few years later, He did just that.
But that’s for Part 3….:)
Why Esther? Part 1: Deep in the Heart of Texas
I did not wake up one morning and think: “I’d like to write a modernization of the book of Esther where my Esther character is a shy girl who goes on reality TV show to win a date with the President’s hunky son and along the way learns that God has plans for her that are far beyond her wildest dreams.”
That is definitely not how it happened. My typical morning thoughts are more like: “Coffee. Straightening iron. More coffee. Ahhh”
So how did I come up with the idea for this book? It’s a long story. Thus the “Part 1” in the title. This is going to take a while.
Like many good things in my life, though, it started in Texas…
When this picture was taken – January 9, 2001 (my younger daughter, Eliana was one day old, and I was VERY ready to leave the hospital and take her home!) – my husband and I were living in Midlothian, Texas. Dave was attending seminary and we were leading the Middle School ministry at church. Dave wanted me to teach a few lessons to the group. I was studying the book of Esther in my devotions at the time, so I decided to turn that study into my talks.
I had read Esther before, but this was the first time I really studied it. I took one of Dave’s commentaries, went verse-by-verse, and WOW. It’s a great story! And there was so much in it I never knew. I’d always heard how, though God’s name is never mentioned in the book, His presence is obvious. But as I studied, I saw just how many “coincidences” there were. Here are a few of them:
- The king’s wife just happened to refuse to parade herself before her husband’s drunken friends
- The king’s advisors just happened to suggest he hold a beauty pageant to find a new wife
- Esther just happened to be so beautiful she was chosen as one of the “contestants”
- The head eunuch just happened to make Esther a favorite
I could go on….and, in my study, I did. I ended up with pages and pages of notes on all the ways God worked behind the scenes to accomplish His purposes for His people.
That made me think about my life, the “coincidences” that took place to get me where He wanted me. One in particular was my back surgery (see previous post). I was held back a grade after that. At the time, I was very angry about that decision – even though it put me in the grade I should have been in to begin with. I watched all my friends move on to ninth grade while I went through eighth. Again.
But if I hadn’t been held back, I might not have gone to the Bible college where I met my husband. And even if I had gone, I would have met him earlier than I was ready, and we probably would not have dated. And if we had never dated, we’d have never gotten married.
All that from one “behind the scenes” glimpse.
So I condensed what I was learning into some talks for my middle school group. But the lessons stayed with me long past those talks. Over the next couple years, our lives would change dramatically, in ways I never saw coming. But, looking back, I see how – just like Esther – God prepared me for those next steps, and He guided me to exactly the place(s) He wanted me to accomplish His purpose in my life.
….But that’s for Part 2 🙂