Completing a Good Work
I unzipped my computer bag and fumbled through the contents. Then, I lifted a paper-clipped stack of papers and placed them on my lap.
I took a deep breath. I can do this.
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Thank You, Arkansas Women Bloggers!
A big THANK YOU to the Arkansas Women Bloggers for featuring me as their April Blogger of the Month.
The Women Bloggers LLC community members (in eight states!) are natural megaphones and amplifiers, and their talent in curating and sharing content combined with life experiences and strong opinions as parents and consumers makes us the most unique talent agency our partners will encounter.
Words That Change Everything
“Write the books you really wish were out there in the world” (Anne Lamott).
Good news! My book, Words That Change Everything: Speaking Truth to Your Soul, is scheduled to be published this summer by Leafwood Publishing.
Words That Change Everything offers personal stories with biblical applications to help everyday women understand the purpose of their God-given emotions and identify biblical prayer strategies to help them confront their worries. (more…)
Grin with Grace: A “Study, Story, and Steps” Approach to Grace
[guestpost] To celebrate the release of her newest book, Grin with Grace, I invited Kathy Carlton Willis to tell us about her latest project. Be sure to check out Kathy’s blog or follow her on Twitter.[/guestpost]
Have you ever felt the need to bite your tongue or grit your teeth?
With humor and candor, popular women’s speaker Kathy Carlton Willis explores ways to smile in the face of adversity and challenging circumstances. Her go-to phrase Grin with Grace is the title of her latest book. She explores the word “grace” in Scripture, revealing how God’s grace blesses us and how it impacts our relationship with Him and with others.
Grin with Grace is part of the Grin With … Bible Study Series. This line of books is designed to help women on the run focus on a central theme. The “study, story and steps” formula helps readers assimilate new traits in small sections, all the while anticipating the next insight. 
“You can never have too much of God’s grace,” says Kathy. “While writing this series, I dealt with multiple health issues, surgeries, cancer, and hospitalizations. At the same time, I moved to a different town, diving in to a new church ministry with my husband. Very little in life seemed familiar or comfortable. But God infused grace into each challenge and turned them into opportunities.”
Kathy learned anew what the Bible means when it says: “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor 12:9 ESV).
God’s grace strengthens us to live the lives He directs us to live. When we’re weak, grace makes us strong through Christ. His grace is not frail; it’s power-packed. (Kathy Carlton Willis, Grin with Grace)
There’s an important element about grace. It’s not meant to be hoarded, regardless of its wonderful value. Once God blesses us with grace, we are then recruited to His team to be instruments of His grace to others.
Grin with Grace tells stories of real-life grace and gives suggestions for creating new grace moments for others. Every Bible passage is contained in the text, accommodating ease of reading anytime, anywhere. Read it straight through as a book, use it as a personal study, or join with a group to discuss the material together. The chapters are short enough to combine—resulting in a seven-week group study.
More about Grin with Grace. Each chapter features five sections:
- Grin with Grace contains real-life stories and observations. You’ll laugh at the humorous confessions and wacky insights, and relate to Kathy’s transparent honesty. Be inspired to see grace in your everyday life.
- Grow with Grace features a grace word study. Kathy examines Bible verses and personalizes the meaning to your situation. Workbook prompts allows you to write down your thoughts as you read along.
- Go with Grace offers life application. Pick one action step and make it work for you, or pick all of them—but do something to live out your grace-walk.
- Give with Grace advances life application further, equipping you to become an instrument of God’s grace to others. You’ll be inspired to take what you’ve learned and give it away to others. This is when faith becomes ministry—when your focus expands to see the needs of others.
- Your Grin with Grace Challenge describes a grace-challenging scenario to give you an opportunity to exercise your newfound grace. It allows for speculation and judgment calls, to prepare you for the what-ifs that happen in life.
Kathy Carlton Willis writes and speaks with a balance of funny and faith—whimsy and wisdom. Not many funny girls also have Bible degrees! Kathy’s a pastor’s wife, which gives her plenty of opportunities to grin with grace. She shines the light on issues that hold women back and inspires their own lightbulb moments. Almost a thousand of Kathy’s articles have been published in books, magazines, newspapers and online publications. Kathy’s tagline describes her best: Light & Lively: His Reflection/Her Laughter. Kathy lives with her pastor/husband, Russ, in Rockdale, Texas.
WEBSITE: www.kathycarltonwillis.com
TWITTER: @KCWComm
NEED HELP RECORDING SOME OF YOUR FAMILY STORIES?
Do you want to record some of your family stories, but you don’t know where to start?
I will be teaching some storytelling workshops, this Saturday, May 16, 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at Perryville Second Baptist Church, 1520 N. Fourche Avenue, Perryville, Arkansas.
Workshops. These writing workshops, sponsored by the Perry County Writers, will offer practical and creative ideas to help you capture and craft some of your legacy stories.
Cost. There is no charge for this workshop; but donations will be accepted by the Perry County Writers group.
Lunch. Be sure to bring your own lunch (coffee and tea will be provided).
RSVP. Email legacyconnection@windstream.net or call 501-590-6172
What family stories have you written?
Writing The Shepherd’s Song: Prayer Made the Difference
The Shepherd’s Song was a different writing experience for us.
After twenty years of writing children’s books for the general market we were now writing our first book for God. The books we wrote before were from a Christian worldview. What made this book different was our desire to submit every word to God and to reflect in our words what He would say. An overwhelming task on our own.
But what if we could connect with God and hear from Him as we worked? C.S. Lewis wrote once about “taking dictation” from God. The connection with God was key. But how? (more…)
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