Changes in the Hauck house

Since Tony handed over youth to another pastor, he's been a bit adrift. His duties at the church were fine, and he did them well, but he wasn't sure what God had next for him.

We've been praying, working with house churches, doing the dream team down town, but this week Tony recieved an invitation to teach a few math and Bible classes at a private school. He'll still be on staff at Church On the Rock, but he'll be teaching in the mornings.

He's excited about this opportunity. It got us talking: was he called to pastor youth for a season? Is God calling him back into teaching? We're not sure but we're open to whatever God wants to do. He is Good! We can trust Him.

Because this opportunity came up so late, he doesn't have much time to prepare and teachers go back to work on Monday.

We had to cancel vacation and Tony's trip to his class reunion, but it's all good. I have a lot of work to do anyway. Rewrites! Those are hard to do on the road.

I'll miss seeing family, but am excited about this phase for Tony. God provides. Period.

Learning about prayer at my Mama's knees

When I was a little girl, my father smoked. In fact, one of my first memories of him was listening to Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass, playing on the front porch while he smoked a cigar.

He had a three packs a day habit. In the early '60s, a lot of people smoked. My paternal grandmother smoked. My uncles and aunts. To this day, I love the smell of a lit cigarette.

My older brother and I would ride with Dad to the drug store -- he in his stocking feet -- and run inside for a pack. Can you see it? A five or four year old going up to the counter with a dollar and asking for a pack of Camels?

I'm not sure how my Mom came to this notion, but she started to pray for my dad to quit smoking. I'm not sure if he wanted to or if she thought he should. She didn't nag him. My brothers and I were not subject to big fights over cigarettes.

Every day she had my older brother and then younger brother (there were only 3 kids then) pray for Dad to quit smoking.

"Let's ask Jesus to help Daddy give up cigarettes."

So we did.

One day my dad opened a new pack of cigarettes, lit up, but spit it out. It tasted bitter. He tried a different cigarette. Then a different pack of cigarettes. All bitter. The taste and desire to smoke was gone.

For the rest of his life, Dad never smoked again. He didn't even have a craving.

What an impression to leave on a young girl's heart. My mom demonstrated faith and holiness, and the heart of Jesus, by teaching us to pray.

I wish I still had the faith of my four-year-old self.

Thanks, Mom. What a terrific inheritance.

Believing based on truth

We live in a world where the truth is well... relative. Not like a cousin or an aunt "relative" but more like "if I choose to agree it's truth" relative.

Now I know there's some "relatives" we all have we'd like to believe are not "true" but that's another story. ;)

This morning I was talking to a friend and while she loves Jesus, she struggled over a certain situation she'd observed most of her life. A sin issue. Well, what the Bible calls sin.

"I just don't judge," she said.

While hearing her heart to love those who feel left out by the "church" I also heard a disagreement with God.

"Who am I to speak?"

She's the very person who should speak up. Because her heart is about love and compassion. Because she is not judging their eternal soul, only their actions.

We've watered down the Faith by judging God's Word according to our own circumstances and experiences.

Then we say God tells us not to judge. But He does tell us to judge according to His Word.

Zechariah 8:16 ". . . speak the truth to one another, judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates."

Look, I can want stealing to be a righteous act. I may have a solid reason for stealing - I lost my job and my kids are hungry - but it doesn't change God's Word. It's a sin.

I can have a sound basis to lie. If I tell the truth, people will be disappointed, or get hurt. More likely, I won't get what I want. So, I lie. What's a little, teensy lie?

God calls is sin. My circumstance, my experience doesn't change God's Word. I have to adjust my thinking, my value system to align with His.

I had a dream once where I plugged my curling iron in a kitchen socket and my blender into the bathroom.

They both functioned, but not efficiently and not well. The bathroom is not the place to blend food. In the midst of this, God spoke to me in the dream.

"You can't plug faith into your experience, or truth into your circumstances."

If you don't know about something, dialog with God. He's listening. He's waiting for you to come to Him. I ask Him a lot of questions starting out with, "God, I don't understand this. I see in Your Word this, but how does that line up with the testimony of others who disagree?"

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Seek Him, His righteousness, the rest will come.

Blessings!

Beyond The Night by Marlo Schalesky

Please welcome fellow author, Marlo Schalesky who has a wonderful new release, "Beyond the Night" from Waterbrook, Random House.

Marlo, tell us about the book, please.

Well, here's the official blurb:

They say love is blind.
This time they're right. . .

As a woman lies unconscious in a hospital bed, her husband waits beside her, urging her to wake up and come home. Between them lies an ocean of fear and the tenuous grip of memories long past. Memories of wonder. Of love. Memories of a girl named Madison and a boy named Paul…

Madison Foster knew she was going blind. But she didn't want pity - not from her mother, not from her roommate, and especially not from her best friend Paul - the man she secretly loved.

Paul Tilden knew a good thing when he saw it. And a good thing was his friendship with Maddie Foster. That is, until he started to fall in love.

With the music of the seventies as their soundtrack and its groovy fashions as their scenery, Maddie and Paul were drawn together and driven apart. Then one night changed everything. . . forever.

And only now, when life tiptoes past the edge of yesterday, along the rim of today, can they glimpse the beauty that awaits them. . . beyond the night.

Sounds wonderful, Marlo. I'm intrigued. Can you tell us a bit more about this book, how it came about, your inspiration?

Well, it was all God's fault. (smile) And it started with a dream. Not one of those "I have a dream" kind of dreams, but a real, honest-to-goodness, it's-3am-and-I'm-asleep kind of dreams. I dreamt Paul and Maddie’s love story. And when I woke up, I couldn't get the two of them out of my head. I thought about them when I showered, on the way to seminary classes, in the grocery store. Everywhere! For weeks, I found myself replaying tidbits of their story in my mind, until I finally figured out that maybe God wanted me to write their story.

"But," said I to God, "there's not enough here. It's not compelling enough."

"Yes," said God to me, "but Maddie's going blind." (Well, maybe it wasn't so much in those words, but just in the revelation of what was going on with Maddie.)

Very Cool!

"Oh," said I, "That's very interesting. But it's still not enough. Not quite."

Two more days went by, and Paul and Maddie's story still kept teasing my mind. "It's not enough," I kept saying to God. "There's got to be more."

And then I saw it - the big twist. The incredible truth that I had no idea about before. It took my breath away. So, after I finished picking my jaw up off the floor, I sat down and starting working on the proposal for "Beyond the Night."

As I fleshed out the story, I realized that this is exactly the type of book I'd like to keep writing – something with the poignancy of a Nicolas Sparks love story (without the sap!) matched with the knock-your-socks-off twist of a M. Night Shymalan movie (without the horror!). That kind of story excited me, spiritually, emotionally, mentally.

And I figured that there had to be more people like me out there – people who want to be both moved emotionally and surprised and delighted intellectually. People who want to be changed, challenged, and caught with wonder by a story. That's what I'm hoping for in "Beyond the Night!"

Okay, I'm hooked. I'm buying the book.

There's more of the Story the Story Behind the Story:

When my grandfather was going blind, he took a shotgun to the backyard and ended his life. He was a good man, kind and wise. Blindness didn't change that. It wouldn't have changed it. But the fear of it did.

It didn't have to be that way. Today, there are 1.3 million people in the United States alone who are legally blind. Another nearly 9 million are visually impaired. Every day in this country people find out they are going blind. Seniors, mothers, fathers, children. Last year, it was my own mother.

So, Maddie's journey through blindness and fear grows out of my family's experiences. It also, in a broader sense, comes out of my own. For even though blindness is a specific malady, Maddie's condition is also a metaphor for the dark times we all face. For the difficulties that come and rattle our faith, for those times when we can't see what's ahead, when life is masked by shadow and doubt.

For Maddie, losing her physical sight prompted her journey through doubt and fear. For me, it was infertility and miscarriage.

If there's one thing I know about it's living the life God has given you when it's not the life you dreamed. Infertility taught me how to do that. It taught me that life takes unexpected turns and dark, difficult times come. And it taught me that it's not the darkness that will destroy you, but the fear of it.

So, in many ways "Beyond the Night" explores my own questions, my own doubts, my own faith journey in facing the darkness, facing fear, with hope and dignity. That's why "Beyond the Night" is about overcoming the fear of the unknown , rather than letting it overcome you. It's about finding the light, the hope, the promise that lies beyond the darkness.

And I think we could all use that, whether we're going physically blind or not.

Find out more, enter the BEYOND THE NIGHT CONTEST, see the trailer, read a sample chapter, and more at Marlo's website at: www.marloschalesky.com

Marlo, truly what a great message. I'm honored to have you visit my site today. Blessings, friend!

Author Intrusion

This happens to me frequently. I wake up in the pre dawn and in a twilight sleepy wakefulness, God speaks to me.

Story idea. Plot resolution. Encouragement. Ideas. Words for other people.

This morning, He spoke to me about "author intrusion." I shared it with our congregation as I led the way to Him in worship.

Author intrusion is when the story writer invades the story, telling the reader something the protagonist doesn't know. Often we see this written, "little did he know..."

Or, "By Tuesday, Jean would never want to see Frank again."

Really? How does Jean know. Trust me, I try to "see" into the future and so far, I'm blind about it.

Yet, a lot of older and classic fiction is infused with author intrusion. My guess is they used it as a way to build suspense. There are some modern, main stream writers who do this, but it's a technique I advise new writers to avoid.

Most books today are written in "third person limited" point of view. Meaning, the reader cannot know anything the protagonist(s) doesn't know. If Fred doesn't know what is going to happen on Tuesday, then neither should the reader. Unless, the clever and creative author switches to another point of view, Jean, where she confesses she's going to break up with Fred on Tuesday.

But the Lord spoke to me about author intrusion. HE, the author and perfecter of our faith wants to intrude our lives. He wants to take over in areas where we can't see. He wants us to trust He's writing a good and great story for us. About us.

But we struggle in our "third person," or "first person" limited point of view. If we don't know it or understand it, we don't believe it. Or think it exist. Or that "it" can happen.

But God is saying, "Yes it can. Trust Me."

Sometimes we just plain ole struggle with control and sin. We want to be in charge, dictate the story, tell God how it's to go down.

I always cringe when I hear writers say, "the characters just took over the story and told me how it was going to be." This is usually followed by questions of how to get out of their plot problems.

My characters say things all the time I didn't plan, but they never, ever change the direction of my story. I've deleted some really excellent dialog and scenes because they took the story to a place I couldn't use.

Let God write His name on your heart. Let Him author and perfect your faith. Listen to His story and believe. He is for you. He loves you. He has your very good in mind.

Hearing God, Part III

Hearing God takes time. Focus. Dedication. My personal experience is I can't hear God on the run (typically) and I can't hear God out of angst or anxiety.

My mind and emotions speak to me every time in those situations.

Yet, there have been times when I was in turmoil and as I went to prayer, asking God for peace and truth, I heard Him speak. I had to settle down, focus (that word again) and looking for the peace in my inner man. (Ephesians 3)

There a countless times I thought God spoke to me and I acted, not knowing if I "really" heard or not. You know, give that person a $20.

Once, I felt God asking me to stay home from work and hang out with Him all day. What? I can't call in sick - that'd be lying - and I couldn't take a vacation day. Or could I? To this day I think I missed an opportunity with Him.

Off and on, I've heard God speak to me most of my life. When I was in college, He spoke to me a lot. I'd wake up praying! But that was a different kind of speaking.

Many times, I've made decisions based on "it seems good to me." I trust the Spirit of God dwelling in me, leading me. Jeremiah 40: 4, Psalm 111, Proverbs 3.

I've prayed over decisions but had a sinful motive as I moved forward. Those never work out so good. Go figure.

But if I ask with a sincere, humble heart, He always responds with wisdom and goodness.

After my first date with Tony, I came home and felt God whisper to me, "that's your husband."

What? Fingers in ears, humming. No way. I'm not going to be the kooky girl who hears the cute single pastor is her husband.

Now, that did take a lot of prayer and confirmation. Since I'm married to him after a loooong ordeal, I think I heard God. ;)

God's spoken to me in dreams recently. While I seek understanding and interpretation, I see Him directing me.

My friend Chelle, a single mom living on a sub par income, believed God spoke to her to believe for a new car. It took a year of believing and praying, but God gave her brand new Toyota Camry.

Tony felt God nudge him to give his Bible away to this zealous new believer. The odd thing was the guy had a Bible. But Tony was obedient. Two nights later the young man called, ecstatic. He'd been reading Tony's Bible and the Word opened up to him and he felt Jesus was right there with him.

I was praying about a writing project once and felt God speak to me from "my spirit." My middle. Not my head. What he said did NOT line up with what I perceived and believed in my head. But I liked His exhortation! I received it and gave the promise back to Him. Less than a week later, it came about.

Last spring, I was mediating on the Lord as I was driving home from some place and felt the Lord said, "I promise you fruit." Okay!

About a month later, a woman at church was praying for me. She said, "Rachel, I see a big basket of fruit."

I laughed. Yep!

Tony was teaching high school when the Lord told him he was going to be on staff at Church On The Rock. He was a very young Christian, but believed God. He had no idea how he'd be on staff. There were no jobs open and no one asked him to join the team. Nevertheless, he quit his job in faith, and volunteered his summer to the youth.

In mid August they offered him the new position as youth pastor.

One Christmas I asked God for a thousand dollars to cover our Christmas spending. I was working a well paying corp job, but we'd had a lot of expenses that year and I didn't want to cut back on my Christmas giving. (We give to everyone in the family.)

Christmas came and went without my thousand. Money is not an area where we see a lot of obvious miracles, but I decided to keep believing God for the money.

On New Years, former youth, now married and good friends, were in town and came over to visit. They handed us an envelop. After awhile, I got up to get something from the kitchen and opened the card.

There was a check for a thousand dollars! Wow!!! I read closer. Made out to the youth ministry.

Oh well, close. I was grateful. I handed Tony the card, thanking our friends for the contribution.

Tony said, "You didn't look close enough."

Under the check to the church was a check to Tony and me for a thousand dollars. I was beyond thrilled.

When we shared our stories, we discovered they decided to gift us with the money the SAME NIGHT I prayed and asked the Lord.

Walking with God is such a great adventure. He wants to give to us and bless us, but we need to draw near with a sincere heart.

Come on, share you testimonies!

Behind the Scenes 5: Sweet Caroline

The ending of Sweet Caroline is unusual and unpredictable. But the ending is not random, but thought out and planned. There's a reason I ended the story the way I did.

Don't despair, we learn more about Caroline in Elle's story, Love Starts With Elle.

Caroline's ending is part of her life's journey. For the first time in her life, she knows God is real, He loves her and she surrenders her will to His.

She discovers a great destiny and joy in following Jesus. She had to see if she could deny herself and serve Him as much as she denied herself to serve others. Caroline had to know the source of her inner strength. Not herself, not Mitch, not the safety of Beaufort.

Sweet Caroline has a very happy ending, just a-typical.

I wrote the story to be true to Caroline and the story itself.

Take the "Favorite One" Challenge

Misty Edwards, a full time worship leader at the International House of Prayer-KC, wrote a song called, "Favorite One."

Jesus, here I am your favorite one, what are You thinking, what are You feeling, I have to know. For I am after Your heart, I'm after You, and I'll crown You with my love.

It's a lovely worship song depicting the confidence of a loved believer. One who is confident in God's love for the individual as well as the corporate Church, the Bride of Christ.

This song caused some controversy at the ACFW conference the last two years. It was not my intent to cause a stir, I just want us to see ourselves as loved and FAVORED.

We are highly favored. Why? Because Jesus is highly favored and we are hidden in Him. When God the Father looks at me, He first sees the blood and cleansing of His Son, Jesus. I'm redeemed.

He wants us to see ourselves as sinners redeemed. The Beloved. The Favored Ones. Imagine your kids coming to you every day saying, "Dad, Mom, I know I'm a bad kid and I think wrong things and I can't keep my room clean, I'm so unworthy of your love, food, clothing and home."

How would that make you feel as a parent? How can your child not see and understand and delight in your love? Sure he makes mistakes and requires discipline. Sure he needs to repent and make things right, but he should never consider himself unworthy of your love and provision.

We are the Bride of Christ, not the Concubine of Christ. He wants to dialog with us, share His heart, partner with us to accomplish His kingdom purposes on earth. Concubines have NO voice or authority, no rights. A bride or a wife has rights and priviledge.

Yet, when we see how loved and favored we are, the desire to empty ourselves and live for Him alone overwhelmes us. What does it matter what I want? What do you want? I love you, Jesus!

What is prayer after all? Asking God to go to work for us! He becomes the Servant God. So why then can we not be His favorite one?

We can give Him a laundry list, but not engage Him in confidence and favor? Doesn't jive.

So, here's the Favorite One Challenge. For the month of November, wake up saying, "Jesus, here I am Your favorite one." Add to it, "God likes me and I look good to Him."

Repeat it throughout the day, six, seven, eight times. Take a moment to meditate on what you are saying. Hear Him respond!

Do a scripture search on "delight," "love," or "beloved." Study the Psalms or Song of Solomon as God's message of love to the individual believer.

See what God won't do to your emotional chemistry after proclaiming and believing His immense love and favor toward you.

Are you brave enough to take the Favorite One Challenge?

God Is Love

We get confused today. We think God is angry, mean, mad, sad, tyrannical, evil, cruel, distant and cold.

If we didn't, we'd beg Him to be a part of our lives, our society. Yet, John, one of his closest friends and disciples, wrote:

"The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love."

People believe the sketchy truth behind the DaVinci Code, or the ramblings of guys like Christopher Hitchens who writes "God Is Not Great" in his May '07 release.

I suppose Hitchens has hung out with the Almighty and knows this for sure?

John did hang out with Jesus, God the Son, and I'm going to go with His findings over Hitchens.

We are so limited by our weak knowledge of God. So limited at times by doctrine and theology. I want to NOT be limited.

Romans 5:5 Paul writes, "And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

God the Holy Spirit lives in us! He's given to us by God the Father. In doing so, He poured out His love in our hearts! How incredible when you think of it.

Therefore, the love of God literally dwells within us. My shortcomings in the arena of love are now vastly exposed, and without excuse.

Love is patient, kind, gentle, understanding, keeps no record of wrong, bears and believes all things. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. Nor rude, and is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Never fails! (1 Corinthians 13)

This is the God of the universe. He's not mean, hateful, mad, sad, tryannical, et al. He is love.

How do we access this love? Blow ourselves up with suicide bombs? No. Pennance? No. Beat ourselves figuratively and literally? No. Wear certain clothes? No. Avoid movies, cards, makeup and hair cutting? No.

Avoid certain foods? No. Live our own level of humanity and morality? No. Not murder? No.

While those thinigs can be good, minus suicide and self inflicted wounds, there is only one way to truly access the Love of God.

His Son Jesus. Simple. Just believe in Him. "He is the way the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father by through Him."

And how did He demonstrate His love? The Cross. We are the mean, mad, sad, evil, tryannical, cruel ones.

He is not.

God is love. Are you hungry for love. Seek God.