Ouch.  That’s the first word that came to mind when I opened my eyes this morning.  You see, this is camp week, so I had envisioned getting up early and getting to work every day, making great strides on the WIP, but you know what they say about the best laid plans. 

Instead I found myself dealing with the installation of my new granite countertops.  What can go wrong will go wrong, and it did. Monday they couldn’t put on the island piece because they needed an electrician to unhook the cooktop.  My neighbor, God bless him, is an electrician, so he came over Monday afternoon and unhooked the cooktop.  In the mean time, Babe needed to go to the vet, and as I hauled her into the car, I pulled something in my back.  Ouch. 

Yesterday the men showed up to finish the installation, plus the plumbers, but though the plumbing went swimingly, the cutting out of the cooktop resulted in several CRACKS.  Oh, yeah.  Trouble in River City.  So then the service guy had to come out and he spent most of the day patching and repairing the cracks.  Seems that this particular beautiful stone, all the way from Australia, is prone to fissures and cracks.  (And there’s a metaphor in that statement.) 

I find it hard to work with men in the kitchen and dogs barking, so how much did I get done yesterday?  Zip.  I did, however, run to home depot and buy quarter round molding, which I painted, cut, and glued into place to cover the 1/2 inch gap between the new counter and the old tiled backsplash.  No, I don’t know how to miter corners, but I can use a caulking gun and I have enough clutter that I doubt anyone will look at my corners.  

Anyway–this morning I could hardly move.  But today I will sit in this chair and work hard.  Because I’m too stiff to do anything else.  

On to the topic at hand–Some folks have a little trouble understanding that you can be as moved toward God by reading a faith-filled novel as you can from hearing a sermon. (After all, Jesus used stories to reach His audience.) So some friends of mine shared quotes from letters they’re received–proof that fiction can and does change lives.

Enjoy.

“My entire soul was stirred by the challenges Fire of Heaven raised to me. It called me back to my first love with God, to holiness, to faith and worship like no book has done in some time.”
About Bill Myers’ suspense/thriller Fire of Heaven

“My first grade teacher read it to me and that is when I accepted the Lord.”
About Dave & Neta Jackson’s juvenile historical fiction Abandoned on the Wild Frontier

“Because of your book, I now believe.”
About Nancy Moser’s contemporary fiction The Invitation

“I would like to tell you how much I have enjoyed the books Dreamers, Brothers, and Journey. I could not put them down. I had almost given up my faith in God until my grandma had given me these books to read, which helped restore my faith in God and our relationship.
About Angela Elwell Hunt’s historical fiction Legacies of the Ancient River

“The religious themes in Star Wars sent me on an investigation that moved me eventually in the direction of Jesus Christ. From Pantheism to Christianity––what a track! It illustrates how Christ can use the world and some of its relativism to identify Himself to the unknowing.”
About Kathy Tyers’ science fiction Star Wars spin-off novels

“The Lord spoke to my heart anew and I believe that I realize more than I ever have how very important it is to listen to that ‘still small voice’ and to put my life in the hands of my Lord and Savior.”
About Deborah Raney’s contemporary fiction Beneath a Southern Sky

“I wish I had heard of you sooner because this book touched me like no other. It seemed like God was saying those very words to my heart. I know without doubt that He was speaking to me. I know that this trying time will soon be over…”
About Robin Lee Hatcher’s women’s fiction The Shepherd’s Voice

“Your book, Beyond the River, has really done something wonderful to me. Before my mom and I read it, I didn’t know what a great effect it would have on my life if I accepted Jesus into my heart. After I read the book, I accepted Him.”
About Robert Elmer’s youth historical fiction Beyond the River

“My life has been in absolute shambles for two years…Through my despair I wandered through a bookstore…your books have helped me to remember the trials we all go through and if you put faith in God, it will somehow work out…they have given me so much hope, I can’t even put into words.”
About Stephanie Grace Whitson’s historical fiction series Prairie Winds & Keepsake Legacies

“I was expecting to read some fluff…I was pleasantly surprised to find delightful reading coupled with deep theology and bedrock truths about our Father!”
About every good author’s INSPIRATIONAL FICTION

“You don’t always have to chop with the sword of Truth.
You can point with it, too.”
~ Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird