Tag Archives: Inspirational books

Advice I Would Give My Younger Self

30 Jul

Advice I Would Give My Younger Self.

Advice I Would Give My Younger Self

30 Jul

I have asked a few of my author friends to be my guest over the next few weeks as they are exceptional friends and Inspirational writers!  The authors I have chosen have published books or are in process of publishing their own books.

Please enjoy my Guest Authors as they candidly and openly share a glimpse into their lives.  It is my hope that you will be inspired to visit their sites and check out their work!

The theme of the guest blogs  : “Advice I Would Give My Younger Self!”

I would like to introduce you to my first Guest Author and Friend  Patti J. Smith!

When Christine asked me to write a guest post on the topic, “Advice I Would Give My Younger Self,” I didn’t hesitate, thinking it would be a breeze. Either it was lack of sleep or too few cups of coffee (both, I think) because it took a while before realizing the enormity of the assignment. You see, my younger self was a mess. I should have had Self Will Run Riot tattooed on my forehead rather than the butterfly on my derriere. (Tattoos on women are commonplace now but not in the small-town 70’s.)

Recalling my past antics (and cringing), the advice I would tender would be to listen to your parents, remain close to God, pay attention to the little voice in your head and last but not least … love and respect yourself. Had I done those things I would have avoided decades of pain due to alcoholism and the subsequent consequences … promiscuity, unplanned pregnancies which led to abortion, estrangement from family and multitudes of failed relationships, all leading to a suicide attempt and institutionalization.

Pretty gloomy, huh? Well, don’t pull out the Kleenex … Through the grace and mercy of God, love and support of my family and some very good programs, I was able to climb out of the well of darkness into the light. I followed the advice I would have given my younger self and am nearing eighteen years of sobriety, in a wonderful marriage, active in my church community and became a caregiver to my parents. (Who would have ever imagined they would trust me with their care, let alone move in with me!).

I would be remiss if I didn’t add one more pieces of advice: Forgive yourself. If you can’t, you’ll never quite reach the top of that dark well. You’ll always live in the shadow of remorse and regret and miss out on the joyous and wonderful life God wants you to have.

BIO

Patti J. Smith writes Christian devotionals, light romance, and suspense and her faith crosses over to all genres. She is a member of the Association of Christian Therapists, Association for Life, serves as Regional Coordinator for the Silent No More Awareness Campaign and leads Rachel’s Hope After-Abortion Healing Retreats in San Diego. She publicly shares her story of redemption at a variety of venues, has been a guest on Sacred Heart and Blogtalk Radio and appears in the newly-released documentary, “The Sidewalk Chronicles”.

 

She and her husband, Michael, live in Vista, CA and have three beautiful granddaughters. Along with writing books, she enjoys blogging, reading and proudly admits to being a diehard Seattle Seahawks fan and Fantasy Football fanatic. Her travel adventures include Spain, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Fiji, South Korea and almost all states – including Hawaii and Alaska.

 

You can find her books at: www.amazon.com/author/pattijsmith and follow her through the following social media:

Blog:  http://gridirongrannyfootballfanatic.blogspot.com/ Pinterest:  http://www.pinterest.com/gridirongranny Twitter:  https://twitter.com/gridirongranny5 Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/gridirongranny Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/giridirongranny

 

Part 9 If Oak Trees Could Talk!

16 Jul

Part 9 If Oak Trees Could Talk!.

Walking on Water!

19 Mar

Walking on Water!.

Walking on Water!

19 Mar

Walking on the Water!

"Come, Walk on the Water with me!"

“Come, Walk on the Water with me!”

 
Have you ever noticed that when good things start happening to you that others will gather around and cheer and celebrate? But, how many of them stick around when you are going through struggle? Isn’t it amazing that many times the people who you thought would celebrate with you suddenly disappear. Well, friend this is the time that you have to learn to encourage yourself. Yes it is great to have cheerleaders to cheer you on, and I thank God I actually have a few sincere cheerleaders, however, more times than not, the cheerleaders are nowhere to be found or heard. Then what do you do? This is when you must learn how to encourage yourself in the Lord. You must learn how to be your own cheerleader and to throw your own pep rally!
David had to encourage himself in the Lord and dance his own dance, shout his own cheers and rejoice even when others were not to be found. I have been there many times it seems. Not that there were not people who I could confide in, but sometimes I had places to walk in my journey that I feel I’ve had to walk by myself. How else do you learn the Lord’s voice and know his leading. I found it is just the nature of people sometimes to jump on board the ship when they can go with you, but the moment you cross over into a place that is unfamiliar and uncomfortable to them, they abandon the ship in a quick hurry! When this happens, I know that the enemy will come immediately and try to convince you that you’ve missed GOD. He lies to you by telling you that you should just quit and do what everyone else is doing. He tells you that you’re too radical and that no one understands you. This is where you have to make a choice. You either, decide to take a stand, set your face like a flint, and say to yourself and to the enemy of your soul, though none go with me, I’M GOING! Or….You may listen to the lie and give up and go back to the familiar and to the crowd.
Matthew 14: 28-“Lord if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus
30. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
The Lord never intended for us to stay in the boat with the crowd. Frankly, He doesn’t want us to be crowd pleaser either! He intended for us to walk on the water and step out into the deep things of GOD. I refuse to stay in the boat and go through the motions of “acting like a Christian.” No, I may be out here at times by myself in a place that’s unfamiliar but this is where life is. This is what makes it exciting to be a Christian! This is also where I learn who the Lord is and how he wants to direct me and use me. I may even began to sink , as Peter did, when I get out of the boat, but I’ll get out again and again until I don’t sink and the water is solid under my feet. There may be those who are laughing at me, just like I am sure the other disciples who stayed in the boat laughed at Silly Peter, but which of them got to stare into the gaze of the Master and have Him to stretch out his hands to them? Only Peter got to have that experience while the others sat in the boat! Yes some may call me radical but I long to see the Lord’s gaze and have Him to reach for me and bid me to come! I want to be brave and get out of the boat, even if I have no supporters in the boat to cheer me… I will say to the Lord, “I’m coming Lord, I’m coming!
I write this blog today to cheer you! Come on you can do it! Whatever the Lord is asking you to do; He is extending his hand to you and saying “Come trust me!” He will never let you sink! Although Peter may have taken his eyes off Jesus for a brief moment, notice that the in Matt. 14:30 Peter was only beginning to sink when the Lord saved him….Be encouraged, He will not let you sink either, go for it! I would rather get out of the boat and try then to sit in the boat and always wonder if I could have done something differently!

The Father’s Good Pleasure!

5 Mar

 

via The Father’s Good Pleasure!.

The Father’s Good Pleasure!

5 Mar

The Father’s Good Pleasure!

Little Lamb Luke

Luke 12:32  (KJV) Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

As I write this, I was thinking about the past few weeks and how the Lord has just blessed my family beyond anything that we really asked him to.   I also thought about people who are still waiting for their promise to come.   Sometimes when it seems the Lord is passing out to everyone but to them, something just sort of rises up in them and mumbles, “Wait a minute, why am I not getting blessed? They are asking the Lord, “When is my season going to come?”  I know about those questions because I’ve been there, and I have asked them myself.  The one thing I’ve really learned, however, is that it is all available to me and has always been available.  I don’t want to get upset because others are getting theirs and totally miss mine because I’m off pouting somewhere. My Pastor calls a pouting mentality an orphan spirit.  If I am a child of God then all that He has is mine!   I’ve learned to rejoice with others, because I know that the same blessings are available to me!

When the prodigal son left the Father’s house to go and “live it up and waste what his Daddy gave him” He had to come to a place of realization.  He had to realize that regardless of what he did or didn’t do the Father’s love was enough and that he could go home to the blessing. His older brother, however, was upset that the Father would just welcome the prodigal son back home and throw him a party, kill the fatted calf, put a ring on his finger, give him His best robe…Why? The older brother didn’t realize that all of it had been available to him all along.  The eldest brother could have lived in a perpetual party, but he let envy and bitterness rob him from receiving the blessing of the Father. How sad it will be that many Christians will get to heaven and only then find out what was made available to them while they lived upon the earth, but they never received it because of envy and jealously.  

When Jesus bled and died, He said “It is finished!” So everything is available to us, but not all things are entrusted to us right away.  Like the prodigal son had to go through some character building lessons, so do we.  My son would love to have a mustang car, he is only 13.  Do you think I will give him a mustang car now?  NO WAY….Why?  Because he is a child and he is not mature enough to handle a mustang…Many Christians are still childish and they are not mature enough to handle all that they want from the Lord.   As the above scripture states, Luke 12:32 (KJV) Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  The Father is not withholding from you, but maybe he is protecting you long enough for you to build up a strong character, that whatever you want from him will not destroy you, but will benefit you!

 

Please check out my weekly post at www.lakeviewtimes.com

Made Available in Paperback “Tell the Enemy to Scat!”

18 Apr

Made Available in Paperback "Tell the Enemy to Scat!".

Suzy Homemakers At it Again! My Recipes for Homemade Fabric Softner!

15 Apr

Homemade with Vinegar 002

DISCLAIMER< THIS IS WHAT WORKS FOR ME AND MY HOUSEHOLD< I AM MAKING NO PROMISES< AM NOT PAID TO SELL PRODUCTS OR ANYTHING ELSE, THIS IS MEANT ONLY TO GIVE OPTION AND IS MERELY A RECCOMMENDATION BASED ON WHAT I LIKE! 

Yay, So very Simple and Absolutely Wonderful!

  1. Recipe for Homemade Fabric Softner Using Essential Oils sorta of all Natural which I like!

Pour White Distilled Vinegar in an empty 2 liter bottle

Add  as much Pure Essential Oils as you wish of any scent that you wish.

I actually added about 5 drops of pure Essential Lavendar Oil which scented it more than enough

for our family.

I then shook it up to evenly mix it.

Pour 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup into each load on the rinse cycle…

Your clothes will come out feeling so soft and will be static free!

The Natural recipe  works wonderfully by itself, however there is another option!

  depending on how organic or natural  you want to go!

Homemade with Vinegar 001 Conditioner

2. Recipe for Fabric Softner using White Vinegar and Hair Conditioner

The first time I even made Homemade Fabric Softener using White Vinegar this was the recipe I used!

6 cups white vinegar

1 bottle of hair conditioner, whatever fragrance you love

4 cups of water

Mix all the ingredients together, again I use a recycled 2 liter bottle and shake before each use.

I use approximately 1/2 cup in rinse cycle  and clothes smell great and are soft. The conditioner

will settle to the bottom or float to the top, so the fabric softener has to be shaken with each use.

Yay! Feeling like I’ve Got Somethings Accomplished!

5 Apr

Hello All,  It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged so I missed really taking the time and doing it!  I have been a little busy bee lately and it is wonderful but takes me away from my blog at times. 

This is my “Something” that I’ve  gotten accomplished!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Mrs.%20Christine%20Gilliam%20Hornback&search-alias=books&sort=relevancerank

My New Paperback Book

My New Paperback Book

I have had  my latest Adult Ficion book, Tell the Enemy to Scat on an Ebook since July 2012, but I wanted to do a paperback version to take do booksignings with ! Which by the way I have a huge event coming up On April 13th as per the following:  Everyone is Invited! 

Neva Lomason Library Book Festival will be hosting local Author Christine Gilliam Hornback along with 30 plus other authors as she speaks and signs her Juvenile Fiction books entitled Jenny Lynn’s Secret Mission and Caleb’s Cereal. Christine will have her new book entitled Tell the Enemy to Scat as well! Come out and support local Authors and your local Library.  710 Rome Street Carrollton, Ga 30117, ph (770)836-6711

I also was able to finish all the edits on my Audio book from my latest Juvenile Fiction Caleb’s Cereal! Below is a sample of the audio from Amazon.com which I thought was so COOOOL!

http://www.amazon.com/Calebs-Cereal/dp/B00BWSL3IM/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365181132&sr=1-1&keywords=Caleb%27s+Cereal

 

Juvenile Ficion released April 2012

Juvenile Ficion released April 2012

Finally I’ve been teaching painting lessons to a couple groups of children and adults.  I’ve been doing a Sip-N-Stroke painting class usually the 2nd Saturday of each month.  I also teach at the GMKS and Beyond Arts Center in Douglasville, Ga every Thursday, and then at a homeschool group on Monday’s so Yay! 

My normal days of course include taking care of my husband of 32 years, and  raising 2 boys ages 12 and 8 and getting them homeschooled.  Have you ever tried to feed two growing boys?????It is a full time job, believe me!   I love my life, GOD is so very good to me and my family….Looking forward to walking through some long awatied doors that he has just recently been opening!  So Yay!  Today is my celebration of getting somethings accomplished!

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