Hello, Friend! *waves*
The blog has long been quiet, and it's time to shove open the wintery door, brush off icicles, and tramp through the snow-coated, icy ground to embrace the glittery flakes on our face. (aka, here's a post after the blog has been sitting too comfortably doing nothing)
If I could, I'd hand you a mug steaming with a sweet drink to brave the cold, but instead, I have something else to share:
Today, I released a new book (surprise)!
Picture a watercolored book for children (something like Peter Rabbit) with adorable cow characters (instead of rabbits) that parallels the parables of Jesus... and you'll get a glimpse of When the Farmer Returns! (here's the cover)
Ahh, I've kept this book mostly under wraps these years since God first inspired the story, but I'm so excited to finally share it with you! You can hop over to my website and find all the details (and if you're on my email list, you'll hear more behind-the-scenes and testimonies of God's work in it), but today I have a post about birdhouses.
Oh, and how they fit with When the Farmer Returns, of course. :)
I love God's promises.
As my feet crunched on frozen ground last weekend, every living thing coated in a layer of ice, I caught sight of this dilapidated birdhouse, and it breathed a promise of Jesus into the air:
...Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Life is far more than food, is it not, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds in the wild: They don’t sow, they don’t reap, they don’t gather into barns, and yet it is your Father in heaven who keeps providing them with food. Well what about all of you? You are worth so much more than the birds, are you not? Of course!
Matthew 6:25-26
This snow and ice storm was heavy; it snapped trees, froze ponds, and coated everything within sight. Yet before and after, I saw birds.
I saw bird flitting in the dry leaves just hours before the weather turned cold as if they knew to grab the last seeds just in time.
I saw Canadian geese flying overhead (lost, perhaps?) with bodies sleek and warm under beautiful feathers.
And after the rain stopped, I heard birds singing again, just as if there hadn't been a huge, frozen change in their world.
So when I saw this birdhouse, it breathed Jesus' words: You are worth so much more than the birds.
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God keeps His promises.
My main character, Tiny Bull, has a promise from his Farmer: that even though the Farmer is going on a long trip, He will return.
Tiny Bull holds onto that promise as well as other words the Farmer spoke, such as his love for Tiny Bull, that he has given Tiny Bull a Helper, and that at his return, there would be a great time of restoration and reward but also punishment for cows who did not trust the Farmer.
These promises define Tiny Bull's life.
When they seem to fade in light of his present troubles, challenges, and angry enemies, Tiny Bull either has to keep believing with faith... or give up.
I find this in my own life.
God has filled the Bible with the sweetest, most epic promises for those who put their faith in Him; dare I believe them?
When the sky showers the earth with a heavy layer of ice, does God really take care of the birds?
When Tiny Bull trudges through snow to obey his Farmer's words, will the Farmer's promise really come true?
This winter, the icicle-rimmed birdhouse reminded me of a promise I love: that if God provides for the birds of the air, how much more will He provide for me?
Thus, I dive into Scripture, soak in His promises, dance in them, dare to believe them, and I pray for His help to do so!
That's one prayer I have for When the Farmer Returns. I pray it invites the children reading its pages (and the adults reading it aloud to young hearts) to dare to believe God's promises. I pray it stirs up a confidence and excitement for the hope we have in Jesus' return. I pray it shares the beauty of the Gospel and invites readers to live in the promises of God.
So yes, you can now buy the book on Amazon or my website (!), but most, I invite you to read the Bible and believe it, courageously, like the birds that trust their Maker in the snow.
As many promises as God has made, you see, are in Him a “Yes, it is true!” That is why through Him, too, the “Amen,” our “yes, it is certain!”, is spoken to the glory of God by us.
2 Corinthians 1:20
What greater victor over the world is there than someone who has such faith as to trust that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 5:5
~♥~