It's Just That Simple

What does this verse truly mean? Well, let’s read the verses that follow: For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! Matthew 7:8-11

Just before Matthew 7:7 Jesus is pretty much giving various pieces of advice. Judge and be not judged, don’t look for sin in others without first looking at your own sin (and ridding yourself of it), do not cast your pearls before swine. Then later in Matthew 7:12, He continues with advice – whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them.

So, I am left to believe that Jesus meant this as a simple statement of advice (a recommendation offered as a guide to action).

He didn’t mean for me to read anything into it, dissect it, attempt to figure out what He considers good. Maybe His definition of good is different from mine? I don’t think so.

As I study the scriptures, I find that God’s “good” pretty much matches my opinion of good. We have the Ten Commandments as well as the following verses in Genesis.

So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth... Then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. Genesis 1:27-30

Yes, corruption has entered our world, and it is vastly different than the one our Heavenly Father (The Creator) made for us, but I believe His thoughts on “good” remain the same.

Now, with that said, I believe He expects us to continue to knock, ask and seek for those things we desire as we consider our present corruption. Things are constantly happening in this broken world. Satan is on the prowl, and he fights dirty.

I wholeheartedly believe that God loves each and every one of us passionately.

He wants to see a smile on our face. He wants to see us succeeding in His work. He wants us to talk to Him, spend time with Him, and find out why He sent us here and what He wants us to accomplish.

Sometimes he will only give us a day’s worth at a time, and then sometimes He gives us something bigger than ourselves – with a goal in mind. Yet we must still go to Him daily to strategize our next move. As we do this we learn what we must ask for, what will be required to accomplish our missions. Where we must go to seek and who to ask.

So, find out what He wants you to do, ask for those things you need to accomplish it and trust Him to be faithful. It’s just that simple.

Until Next Time,

Love and Blessings, Laura K.

Sometimes on the way to the dream...

Yes! I did.

We’re gonna get a little personal today. I hope that’s okay. As I sit here sipping on my Sugar Plum Tea, I just couldn’t help but think about the fantastical. Pretty much, from as far back as I can remember, I have enjoyed an extraordinary imagination.

Growing up in a single parent household, I had plenty of time to myself. Since my mother worked most of the time, and my sisters were six, thirteen and fourteen years older than me (one already married), I was left to my own devices. One sustaining memory finds me swinging around and around posts on a couple of front porches from my childhood. Pretty much, wherever I found a pole, it immediately became my stage.

I would hang on it like a monkey and simply open my mouth and out would come a plethora of made up scenarios and activities. Most often I made up songs, but a good bit of time was certainly spent on plotting out my future. Since the age of five I had plans for a family that most certainly included a very present daddy. I would be the star in these plays and in every story this daddy adored me as his favorite little girl. He could not hold me enough. He carried me on his shoulders most of the time, since that was my most favorite way to be held.

Every time I saw a little girl riding high atop her daddy, hands plastered on his forehead my heart would skip a beat, and my enthusiastic optimism would kick in as I imagined the day that dream would come true for me.

Of course, time moved on, and that daddy never became a part of my life. So… being the upbeat, optimistic person I was I simply changed gears, and set out to find the perfect husband that would be the daddy to my four perfect children. Then I could watch as my beautiful daughter rode atop her daddy’s shoulders.

I did find a wonderful husband and four years later came my beautiful daughter. Yet, before that sweet girl could take her first high ride, problems arose and my dream was once again lost. You see, my daughter was not developing as she should. She was not meeting any of her milestones, and after years of specialists and therapies I was forced to accept that she was mentally challenged. I fought hard for my perfect dream, but, well…

Back to the beginning of this story. Here’s where the new dream kicks in. Even though that sweet girl was not what I had planned for, and I had to let my dreams for her die, she is exactly what God wants her to be. She is rich in love and untarnished acceptance. She loves unconditionally and brings me more joy than I deserve.

Now that I have walked this less traveled rode of parenthood, I have a new dream. This dream is not for me at all, but for others. Hope. Yep, hope!

Amazingly enough God has decided to use the gift I have had all along. Imagination! When I was that little pigtailed, snaggle-toothed girl swinging around those poles, planning out my future, my Heavenly Father used it to give me hope. And now that I am… um, older, he has taught me to write a fantastical story to help others and give them hope. Thus the story of Katie Mylady.

Please watch the following video:

http://thestir.cafemom.com/toddler/131286/cutie_with_down_syndrome_will

Please check back for an excerpt coming soon!

Love and Blessings, Laura K.

For His Good Pleasure

Norwegian photographer, Tommy Eliason, captured this amazing view of the northern lights, the Milky Way, and a meteor streaking across the sky over Ifjord, Norway, on September 25. Evidently, this year has been notable for producing frequent auroral displays.

Goodness, talk about being in the right place at the right time! To me, scoring this kind of shot is a miracle to say the least.

And, of course, this got me thinking. Well, more than just thinking, daydreaming…

Time and time again I become so consumed with my everyday, mundane, monotonous, same old-same old (um, are you sensing a pattern here) life, I deprive myself of thoughts about God and His amazing kingdom.

Okay, let’s daydream for a minute.

Imagine… God standing high above a throne of gold that glows so bright you’d swear it was made of fire. He is beautiful, majestic, loving, in complete control, unafraid, unflinching, unparalleled, benevolent, full of hope, full of peace, full of grace, full of mercy. He turns and looks at you as if you were the only person that mattered.

He then tells you that you have a very important mission. “There will be danger, and opposition.” He says. “But I will be there with you, and we will win!” Your mission, although it seems unattainable, ignites no fear as you stand before the King. You know you can do it. You are certain, as long as HE is there, you can do anything!

Beautiful lights fill the atmosphere around you, stars shooting one after another, as two glowing angels fly to assist you.

God tells them, “Go, assist the princess of the Most High God!” They take the instructions seriously, very seriously. One of them calls for additional assistance. He is your guardian angel and it is his responsibility to make sure nothing goes wrong. That everything goes according to the plan.

Woo Hoo! I do not care who you are, that is happening for you. Yes. God is very interested in you, and He has a very special plan for your life. He is well equipped and you are the benefactor of His goodness, and empowerment. You are his princess. You are a princess of the Most High God. He created the stars, the Milky Way, and the Northern Lights just for you.

He created you, and then He said, “She is good. I can use her for my good pleasure.”

… for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

Um… just one more thing. If you are a male just substitute prince wherever you see the word princess. Okey dokey. I hope you all have a fabulous week!

Love and Blessings, Laura K.

The Emotional Stages of Writing a Novel

I have yet to see a video that more completely captures the process of writing a novel than the following. If you are a writer or even if you are not, you will get a kick out of this video clip. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aly7bSv6xUs&feature=player_embedded

The Betrayal - A Precinct 11 Novel by Jerry Jenkins

What a perfect time for this family friendly, murder/suspense novel set on the gang-infested streets of Chicago.  This book took me back to the Golden Age of TV, when you could sit down with your parents and watch a great detective show chock-full of suspense and intrigue, but minus the foul language, gore, and sexually inappropriate scenes. Think McMillan and Wife, The Rockford Files, Canon, and Hart to Hart. Detective Boone Drake of the Chicago Police Department has just suffered a bullet to the shoulder while protecting a very important gang informant, making him a hero to the vast city. Lying low from all the hullaballoo of heroism, he works through the pain of his injury as he sets out to clear his new love interest, Haeley Lamonica, of felony charges. Suspects are crawling out of the woodwork and Boone is forced to consider those he respects and honors as possible snitches (responsible for leaking information to the shooter), not to mention the accusations whirling around Haeley. This fast paced, clinch the bottom of your chair, sometimes humorous novel has bestseller written all over it.

Katie and Angelique

This is just a small excerpt from "The Secret Kingdom". The link below is a song that truly touches my heart and casts a great deal of meaning to the book as a whole. It also carries the feel of the following scene. I think watching the video might help in visualizing the scene. Yeah, I know, I'm supposed to take care of the visualization. But I feel it never hurts to include additional elements. :) Love and Blessings! Any and all comments welcome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIkQ7YVys_A

Copyright by Laura L. Kirk 8-22-2011

The Kingdom Above the Clouds

The Picture at left, is called “Clouds of Creation”, and viewed from an Observatory Telescope.

As many of you know, I have written a book that has required much research regarding heaven – the home of God, as well as, our solar, planetary, and star systems.

As far as the home of God is concerned, the doctrine waters are quite muddy. No one really knows exactly what Heaven will be like. We have some idea from the scriptures, scholars, and near-death accounts. Yet, even still, much remains mysterious and unknown. In my book, I have stretched Biblical accounts of Heaven to the fictional limit including Paul’s account of being caught up into the Third Heaven, and The Transfiguration of Jesus.

Scripture states that Paul was caught up to the Third Heaven (2 Cor. 12:2). Among the Jews in the apostolic ages the heavens were divided into three: (1)  clouds, atmosphere, what is above us until we come to the stars, (2) where sun, moon, and stars appear, (3) residence of God, angels and holy spirits, Christ seated at the right hand of the Father, where spirits of the just are assembled. I personally refer to (3) as the Kingdom above the clouds. I LOVE that!

In the Gospels, Jesus takes Peter, James, son of Zebedee, and John the Apostle with him and goes to a mountain, which is not named (yet we now refer to it as the Mount of Transfiguration). Once on the mountain, Matthew 17:2 states that Jesus was transfigured before them; his face shining as the sun, and his garments became white as the light. At that point the prophets Elijah and Moses (deceased at that time) appear and Jesus begins to talk to them. Luke is specific in describing Jesus in a state of glory.

I have to tell you, such research has brought much excitement to my writing. I LOVE thinking about and researching the mysteries of God! I hope this has stirred excitement in you about the God and Creator of our Universe!

Until Next Time,

Love and Blessings!