I Released a Book Today (+ what that has to do with birdhouses)

 

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.

If I summarized the message of When the Farmer Returns, it would be similar:

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

~♥~

The Characters in God's Story

I scoop away mulch and sprinkle old, ugly seeds into the fresh-made furrows, covering them with dirt and woodchips

My hands pull a sheet of wire over the raised bed to prevent the barn cats from turning it into a litter box. Then Daddy helps me gently water the soil. I pray for rain; I dream of a fall harvest, if only the frost holds off long enough.

I'm a hopeful gardener as I stuff the partially used bag of wrinkled seeds into the freezer for another season. Like the beauty-less husks of the seeds that can produce so rich a harvest, I'm reminded:

God can use anyone in His story.

Oh, what a reason to praise Him!

As 2025 dawned, I read the book of Genesis and wondered at the characters God selected:

Noah built an ark.

Abraham left his home to enter unknown lands.

Jacob wrestled with God and fathered the 12 tribes of Israel.

Joseph saved Egypt (and the world) from starvation.

The accounts are amazing... but after several memorable, amazing feats that God did in their lives, they died. Another character rose up to continue the story.

As I read, I wondered who the hero of the story was when these guys had such little (though significant) moments in the story. Who is the Story of this world, the Story of history truly about?

I realized: the Hero is God.

All along. From history past to this current moment to the years to come, God is writing a story, and He is the Hero of it. And He delights to use people to be characters in His narrative.

(is that crazy amazing, or what?!)

He worked in Noah, in Abraham, in Jacob, in Joseph, because they knew He was the Main Character, and they trusted in Him. Thousands of years have passed—those characters have gone—and it's our turn.

I look at my own life, and I'm tempted to either think I'm the Main Character of this world's story (ha) or maybe I'm not a character God can use at all.

I'm a wrinkled seed in a package, tucked in the freezer, and I wonder how on earth I could ever produce a harvest. I read stories of other "seeds" who did awesome works for the Lord—missionaries who traveled to dangerous places, people who lived by radical obedience, friends today who walk in boldness knowing their God can do mighty things.

Those little stories are amazing... but they're from naturally broken, sinful people like me who have no ability to muster up fruit out of their own little abilities.

We're seeds in a freezer. We can't do much.

But faith.

The Biblical people in Genesis were servants of God. They believed God's promises and banked their whole lives on Him, and God used them as side characters in His huge story.

Can I give my entire life to serve and support Jesus—my Hero?

Can I have grace to see the weaknesses in myself and in my brothers and sisters while knowing God is at work anyway?

Can I humbly trust that the God who saved the earth from a flood and adorns the skies with His rainbow of promise can also use us—ordinary people—as we walk by faith in the Hero of the story?

Can I strip my eyes off me and the judgement in my soul and fall at His feet in joy that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because He paid my entire price on the cross, and the coming Restoration and Judgement on the Day of the Lord (aka, the climax) is going to be so good for the children of God?!

Can my life be given for the Hero?

Today, may I be simply a seed... one who knows her Gardener well and trusts Him for the planting, the soil, the water, the growth, and the produce because He selected her lovingly for this purpose.

May I joy in simply being a character in God's story and joy in Jesus being the Hero.

May I lift up the other characters because they too are essential to this tale and deeply beloved by the Author and Finisher of our faith.

Father, help us be characters in Your story well.

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him...

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth...

But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them."

Hebrews 11:6, 13, 16

~♥~

Statue of Liberty || a poem

Statue of Liberty || a poem

 

we walked the cobblestone promenade of Liberty Walkway

with her torch before us

and behind, sunset beams leaking through Jersey clouds.

where Ellis Island raises a banner of freedom,

a million eyes can see from glass work offices,

but she’s simply a New York skyline.

 

how few feet approach the Hudson

to truly see Lady Liberty,

remaining content in skyscraper distance.

but some souls did;

gazes looked upon her green copper-tarnish,

sun glistening gold in her fire,

and the freedom tablet in her left arm.

larger than life, truer too:

 

the invitation to liberty for every traveler...

but one must walk the promenade.

 

and in the deepest reality,

the walkway is a Person.

 

both in the Liberty statue herself

and of another in her park of a hero rescuer

– the helpless on his shoulder –

i see Him in all

and invitation for us to join,

to walk in liberty.

Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage...
For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

 Galatians 5:1, 13

~♥~