Free Book Giveaway February 3rd

I’m excited to invite you to my new website, JudyDouglass.com.

Two important announcements:

1.  I am beginning a short newsletter, about one page about once a month.  In it I will introduce new topics and series, tell you about upcoming guest posts, keep you updated on news and opportunities and tell you about gifts you might receive.  I hope you will subscribe.

2.  And to encourage you to subscribe—to Kindling or to my Newsletter—I’m giving away 10 books.  Many of these current books will be autographed by the authors—my friends.  All you have to do is subscribe or update your contact information on the subscription form and you will be eligible for the book drawing to be held on February 3.     A couple of them will be Wonderstruck by Margaret Feinberg and Refuse to Do Nothing by Shayne Moore and Kimberly McOwen Yim.

Here’s the list of books:

1. My Big Book Giveaway Part 1: The First 5
2. My Big Book Giveaway Part 2: The Last 5 Plus a Bonus

If you are one of the lucky ones who has received more than one announcement of my new home, please forgive me.  I have wanted to contact as many as possible, so there has been some overlap.  Please feel free to send those extra announcements on to some friends.  And be patient as we work out the new home bugs.

I am so grateful to partner with you in starting fires in hearts and minds. Thanks for coming along.

What about you?  What would you like to see us write about and talk about?

A New Home for Kindling and an Opportunity for You

On January 7th, I moved to my new website, JudyDouglass.com, a new home for Kindling.

I hope you will feel at home on my new site for my online ministry.

Let me tell you what you will find there…and about a special offer!

The main event will be my Kindling blog—an effort to start fires in hearts and minds, to get us thinking and talking together.  To be kindling, to ignite, stir up, excite. To make some changes in our walks with God and in our world.

I’ve been posting two or three times a week, mostly writing myself, but also inviting some awesome guest bloggers to join us.  To make sure you receive each blog post in your inbox—to see if you want to read it—be sure to subscribe here.  (If you subscribe you might win a great prize.)

What will we be writing about?  The categories give you a clue: Becoming Kindling, His Name Is a Promise, Learned from Children, Loving a Prodigal, On My Knees, Personal Reflections, True Followers.  We will listen to God, consider how He wants to grow us into Kingdom people and use us in His great Kingdom work, and discover how we can bring others along to start some fires. (I hope you’ll take the time to read some of the posts from the last two weeks).

But there’s more.  I’ve written a few books, and I have some more coming soon, I hope.  So click on that Books I’ve Written tab on JudyDouglass.com to see if you would like my current book, Letters to My Children: Secrets of Success.  Or help yourself to my free E-Book, Loving a Prodigal: Learning to Rest.

The other tabs are pretty self-explanatory:

About—you can learn a little about me and watch my brief welcome video.

Books I’ve Read—I’ve put together a long list of what I call Transforming Reads.

En Espanol—a number of my blog posts are translated into Spanish.

Speaking—this is under construction, but will include some of my message topics and occasional video from a talk.

Contact me—Please do.

The Lament of a Sigh

This is another in a series of letters to the members of the Prayer for Prodigals community, with reality for all of us.

Dear Lover of Prodigals,

“Sigh.”

How many times have I said, “Sigh”?!  With a deep sigh.

When my prodigal does the same thing again!

When an anticipated good outcome becomes not good at all.

When bad choices require hard choices of me.

When my prayers don’t seem to accomplish anything.

A sigh is a lament.  It expresses sorrow, yearning, weariness, resignation.

And when our journey is ongoing, and our prodigal keeps making the same poor choices, and the pain is weariness, we are deeply sad.  We do sigh in resignation, despair, even hopelessness.

We make a lament.

Which is very biblical.

A lament is an elegy or a dirge.  It is verbalizing our mourning.

And many times we are in mourning, lamenting the loss of peace and hope and dreams.

Scripture has an entire book of laments:  Lamentations.

God is not offended by our tears, our laments, our sighs.  He understands.  He receives and treasures them.  He reaches out to comfort and encourage. He invites us to rest in Him.  To hope in Him.

It is then that a wonderful thing happens.  My sigh changes.  Instead of sorrow and resignation, it becomes my response to His invitations:  A sigh of being understood and accepted, of leaning on Him, of snuggling into His arms, of resting in peace and even contentment.

I have sighed often in the past six months.  And just when I thought the sighing was done, it is back.

So I am giving my lament to God, and asking him to transform my sighing from despair to trust.

May He do the same for you.

Love and grace for your new year.

Judy

What about you?  What causes you to “sigh”?

c2013 Judy Douglass

If you love a prodigal and would like to join this loving, praying community, write to PrayerforProdigalsatgmaildotcom and request an invitation.

More and Less in 2013

Several  years ago I began a New Year’s MORE and LESS practice.  A look back at the year just ending and forward to the year ahead—in conversation with God.

What were some attitudes/actions/activities that characterized my life this past year?  Which would I like to see LESS of, and what would I like to see MORE of?  Gratefully, I have seen change in most of these arenas.  Yet my list remains remarkably the same, adding or subtracting only a few each year.

I do set a few specific, measurable goals, as the life coaches say I should.  Those goals will often come out of these heart desires.  I know it is impossible to see significant change in so many areas.  These MORE and LESS statements, thus, really reflect the ongoing work I hope God keeps doing in me.  And they embody my commitment to cooperate with Him. 

Ending and Beginning

It’s time for change.  The old year ends, a new year begins.  We reflect on the past 365 days—highlights and lowlights, choices made, dreams pursued or lost, rejoicing or regrets.  And we ponder the coming year:  expectations, resolutions, hopes, dreams. 

I wrote this a couple of years ago—about an ending and a beginning.  As I reread it, it was a good reminder about the pain and hope in ending one chapter and beginning a new one.  May it help you as you prepare to say good-bye to 2012 and good morning to 2013.

Finishing a good book is bittersweet for me.  I love being in the story, knowing the people, being a part of the action.  But when I turn the last page, I feel sad.  It’s over.  My life will go on, but those brief relationships will end.

Yesterday was such a bittersweet day.  

My Most Read Blogs in 2012

I read a lot of blogs—they are such the right size for a quick read.  Hopefully they have longer-lasting impact.  But I have to skip over so many I would love to read—there just isn’t time.

I’m sure the same is true for you.  So here are the most viewed blogs on Kindling for the past year.  Perhaps there will be one or two you are sorry you missed—and now you can read them.

Joy and Peace to You

Christmas blessings to you from our family. This card is from a painting Steve and I found in Albania. It will be hanging at Cru Headquarters at Lake Hart. Mick Haupt did the design and the copy for this card.  The artist is Redon Xlyhiu.

Celebrating Christmas: Treasures and Traditions

Almost everyone has treasures and traditions surrounding their Christmas celebrations.  Some of these get handed down generation to generation.  Others get left behind as children grow up, leave home, get married and make their own treasures and traditions.

These things play an important role in reminding us of family, loved ones, heritage and why we celebrate Christmas.

Here are a few of my treasures and traditions

Setting Fires to End Slavery: One Dress for a Year by Bethany Winz

I am so pleased to have a special young woman guest posting on Kindling today.  I think you will so glad to meet Bethany Winz, the daughter of a co-worker of mine.

“Set yourself on fire and people will come for miles to watch you burn.“

Though the author of this quote seems to be elusive (it is often wrongly attributed to John Wesley), its words ring with such truth. In January, 2011, I set myself on fire. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that it was God who set me on fire. It was a fire He had been preparing in my heart for years.

The fact that slavery still exists today is horrible beyond words. I first learned about it four years ago and the more I learned about it, the more passionate I became about seeing it end. My passion finally culminated on January 11, 2012 when I started wearing a certain black dress. My goal? To wear it for a whole year as a way to raise awareness about modern day slavery.

Amazing Grace: The Meaning of Christmas

You know the story.  John Newton was an insubordinate sailor in the British Navy.   He became involved in the horrific slave trade, but during a terrible storm one night, he surrendered his life to Christ.  He became an Anglican priest, a campaigner against slavery and a hymn writer.  His most famous hymn is, of course, “Amazing Grace.”

Certainly we—and many we love–need to receive this amazing grace.  And at this season, so many need to comprehend the reality of this grace.  Though our rebellion may not be so visible, so destructive, so “bad”  as “sinners” we know, we are also prodigals.  The words of this song bring tears, promote repentance, stimulate gratitude and provide hope.

May I ask you to go through the words of this song for yourself, asking God to speak to you through each phrase.  Let His grace flow into your heart and mind.  How does this grace impact your relationship with your gracious God?  And how does this grace affect your relationship with others in your life?