Sometimes, things happen in life that leave you pinching yourself and shaking your head wondering 'Why me?'
Not, 'Why me?' in a bad way, but 'Why - out of anyone you could have picked - did it get to be me?' That's how I felt as I arrived at the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, last month. It was a conference I'd been following for a number of years but, as it's in the US (North Carolina to be exact) and I'm based in Sydney, Australia, I wasn't entirely sure how it could happen. But after applying unsuccessfully to be on faculty for a few years, I received an email last year inviting me to be on faculty for 2023, and not just that but to present a keynote talk! I was blown away, humbled and terribly excited.
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Sometimes, more often than the ‘good Christian I try to be’ likes to admit, the word of God surprises me.
Not because of grand theological wonders. Not because of supernatural revelation. But because this ancient book, with its often stilted and formal language (trust me, I haven’t found a western Sydney translation of the Psalms yet) can hold a group of children captive. It happened again the other week. I was sitting with a group of young people, aged about 7 to 12 and I set them a task. ‘Read Psalm 145,’ I said, ‘and see if you can write down all the things you learn there about what God is like.’ And the room went quiet. Ahh, I love well produced children’s books! I love the smooth covers, the crisp spine, the high quality illustrations drawing readers into layers of meaning. 10Publishing’s, The True King, is a Christian children’s book that hits all those score cards for me. However, as I’m finding with a lot of theologically heavy kids’ books these days, I’m a little restrained from full enthusiasm.
Written by Nancy Guthrie, an American Bible teacher, writer and podcaster, The True King is an illustrated children’s book that attempts to convey the entire narrative of the Bible. Told as a story about the Kingdom of the Great King (God) and the coming of the True King (Jesus), the book is, in a sense, a story-answer to the question: “Why do we pray ‘Your Kingdom come’?” If you've ever read my picture book 'The Other Brother' you'll know I have a soft spot for families who open their homes to flexible arrangements and have malleable definitions of what makes family. I'm a firm believer in foster care and open adoption. Yes, I'm one of those people who believes Christians can make a tangible difference offer foster care to kids in need. I've seen the difference it makes to kids, I've experienced the blessing of being involved, but I'm in no way blind to the hardship and heartache that come with the foster care journey. And I guess that's why, when I saw this book - 'A carer's devotional journal: for carers of kids from tough places', I wanted a closer look. It’s always exciting to see Australian Christian publishers invest in children’s books. God is: Holy is the first book in Tulip Publishing’s, Little Theologian Books (Yay!). It is written and illustrated by Jessica Scott and is a theologically dense picture book with potential beyond the ‘children’s book’ shelves.
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The Penny DropsIn high school I used to write what I'd call 'thinks' - little bits of writing about whatever topic or issue I was mulling over at the time. I still write these little pieces. Categories
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