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PRACTICE PRESENCE & PEACE

March 11, 20250

Has anyone ever told you that you look a lot like one of your parents? Most children do resemble their natural parents at least a little. And how many of us as parents have also hoped and prayed our children will only pick-up our good traits and instructions rather than our flaws, bad habits, and mistakes?

Several years back there was a commercial on tv with a young boy whose father catches him with illegal drugs. The father scolds him for it, then asks: “Where did you learn to do that?” And the boy says, “I learned it by watching you, Dad!”

While preparing to teach Romans to our small group about the importance of obedience, I was led to consider 1 John 3: 1. It says: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!” The scripture goes on to explain the importance of being obedient to God in our behavior by abiding in Him. But as I prepared further I was also led to a scripture that has always made me uncomfortable and curious about its’ application.

It was In Matthew 7:21-23 where says: “not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!”

If that scripture doesn’t scare you at least a little bit, you’re not reading the part where it says they were casting out demons and prophesying and doing all kinds of wonders, yet Jesus says he never knew them. How can that be? I would wonder. After all they must be believers if they can do all those kinds of things.

And that is when a new perspective on it came to me. When the light went on and I understood it.

This time, I saw the key words that make a difference. I read the clue at the beginning and end of that verse. Those people were not “doing” God’s word. They were practicing “lawlessness,” not obedience. And they obviously weren’t spending much time with God or seeking His guidance, or they would know and resemble Him and He would know them. Therefore, Jesus tells them “depart from me, for I never knew you.”

So, here’s what I saw this time. With the awesome privilege of being called the children of God, comes the vital importance of spending time with our Heavenly Father. That, much like children who spend a lot of time with their parents and learn to pattern after their behavior, we also need to spend a lot of time with our Heavenly Father so we can begin to know and resemble Him better.

And as we let Him cleanse us daily, and practice what we’ve learned from God, our actions will exhibit our faith in God, and we will be recognizable as Christians, (Christ like), not children of the devil practicing lawlessness.

But don’t misunderstand me in this point. I am not saying that we can earn our eternal life by obeying God’s law or by doing good things. Romans 3:11 says “There is none righteous, no not one.” And Romans 3:23 tells us that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It is only by what God has done for us through the sacrifice of His son Jesus, that we can have eternal life. “For by grace, through faith, you have been saved, and not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8)

The result of having a true faith means you want to please God. Being more Christlike is a sign of being born again and God’s Holy Spirit is within you. Spending time in the presence of Jesus through prayer, reading and practicing His word will equip us to better understand and know the truth of who God is. And as we abide in Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit will be manifested in and through us with “love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control.” Galatians 5:22

For as it says in Colossians 1:10, “that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

And much like the woman at the well who found herself in the presence of the Messiah and came to have faith in Him, we’ll not only have our thirst quenched, the water we’ll receive will flow into an everlasting and living water that carries us into eternity, (rather than being told to depart from Jesus because He never knew us).

Blog, Poetry

Pace or Peace?

February 13, 20250

When it comes to troublesome worries, what’s your style? Are you the kind of person who tends to pace the floor when you’re worried about something? What if there was a way to find peace in your circumstances?

I confess, that worry is my bent. Yet, over time, as the Lord has worked in my heart, I’ve come to realize that prayer is the best solution to things that I have no control over— I.O.W., just about everything. That praying, rather than pacing the floor, brings me peace.

Hey that’s three “p’s”!

Did you catch that I’m leading to some more “P’s” of paying attention? Well, just the other day, God laid some new ones on my heart, so gotta obey His leading and share. But this time we’ll not only look at the blessings of some other “p’s” of paying attention, we’ll examine the consequences of the alternative. We’ll look at choices between good and best as they apply to a spiritual walk. We’ll focus on practicing what God tells us to do or, not to do and learn how obeying His word can lead to awesome blessings. And paying attention to His warnings can help us avoid a lot of pain. Of course, as it happens, all the effects that jumped out at me regarding obedience, begin with the letter “p.”

As I contemplated the additional principles, a well-known Bible story came to mind. In Luke 10:38 it tells of how Martha was annoyed with her sister, Mary, for not helping serve Jesus. She asked Jesus to tell her sister to help her. However, Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part. Which will not be take away from her.”

In case you didn’t catch that, notice that Jesus was telling Martha to pay attention to the more important things, (like her sister Mary was). He wasn’t saying that serving him was a bad thing but pointed out her bent to “worry about many things,” and that choosing to focus on Him was the better choice. Mary was practicing the principle of “…fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” Hebrews 12: 2, and that’s always a good way to start our focus of what is most important.

So, in the next few posts, I’ll touch on some helpful ways we can practice obeying God and how that can produce good fruit. We’ll look first at God’s Promises and Provision for us then His Protection, followed by a deeper search about the Peace He can give. Three more “p’s” of practicing His word will follow those, including Power. Finally we’ll see another story about a woman named Mary and how her practice of paying attention to Jesus resulted in being mentioned positively for centuries afterwards.

In the meantime, I leave you with a new poem and with this: Which is better, having peace or pacing the floor? When we pray with faith, we are trusting God. So, practice trusting in the Lord and His promises, with all your heart, “and lean not on your own understanding, and the peace of God will direct your paths.”

Promise of a New Day

Like the promise of a new day,

My heart hopes in the glorious color of evening’s sunset sway.

And clinging to God’s promise and His forgiving grace,

Paints hope eternal of a new days’ comforting and gentle pace.

Iris Carignan, 2/13/2025

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Exercising our Spiritual Muscles by Paying Attention

January 14, 20252

At some point, most everyone has made a new Year’s resolution to get healthier and exercise more. But have you ever made a new year’s resolution to exercise your spiritual muscles?

Shortly after deciding to do a short series on Paying Attention, it occurred to me that learning and practicing the three P’s of Paying Attention would, no doubt, mean that most of us would have to commit to doing that as diligently as an athlete does. They’d need to commit to a regular habit of exercise in order to perform better.

So, like most all of my New Year’s resolutions, this blog topic nearly went by the wayside too as the horrific fires struck our neighboring communities. My pre-planned topic for January suddenly felt out of place and insensitive. Yet as I considered the core principles behind the theme of Paying Attention: by Being Present for others, Praising God in All things, and Finding God’s Purpose in our trials, I was convinced that this was exactly what all of us need to delve into at this time. That it could equip all of us better for coping with our own trials as well as ministering to those who are experiencing great suffering during this firestorm.

Several years back, my husband and I came very close to losing our house during the Woolsey fire. After evacuating to a safe home, watching the news, and seeing what appeared to be our house going up in flames, our hearts sank. It was one of the longest 24 hours of waiting and the most horrifying and sorrowful feeling I’ve ever experienced. Thankfully, our house did not burn as we thought it had. But, sadly, someone else’s did and by then I had a rough, yet brief taste of how it might feel. So, as my heart ached for that family then, so also does my heart go out to all of you who have suffered loss because of the recent fires.

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another… Thessalonians 5:11(NKJV)

And as we consider being present for others, if we are paying attention while at the grocery store, coffee shop, or even in our own neighborhoods, God might place someone in our path who needs ministering to. If you’re paying attention while shopping, you might notice a young mother who seems frazzled with extra stress and just needs a smile, or they may need to go ahead of you in line. Many individuals with special health issues may be struggling even more as they cope with long power outages. You might have a neighbor that needs you to pick up some ice or bring them a meal. So, pay attention, be present for others, and let God reveal those whom you can help by showing compassion to them. No matter where you are.

If you are personally experiencing a difficult trial at this time, whether it’s related to the fires or not, remember that God is our refuge and strength an ever-present help in time of trouble. (Psalm 46:1) And while I certainly don’t suggest you thank and praise God for the troubles that others are experiencing, God’s word tells us in Philippians 4:4, that when we go through adversities we should “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again,: Rejoice… do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

God has demonstrated this principal to me of paying attention with Praise and/or thanksgiving for several years now. And I can tell you story after story of how doing that always brings joy to me in whatever the trial may be. Many times the joy that comes through rejoicing in my trials comes when He reveals His purpose in it, but each time He’s done that, it only happened AFTER I thanked and praised Him for the hard thing and Before I saw His purpose in it.

If you read my last blog or watched my last video on my YouTube Channel, “A Taste of Honey, with Iris Carignan”, you would’ve seen how that played out miraculously for me very recently. You’ll also see that at the moment when I thanked God for my trial, I wasn’t feeling great and in fact was in a lot of pain and had a serious concern about the terrible accident that had happened. Yet God gave me peace and a sense of purpose in the accident. So, as you learn to Rejoice, or praise & thank God in your trials, you will also likely experience the joy of seeing His purpose in it be revealed.

If you’ve ever made a resolution to get more physical exercise, then you might quickly realize that exercising your faith muscles, especially while in-the-midst of a terrible trial, is probably even more difficult than staying with a physical exercise program. But the spiritual rewards will be well worth the stretch (pun intended for effect).

So, as we all consider what we can do to minister to others during this fiery trial, we can begin by thanking God for whatever trial or suffering we are experiencing, then pay attention to what someone else in our presence might need. Pay attention to what we can do to help them.

Then, watch and see how God used our praises to reveal someone else’s need and bring joy to them. Notice how their joy will spill over into our own souls like overflowing water from the well that Jesus gives. And then, keep on exercising your spiritual muscles and you’ll gain new strength in your faith.

In case you want to but haven’t yet watched my recent YouTube video, “Handling Hidden Surprises” here’s the link: https://youtu.be/lxOiDD2gMEU?si=I3XmZR8Sjm4AVzbU

Blog

Paying Attention With Praise & Purpose

December 11, 20240

Why does it seem that everything bad happens to us all at once? That was a comment a friend recently made regarding some things she’d been through. I know it’s something we can all identify with. It may be one particular day, or a week that has been especially difficult. Or it may be a series of adversities over a period of a year or more. Ironically, on the day that my friend made that observation, little did she know that I was having a tough day too. And little did I know that it was only going to get worse for me as the day went on.

Aside from one bothersome matter, I couldn’t put my finger on why I was feeling so out of sorts. It was as if the devil himself had been dogging me all day. Little annoyances became major issues for me. Like the oven timer that wasn’t working for the umpteenth time as I prepared dinner. Confessing my day-long grumpy mood to my husband, I told him, “I don’t know why I’m in such a terrible mood, but everything seems to be getting under my skin today.”

After dinner I was feeling much better. Maybe I was just “hangry” from the current doctor-prescribed-diet I’m on. I thought. Then, and just when things seemed to be getting better, it happened. The topper for a bad day—a terrible accident.

I tripped over a raised spot in the sidewalk while disposing of garbage in our trash bins outside. Flying forward, I face-planted and hit my head hard on the pavement. With screams for help and blood gushing profusely, I managed to make it back into the house to tell my husband about my accident. Now, lest you think I’m writing about my accident with hopes of eliciting sympathy, I’m not. Well maybe just a little, but let me explain what God revealed in the-midst-of-it all.

Praise, purpose, and thanksgiving in all things! That’s it. It’s a lesson God continues to drill into my spirit and this day wasn’t any different.

As I sat in the ER exam room waiting for cat scan results and hoping they’d at least reveal a brain in there, I remembered God’s word in Philippians 4:6: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God…”

So, while waiting for the results of my scan, I said a silent prayer of praise and thanksgiving for my terrible fall. I was in a lot of pain and my eye was quickly swelling closed as my skin bloomed into black and blue. Yet I paid attention to the praise and thanksgiving that God’s word instructed. I thanked my Lord without reservation or thought about how He might work it into something good.

When the doctor came back with the scan results, she relieved me of any worries about serious effects like a brain bleed or fractures, then, saving a surprising discovery for last, she dropped the bomb—a growth in my throat.

Whoa! What?

Until that moment I wasn’t aware of the tumor. So, I immediately knew how fortunate the accident was. If I hadn’t had a serious accident that needed cat scans in the vicinity of where the growth was, there was no telling how long it would’ve been before I knew about the mass in my throat. A day later Romans 8:28 came to mind with resounding eye-opening clarity. “For we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes.”

This new revelation of a hidden mass also had me considering the scripture theme of the Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Café. Except now it was very personal. If you’ve read my new novel, you’d be aware that Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,” is a scriptural thread that runs through the story. As Elise finds faith and comes to grips with her adversities, she begins to see God’s goodness that was there all along. Likewise, as I considered the irony of finding a hidden tumor because of a terrible accident, I was comforted knowing God’s purposeful intentions for me too.

Now comes the second part of the Philippians scripture that I must remember.: “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. No doubt I’ll need it when the time comes for my surgery and biopsy. So as that day approaches, I will continue to pay attention to praising God, as well as letting His peace fill me with assurance of His good plans for me.

Despite the joy of the Christmas season, the holidays are often filled with troubles, adversities, and sorrows. It’s my prayer for you to find peace in the midst of any troubling times you go through during this Christmas season. To find surprising comfort, joy, purpose, and peace in your adversities, no matter how traumatic they may be, by thanking and praising God during them.

Stay tuned for my next blog post that will focus on some more personal stories that helped me learn the importance of paying attention to Praise and Purpose. You can also see my latest YouTube video on my channel: A Taste of Honey with Iris Carignan to watch and see the video entitle “Handling Hidden Surprises” and to see evidence of what I talk about in this blog. While you’re there I hope you’ll become a follower so you will receive notices of new video postings.

Here’s the link for watching my Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxOiDD2gMEU

In the meantime, have a joyous Christmas filled with good surprises and hidden treasures that will last beyond the day.

News

HAPPY BEE-DAY TO THE BUZZ

November 22, 20240

Can hardly bee-lieve it’s been a year since my first contemporary fiction was released. And I’m SO GRATEFUL to God who gave me this story & for everyone’s support. It’s still getting rave reviews and many of you continue to buy several more copies as gifts for friends & family too! Folks are anxiously asking me when the sequel to The Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Cafe will be out. S-o-o-o-o, the other Big News is the sequel is in the works and well on its way to being published.

In the meantime, I pray all of you will have a wonderful Thanksgiving with much to be grateful for in your lives.

Blog

Paying Attention

November 15, 20240

There’s an old joke that says, “My family was so poor we couldn’t afford to pay attention.” As funny, or not so funny, as you may find that, the truth about paying attention is that it does have a cost to it. Paying attention to important things costs time, focus, fun, self-centeredness, physical effort, comfort, and may involve risk. However, in my experience, the price you might pay for caring about people is nothing compared to the rewards you may receive.

In the process of being alert to what God may be doing in the moment, or just by noticing someone who’s right in front of me, I’ve discovered three important ways to make these encounters become blessings. I call them the three P’s: Being Present, looking for God’s Purpose in and through them, and giving God our Praise & prayers in all things, no matter how hard.

Being Present means truly being attentive to whom you are with and what is going on in the moment. It’s probably one of the least practiced habits in today’s culture. Like me, you may have noticed people who are blatantly ignoring their own family or friends while out for dinner together. Instead of interacting with each other, they are looking down at their cell phones or on a tablet.

In the past several months, I’ve experienced amazing blessings through the simple act of paying attention. Attention to people around me, including people who are serving me—a repair man, food server, housekeeper, or the grocery store clerk, and more. And though it may have meant losing a few minutes of my time, putting away my own cell phone, or going out of my way to notice someone; every single time I did, I was blessed and I’m pretty sure they were too.

Wendy Lieber says it well. “When you pay attention, you’re more present in the moment, you notice things that you might have missed, and you can form deeper connections with the people and experiences around us.” Some of the best blessing’s I’ve experienced have happened by taking time to get to know someone better. Even the act of asking a waiter or waitress what their name is, and followed-up with simple question, can lead to a deeper conversation that makes them feel appreciated and truly seen.

One of my most astounding encounters with a waitress happened a few years ago while traveling through a small unfamiliar town. It began as we finished our meal, and a young gal came out to bus tables. God got my attention first by whispering a nudge for me to “compliment her.” I knew nothing about that young woman so, I decided to study her from a distance. That led me to notice that she looked very similar to a woman in a famous painting, “Girl With the Pearl Earring,” by Vermeer. So, as she got close to our table, I asked her if anyone had ever told her she looked like that model in the painting. Pausing with a glimmer of joy catching her eyes, she responded by saying, “No, but I like to paint.” I was blown away to learn she was also artistic like me. But where it led seconds later, truly amazed me.

She began to tell me her life’s story of abuse and heartache, including the fact that “if her grandmother, hadn’t sent her an airplane ticket and given her a job at the café,” she didn’t know what she would’ve done. Topping it off with her most recent tragic story of losing the baby she and her fiancée were expecting, was the final exclamation point that touched me deeply. “I don’t even know you,” I said with tears puddling in my eyes. “But you’re gonna make me cry.”

I offered to pray with her, and she agreed. My husband was paying our bill at the counter, so, I stood-up, took her hands in mine, and prayed out loud. By that time the restaurant was mostly empty, but God’s presence was surely there. Her response afterwards revealed her heart had been lifted with encouragement.

I am so glad I paid attention to what God said to do that night, and will never forget the joy and blessing I experienced as God’s love flowed between that young woman and I. It was a rare and unexpected opportunity to speak God’s love into a wanting soul. And it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t paid attention to God’s voice, and then practiced being present to someone in front of me. His word tells us in Mathew 22:37-38 that the greatest command we can follow is to love God with all our hearts …and to love others as ourselves.” When we pay attention to God’s leading by being present and demonstrating His love to others, we all come to understand His great commandment in a real way.

As we enter the holidays, we’ll likely encounter many people who desperately need to know God’s love and hope. You can encourage others to also pay attention by giving them the gift of my book Fresh Eyes: Seeing God in the Unexpected which is filled with true stories about God revealing Himself through surprising events, trials, and people. Or The Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Café, my fiction novel that tells the story of Elise, a young woman who is led to a hopeful, redemptive life through caring people that pay attention to her with loving care. The stories in both books demonstrate that miracles, hope, and blessings, happen when we paying attention God and others. Both books can be ordered through my website on the books page or on amazon.

You might also want to check-out my latest holiday pecan pie demo on my YouTube channel. The demo also includes a redemptive ingredient for holiday stress. Go to: @IrisCarignan-ATasteOfHoney See the recipe for the pecan pie at the bottom of this blog post for your reference too.

The next couple of blog posts will focus on the other two P’s of paying attention-Purpose and Praise. In the meantime, it’s my prayer that God will continue to offer you and I opportunities to be present for someone and allow us to be blessed when we pay attention to the most important matters.

Iris’s Georgia Pecan Pie

Pastry for one-crust Pie, 2 ½ Tablespoons Flour, 2/3 cup sugar, Pinch of salt, 4 eggs lightly beaten, ¼ cup softened butter, 1 ¼ cups corn syrup, one cup pecan halves

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Line 9 inch pie plate with pastry, Combine flour, sugar & pinch of salt, Combine eggs and butter in a separate bowl. Stir in flour, sugar, & salt mixture & Beat together lightly. Stir in corn syrup then add ¾ cup of the pecans and pour mixture into pastry-lined pie plate. Then add the remaining ¼ pecans to the pie placing them by hand evenly throughout the pie as needed to fill gaps.

Bake in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes at 375, then lower the temperature to 350 F and bake another 50 minutes longer. Check on the pie after 35 or 4 0 minutes to see if you need to place a piece of foil over the edges of the crust to prevent burning. (The filling should rise and thicken as it finishes and not be too liquid or runny when done.) * Let pie cool completely before adding any toppings like whipped cream.

Blog

An Heirloom Faith That Rocks

October 12, 20242

Decisions can be difficult, especially when it comes to change. If you read my last blog, you know that my husband and I recently moved from our traditional style home to a smaller and more contemporary house. In the process we had to make lots of decisions about things we would keep and things we would give away, donate, or sell. One of those tough decisions was regarding a 150-year-old heirloom piece of furniture that was handed down from my Great-Grandmother. I was excited about changing our style of furniture and décor, but how was I going to make this precious piece fit?

Looking throughout the new house, I spotted the perfect spot for it—a small niche of a space in our master bedroom. Not only was it the best choice for the rocking chair, it needed a lamp with table next to it. Bingo! That solved the dilemma of an antique lamp that I loved too.

I’m so glad I was able to find a spot for the lamp and antique rocking chair in our new style house. Better yet, it quickly became just the right spot for doing my morning devotions. Now, as I gently rock back and forth in this treasured piece, its smooth motion and occasional creaking seems to awaken memories of the faith that was passed down from my Great-Grandmother, to my Grandmother, and my mother, then to me. It’s as if the spirit of their faith is somehow imbedded into the chair. So, I am grateful, not only for this piece of furniture, but for the heirloom faith they handed down to me. And I’m hopeful that it will one day grace the house of one of my children or grandchildren with the same reminiscent spirit.

In 2 Timothy 1:5, the apostle Paul writes: “When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.” Although we shouldn’t let material things become too important, sometimes they can lead us back to our roots of faith in surprising ways. Even ways that truly “rock!”

If you’d like to see more of this story as told in my latest Youtube video, take a look here or go to my YouTube channel @IrisCarignan-ATasteOfHoney

Faith That Rocks!

Blog

Transitions

September 18, 20240

Transitions-we all face them at sometime, and they can be a welcome change or a stressful adjustment whatever they are. My husband and I recently moved to a new house after 44 years in the same one and it was stressful. Although we did so for the purposes of downsizing and having a property that’s easier to maintain, the key reason was living in a home that didn’t have any stairs or large hills to traverse. While I could blame it on our little nineteen-year-old dog who had great difficulty walking up and down the hilly driveway, in all honesty, our own bodies have transitioned with new physical limitations, so it was a necessity for us too.

Still, it was hard to leave the beautiful home we’d designed and built. But, after giving it much prayer and consideration, we concluded the only way I could say good-bye to our house was to find one I could get excited about and look forward to. So, when our realtor found us the perfect place in the same community, we did. Naturally we still had a lot of adjustments to make in moving from our large home into something less than half the size.

Aside from the hard work of packing and moving, the toughest thing for me was deciding what things to keep and what to let go of. During the process one verse in Mathew 6, came to mind frequently. “Do not lay up for yourselves, treasures on earth.” Part of my struggle was letting go of two special items that kept sticking into the deepest part of my soul. One was our formal dining room set and the other was the many paintings that I wouldn’t have room for in the new house. You can likely imagine the struggle of letting go of one’s creative passion of art for more than 35 years. Thankfully the joy of donating some of my paintings to worthy causes, giving several of them to family and friends, and selling several to folks who would appreciate and excitedly hang them in their own homes, helped me tremendously with that issue.

Why the formal dining room set, you may ask? It certainly is a beautiful set of rich carved solid mahogany, but it wasn’t just the quality and beauty that made it so hard to let go of. No! It was the treasured memories it held. Memories of setting a beautiful table and creating the best experience I could for family and all who gathered round it, prayed, and gave thanks. You see, it was the essence of my heart’s desire and the emotions attached to it that held me captive.

There have been, and continue to be, much harder transitions for us than moving, changes and challenges related to health and family. But, gratefully, none as difficult or life-changing as the ones my character Elise faces in my book “the Buzz @ Chicky-Pie’s Café”. And much like the tough challenges and transitions Elise grappled with, God’s hand of grace, mercy, and generous love have helped me through them too.

Another similar help to what my character Elise drew from, is creativity. Just as she used imaginative & resourceful means to escape abuse and later rescue Bea, I often use creativity to help with certain kinds of struggles. You see there were other things that had me grappling with what to do with them this time. There were beautiful glass, and ceramic items along with two other pieces of furniture that were heirlooms from my grandparents and great-grandparents. When my mother transitioned into her heavenly home 13 years ago, I had inherited those pieces and at that time we had room for them. One special piece was a beautiful rocking chair that’s over 150 years old, yet in terrific shape. Thankfully I found a great spot in the new house for it. But the other was a large oak halltree, and it just didn’t seem like it could possibly fit in.

We LOVE our new home and using my creativity to help beloved pieces work there became an extra blessing to me. So, I dug deep into my creative self and figured it out. You can see pictures of the hall tree’s transition on my instagram page @iriscarignanbooks and the photo here shows the solution I used for the colorful glass items. Much like our need to let God’s light shine through our problems with His solution, the garden window in our new home was the perfect place for the various colored glass items in our former house.

The refurbished halltree that I painted black and gold now sits beautifully decorating and functioning in our new entry hall, something we didn’t have at our former house. Ironically, weeks later, as I gazed at the two creative solutions for the other items, God nudged me to read Mathew 13:52. In it He tells his disciples that there “newfound understanding makes them like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”

Bottom line to this subject of transitions—some things are best helped through faith and letting God get you through them. Others can be assisted with creative thinking, a little physical work, and letting God’s light shine through them, (like the colorful glass items that now reside in a garden window).

Let me know what you think of my “new” looking halltree and the stained-glass effect in the new window. I’d also love for you to tell me your story of a transition and how you got through it. Leave your story in the comments here.