Living a Balanced Christian Life (and other funny jokes) ... a devotion from Dianne J. Wilson

If you're anything like me, you spend most of your time juggling many things, wondering if you should have them all on your plate and trying to figure out how to 'balance' it all. Sound familiar?

Sometimes I feel like I'm limping along on a flat. Who am I kidding - most times.

I've attempted to fix my life pizza-style. You know, rearrange things into equal time sections so that everything at least gets a touch. That's not realistic though, so I whipped it all about into some sort of redeemed Mazlo's Hierachy... God first, family second, then church... oh wait. Is it meant to be church then family? I just can't get it straight. But where do you fit a book deadline into that? Or car repairs? How about elastics that need to be stitched onto a ballet shoe? Does that legitimately belong in family?

I've winged it too... on-the-fly-allocate more time to those things that are apparently more valuable than others. But you know what? All it takes it one cat with a fur-ball who decides it's time to let it all out over the lounge carpet to blow my priorities out the water. Or a kidlet who forgot about a speech that has to be done for tomorrow. Or a dropped bottle of ketchup-slash-tomato sauce... Fill in the blanks.

I've come to realize what I was missing from the whole equation. To run smoothly every wheel needs an axle, a central point that is constant. For us, that's Jesus. Once He is securely central, the origin for each thing that captures our time and energy... then our lives run balanced.

Here's the funny thing - there will be seasons of complete and utter 'unbalanced-ness' for each of us. A deadline, a new baby... whatever hits your life with enough force to shake you wonky. But when Jesus is smack in the middle, somehow the wheel can still run smoothly.

How can it though, when the spokes - AKA all the demands on us - are sometimes so unequal? Ask any cyclist how bumpy a ride with spokes like that would be.

Here is the secret... Jesus is a magnificent spoke equalizer. He doesn't just stand on the sidelines, barking orders and smacking his forehead when we get it wrong. He is right in the middle of our mess, His grace, the elastic that reaches the bits we can't get to. He stretches and holds on our behalf when our internal elastic is so frayed that our mental and emotional pants are falling down.

Right now for me, life is a stretch. I single-parent during the week, miss my hubby between weekends, try my best to mommy my girls, work, do home & pets and chase my deadlines. Some days I feel like something has to give or I'll conk out. But you know what? I just need to stay cuddled up to Jesus. He has all these things that pull at me, these spokes... He has them all. Where I fall short (so so short) He doesn't. And He's got you too.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She is writing the third book in YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed. Book 1, Affinity is releasing on the 8th of June 2018.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

I am often a witness to this phenomenon with my five-year-old son at the dinner table. That moment when the child can hardly flex his jaw for all the food propping it open. How often have I told him "not so much", or "one bite at a time", or "swallow that before you stuff any more in there!" Slowly I am learning how easy it is to find yourself in that predicament.  

This post is perhaps a perfect example of that--one more bite that probably should have been passed to someone else. Yesterday was the deadline for the third book in my Hearts at War series and the release of my debut novel (the first book in that series) is in less than two weeks. 

That would have probably been enough for the month, but I also decided to gnaw on home renos and putting our house on the market. Add packing up half the house so it won't look cluttered when people come to view (two adults and three kids in a two bedroom home makes for tight on space). 

Change always fills up the mouth quite quick, so why not add some more? This week my responsibilities have changed with the children's program in our church. I am now in charge of music, which etails teaching the children new songs. Two twenty minute programs every Sunday. 

And I still have to do laundry and dishes and tidy up (and chase) after three kids under 6. Oh, and two birthday parties - one for the sweet girl who turns four today! :) 

Please don't think I just wrote my laundry list so you could feel overwhelmed with me.  On the contrary, I shared some of the craziness of this month so I can testify to the greatness of our God. For he is Great. He is my strength and in Him all things are possible! 

Somehow I have enough time. Somehow books get written and children get cared for and read to. Somehow I am carried through tasks when I'm too weary to do it on my own. 

There will always come those days, months, or even years that we realise we have bitten off more we can chew. We have writing deadlines and book promotion intermingled with real life. God is always near, ready and willing to bear our burdens and give us the strength we need as we move forward in faith!

A Woman Compelled by Christian Charity
Surrounded by the musket fire of the American Revolution, Rachel Garnet prays for her family to be safe.  When the British invade the Mohawk Valley, and her father and brother don’t return from the battle, she goes in pursuit of them. She finds her brother alive but her father has been killed at the hand of the enemy. Amidst the death, how can she ignore a cry for help…? Rachel reluctantly takes in a badly wounded British officer. But how long can her sense of Christian duty repress her hatred for his scarlet coat?

A Man Lost to the Devastation of War
Passages of Scripture and fleeting images of society are all Andrew Wyndham recalls after he awakens to the log walls of his gentle prison. Even his name eludes him. Rachel Garnet insists he is a captain in the British army. He mourns the loss of his memory, but how can he hope to remember war when his “enemy” is capturing his heart?

A Scarlet Uniform Holds the Power to Unite or Divide
Andrew’s injuries are severe, his memory slow to return, and the secret of his existence too perilous to ignore. As Rachel nurses him back to health, his hidden scarlet coat threatens to expose the deeds of her merciful heart, and Andrew is forced to face a harrowing decision—Stay hidden and risk losing the woman he loves or turn himself in and risk losing his life.

Available for Preorder at:       Barnes & Noble           Indigo/Chapters         Amazon

Where I'd Rather Be

As many of you are probably aware, this past weekend was the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) annual conference in Dallas, Texas. Some of you were even able to go. And I have to admit to moments of envy. As my Facebook feed filled with photos and updates from the conference, as the wonderful writers of my critique group met in person for the first time, as I heard about contacts being made with my dream publishers and agents... Yep, I wanted to be there.

It didn't help recalling how one of my close friends recently signed her first contract with a publisher right after a writer's conference she attended. Or the fact that some of the agents I would love to target have a "only if we met at conference" policy.

*Sigh* It's probably just what my writing career needs at this point.

And yet I'm glad I couldn't go! Because if I could have gone, it probably would have been because I didn't have a baby at home needing me...and I wouldn't give that up even for a four book contract with Bethany house!

The Lord has a plan for my life, my family and for my writing.

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven"

Wonderfully complex seasons ebb and flow as we travel through life. How important it is to trust in the Lord's plan for our lives and seek His guidance, so that as we pass through this mortal existence we will enjoy the treasures that He has prepared for us. A baby's smile, the laughter of children, the conversation of good friends and family, watching His truth touch the lives of others...or seeing our words in print. ;)

So whether it be family, finances, or health that keep you from places you would go, and things you would do "if only"... Remember to find joy in the journey and trust in the Lord's plan for your life.

For me, though a part of me would have loved to go to the ACFW conference and have all the time in the world to write and pursue that career, I am home raising my three precious children and even planning a fourth in a couple years, and there is nowhere I'd rather be!

Of course, next year's conference might be a possibility. ;)

Angela K Couch is a member of ACFW and a semi-finalist in 2015’s Genesis contest. In 2014 she was a finalist of the “Storming the Short Story” contest, and in 2015 her short stories won the romance category of the same, and won the ACFW Virginia Chapter short story contest. The anthology A Kiss is Still a Kiss holds her story “Shackled” now available for preorder. Angela lives in Alberta, Canada with her “hero” and three munchkins. Visit her at www.angelakcouch.com, or follow on Twitter or Facebook!