Tag: jessica r patch

Are You Afraid of Intimacy?

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

Intimacy can be scary. Into Me See. How many people do you let look into you and really see who you are?

I’m guessing  not many. 

God is a touchy/feely kind of God. He’s hands on. Intimate. Maybe that frightens you because you’ve been intimate with someone and been hurt. I get that. But God never mishandles our hearts. He’s gentle. Easy. Soft.

Let’s go back to Genesis–meaning beginning–to creation. I’m a God-made-the-earth-and-us kind of gal, maybe you are too. Maybe not. I believe Jesus spoke everything into existence with only a word. 

“In the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were made by Him, and nothing was made without Him.” John 1:1-3 NCV


“Him” is Jesus. The Word. 

But He created Man with 
His hands and His breath.

“And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” Genesis 2:7 NJKV
God prepared for fellowship/intimacy with us.
God planned, prepared and proceeded to create everything Man would need to dwell on the Earth.  He still plans, prepares, and proceeds with everything we need before He puts us in specific places. Not just spiritual places, but in our day to day living. If we seek His will out, we’ll find that career, job, ministry, church and the list goes on. 
To be intimate you have to spend quality time with one you’re getting to know. I know what my husband is thinking most of the time. I know what he will and will not want to do. Why? Because I’ve spent hours getting to know what he likes and doesn’t. 
Think of your child, if you have one. On a playground with dozens, I can pick my child’s cry or voice out of all of them, and my children know their Mama’s voice. Why? Because I know them. I’ve talked to them, listened to them. We’re bonded. 
God communed with Adam and Eve. He walked with them in the Garden, brought Adam the animals to name just to marvel at what he’d call them. There was relationship. And there were a few rules.
Eve and Adam sinned. And then they hid.
After their eyes were opened they realized they were naked and immediately they hid themselves and made garments of fig leaves.
Intimacy before God means a naked heart. Vulnerable. Open. Showing every flaw.
God asked where they were. Not that He didn’t know already, but He was giving them a chance to fess up. And God’s relational. He wanted a conversation. He wanted the opportunity to show them some mercy. He could’ve wiped them off the face of the earth. But He didn’t.
He’s patient. Kind. He’s never “had it” with us. Oh, He disciplines us, but it’s because He loves us. God gave consequences to the serpent, to Adam, and to Eve. One of those consequences was, they had to leave paradise. Go out and toil, work, the whole childbirth thing which I am still a little bitter about. 
He put His hands on them before He sent them out.
The first animal to ever be killed, was by God Himself–“The LORD God made clothes from animal skins for the man and his wife and dressed them.” Genesis 3:21 
He knew fig leaves wouldn’t be durable or proper for the life they were about to lead.
We can’t provide for ourselves. About the best we can do alone, is dress in fig leaves. 
God shows love and intimacy even in consequences.
He still wants intimacy with you and me today. He wants to breathe into us and provide for us. Commune. 
He wants to wrap His arms around us, listen to us, collect our tears, wipe the eyes of our broken hearts, laugh with us, cheer us on as we make strides forward. 
He wants to be on our minds when we wake, the last thought before we drift off to a peaceful rest at night. He wants to fill us with joy.
He simply wants His hands on us. 

I’m hosting at Living By Grace today. I’d love for you to come by and chat about intimacy. 

Why do you think people have a hard time with intimacy? With God and other people?

Lost On My Own Street. Literally.

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch
Bailey…need I say more?

You hope it won’t happen, but when it does  you’re faced with the reality that life will never be the same again. First, an anvil smacks your chest, then a quarter-sized knot forms in the back of your throat and flashes of horrible places materialize in your mind. You bite your lip and try to figure out a way to keep it from happening.

That’s right. The moment you realize your daughter is as directionally challenged as you are. 
Here’s how it all began…
The party foods were purchased. My house was clean and candles burning. The wood was stacked by the fire pit and I had decided to let my daughter and her friend go outside and down the street.
Let me be clear. I never let my daughter wander around the sub-division. The fact that she’s out of my sight freaks me out a little. But she just turned 13 so when she asked if they could go across the street, I thought she meant down to the stop sign and back or hanging out in front of the house.
I went on about my business. Other friends were about to arrive along with one of my BFF’s “Jane.” I texted my daughter.
“Come home. Em is going to be here soon.”
“Yes, ma’am.” 
10 minutes went by.
“B, come home!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
What I found later that happened in these moments between texts was this:
Bailey calls “Jane.”  
“Jane, can you tell me if Pintail and Windsor is close to my house?”
“Why? Where are you? Is your mom lost again?”
“Um, no, but I am.”
“Where are you?” Jane asks.
“I don’t know! That’s why I’m calling you!”
“Call your mom. I’m on the way there now. I don’t know where Pintail or Windsor is.”
Not wanting to call her mother, Bailey and her friend wander aimlessly until she spotted a man and his friend in their yard. She took another look and realized he was a teacher at her school, but not one of hers, so she walked up and asked, “Could you help me?”
“Sure, what’s up?”
“I can’t find my house.” OMG Seriously? She’s 13! I’m pretty sure I died a little when I heard this.
I can only imagine his face or thoughts at this point. “What’s your address?”
She tells him. 
“Oh, sweetie, you’re way off.” He proceeded to give her directions and apparently she took one turn more than she should. Finally she decided to call when she got this message.
“If you don’t get home ASAP, I so will ground you on your birthday and take back all your presents. Try me. I dare you.” 
My phone rang. “Mom…uh…where’s our house?”
It took a second for her words to register. 
“I’m at Pintail and Windsor.” Which she didn’t even pronounce right. It’s not Windsoar. It’s windzer. And I wasn’t exactly sure. 
“Please tell me you aren’t lost in our subdivision? Really, Bailey? I can’t leave! Guests are coming!”
“Miss Jane doesn’t know. I tried her first.” 
“Are you facing the sun or not?”
“I am now. But when I turn around I’m not.” OMG! 
“I guess I’ll have to call Cheryl and tell her to go on in the house, hopefully she’ll get here before a robber since I have to leave it unlocked. Don’t move.”
I called Cheryl. “How far are you away?”
“Oh not far.”
I explained I let my daughter and another child wander off and get lost. I’m sure she was feeling confident about leaving her granddaughter. She laughed. I didn’t miss the slight shake in it. I hung up and started looking at road signs. 
Two minutes later, they were standing on the corner (God help us not that kind of corner) waving at me like a couple of complete goofs. They were literally straight down the street.
I get to the house before Cheryl and then Jane drives up. “Where were they?”
“Down the street. Literally.”
She laughs. “Like mother like daughter.” And I remember when Jane and I got lost going back home to IL. We went 4 hours out of the way before I realized it. Yeah, I blogged about it.
Will I ever let Bailey get her license when she can’t even get herself home in our subdivision? I don’t wanna, but how long until I absolutely have to cut the apron strings? 
Her defense: “Mom, if you ever let me hang out in the subdivision I’d know my way.”
True.
But maybe not if she really is like me. 
Do you see the terrifying things about yourself in your kids?
Ever see a hint of your parents in you? 
By the way, Jane and I did survive the party thanks to locks on doors and tons of TIVO’d shows and my laptop. Starting the bonfire was interesting to say the least. I’ll have to buy more lighter fluid…




Shake Your Ministry-Maker

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

Have you ever compared yourself or dare I say, your ministry with someone else’s? Have you ever wondered aloud, in question form, much like Sarah on CSI…(Why does that woman always speak in questions whether she’s asking one or not?) I just don’t underSTAND? 

“God, how can I be doing anything for you when I have a Bible study group of 3? And two of them are only here for free childcare because their kids are driving them nuts. Duh, haven’t they heard of MOPS? Oh wait, they go to MOPS, too.”

“Lord, is there nothing else I can do but rock babies every 6th Sunday? I mean look at (insert name), she’s leading Women’s Ministry and it’s pushing 200 women on a slow night! I don’t matter. I have nothing. And this baby is slobbering on my brand new Goodwill shirt. Yeah, yeah, I’m thankful….for the shirt”

“Okay, I can bake another casserole, but did you hear (insert name) on the stage today? Singing like an angel, engaging the entire congregation, tears running down her face. It just doesn’t make this tuna-noodle seem important.”

“Lord, I’m barely hanging on with this one WIP and look at (insert name), she’s not only selling books left and right, she’s going all over the world speaking! I can’t ever be her!”

No, you can’t. You won’t. But you are YOU! And you, righteous one, are special. Holy to God. Set apart for a unique purpose. 
“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure…” Deuteronomy 7:6 NKJV

I’m gonna go Old Testament on you for a minute. Walk back in time with me for a second and bear with me, I have a point. No, really, like I do.  Way back, after God freed His people (Hebrews/Israelites) from bondage (Egypt), He made a beautiful covenant with them. I am Your God, You are My people. I love you. I want to do wonderful things through and in you. If you’ll obey me and love Me back. (Paraphrase)
Now, they wandered in the desert for a really long time, 40 years (that’s another story but I’ll leave it with, they had it coming) but they needed a place to worship God. So God gave Moses some very detailed instructions.
There’s a lesson here: God is detailed. He’s in the details and if you’ll pause long enough, He’ll give you clear direction, detailed directions on how to accomplish something for Him.
He gave Moses instruction on how to build a traveling tabernacle. Tent like construction that they could put up and take down as they journeyed to their Promised land. You can read about those amazing instructions in Exodus chapter 26.  Particular colors, fabrics, sizes, settings, a way to break it down and a way to raise it up. 
AND…how to carry it as they traveled. This is important!

First God made sure to put people in the bunch who had the ability and skills to construct and create the pattern given.
God always gives you resources when He gives you a task! He does not set you up to fail. 
(Although we do stumble at times, we are not utterly cast down. Even in times of stumbling, God has a plan to get us to where He wants us to be. Take stumbling as a learning experience to get you closer to THE plan!)
Don’t call it failure! Call it a stumble. Failure means staying down; it means I didn’t make it. Stumbling means tripping ALONG THE WAY!

Let’s jump forward. The tabernacle is built. The articles that go inside, finished. Everything is prepared and ready. The details have been followed exactly. By the way, a freebie for you, the reason God made everything detailed was because each article down to the tassels of the priests robes pointed to Jesus Christ! Oh, yes, friend. Everything about the Old Testament is about our Awesome Savior! Don’t think for a second it’s dry history. Even the desert wasn’t always dry! Not when  God was making rivers through it!
Gifted artisans constructed the tabernacle. Hey, maybe you know how to sew so you make costumes for the Christmas play. But you don’t sing the solo that receives great applause. You did put that person in character, you took the crowd back in time and placed them right there at the manger. It wouldn’t have been as believable had they been in skinny jeans and a hoodie at Jesus’ birth. YOU were gifted. YOU were used. YOU are important! 
God put the Levites in charge of the tabernacle.
I know Levi 501’s. I know Levi Kreis the singer. I know Levi so and so from across the street, but who is Levite?
Levites were men from the tribe of Levi. Levi one of the 12 sons of Jacob. Jacob the Patriarch. Levi the head of the Levite tribe. And his boys were set apart as priests. Not all Levites were priests, but all priests had to be a Levite! (Except Jesus but that’s another blog!) They were set apart for service to  God.
What’s that got to do with you? 
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness and into His marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9 NJKV (bold letters all me)
The whole point of priest in the OT? A picture or foreshadowing of who WE are to be today, ministers to God (and Jesus is our High Priest)! 
Now let’s do a breakdown real quick so we can understand a couple of things:
Levi had 3 sons: Gershon, Kohath, & Merari 
Any boy in any generation born from these three men were Levites and could be a priest.
Why is this important? I’m getting there.
 Hang with me! 
Each one of these tribes had a specific job when it came to taking care of the tabernacle and carrying it on their journey in the desert. FYI, Moses & Aaron came from Amram who was the son of Kohath. Just sayin. And no, I don’t get the horrible names either.
Duties of Kohath:
The sons of Kohath (sons meaning generational not literal) served the tabernacle by taking care of the most holy things: the veil, the ark of the covenant, the Testimony, the table of showbread, and the golden altar. Each man assigned what to carry. Pretty important isn’t it? Wow, to be close to the most holy things? You can read about all of their ministries in Numbers 4:1-20.
Duties of Gershon:
They carried the curtains of the tabernacle and the tabernacle of meeting with its covering, the screens for the doors, the hangings of the court which surround the tabernacle and altar, their cords and furnishings for service and all that is made for those things particular things. Each man assigned what they were to carry. Not the most holy things, but definitely a big job, right? Numbers 4:21-28
Duties of Merari:
These guys served by carrying the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, its sockets, and the pillars around the court with its sockets, pegs, and cords, with all the furnishings for this service. Each man was assigned what to carry. Sound like grunt work doesn’t it? Far from the most holy and even a step down from what the Gershon boys were taking care of. Numbers 4:29-33


Here’s my point: It doesn’t matter which group you’re in. You are vital to carrying the love of Jesus around. Without you and what you do, something gets left behind.

Maybe you’re rocking a baby. But Mama and Daddy get to go to service and be refreshed. Maybe during that one service, their failing marriage is restored. All because you carried a tent peg. Nope, you weren’t on the stage leading them into worship, you weren’t Kohath. But had  childcare been cancelled because no one would volunteer…?
Maybe you bake casseroles for sick families or when families lose a loved one. You may not be leading 200 women at a Bible study, but you’ve done them a great service by carrying that curtain and giving them something they couldn’t give themselves at the moment. 
No, you don’t travel the world and speak to millions. You don’t pump out best-sellers every six months and have a twitter following of 1 million. But you do write quality work and it does get in the hands of a few thousand. And in that few thousand a wife realizes she’s been neglecting her husband and repents, a daughter sees her past mistakes as a chance to minister to others, a mother awakens to the idea of a second chance with her children. And a few women realize they can keep moving forward. 
How is that not important, righteous one? The veil, a curtain, a socket. It matters not. 
“I tell you the truth, when you did it to the least of these…you were doing it to Me.” ~Jesus (Mt.24:40 NLT)
“It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have. 1 Corinthians 12:10-12 NLT

I’m hosting at Living By Grace today! Come on over and let’s talk about ministering to the church! 
Share a novel that has ministered to you and don’t forget to add who the author is! 

Faith Readers Group Review: The Chair by James L. Rubart

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

So what do you think? This is the front/back side to our book marks! Our church is blessed with a web designer, Jeff Redding, who designed this for us. We stuffed them in books to donate to local hospital libraries. If someone needs prayer, wants to join a local inspirational book club, or simply needs a book mark, they have it! 


Last night, we met for our 2nd book club discussion in our Cornerstone Cafe. We had home-made pumpkin dip with gingersnap cookies and a few other assortment of cookies for dipping. And of course, coffee! 

We settled in and over dessert we discussed 
The Chair by James L. Rubart. 
NO SPOILER ALERTS!

“So what is your final conclusion? 
Do you believe the chair has the power to heal?”

Each month I choose a genre and select 8-10 books within that genre, then we take a vote. Several women were outvoted in the speculative fiction category, but hey, we won’t always agree and that’s what makes book club interesting. (but those who got out voted ended up liking the book)
The Chair is about two brothers, Corin and Shasta, who haven’t spoken in ten years because of a tragic accident leaving Shasta paralyzed from the neck down. When an old woman brings Corin a chair claiming it was made by the greatest carpenter ever, Corin has his doubts, but when a little boy is healed from sitting in the chair, it takes him on a great journey of faith and hopefully answers to restoring the estrangement between himself and his brother, Shasta.
“Well how did you like the book? Did everyone here like it?” 
“I’ll admit, I really didn’t want to read this book. It’s a chair. Who wants to read a book about a chair? But…I was hooked to the very end. Out of 1-5 I give it a 4.”
“Me too,” another said. “I give it a 5 because it spoke to me personally. I was in the hospital waiting with my husband when I started reading this. They told me my husband may never walk again and for a few days he was paralyzed. And this year has been hard for my family, but God gave me the word ‘restoration.'”



No one scored The Chair below a 3 on the rating scale. 

The theme was restoration but 
not everyone saw that as the main theme. 

“I saw it as a journey of trust and faith. He had to dig to figure out what it was he believed and he was tested every step of the way.”

“I saw restoration.” Many agreed with this statement and the above.

Every one had someone to relate with.
“I could relate with Nicole.”
“I relate to Corin. I had an estrangement with my sister and even though I tried to mend it, she wouldn’t forgive me, but I was healed.”
I think we could even relate with Pastor Mark, hiding our weaknesses from others while desperately trying to find something to heal us inside from our sins. A quick fix when so many times healing and delivering is a process. Sometimes  God heals instantly. Sometimes He makes us walk it out.
“I could relate to Tori–the girlfriend. She was hurt in church and sometimes it’s harder to bounce back from a Christian hurting us than someone who claims no faith. We expect more from Christians.”
The Chair wasn’t what everyone expected. 
It was more.
I kept thinking, “Get in that chair! Put him in it!” And when something happened (I won’t give it away) it hit me that I was rooting for the chair…and not Jesus. Which shows how easy it is to take your eyes off the Healer and on the object. 
Here’s a peek at the chair:
When an elderly lady shows up in Corin Roscoe’s antiques store claiming to have a chair made by Jesus Christ, he laughs her off. But after she delivers an ancient looking chair made of olive wood three days later—with a cryptic message attached to it—he begins to wonder.
Corin’s world shatters as he searches for the truth about the artifact, and the unexplained phenomena that seems to come from it. And he’s not the only one who will do almost anything to possess the power that appears to surround the chair.
*Not every person made it to the discussion and some of them said they found it hard to get into, but liked it once they got going. One said, it simply wasn’t her cup of tea.

Discussion was great and I recommend, along with a lot of other ladies, The Chair as one of your reads, eve if it seems far fetched, hey, it’s fiction but the theme and the hope…well, that’s very real. 

For November we’re reading Amish fiction. I figure Thanksgiving, bonnets…you know. We voted on A Stranger’s Wish by Gayle Roper. 
I’m looking forward to it as it’s my very first Amish book to read. Ever! I’m branching out!

Also a big thanks, to Rhonda Ritenour for awarding me with the Liebster blog award! Yay! Check out her blog, Ritty’s Adventures in Writing!
Happy Halloween! Will you be trick-or-treating tonight, Trunk-or-Treating, Fall festival-ing it? What’s your favorite Halloween candy?

I’m a Lush…

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

I admit it. I like to drink. Coffee. I wouldn’t say I’m a coffee connoisseurer, but I am a creamer lush. Creamer is my crack.

Right now these are the flavors that beckon me from the fridge.

Cinnamon bun
Hazelnut
French vanilla
Vanilla Caramel
Belgium Chocolate Toffee 


All of these are, of course, from Coffee-mate. 
I don’t slum it with International Delight.

But my favorite time of this fall season, is the holiday line creamers. Oldies I look forward to and new ones that tease me. 
I. Must. Have.



To get the holiday creamers I want, I’ll punch a kid in the nose, bash an elderly lady, trip a pregnant mom, and flirt with the guy that drives the cleaning Zamboni, if he’ll get me what I want. 

I’ve been known to drop the butter, spill the soy, dump the 2%  to create a diversion if the last Pumpkin latte creamer is on the line.

Here are my two favorites so far.  
I actually have 3 of the warm
cinnamon sugar cookies.
The new warm cinnamon sugar cookie is so good, I could snuggle up to it at night, if DH would make a little room in the bed, geez, selfish much? In fact, it’s so good, I might hook an IV line to my arm with it. Or marry it, if I could get away with it.
And of course, since we’re going into November. I’ll cherish my coffee and crack creamer in my holiday mug.
And when the holidays are over, I’ll be singing this song:

What say you, friend? 
What’s your holiday crack creamer of choice?  

*I really don’t trip pregnant women ,punch kids, or hurt the elderly. Flirting with the Zamboni cleaning guy…possible.

The Sweetest Downfall

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

Who knows this song? “You are my sweetest downfall…I loved you first, I loved you first…and the history books forgot about us and the Bible didn’t even mention us… not even once…”


Any takers? It’s a song called Samson by Regina Spektor. I hear it all the time on my pandora station. It’s probably the corniest song about Samson and Delilah I’ve ever listened to. They didn’t even make wonder bread back then and the Bible does mention them. I don’t get it. Whatever. I still hum along to it. I know, right?
There are lots of songs about Delilah, yet she’s known for one thing. Betrayal. And really, can you trust a hooker from the Valley? Okay, maybe she wasn’t a hooker and the Valley was in Sorek (Phillistine land) but still. Which makes me think, “Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!” But that’s  The Princess Bride, and I digress.
Who I want to talk about is Samson. There’s so much to learn from that man. Mostly, what not to do. So let’s do a information dump real quick.
Samson was to be a Nazarite.  Judges 13:5 A Nazarite vow was special and set someone apart specifically for the Lord. (Numbers 6) 
Here’s the rules:
1. He shall abstain from all wine and similar drink; nothing can be drunk or eaten that is produced from the grape vine
2. No razor can touch his head. ie..no hair cuts. Period. (Until his time of vow is up)
3. He can NOT go near a dead body; he can’t be unclean even for his father and mother or brother and sister when they die (so hopefully neither of them would die b/c touching them or going near them would be a no no) 

Now that we know the rules, let’s skip back to Judges. 

The Angel of the Lord (Pre-Incarnate Jesus) comes to Samson’s mother and tells her she’s about to conceive and that the baby is to be a Nazarite for his entire life. (It’s hard for me to picture Samson with Crystal Gayle hair, so I won’t.)
Samson grows up. He’s arrogant, a prankster–he was the original riddler, yah know. (Judges 14:13) and he has a hankerin for women. In the early nineties, we would have called Samson a “mac daddy” or a “playa”

God used Samson in spite of himself. He chose him!

Sometimes, God uses me in spite of myself and I’m thankful for His grace. Now let’s get to the roar in our story, pardon the pun. You’ll get it later.

Judges 14. Samson took a trip to Timnah and sure enough he spotted a sweet little thing and decided he wanted to marry her. So he goes home and says , “I have seen a woman in Timnah, of the Phillistines, now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” First of all, the Israelites weren’t supposed to be hookin up with anyone who wasn’t an Israelite. Sheesh! Second of all, who says, “therefore, go get her” ? 

They question him and he says, basically, “I don’t care. She’s right in my eyes. I’m marrying her.” Which is the whole theme of Judges, everyone doing whatever they think is right in their eyes. And pretty much nothing was.

Now here’s an interesting verse. “But his father and mother did not know that it was of the LORD–that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time, the Philistines had dominion over Israel.”

That’s right. The Philistines were always enemies of the Israelites and on occasion God would use them to teach His people a lesson in humility. Now it was time to turn it around. 

Let me make a note here about this verse. You might be thinking, “If God said don’t marry anyone other than an Israelite, then how can marrying a Philistine girl be okay with Him? Isn’t that contradicting?”

Yes, yes it is. Except that’s not what that verse means in context. God knew Samson was stubborn. He was having this girl no matter what. You can hear it in Samson’s words in the above verses, so God uses Samson in spite of himself. 

God works good out of everything. He accomplishes His purposes through other’s mistakes all the time. In spite of us.

On with the story. Samson heads down to Timnah and along the way, a lion jumps out at him and Samson tore the lion apart with his bare hands. Yes, Samson, you’re strong. Actually, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson and gave him the strength to defeat the lion. He went on about his business, stayed a few days with the Timnah wife-to-be and on his way back…

“He turned aside to see the carcass of the lion.”

“And behold, a swarm of bees and honey were in the carcass of the lion. He took some of it in his hands and went along, eating. When he came to his father and mother, he gave some to them, and they also ate. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.”

First, let’s just all say it together: “Eeew.” 

Secondly, let’s remember Samson wasn’t to go near a dead body, even a lion’s. He not only made himself unclean, but by deceiving his parents, he made them unclean too.

Number one lesson learned: 

Sometimes in our life, we slay an enemy; we leave it dead on the road, but we come back to it. We can’t seem to help ourselves. 


“But you belong to God, my dear children…the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.” 1 John 4:4 NLT
(the same Spirit who gave you the strength to defeat the “lion” in the first place)

It appears as sweet as honey. We can’t see the rotting corpse of that sin; we only want a taste. 


“Your promises are sweet to me, sweeter than honey in my mouth.” Psalm 119:103 NCV

Sometimes, we drag others into that sin.


“But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck.” Mark 9:42 NLT

You cannot “turn aside to look.” Don’t veer off the path. Keep walking. Leave the lion on the side of the road. 


“Therefore, you shall be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or the left.” Deuteronomy 5:32 NKJV

It’s a honey-trap and as you’ll see, it won’t take long before Samson finds himself in a new kind of honey-trap…with Delilah.

Have you ever found yourself going back to something you defeated earlier? 

Must Read Monday: The Shadow of Your Smile by Susan May Warren

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

“If God would start playing by the rules, it would sure be easier to trust Him.”


I’ve had the opportunity to read Susan May Warren’s The Shadow of Your Smile. If you’re a Susan May Warren fan and stories from Deep Haven, you won’t be disappointed in this novel.

Plot and subplot are rich with drama, romance, and humor.

This novel is about a couple in their mid-forties, who’ve already had a tragedy strike their lives, now–Noelle Hueston is thinking about leaving her husband and starting over. One last kiddo to graduate and she’s making a new life, but an incident leaves her injured and her memory past college is gone. Funny, when she wakes up, she truly thinks she’s twenty-one! Which is sad and hilarious at the same time.

This main plot is about loving, forgiving, and starting over. A beautiful story of two married people who’ve grown apart through time and unfortunate circumstances.  I thought the ending to this plot was well done and I closed the book with satisfaction.

The subplot involved the couple’s oldest son, Kyle, and his love interest, another local from Deep Haven, but the tragedy that wrecked the Hueston family reached into Emma Nelson’s family as well. 

Susan May Warren has a unique way of describing using all the senses and when I read one of her books, including this one, I feel like I’m transported to Deep Haven. I live there as long as it takes me to read the book. I had lots of time yesterday, so I read it in one long stretch. 

This book is set to release in 2012. I recommend you nab it up when it does. You’ll enjoy winter in Deep Haven, the crackling fires, fresh powdered snow blanketing a story of lost love, found. 

I appreciate Tyndale giving me the chance to review it in return for my honest opinion.
Here’s a sneak peek at The Shadow of Your Smile: 

A beautiful blanket of snow may cover the quaint town of Deep Haven each winter, but it can’t quite hide the wreckage of Noelle and Eli Hueston’s marriage. After twenty-five years, they’re contemplating divorce . . . just as soon as their youngest son graduates from high school. But then an accident erases part of Noelle’s memory. 
Though her other injuries are minor, she doesn’t remember Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. What’s more, Noelle is shocked that her life has turned out nothing like she dreamed it would. As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-heartwarming results. 
But can she fall in love again with a man she can’t remember? Will their secrets destroy them . . . or has erasing the past given them a chance for a future?

When it comes to romance, what season do you think is the most romantic? A hot steamy summer, spring with new blossoms sprouting, fall when nights are cool and the leaves are turning, or in winter when sleigh rides and hot cocoa beckon you to snuggle up with your honey? 

Cheap Toilet Paper: It Has Its Benefits

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch

Where I come from, we call this “TP’ing” (toilet papering). Here in the south it’s called “rolling houses”. Either way, you buy tons of cheap toilet paper and thread it through trees and bushes and anything else you can find to cover.


As a teenager, I lived for October just to TP a house. A friend. Ex boyfriend (we bring out the paraffin for that and Vaseline and feathers), could be a teacher or principal. They have it coming. You know they do.

Point is, I can remember getting together with friends and waiting for that midnight hour when we got our dark spy gear on, grabbed black trash bags and filled them with our weapons, and shoved some rolls down our shirts and pants. Running back and forth to the car took too much time. 

Sometimes, we’d walk the neighborhood, sometimes we’d drive and park down the road, depending on where we needed to go.

The excitement of getting caught and chased was just as much fun as throwing the gleaming white paper into the darkness and watching it loop magically through the trees. In fact, we hoped we’d have to run.

Laughing in a ditch for two hours while our fingers froze was a thrill. Peeling out, leaving a spray of gravel and dust was exhilarating. 

My favorite TP adventure might have been when me and two girlfriends decided to get the guy on the hill. We tortured his yard and then a dog barked. 

We froze in place, tried not to breathe hard, listened. 

The sound of a door opened. 

“Run!” 

We booked it across the yard and dove into a pile of wood and brush.  He flew across his yard. We prayed he wouldn’t see us. He scaled that dadgum pile of brush. I heard my friend, Carrie, groan. I covered my mouth not to laugh. He landed on her in his leap to further him along in his capture.

I guess with all that adrenaline racing through him, he didn’t hear her.

When he was long gone down the street, we took off the other way, hopped in the getaway car and showed up to school Monday grinning.

Funny thing about my friend we TP’d. He turned out to be a FBI agent. In fact, he’s my consult for my FBI series. I wonder if he went into that line of work because I, the ultimate villain, got away.

When I expressed that to him on the phone. He just laughed. The kind of laugh that tells me I’m dreaming and nice try, thanks for playing. 


Ah to be a teenager. Who am I kidding? I still go every year. I can’t run as fast or hard and I’m probably more cautious, staying away from windows and doors, taking the outer trees, hoping I don’t get arrested b/c Tim has informed me, “I’m not bailing you out for this, Jess, and try not to wake me up when you get home–which better be before daylight.” 

Yeah, I’ll be sure to consult the Farmer’s Almanac.

You know, it’s kind of like serial killers (not glorifying killers, people) just saying when the deed is done, you have to go back and stare at it. It’s satisfying.  And maybe, just maybe I keep a token, like a water hose nozzle from each victim. Nah, I don’t keep tokens. My junk drawers are full and I don’t have time to carve out hiding spaces. 

Have you ever rolled/TP’ed a house? Do you still? Or am I the only one with Peter Pan syndrome?

7 Steps to Fulfill Your Dream

Posted on by Jessica R. Patch
Proverbs 18:16 “A man’s gifts makes room for him, And brings him before great men.”
Sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Especially for us writers. It’s our prayer that our gifts be used for something great, that the publishing industry will make room for us, bring us to awesome things and there is nothing wrong with those dreams.
The Bible is telling us that it can happen and that it’s okay to dream, to want amazing things. Joseph had a great dream, a God-given dream; it included being powerful, and his brothers bowing at his feet. His gifts made room for him and brought him before great men.
BUT the key to verse 16 lies in the verses before it. It isn’t placed randomly, although sometimes it feels like a chapter in Proverbs is just a string of random sayings tossed together to make it up, but it’s not. Every word, every sentence is strategically placed.
So let’s look at some of verses before it. I want to hit on 7 things.
There are 7 things that we have to be molded into, before we hit verse 16. 
Remember, we’re talking about righteous people, not Hollywood! We want peace when we make it to the place Joseph made it to. And we’re not talking perfection, we’re talking about consistent living. Chances are, we’re gonna slip up from time to time. We are but dust.
The Lord is all about preparing His people to house His fame.

Verse 8: “The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, and they go down into the inmost body.”
The KJV says, “The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.” The Hebrew word for “wounds” isn’t hurt. I thought it would be because we all know gossip hurts, but it isn’t. 
The word is “laham” and it means “to gulp, swallow greedily” Oh my!
We gulp gossip down, swallow it greedily, and yet the word is wounds. Ironic, who would ever want to gulp down pain? Yet we do.

1. We cannot be talebearers, and we cannot gulp it down when gossip is presented on shiny plates and served fresh.
Some people have no problems with gossiping or shutting it down, but for others, it’s tough. I think it’s safe to say we’ve all been on both ends at one time or another in our adult life.

Verse 9. “He who is slothful in his work, is a brother to him who is a great destroyer.”

The word in Hebrew for “slothful” “raphah” and it means “to relax, be disheartened, let drop, withdraw, abandon, forsake.”
The KJV says, “He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.”
The word for “great” is noun of relationship used to characterize “master of dreams”

2.You cannot let your dreams and your work decay.  Don’t be disheartened or withdraw. Write, write, work! Don’t stop. Don’t give it up, don’t abandon it!

Verse 10-11: “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. The rich man’s wealth is his strong city, and like a high wall in his own esteem.

You must know where your safety lies. 
You cannot run to wealth or any high wall you build as a show-piece, even if it’s just your built up imagination that you can handle things on your own. 

3.When it’s time to run, know Who you are running to.


Verse: 12 Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility.
It’s easy to slip into a prideful state. Sometimes, we’re unaware. It takes constant prayer and allowing God to search your heart daily to walk with humility, and expect obstacles to come that will knock you down a peg or two.
Even Paul had a thorn in his side he wished removed, but it kept him humble. Some people are sick with talent. Some of them are prideful and generally fall miserably. A tragedy. And some remember to have their hearts searched!

4. Walk in humility, pride will get you nowhere fast.

Verse: 13: “He who answers a matter before he hears it; It is folly and shame to him.”
The Hebrew word for “hears” is “shama” and it means, “to listen, to obey, to perceive, to understand”

The word “matter” is “dabar” in Hebrew and it does mean, “speech, word, speaking” but it also can mean, “business or occupation”

5.Listen and obey God before jumping in with an answer concerning your words, answers, and business affairs.

God gives you the words to say and they may not always be “yes” even if it sounds good. This can also save you time and energy on some unnecessary steps, had you took time to really understand and then obey.


Verse 14: “The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit”
Even today, doctors who claim no faith, believe that a positive attitude can go a long way with sick patients, but those who give up, generally die sooner. But I don’t want to talk about physical sickness.
I want to talk about this verse: “Hope deferred makes a heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” Proverbs 13:12.  
How many of you are still waiting on your dream to come to pass? It can feel sickening, that hope put on hold, can’t it? But don’t let your spirit be troubled!
The Hebrew word for “spirit” is also “mind” 

6. Don’t let the thoughts of never making it overcrowd what you know in your heart to be true, even when your heart feels sick over deferred hope! 

Romans 5:5 says, “Hope does not disappoint…” God does not deceive or disappoint. (Habakkuk 2:3) He is right on time, and His words do not return void! (Isaiah 55:11)

Verse 15: “The heart of the prudent acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

7. Be smart. Always study. Always learn.
That brings us to our main verse. Righteous one, if you want to have room made for you and be brought before great men, there is much preparation to be done.
Joseph spent years learning these things. He started out as a arrogant, foolish, brat. Spouting off when he shouldn’t, thinking of himself above his brothers. Remember his story. He learned how to be all of the above things through trials. And guess what?
He ruled Egypt. And his dreams, oh they did come true.
Care to share? Which step are you working through at the moment? 
I’m hosting at Living by Grace today! Come on by and let’s talk. I’d post my LBG picture but it must be on my other computer. Boo!