Dec 6, 2023

what beauty || a poem







what beauty || a poem



i heard that light only has definition

in the face of darkness,

+ i wondered if beauty too

was only beautiful in the presence of distortion.

for i hold the dying hand of a flower kissed by frost's poison--

+ the loveliness wilts in the curse's winter,

melts like ice.


but it's not the death that makes life--

life was the first,

the lovely before mar,

+ though darkness was in the beginning,

the Spirit of God was hovering,

the God who made l i g h t;

life, beauty, light formed in the fingerprints of Almighty Beauty.


all nobility is defined by the Day

the Maker made something good,

+ all today that looks like Him or His work,

that is beautiful:


the healing in dirty, mechanic hands

a waterfall thundering like heaven

fellowship unbroken,


what true beauty!


defying any serpent's attempts

to turn good into evil,

the Almighty will crush his head,

so we praise

+ become full-time beauty seekers

in a faulty world.


even the Deaf sign beauty before their face,

+ i wonder if it's the glory of a soul created

or the unsurpassed wonder of the Beauty Maker Himself.








Yes, in the way of Your judgements,
O LORD, we have waited for You;
The desire of our soul is for Your name
And for the remembrance of You.


- Isaiah 26:8
 


~♥~

Sep 7, 2023

is the Bible the Fallen Weapon of the Faithful?




Hello friend! ♥♥♥

It's the 5th-week-bookiversary of The Way of the King being published (yay!), and as my brother enjoyed the story for the first time, he made a comment:

"Sometimes, it seems like the followers of the King are weak; they're always losing the fight."

I thought about that, knowing the beginning to the end of the story, and remembered a favorite character.

He was a young man who was trained thoroughly. He was ready. Prepared. If his weapon was in hand, no enemy could defeat him, no knife come against his bowstaff.

But one day, he lay it aside and went out empty handed.

He was defenseless.

If every character in the book took up their weapon and allowed themselves to be trained under the hand of their King, they too would be ready to fight in all situations that besieged them.

Yet I wonder if, as Christians, we're faltering like the young man and dropping our own weapon--the weapon of the Word of God.











The enemy is telling us--telling me--to lay down our weapons.

Sometimes for our persecuted brothers and sisters, it's with another weapon pointed at their heart, and to hold onto the Bible means literal death. But for us, the threat is just as deadly.

Like a river tugging at us to simply float and coast beside the shoreline, admire the sun and flowers and cool water. "Stop fighting," it whispers, "to drift is easier, and you deserve the break. You can't keep swimming forever."

It bids us lay down our weapons.

Because if we're not actively pursuing Jesus, we're falling away.

Like another warrior in my tale who thought he was following neither the King or the Prince, but, unknown to him, a person is always on one side or another, and there is no indecision.



Choose your side

Then keep the loyalty.



I hear the enemy's lies, trickily trying to deceive me into laying down my bowstaff, and sometimes it sounds good.

Like, 



I just don't have a desire to read the Bible.

It's hard for me to understand.

I too busy.

I can only spend time in the Bible if I can set aside a long time to study hard.




When the enemy whispers those lies, my sassy self wants to lift my eyebrows and say, "Oh yeah? Then I'll just read it more. Take that." *giggles*

But do I realize the lies are from the enemy and thus identify the lies and attack them with truth?

Do I let the scriptures actually define my life?

Do I let Jesus transform me?



Oh fight, dear warrior!



And if you don't have a love for the scriptures, if you don't have time to sit and read, if it's hard to understand, and you don't consider yourself a good studier, fight anyway.

I am encouraged by a dear friend who is beginning her walk with Jesus. She plays the Bible on audio and doesn't understand it all but keeps persevering and is excited to share verses she memorizes because she knows it's important and is learning to love it.

And I remember times when reading the Bible was hard and dry, and I asked Him to increase my love for it, and He did.

Because our God wants to speak to us. Encourage us. Teach us. He is a Father in Heaven who loves His children and wants to spend time with us and have us be His children because He treasures us.

He knows we live in a world besieged by a treacherous Prince who desires our destruction, so He offers His own Spirit to live inside us, handing us all we need for life and godliness, and the scriptures are a weapon.

He knows the current pulls us downstream, so He rows up a boat and says, "will you join Me?"

Oh, let's fight! Let's treasure His Word. May it be precious to us.

I've been praying this for me and for the Church. And I beg us, don't listen to the enemy's lies. Make time to dig into the Bible. Let it transform you. Fight with it.

I'll sign off with sweet verses that have been an encouragement to me as of late, and may they be a blessing as we pursue our Jesus. ♥










I will delight myself in Your commandments,
Which I love.


The law of Your mouth is better to me
Than thousands of coins of gold and silver.

I will never forget Your precepts,
For by them You have given me life.

 

Oh, how I love Your law!
It is my meditation all the day.

 

How sweet are Your words to my taste,
Sweeter than honey to my mouth!

 

Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path.

 

I rejoice at Your word
As one who finds great treasure.


// snippets from Psalm 119 



~♥~



Aug 3, 2023

The Way of the King || book release!

 

once upon a time, God whispered a little story into a writer's heart. and for four years, He walked with her through every step of the way--encouraging, loving, prodding her forward--through giddy excitement, messy mistakes, and tearful moments until one day the release came. even then, it was a battle, but He was the King who always wins.

and she's here to celebrate a victory of the King she gets to call Father.




The Way of the King is released!!!!




*dances in the rain with girlish excitement*

*runs back to the computer to tell everyone about it*









If I said it in a sentence: God used me to write my favorite book, and I'm blown away. ♥

As I put on Instagram this morning, He did everything in this book, and it's full of:



epic adventures as He grew me to embrace that Jesus is worthy of it all

warrior souls in ordinary characters as He also bids to fight through surrender

hunting tales in which He drew me to the woods to hide away in orange with my brother

fantastical creatures He gave us to invent during the deep darkness of tenting with my young friends under a million shooting stars

the most adorable, little characters based off my own siblings I love, so many moments to praise

and stories of heroism, danger, gentle love, forgiveness, fiery passion, unyielding loyalty, mysteries to solve, and a purpose worth laying down one’s life for. HIM

all in the stories of a warrior-defector sister to orphans, a musician missing an arm, and a brother to the tyrant Prince.



And even though it seems I'm two days late to the release, that's another entire set of desperate prayers He answered.

I simply asked Him to produce fruit in this book as it released on August 1...

Instead of my plans, the paperback didn't come out until today.

And that produced so much fruit. Because in the surrendering of the book to Him (again), I relearned that my Father in Heaven is good. His plans are higher than mine. I can trust Him.

(so I choose to say that I'm not late... I just celebrated for THREE days instead of one!) *giggles*

But that's my deep heart for this book:


may it strengthen and encourage every reader

may it glorify our Heavenly Father who is our King


I could go on and on, but I'm gonna stop talking and just say, I'm praising Jesus! He did all this, and He is worthy of all glory and honor.

Now go enjoy the story! *wink*

You can officially purchase The Way of the King on Amazon:



Paperback
(for the lover of stories in their hands)


Hardcover
(for the reader who wants the long-lasting book and the deleted scene only in this copy)


Kindle
(for the one who can't wait and wants to bring the story wherever they go)







Happy reading, dear Friend! I've waited so long for the day I could share this with you, and may the Lord use it in beautiful ways! ♥







about the book


As the Kingdom of Érkeos collapses in revolution, three unlikely heroes must keep the loyalty through the darkest of days.

Three months after The Torch Keepers ends, Kadira, a warrior-defector from the Prince’s Liberation army, flees into the mountains as a big sister to a family of orphans. Her eyes mark her as a Torch Keeper for the King, an enemy to the Prince.

Behind her, Rekém rises to power over the city that was once the children’s home. As the Prince’s brother, he is forced to become a leader yet is drawn to humble hunting trips where he remembers dreams he once had. In mountain forests, Rekém discovers dangerous secrets he can’t escape from.

And deep in the throngs of cave tunnels, a musician missing half his arm builds his own fortress, not knowing that two armies close in. When the sides collide, the heroes must decide if the one they follow is truly worthy of every sacrifice. It seems the future of Érkeos is in the hands of a King who's never been seen.










“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."





~♥~