A newly released album sparked a very interesting conversation this weekend.
Over the past few months my brother, sister, and I have become fans of a Christian band called The Newsboys. We were talking about several new songs they just released when my brother said, “I just really like how much they use the name of Jesus.”
He went on to tell me how rarely he heard the name of Jesus when he listened to contemporary Christian radio. Usually the lyrics only talked of God, or Christ, or referred to “Him” when describing divinity.
Of course there is nothing wrong with this. When I write I usually reference God, but I do know that if I avoid the name of Jesus I’m missing the point of everything I believe.
Why are we so afraid to say the name of Jesus? I’ve seen some people in Christian media avoid that name in strange ways, even when directly talking about Jesus. I have felt pressured before to say or write “God” instead of “Jesus” because God is supposedly less offensive than Jesus. Do we really need to be reminded that Jesus is God?
When my brother ended by saying, “They are so comfortable with the name of Jesus it just makes their songs more powerful,” I think he completed the argument.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Congrats!
Okay, time for a momentary switch away from book talk. :) Today I want to send out a congratulations to my dad.
After 15 years of rebuilding a 1937 Ford Sedan, piece by piece, bolt by bolt, he decided to take it out to its first car show. It’s not finished yet, but since it’s now running he thought it would be fun just to take it over to a local even. And what do you know? It won a prize! Yep, first time out and the car we affectionately refer to as the ’37 has been official named a winner by one of the sponsors of the event. And they had stiff competition. There were gleaming cars worth thousands of dollars in the stalls nearby. Someone appreciated all the hard work my dad put it to it. :)
After 15 years of rebuilding a 1937 Ford Sedan, piece by piece, bolt by bolt, he decided to take it out to its first car show. It’s not finished yet, but since it’s now running he thought it would be fun just to take it over to a local even. And what do you know? It won a prize! Yep, first time out and the car we affectionately refer to as the ’37 has been official named a winner by one of the sponsors of the event. And they had stiff competition. There were gleaming cars worth thousands of dollars in the stalls nearby. Someone appreciated all the hard work my dad put it to it. :)
The funny thing was he wasn't by the car when the prize was awared. He and my brother walked over to the stand selling hotdogs and returned to find the award propped up on the fender.
My dad and my little brother posing in their official mechanics jackets. :)
Monday, May 18, 2009
How it went...
Whew, Saturday’s book signing was certainly an interesting one. For the first hour or so only a few books were sold. Frankly, my family and I were starting to get a little nervous. It was SO hot and icky we were beginning to think that maybe people just weren’t going to show up in large numbers…but then God showed up. :D By the time my dad came over at 4:00pm to cautiously ask how many books I’d sold I was gratefully able to say, 34! Yep, grand total, 34 books!
Several friends were able to come and visit for a while. That was so sweet. Many of them bought books to hand out as gifts. An employee of a local school came in to buy supplies and ended up buying several copies for students and one for the library. A sister of a friend of mine even drove in from another city to have me sign a copy she already owned. :D All made for a really good day. Near the end one of the managers came over and said , “You are the only author we’ve ever had who stood the whole time.” (lol) All I can say is thank God for people who understand that shoes need to be cute and comfortable. ;)
…and now if any of you would like to see pictures…
This is when I start praying that I can remember how to spell my name. Don't laugh. I have messed that one up before. :P
Several friends were able to come and visit for a while. That was so sweet. Many of them bought books to hand out as gifts. An employee of a local school came in to buy supplies and ended up buying several copies for students and one for the library. A sister of a friend of mine even drove in from another city to have me sign a copy she already owned. :D All made for a really good day. Near the end one of the managers came over and said , “You are the only author we’ve ever had who stood the whole time.” (lol) All I can say is thank God for people who understand that shoes need to be cute and comfortable. ;)
…and now if any of you would like to see pictures…
This is when I start praying that I can remember how to spell my name. Don't laugh. I have messed that one up before. :P
My friend Candi signing my guestbook. :D Thanks everyone!
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Local Papers and Tomorrow's Book Signing
Trying to get the local papers to announce tomorrow’s book signing has been an interesting experience, but today my mom and I had a good laugh about how it turned out.
It took me a couple of days to get up the nerve to call the paper, but once I did finally get a hold of someone they promised to put an announcement in their “calendar” today. To be honest, I don’t read the paper so I didn’t have any idea what that meant.
Well, today my mom and I went out and bought a paper, then spent several minutes looking for my name. We found the section on events and scanned page after page of events in town this weekend, but could not find mine. Then just as I started searching another section I heard my mom say, “Here you are.”
It was just a basic, two sentence notice listing the time and place, which was what we expected. But what made us laugh was the section it was in. My book signing was listed under “Etc.” Yep, I’m officially an etcetera. Lol.
I was notified on Wednesday that I was mentioned in the Sunday paper as well, but that one went a little awry. For some reason they listed me as the “author and illustrator” of Only Angels Are Bulletproof. Uh…well, I helped pick out the cover shot. :P I guess we’ll see how many people show up expecting to see a children’s book author.
Ah, where would we be without the media. :)
Hope I get a chance to see you there! Check out the EVENTS page on my website for all the details. http://www.emilyannbenedict.com/
It took me a couple of days to get up the nerve to call the paper, but once I did finally get a hold of someone they promised to put an announcement in their “calendar” today. To be honest, I don’t read the paper so I didn’t have any idea what that meant.
Well, today my mom and I went out and bought a paper, then spent several minutes looking for my name. We found the section on events and scanned page after page of events in town this weekend, but could not find mine. Then just as I started searching another section I heard my mom say, “Here you are.”
It was just a basic, two sentence notice listing the time and place, which was what we expected. But what made us laugh was the section it was in. My book signing was listed under “Etc.” Yep, I’m officially an etcetera. Lol.
I was notified on Wednesday that I was mentioned in the Sunday paper as well, but that one went a little awry. For some reason they listed me as the “author and illustrator” of Only Angels Are Bulletproof. Uh…well, I helped pick out the cover shot. :P I guess we’ll see how many people show up expecting to see a children’s book author.
Ah, where would we be without the media. :)
Hope I get a chance to see you there! Check out the EVENTS page on my website for all the details. http://www.emilyannbenedict.com/
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Saturday!
Yep, this Saturday is my next book signing. If you’re going to be anywhere near the Borders Books in Fresno CA, please stop in and say hello. I’m so looking forward to meeting everyone. Happily, this one is a lot closer to home for me, so I’ll get to see more of my friends and family that weren’t able to make it to the last one.
I went into the store last weekend just to check-in with the manager and he directed me to a large display with all of the books he’d ordered out on the floor. It was so amazing to see my book stacked up on the shelves. We’ve got a lot of copies to sell, so if you’ve been thinking about buying one come on down. I’d love to meet you.
By the grace of God all will go well. He was so faithful last time, but as always please pray. Your prayers were so appreciated last time!
And thanks again to Borders for giving me this chance.
Borders Books at the River Part shopping center
7722 N. Blackstone Ave.
Fresno, CA 93720
(559) 435-5501
Saturday May 16th
1:00PM – 4:00PM
I went into the store last weekend just to check-in with the manager and he directed me to a large display with all of the books he’d ordered out on the floor. It was so amazing to see my book stacked up on the shelves. We’ve got a lot of copies to sell, so if you’ve been thinking about buying one come on down. I’d love to meet you.
By the grace of God all will go well. He was so faithful last time, but as always please pray. Your prayers were so appreciated last time!
And thanks again to Borders for giving me this chance.
Borders Books at the River Part shopping center
7722 N. Blackstone Ave.
Fresno, CA 93720
(559) 435-5501
Saturday May 16th
1:00PM – 4:00PM
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Blog Post
Yes, I know. I’ve shamefully neglected this blog over the past few weeks. I promised myself when I started it that I would post something at least once a week, but then I didn’t anticipate these past few weeks. ;)
In all honesty I haven’t been doing of anything of great interest…at least not to this blog. Just everyday sorts of things that have kept me away from the computer. As an all out computer addict it’s felt rather weird to have been away so much, but then long phone calls, extreme house cleaning, garage sale prep, card games with family, several visits from out of town guests, birthday dinners, and many other events needed to take precedence for a while. I actually spent practical all day yesterday with one of our guests at the airport because he missed his check-in time by two minutes and continued to be bumped off of subsequent flights until six o’clock this morning. :O Life happens and it often turns out quite nice. Hey, I learned a new card game while sitting in that airport yesterday. (lol)
I’m sure a lot of my friends think I’ve fallen off the face of the earth, but hopefully in the next few days I’ll be able to catch up on e-mails and messaging and anything else I’ve neglected.
But first I need to go to another birthday party tonight. ;)
What’s the quote? Live, Laugh, Love…and eventually answer you e-mails. LOL.
In all honesty I haven’t been doing of anything of great interest…at least not to this blog. Just everyday sorts of things that have kept me away from the computer. As an all out computer addict it’s felt rather weird to have been away so much, but then long phone calls, extreme house cleaning, garage sale prep, card games with family, several visits from out of town guests, birthday dinners, and many other events needed to take precedence for a while. I actually spent practical all day yesterday with one of our guests at the airport because he missed his check-in time by two minutes and continued to be bumped off of subsequent flights until six o’clock this morning. :O Life happens and it often turns out quite nice. Hey, I learned a new card game while sitting in that airport yesterday. (lol)
I’m sure a lot of my friends think I’ve fallen off the face of the earth, but hopefully in the next few days I’ll be able to catch up on e-mails and messaging and anything else I’ve neglected.
But first I need to go to another birthday party tonight. ;)
What’s the quote? Live, Laugh, Love…and eventually answer you e-mails. LOL.
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