Joy In Hardship - In Life And In My Fiction

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I want to share a story about finding joy in hardship. Decades ago, I was traveling through Scotland with a friend from university in her father’s little Austin Mini Cooper. I remember visiting one of her aunts in a small village. The names of both the aunt and the village, escape me now, but I vividly remember, my encounter with that woman.

At the time, she was wheelchair-bound, totally dependent on a carer and seriously restricted in all her movements. Yet apart from her sunny smile, what I remember most about that lady was her cheerfulness and her interest in us, particularly in me whom she had just met.

Instead of talking about herself, with genuine interest, she asked me all about my life and my dreams. She seemed to take great joy in ‘living’ life vicariously. I learnt afterwards that she loved talking to young people – they seemed to make her happy.

I only spent one afternoon with that lady, but she made an indelible impression on me. Her little house, her surroundings and her own person seemed to breathe joy. How wonderful to spread joy around like that. What a special gift that is!

Closer to home and much closer to me, someone whom I would like to honour, discretely without using her name, is my cousin.

A few years ago, she was walking across a road, the robot was green and in her favour. Suddenly, and without warning, she was hit by a taxi - forcibly thrown up into the air and landing on her head. Everyone thought she was going to die, in fact it’s an absolute miracle that she survived!

She lost a great deal of blood, broke a few bones and lost most of her basic bodily functions due to trauma to her brain. But the Lord had a plan for her, and miraculously she survived.

After many months of therapy which stretched into years, she gradually learned to talk and walk again. She even had to relearn basic bodily functions, like going to the toilet. Slowly, one step at a time, she clawed her way back to wellness … not complete health, sadly, because her brain function is still impaired and she cannot ‘find’ her words. But how she loves to spread joy all around her, in particular the love of the Lord.

She goes to schools and prays with needy students, draws pictures for them and puts on little ‘dramas’. In everything she does, the love of the Lord is clearly evident in her life.

What a testament to the verse, “the joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8, v.10). She can’t even read the Bible for herself, as words are difficult for her, but her whole life is a powerful example of how to find joy in hardship.

I salute her perseverance, her courage, and especially, her joy in the Lord. She is completely uninhibited, she laughs at herself and like Paul, she doesn’t think twice about becoming a “fool for Christ”.

Drawing inspiration from this amazing woman, I’ve included a character in my fiction who doesn’t seem to mind being just such a fool for Christ.

In my story, ‘The Best Friend in the World’ which appears in Shine, my short story anthology for younger teens, Tasha cannot understand why Sam, who is a refugee, is always smiling. It’s not as if people are nice to him; in fact, they are positively nasty. Egged on by Silas, the class bully, Sam is isolated, side-lined and scorned. Despite all the emotional abuse he is subjected to, and the last straw when Silas tears his carefully painted picture of his home town, badly damaging it, Sam continues to be cheerful and nice to his enemies.

It is only right at the end of the story that Tasha discovers the secret of his smile: he has ‘the best friend in the world’ ... which is how this story got its title.

Jade is another character in my fiction ‘Jade’s Heaven Dream’ from Tapestries.

Set during the time of the pandemic, Jade finds a way to spread joy while everyone in her town seems to be absolutely miserable. People are worried and no-one is smiling anymore.

One night, Jade has a vivid dream about heaven, and the next day she enthusiastically captures her vision in a brightly coloured picture. Her mum is so impressed with the picture that she takes it to work and makes dozens of colour copies which Jade and her mum then distribute to as many homes as they can in the town. Their mission is to get as many people as possible thinking about the joy of heaven.

So whether in real life or in fiction, it is wonderful to spread a little joy around, especially in the midst of hardship.

"The joy of the Lord is my strength”
Nehemiah 8, v. 10

The Link Between Guidance and My Own Writing

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Were it not for the pages of the Bible, I would not have been able to write any of my Christian books. From the very beginning of my journey as a Christian author, God’s word has guided and inspired me to write the kind of fiction that, hopefully, is honouring to Him. In one of my social posts this month, I spoke about the still-small-voice of conscience. In a similar way, I believe the regular reading of the Bible is filling my brain with wholesome thoughts and life-giving messages that I attempt to capture in my writing.

I would like to share with you a few examples of how biblical stories and messages have both directly and indirectly influenced the kind of stories I write.

For instance, the guidance which led to writing my story for young children, The Rainbow Game, came from the story of the flood: Noah’s obedience to God in building the arc, and God’s covenant with Noah, confirmed with the sign of the rainbow in the sky that He would never again destroy the whole world with the waters of a flood. In my story, Clara, who heard all about Noah, the flood, and the arc, in Sunday school, is desperate to see a rainbow. So she is very excited when it rains one day and a beautiful rainbow appears in the sky. She rushes over to her friend’s house where she learns even more about the significance of the rainbow and about God’s love for the world.

Similarly, my picture book for slightly older children, Modern Manna, wouldn’t have been written had it not been for God’s miraculous provision of manna in the desert for the Israelites, and also Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand with the loaves and fish. What a joy it was to use these amazing stories as the foundation for my creation of a fictional story. As I have shared elsewhere, Modern Manna was also based on a real-life story, where God’s people responded to the needs of people in KZN who were experiencing food shortages by buying what amounted to be huge truckloads of food and essentials which were then transported from Cape Town to Durban. How satisfying it must have been for the people who were organising the food distribution which gave much-needed relief to hungry families.

While many of my stories and novels have a direct link with the Bible, having been inspired by actual events which took place, for example my adult novel, Headlines in Heaven and the two books I often say that all ages can enjoy, namely Mighty Master Plan and Significant Signposts and One Day and Then and Now, other stories have been indirectly influenced by themes and ideas from the Bible.

There are hints in two of the stories in Shine, which is my anthology for younger teens - hints about using your talents for God’s glory, and the reason why Christians don’t need to fear death.

In the first story, ‘Glitter Words Without Gift Wrap’, the teacher at Stella’s school encourages her class to think of good ideas for gifts for a very important guest speaker who is coming to visit the school.

Stella is intimidated by all the elaborate and expensive gifts her peers come up with, for example, a gold watch, a portrait of the VIP, and even a whole album of songs composed in his honour. All these gifts, though, would basically be the parents’ contributions. So when Stella shyly says she is going to compose a story poem, she is laughed at and scorned by her peers. I won’t tell the whole story; I just want to highlight that the biblical theme of humility verses pride, was the foundation of this story.

In the second story, ‘Time to Wake Up’, Jess is concerned about her granny, who is in a deep sleep and seems to not be waking up – she actually thinks she is dead. She is mightily relieved when her granny does in fact, wake up, but not before her mum has given her a lesson about dying and the after-life.

Then in the anthology, Tapestries, the story, ‘Vuyo’s Love Lesson’ indirectly speaks to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. But it is actually a story about the camp guide, who risks his life to save Vuyo from drowning, that highlights Jesus’ work on the cross to save all mankind from death.

My fiction is full of these subliminal messages from the Bible as ordinary people go about living their daily lives.

Without the Bible and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, my fiction would not be nearly as useful as it is in pointing people of all ages to what is truely of great value in this world.

The Bible As A Source Of Guidance

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The Bible as a Source of Guidance - we are fortunate that there are so many promises in the Bible, that God will lead those who are seeking Him. Jesus exhorts His disciples to ask, seek and knock. He knows how approachable His Father is. He also promised His disciples that after He had been taken up into heaven, He would send a Counsellor, the promised Holy Spirit.

With great care and love, he tells them...

“And I will give you another Counsellor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.
The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him.
But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.”
(John 14, vs 16-17)

What an extraordinary promise. And how amazing that we have access to the Holy Spirit every single day of our lives. Even more remarkably, he actually lives within us.

If I stop to think about the enormity of this promise, I could kick myself for not being more conscious of the Holy Spirit’s leading me through the years. I regret the host of opportunities, the frequent occasions that I’ve been so caught up in busy-ness of life, and so invested in my own concerns, that I haven’t been aware of the Holy Spirit's leading in my life.

However, often when I read a passage from the Bible, especially when I’ve prayed first, subconsciously I know, that the Spirit is helping me to interpret that passage and the stand-out message that God wants me to absorb. And I often write down verses which particularly touch my heart. I try to memorise those verses that have made the greatest impact – frequently, those life-giving words have popped into my brain when I’ve needed them most.

As guidance is my theme this month, I will give three examples of inspirational verses on this theme that have helped me in the past, the first one probably being the most familiar to most of you:

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
(Psalm 119, v.105)
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
(Psalm 32, v.8)
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.
(John 16, v.13)

Apart from single verses, there are great men and women from the Bible who have motivated me, inspired me and even guided me, as I have tried to follow their examples in principle. Some of these people have been strongly planted in my memory by faithful Sunday school teachers. The Bible as a source of guidance, even though they were only stories back then, yet when I think about it, those age-old stories still have relevance for my daily life.

For example, if I’m feeling over-whelmed by what seems to be an insurmountable problem, I can think of the shepherd David, with his sling and his stones, conquering the mighty giant, Goliath with his powerful weapons and his seemingly impenetrable armour.

Or if I’m scared of change, or struggling to persevere with my witness, I only have to think of Ruth who left her home and country to go with her mother-in-law, Naomi, back to Bethlehem. Or Esther who risked her life by standing in front of King Xerxes in a mission to plead for the lives of her Jewish people.

Numerous biblical themes have also influenced and motivated me in both my life and my writing:

the principle of good-neighbourliness and loving your ‘enemy’;
the destructive power of the tongue and the dangers of gossiping about one’s ‘neighbours’;
the secret of being joyful even in times of trial;
how God spreads His message throughout the world.

In my next blog I will expand on these ideas in more detail.

When I reflect on how the Holy Spirit has shaped me through the pages of the Bible, people he has brought into my life, and experiences I have gone through, I realise that my identity is firmly established in Christ and I pray, that in all that I do, I will grow more and more like Him, a feat I can only achieve with the loving help of the Holy Spirit.

A line from a song has just crossed my mind: ‘Make me and mould me’.

My prayer for all of us is that we will all be conformed more and more to Christ’s likeness as we are daily inspired by the verses, stories and themes in the Bible. May we all come to know the Bible as a source of guidance.

Inspired In My Writing

The Link Between Inspiration And My Books

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Ever since I was a vague, dreamy, young girl, I have been blessed by God with an active imagination and I have often found inspiration for my writing in the ordinary, the everyday. A walk along the beach at Great Brak River one day as I watched swathes of foam collecting around my ankles gave me the idea for an unpublished story, Bubbly Foam Slippers.

I have been inspired in my writing on many occasions, like when I was living in Kwazulu-Natal, some boys at the side of the road pulling their wire carts became the inspiration for my Macmillan supplementary reader, Champion Cart Makers, while still another incident where two cheeky, restless boys rubbed together their shoes at a coffee shop resulted in my hilarious story, Squeaky Shoes also published by Macmillan.

Since I moved to Cape Town in 2013 and my focus has been to honour God in my work, I have found a rich source of inspiration in nature, in the Bible, and in thoughts, dreams and ideas inspired by the Holy Spirit. My story for young children, The Rainbow Game was born out of gazing at a magnificent rainbow which arched right across the sky from one end of Fish Hoek to the other.

Pondering on the amazing power of Jesus’ miracles resulted in me deeply exploring the gospels, in particular the miracles, and so my adult novel, Headlines in Heaven, was born. The exciting treasure hunt that is featured in my children’s book, Trees Full of Treasure, was inspired by my reflections on the real meaning of Christmas, where I'm telling children about the gifts that are actually of lasting value.

My highly imaginatively illustrated story, Modern Manna, was another occasion when I was inspired in my writing which came out of real life events, namely the food riots, in Kwazulu-Natal. Michael, the young boy in the story, is fed up, because the pastor keeps talking about manna being dropped from heaven, Jesus multiplying loaves and fish and other miracles. But the shelves in the shops during that time had been stripped of food; there is nothing to eat and he is very, very hungry. When he angrily goes to the pastor to complain, something completely unexpected happens: a modern miracle.

There are other things, like striking natural beauty, a friend’s story, an incident at a shopping centre, a biblical passage or verse, and something I may have observed, which have all led me to be inspired in my writing. Sometimes other authors’ books – both the content and the format – have given me ideas for my own writing.

I was trying to write a comprehensive non-fiction Christian book, a veritable tome, about the many different themes in the Bible, when I came across an adult book with high impact drawings and minimal text. This revolutionised my approach to the non-fiction book I was working on. It inspired me to summarise the major biblical themes through a series of conversations between four characters, a sceptic, a pastor, an angel and a young girl. Innovative line drawings and key biblical quotes greatly enhanced the messages I was trying to convey. I was delighted when I held the final product, the book Mighty Master Plan and Significant Signposts, in my hands for the very first time.

I so enjoyed working with this new format that I wrote a sequel, One Day and Then and Now, about the final day of judgment and rewards, heaven on earth, and the heaven which is to come. This second book was partly inspired by meaningful Sunday sermons at the church that I attend in Fish Hoek.

I’ve found it such an adrenalin rush to receive inspiration from all these different sources. I love it when the initial ideas for picture books, stories and novels start to buzz around in my head. But every completed project begins with a seed of inspiration. I hope you, my readers, will be excited to link your own ideas to written pieces, and that in time, these written pieces will become published books.

Happy reading and writing, everyone!

Some Of My Sources Of Inspiration

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I have drawn on so many sources of inspiration throughout my life, but for the purposes of this blog, I would like to talk about Four Amazing Springs which have nurtured my creativity for decades: Natural Beauty, Gloriously Powerful Music, Courageous Biblical Characters and Stand-Out Bible Verses.

There have been multiple special occasions in my life where I have been totally in awe of the richness and variety of God’s creation, but I am excited to share with you four scenes that have made an indelible impression on my memory.

The first is a multi-coloured sunset image in Southern Portugal at a seaside resort. Of all the striking sunsets I have seen over the years, I have never seen such a stunning mix of colours: a rich array of purples, pinks, reds, oranges mixing, merging and mingling across the great arch of the sky and reflecting their brightness on the glowing ocean – a scene made for spiritual reflection and inviting a host of uplifting thoughts.

Then, decades ago, the first time I travelled to Europe with my parents, they took me on a trip to the Norwegian fjords. I shall never forget the brilliant white glacier, complete with lateral and medial moraine that shimmered in the sunlight... I became a Geography and English teacher a few years later.

And closer to home, as soon as I arrive back from a trip away, and I'm being transported into the Mother City, how can I not be inspired by the iconic shape and colour of stunning Table Mountain, one of the acclaimed natural wonders of the modern world. I feel that Table Mountain, the backdrop to the city and many of Cape Town’s suburbs, should be announced with striking music like the opening chords of Beethoven’s fifth symphony. We have a wonderful orchestra in Cape Town, a special dance company, Cape Town City ballet and our opera company has bred many famous international stars like Pretty Yende. While it was hard being cut off from culture during Covid years, it makes me appreciate all the opportunities that Cape Town offers for rich cultural experiences even more.

I admire immensely courageous biblical characters like Stephen, who continue to spread God’s word despite opposition even to death. What an inspirational martyr Stephen is. Even when his enemies were stoning him, he asked God not to count their evil deeds against them.

Lastly, there are those bible verses that stand out in my memory, and that have provided me with endless hours of inspiration, comfort and joy. I will quote one of my favourites which I am sure is familiar to many of you:

“But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Isaiah 40, v.31

My son was shouting out that verse to fellow struggling Comrades Marathon runners as they pushed on towards the finish line in his first ever Comrades Ultra-Marathon 90 kilometer race from Pietermaritzburg to Durban. I was wondering how many thousands, even millions of people, that verse has inspired through the centuries.

It was in fact verses from the Psalms that inspired me to write my short story anthology for young teens, Tapestries. In this book, each story was inspired by a particular verse from the Psalms. For example, in the story, Wide Awake and Watchful, a fierce, raging fire on the very edge of some houses is averted at the very last minute by a change in the wind direction. The verse, "The Lord watches over you - the Lord is your shade at your right hand;" (Psalm 121,v.5) is quoted at the end of the story.

Then in the story, Xola’s Shield in the same anthology, two boys who are kicking a ball around are saved in the nick of time from touching an illegal electricity connection which might have resulted in their deaths. The verse on which this story is based is: "But you are a shield around me, O Lord;" (Psalm 3, v.3)

In conclusion, nature, music and the bible have been rich sources of inspiration for me in both my life and my writing.

A Visit To Remember On World Book Day

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In April 2024 in celebration of World Book Day, I was very privileged to be invited to speak to the learners of Grace Primary School in Pinelands, Cape Town about my Christian books, and about Christian writing in general. The invitation came from the librarian, Judy McCromb, but it was the Headmaster who had searched for Christian writers on google and came up with my name, who had requested the invite. (I only discovered this halfway through the morning when I enquired about where they had heard about me.)

One of the things that I was really thrilled about, was that they pre-ordered fifteen of my books on the strength of what they had discovered on my website! My brief was to read to three different classes of learners first, before giving a talk at a special assembly which had been arranged specifically for the occasion.

I had a very pleasant surprise when I arrived at the school: all the students and staff members had taken the trouble to dress up as characters from books. There was fantastic Mr Fox, Mrs Trunchbull, the Queen of Hearts, Dr Seuss and a host of other imaginative creations. The headmaster was tasked with the job of choosing the best costume for the day, a very difficult task as there were so many well executed and imaginative costumes. One young girl who was close to my heart wore an elaborate angel costume. When asked which book her character was from, she replied, “The best book of course, the Bible.”

I remember choosing the story, ‘Kimi’s Big Day’ from Explorations to read to the Grade 5s. It’s the story about Kimi, her friend Mei and their two brothers entering a talent competition. They practise for hours and hours, but when the day of the competition arrives, disaster strikes: Kimi who was supposed to be the singer wakes up with a very sore throat, whilst Mei, the dancer, trips over her brother and sprains her ankle. It’s her brother, who is going to perform a juggling act with his friend, who suggests that they swop roles. In other words, Kimi dances and Mei sings. Even Kimi’s mum thinks it’s a good idea; after all, they have practised enough! When the boys win the competition, and it appears as if the girls’ efforts aren’t recognised, Kimi is disappointed, but what did she expect?! Yet right at the end of the story, they get a surprise. They are especially commended for their brave decision to take part in the competition despite their handicaps, and the clapping in the hall raises the roof.

One young boy put up his hand at question time and asked me why Kimi didn’t just take a throat lozenge and sing anyway. Good for him for suggesting it! My young audience was highly engaged, and unless they were just being polite, they seemed to be enjoying the stories.

When the time came for me to give my talk at assembly – I spoke about my life as a writer, about writing in general and about some of my books – I was incredibly impressed by the answers I received to my questions from my interested, intelligent audience. I remember speaking about my book, Modern Manna. When I asked what manna was, an enthusiastic student told me all about God’s providing the Israelites in the desert with bread from heaven. When I asked what they thought modern manna was, a girl replied that it was a modern miracle. As far as I remember, she actually started to tell me all about the amazing healing that had happened to one of her family members.

I then told the students a little about the inspiration that led to my writing the story. It was based on real life events – the food riots that happened in KZN which left supermarket shelves empty and people going hungry. Michael, the protagonist in the story, is very resentful of his friend’s father, who is a pastor: he keeps talking about Jesus feeding the five thousand with loaves and fish, and about God raining down manna from heaven. He angrily tells the pastor that it wasn’t fair to talk about food when all the people were starving. The pastor gives Michael a big smile as he looks out of the window. A big truck arrives … all the way from Cape Town … and begins to offload boxes full of bread, sardines, fruit, rice, peanut butter, among other foodstuffs. A modern miracle!!

When discussing my story, The Rainbow Game, and asking the children what they thought the rainbow represented, a smiling young girl told me that the rainbow symbolised God’s love. She then continued to tell me all about Noah, the arc and the flood.

There were other examples of questions I asked being responded to with enthusiasm and intelligence, but I came away from the school that day feeling very inspired and encouraged that clearly, the students were being taught about the Bible. How refreshing it was to know that God was being honoured in that school, and that children were being given a firm foundation for their adult lives.

The good influence of Grace Primary didn’t stop there. A year later, when I asked the librarian if she had any contacts for me of schools who might be interested in a visit, she passed on four contacts; three out of four have responded positively and I will be visit these schools this week. I was also given the name of someone who could distribute my Christian books; I am thrilled that someone is now going to contact schools, libraries and Christian institutions on my behalf in an attempt to sell more books so that the Christian message can be spread into more and more homes.

I am so grateful to the staff and students of Grace Primary School for making my visit in celebration of World Book Day so memorable. I had a wonderful time at the school that day, and I’m hoping that the students are enjoying my books that were bought for their library, and especially that they are learning something of value from the pages of those books.

Embracing the Good News

How embracing the good news has helped me in my writing

Good news makes us very happy. Sometimes ecstatically so. The Springboks lift the Webb Ellis World Cup rugby trophy. All over the country, fans celebrate uninhibitedly. They come out in their numbers to cheer the Boks who are bussed through their streets. A student passes his final year at university with distinction. Friends and family host a dinner in honour of their success. After a series of long and gruelling interviews for a new job, a woman hears that she is the successful candidate. So thrilled is she that she treats her friends and family to a special dinner. A man hears the good news that he cannot die. He praises God with all his heart and soul.

But wait! That’s impossible! Of course all people must die. But must they really? Not if they’ve repented of their sins and believed that Jesus has saved them so that they can be with Him for eternity.

The good news of God’s grace has prompted me, for over a decade, to devote all my attention to writing Christian fiction for all ages. As the Lord has given me the gift of writing, I feel highly motivated to try to share something about His message of salvation with my readers, no matter how young or old they may be. Some of my messages are more overt than others, but whatever the story, the motivation is the same: to try to share God’s love and grace with the world.

In my picture book for young children, The Rainbow Game, for example, where a small girl is eager to see a rainbow, when she does finally get her wish, she gets more than she bargained for: a lesson in God’s love, plus a link, through a child’s game, to the fruits of the Spirit. And in Trees Full of Treasure, I take my young readers on a treasure hunt to discover the true meaning of the gifts they receive at Christmas.

For teenage readers, The Golden Highway, the first book in my fantasy trilogy, explores the consequences of choosing the wide pathway which is full of temptations, rather than the rocky, narrow way which is full of hardships, but which ultimately leads to much more fulfilling rewards.

Much biblical research was necessary for me to equip me to write my adult, factional novel, Headlines in Heaven, which celebrated Jesus’ miracles. And for my two books, Mighty Master Plan and Significant Signposts and its sequel, One Day and Then and Now, I carefully re-read the bible from start to finish in order to give my readers and viewers (striking line drawings enhance the texts of both books) an overview of key themes in the bible.

In summary, the good news of God’s salvation has basically formed the core of all my Christian writing, even when my messages are not overt. My main motivation in writing Christian books is to honour God with the gifts he has given me and to share the good news with my readers.

Is Christianity Inclusive Or Exclusive?

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I have an important question for you to consider: Is Christianity inclusive or exclusive? What do we mean by this? We are considering Christianity in the religious context, and asking whether this religion includes all people, or whether it excludes some people. There is a misconception here that I would like to address, so let's take a closer look.

As a Christian, you have probably frequently heard the complaint from unbelievers that Christianity is an exclusive religion, that it’s intolerant of people from other faiths. That it side-lines millions of people from around the world whose beliefs are vastly different from Christians.

“Why can only Christians go to heaven?” they say.
“I’m a devout believer – just not in Christ. Why must I be excluded?”
“You Christians are so arrogant. You think you’re so perfect!”
“I know so many people who’re so much better than you – do you really think you’ll get to heaven and they won’t!”
“You’re delusional!”

All these questions and arguments are sadly misguided. How do I dare to say that? Who do I think I am? How do I dare condemn other people?

The truth is, I’m not condemning. I’m not judging. My firm belief that Jesus is the only way to God is based on what God Himself said about His Son, on the multiple miracles that Jesus did to prove that He was the Son of God and that He had authority on earth to forgive sins, and on the apostles’ eye-witness accounts of what Jesus did on earth, how he died, how he appeared to them in bodily form after His death and how He was finally raised to heaven before their very eyes to take up His position in heaven at the right hand of God, His Father.

Christianity’s avowal that you must believe in Jesus as God’s Son to be saved may at first appear to be exclusive, but if you dig a little deeper, you will discover that Christianity is the most inclusive religion on earth. For Christ died to save ALL sinners, not just some of them. In His own words as he was commissioning His disciples,

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit …

(Mathew 28, v.19)

And what a testament to God’s amazing love for the whole world that He sent His perfect Son to live amongst sinful humanity, becoming the sacrificial lamb, willingly laying down His life so that those who believe in Him will be saved. What amazing love. What an incredible sacrifice. Knowing that the perfect judge, His Father, cannot look on sin, He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice, taking on the sin of the whole world.

Why did He allow Himself to be put through such an agonising death on the cross? Because it was His Father’s will. Because there was no other way to save mankind. Because He loves us so much that he willingly lay down His life for us.

Exclusive? Yes, but so inclusive. All who turn to Him are saved from death. They are covered by Jesus’ blood, the blood of the lamb. Jesus has exchanged His perfection for our sinfulness, so that God can look on us and include us in His kingdom because of our new perfection in Christ. What an awesome exchange. What an amazing gift – the free gift of eternal like. What extraordinarily inspiring love.

We will all be enriched by embracing this miraculous, inclusive exclusivity. God’s name be praised for sending such a spotless Saviour for the whole world.

The Gift of Words: Infusing love and charity into your writing

Do you believe that writers can subtly influence readers through their stories? If so, how can they do this without being didactic? Without being too preachy, how can writers infuse their stories with life-affirming messages showcasing virtues like love and charity? And why would writers want to showcase these virtues in the first place? Reading about these virtues will hopefully inspire and uplift readers.

In this blog, you will find some tips about how to do just that: how you can incorporate these values into your writing without being too obvious about it.

Five tips for incorporating good values in your writing:

The golden rule of good writing is to ‘Show’, not ‘Tell’. In this case, show your characters in action. Don’t tell us they are loving people, show that they are through their actions.
Remember your story. Craft a compelling plot. Include a ‘hook’ at the beginning of your story to draw your reader in, develop your plot, leading up to a climax, and make your story so fascinating and page-turning that your readers won’t be able to put your book down.
Create believable characters. Make your readers empathise with your characters so that they can experience what is happening to them. Don’t make them too ‘good’ or too ‘bad’ either. Even heroes/heroines have flaws, and villains have some redeeming features.
Allow one or two of your characters to show acts of kindness towards someone else. Whether these acts of kindness are appreciated by the other characters in your book doesn’t matter. What does matter is that your readers can appreciate these acts of kindness.
Weave themes of charity into your story, especially if you are writing for children and young adults.

Some examples of themes of charity and love in my writing

Although I don’t always deliberately set out to include themes of charity in my writing, as the characters interact with one another, and even with strangers, they demonstrate these qualities. I have, after all (since 2013), re-invented myself as a Christian writer, so I am subconsciously introducing ‘good seeds’ into my books. In my stories ‘Who Will Help’ and ‘The Provider’ (which appear in my short story anthology, Tapestries), the characters unselfishly decide to make sacrifices to help the hungry, the cold and the lonely. But their decisions to act in this way don’t detract from the stories. In ‘Violet Cupcakes’ (which appears in the anthology, Explorations), the girls act counter-intuitively by making cupcakes for Violet, who has been very nasty to them, an act that has surprising consequences. In the heart-warming story, ‘The Good Sheep’ (in Shine), the protagonist consciously tries to be kind to several different people because she is trying very hard to be one of Jesus’ sheep. Then there are two books which stand on their own: The Biggest Blessing and Modern Manna, the former about an individual act of kindness and the latter about a community act of kindness.

Sharing good values

There are so many dark stories out there in the world: crime stories, disturbing dystopian stories, ones about dysfunctional people, violence and explicit sex, some of them incorporating frequent swear words. I would like my stories to be infused with positive messages so that readers can enjoy learning about characters who genuinely make a difference in their small worlds. Hopefully, reading about love in action will motivate the readers to model some of this behaviour in their own lives, or at the very least, be inspired by the books and uplifted by their messages.

Living Loved: How embracing Christ’s Love transforms us.

Human love, although truly wonderful, can be fickle. However much we are loved by family members and friends, it is a rare love indeed that is agape love, a love that accepts us for who we are, warts and all: an unconditional love. If we are privileged enough to experience love like this on this earth, we are mightily blessed. Unselfish, sacrificial love makes us feel so valued; but of course, this type of love is reciprocal. We need to extend love like this to other people as well, and this is a big challenge, especially if the object of our love behaves in an unlovable way – as we do, often, if we are honest with ourselves.

However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. We can be ‘loveable’; we can ‘love’ unselfishly, granted not all the time, if we model our love on the greatest role model in all of history: Jesus Christ. And if we are ever feeling unloved on this earth, we can consider just how much Jesus loved us by pondering the following facts:

Jesus left heaven to be born in a stable for us.
He lived life as a humble carpenter for us.
He shared His Father’s very words with us as He taught all over Judea and Galilee.
He healed the sick and taught us how to pray and how to honour His Father.
He offered His body as a living sacrifice, taking on the ugliness of sin so that we could be saved.
He died an agonising death on the cross so that we could live forever with Him.

If we embrace Christ’s agape love for us, we can indeed feel deeply loved, highly valued and humbly grateful. Jesus himself said to His disciples: Greater love hath no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15, v.13

Once we appreciate the full measure of Jesus’ love for us, we can only respond in worship and thanksgiving. And hard though it may be, we can try to respond by modelling His love in the world. We have the perfect example of how to be compassionate, understanding, gracious, patient and forgiving. If we trace Jesus’ life on earth through the gospels, we will see Him tirelessly putting Himself out, not only for His disciples but for all who followed Him. Not once does He show impatience when asked to heal the sick, feed the multitudes, and teach the people. Despite being mobbed by the crowds, He found time, mainly in the dead of night, to pray to His Father. But always He showed compassion for the sick, the hungry, the needy; sincere love for the men whom he had chosen as His disciples, even the one who betrayed Him, and an overwhelming love for the whole world – to all who would believe in His saving work on the cross. He wants us to be with him for all eternity – what an invitation. How can we not respond to it?

Living loved –basking in Jesus’ love for us – we are equipped to love the living – to share Jesus’ love with the world. In my case, Jesus’ love for me motivates me to write Christian books, as I would love to be able to share His love, in an incredibly small way, with ‘the world’. If even one reader is influenced/inspired by one of the messages in my stories, I will give all the praise to Jesus who equipped me to write in the first place. Oh, how awesome and unfathomable is the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.