Writing From The Heart

I believe there is power in stories, offering lessons learned, and personal growth. My writing has gone through a definite progression, from poetry to Contemporary Christian fiction. It’s a movement through life’s seasons. It began with a poetry book, Promises Seeded Inside, and then an up-close-and-personal coming of age novel, Depression Cookies (rebranded Heart Chatter).

All my writing is about God leading me into the struggles and successes humans encounter every day. Brokenness. Unforgiveness. Loss of identity. Unworthiness. Addiction. Remorse. Lies. Truth. Love. Grace. Mercy. Redemption. God has taken me into the belly of human frailty and hurt. I never meant to write about it, but God kept pressing me. I had to tell the story of brokenness to reveal God’s mighty work in the lives of His people. Thus, the Cries trilogy was born: Cries of Innocence, Cries of Grace, and Cries of Mercy (due out in May 2019).

More importantly my writing is about how people maneuver through life, its highs and lows. Do they reach out in faith and determination, letting God lead them? Or do they sink under the weight of life? In both cases, their choice is determined by the condition of their heart.

“The heart of the matter is what matters to the heart.” 

“Nothing paralyzes our lives like the attitude that things can never change. We need to remind ourselves that God can change things. Outlook determines outcome. If we see only the problems, we will be defeated; but if we see the possibilities in the problems, we can have victory.” ~Warren Wiersbe

If we face challenges feeling defeated, we open the door for Satan’s entry into our situation. Satan’s evil and his intent to sabotage lives, twisting truth into lies, is so insidious it slips in unnoticed, consuming us. Desperation and anxiety, addiction and health issues often follow. 

If we face challenges in God’s victory, we rise above circumstances by trusting God to lead us to higher ground. “Adversity is not simply a tool. It is God’s most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives. The circumstances and events that we see as setbacks are oftentimes the very things that launch us into periods of intense spiritual growth. Once we begin to understand this, and accept it as a spiritual fact of life, adverse situations become easier to bear.” ~Charles Stanley

How do we begin to face challenges in light of a risen Savior who loved us enough to die for us, who wants us to seek Him for strength?

1.      Believe God is who He says He is.

“I AM WHO I AM.” Exodus 3:14

People who know God’s name trust Him with their heart.

2.     Believe God can do what He says He can do.

“I am God Almighty, walk before Me, and be blameless.” Genesis 17:1

“God is Lord strong and mighty.” Psalm 24:8

“Power belongs to Him.” Psalm 62:11

“Ah Lord God! Behold, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power and by Thine outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for Thee.” Jeremiah 32:17

3.     Believe you are a child of the King, loved beyond measure.

“But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12

4.     Believe you can get through anything with God’s help and guidance.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

5.     Believe the Word of God, study it, memorize it, sink it deep within your heart until it is alive and active within you.

“For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edge sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12

The above statements are modified from Beth Moore’s 5 Statement Pledge of Faith in her book “Believing God”.  The first time I heard Beth Moore declare them, I wrote them on my heart as my belief statements. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve shared them with others and seen the change in their faces when they heard these powerful words. That’s why I offered these life statements to my story characters. Some received. Some didn’t. All had choices just like you and me. Navigating those choices, problem solving, and bringing it back under the authority of God, kept hope and perseverance at the forefront of their decision making. That’s my goal as an author, letting the reader see what happens when we stand in the light of our Savior verses standing alone, struggling.

Writing is my life’s joy. God is my fortress, my anchor through life.

God bless you,

Angela

The Cost of Choice

Someone asked me why I loved to write. So many words ran through my mind, but one stood out. CHOICE.

I feel a need to write about the cost of choice, to show readers strategies that lead to success or failure. 

Life choices are complicated and serious. I’m not talking about picking your favorite flavor of ice cream. I’m talking about decisions that change, transform, and destroy. 

As a writer, I paint word pictures conjuring up good and bad characters and then throw them into a myriad of life scenarios. I allow their lives to touch one another in positive and negative ways. Once their lives are entwined, what erupts is not always pretty. Evil challenges good. One person makes an irreversible decision that often whiplashes onto other characters. Sometimes the weak become strong and the strong become weak. Other times the weak sink in despair and the strong get fiercer and more determined.  

As an author, this is where my role is pivotal.

The characters begin to ponder their choices. They look at how to maneuver through and around them. Once a choice is made it is hard to withdraw it without cost or stabilize it without regret and remorse. Choice shapes the course of one’s history, setting up internal conflict, igniting dry brush into forest fires or bursting a dry meadow into lush green.

I want readers to visualize the importance and cost of their choices. 

Why am I so passionate about this? Because I’ve made some poor choices. I see others do the same thing without stopping to think about the repercussions.

“Write what disturbs you, what you fear, what you have not been willing to speak about. Be willing to be split open.” ~Natalie Goldberg

So, I write and speak about what disturbs me.

Having worked as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for abused, abandoned, and neglected children and later working with their abused mothers, I am passionate about the topic of choice. So passionate I write about real-life characters (names changed to protect the innocent) whose lives are messed up because of poor choices, and the people that come alongside them to encourage better life choices and options for difficult situations.

God has had me on a journey, facing my own demons and ministering to those whose demons have cut deep into their joy. Cries of Innocence, Cries of Grace, and Cries of Mercy (2018) demonstrate how people can rise above abuse, disappointment, and brokenness.

 I have an awesome, but sometimes daunting responsibility as an author. When I write I am given the opportunity to touch the mind, heart, and soul of the reader. 

“The printed word only has the potential for meaning, implication, response, and result. The reader is the one who must activate that potential and breathe life into words. How else could the quiet printed text become an active interplay of ideas and feelings. Reading makes things happen as we imagine what the characters are doing, and how they are going to navigate through situations and critical choices.

Reading prepares us for the unexpected. It helps us share in a common humanity, encourages us to see other’s views, and depicts a myriad of life’s experiences for us to contemplate. Reading can make us see a new world or the same world in a new way.” ~Angela Beach Silverthorne, SUNY Graduate paper The Power of Reading

Choice waits in the palm of a hand, never suspecting the muscle tension as one finger after another closes over it, obscuring the promise of security or calamity. That’s why good choices are so critical.

All it takes is one word, one action, one deed to change everything.

In the process of writing and reading, we learn strategies for making wise choices. Never underestimate the power of the written word. 

Here are three strategies I use when faced with a choice:

1.     Stop. Don’t make a hasty decision. The world will not fall apart if you wait. Psalm 27:14

 “Be strong and let your heart take courage; yes, wait for the Lord.”

2. Pray. Don’t feel pressure to make a rash decision. Psalm 62: 5 “My soul, wait in silence for God only.”

3. Write out the options. Choose wisely. Pray over your decision. Colossians 3:15 “Let the peace that Christ gives control your thinking . . . to have peace.”

Never underestimate the cost of choice. Make wise choices. Pray. Seek God’s will.

God bless you,

Angela