Jamestomes Blog

My coauthor and daughter, Mary James, and I finally did it—our first book trailer, that is. Since she has her own TV show in Nashville, including her own production equipment, we decided to tape LIVE footage rather than use stock photos and stock footage. It was quite an experience.

The swamp we chose didn’t exactly smell of summer flowers—which we should have expected since it was a swamp, right? The water was covered with beautiful green scum which at least looked nice on camera. The starring snake complained constantly and bit me twice, but then most stars are temperamental and I should have expected that too. He wasn’t venomous anyway. Now that we’ve sent our clothes two times through the wash and doctored all our minor mishaps, we’ve happily downloaded the trailer. I guess that means it’s time to start on the next one . . . Whoa—who said that?

There may be ups and downs as God works out the answers to our prayers, but it’s never wise to jump out of the elevator while it is still moving. And while we are riding on God’s promises, we shouldn’t try and second guess Him and think the elevator’s only going to the first floor.

FLORIDA WAS HOT! I only had one day for the beach so I ignored the red flags and dove into the Gulf. Immediately a jellyfish wrapped its trail of tentacles around my arm. Five seconds later another one did the same—a few inches below where I’d pulled off the first one. While I removed the second one, a third wrapped around my other arm and a fourth around my leg. By the time number four was removed, and the pain was getting somewhat intense, a school of stingrays invaded my space. I’ve been hit by a stingray before, and that’s definitely no fun, so I decided it wasn’t an ideal time to swim.

Oh well, I still love it all. I went back to our tent and played in the bay. At two in the morning I lit a campfire, had a cup of tea, and waded in the bay. The lights across the water were beautiful and everything was peaceful except for a few mullet jumping. The jellyfish and rays were gone, but God was there, and it was a fantastic night. I hated to leave and go back to Tennessee. Maybe in the fall . . .

Ecclesiastes 10: 10: If the iron be blunt, and he do not whet the edge, then must he put to more strength . . .” If we write something only moderately well, it will take much more effort to sell it. But if we take the time and effort at the beginning, and whet the edge of our work, it will cleave its place in the market.

 
I am off to Florida-Mary wants more snakes for upcoming videos. She sneaked a YouTube onto my ShoutLife page (jeanjames) and told me it was part of my platform and I had to leave it there. And here I thought I was coming on as a quiet, dignified, elderly worman. Oh my . .

Has God just given us another chance to pass a test? Maybe we gave in to despair or acted unwisely the last time a similar thing happened. So now here it comes again. Maybe God keeps giving us the same test until we finally pass it and can go on to the next level. Or maybe He gives us a review test or final exam every so often to see if we remember what we learned.

When we go aside to pray and don’t feel Gods presence–it’s not some great mystery. It’s not because we haven’t prayed hard enough or long enough. It’s simply because we don’t totally believe He is there.

We never walk up to a friend to talk with them and not feel their presence. We see them and know they are there. When we walk up to God, or kneel before Him, if we truly believe He is there, we will feel His presence. If we truly believe He meant it when He said He’d be with us, we’ll know He is there.

So when go to our private place of prayer, and struggle long and diligently to reach God, but feel only emptiness, maybe we should stop a minute and use our faith. He is standing there before us, waiting for us to see Him with our spiritual eyes. He was there from the very beginning. He’s always there ahead of us.

 Today I sent all my requests and petitions out to God. Each one will surely be answered in God’s order. Actually, the list was so long I know I’ll constantly see answers. It will be like running to the mailbox, or logging in to my email, and finding good news each time I check. Thank God, He doesn’t limit the number of submissions we send in. 

When evil hits me with all its brutal force, I will not face Satan alone. I will run to my Lord, like a rich person runs for their attorney. I will offer my distress on God’s altar and let Him consume it with His love. My smile will be my fast. My song will be my prayer. My God will see and hear these humble tokens of my faith and love, and He will give me power against Satan—or He will hide me under his wing and face Satan in my stead.