My first response was … this has got to be a joke. I emailed back asking for the production company to be named. In the email, it said it was a “reputed production company.”

Then I googled Todd Williams and saw his work. He is a director who would be perfect for my story! So I sent another email apologizing for not having done my research before I asked him to verify his authenticity.

Over the weekend, I contacted the mama bear of self-publishing, Victoria Strauss. She is a brilliant lady who exposes all the scumbags who take advantage of self-published authors. Her blog can be found at https://writerbeware.blog/.  In addition, I contacted another author I know, who is actually getting his novels produced in Hollywood.

On Monday morning, I got a call from Los Angeles. Jack Marshall, a talent scout, said he was calling from Amazon Studios. They had selected my novel to be presented to some producers! He said they needed a Cinematic trailer produced for the meeting. I said I had a book trailer. Jack said that was not the same as a Cinematic trailer. I asked him how much that would cost. He said they were investing in my project, which led me to believe that I would pay nothing.

So, then he gives me the line about how much money I am going to make when I sell my film rights. Believe me, if I made that much money I would have a very cushy life. After this line of baloney, he told me they already had two books for this meeting lined up and I would be the third and last one. Then he said that I would only have to pay 30% of the cost for the cinematic trailer. Well, apparently they were not really investing, just kind of investing in the project. At that point, I told him I needed to investigate them and ended the call.

I could not find Jack Marshall anywhere and if you are a talent scout, you should have a digital footprint. Todd Williams is actually a phenomenal director. On the off chance that this actually was a real deal, I sent him another email and informed him I would be in California in December. If he was really interested, I would arrange an in-person meeting with him and we could discuss the details then. I am not expecting a reply.

I received affirmation from Victoria Strauss and my author friend, Don Holbrook, that this was indeed a scam. I am so grateful for the people that God has placed along my journey who are protectors instead of predators. There are far too many predators that feed on the dreams of self-published authors.

I try to read the Bible every day with the goal of reading through the entire Bible every year. This morning I was reading 1 Chronicles 21. In this passage, Satan tempted David to take a census of the people. Joab fought back and said that this should not happen, yet he went out and took the census.

In this passage, Joab was very distressed because he knew that this was a matter of pride for David. David was depending upon the strength of his army instead of the power of God. He had over one million warriors, so it was a valid temptation.

In the commentary of my Bible, which is the Life Application Study Bible, there is a powerful statement. ” There is a thin line between feeling confident because you are relying on God’s power and becoming proud because God has used you for a great purpose.”

I reflected on Social Media, influencers, and the contemporary desire to idolize people who have a social media platform. I also examined myself. My journey to success as a Christian author has been slow and arduous. I do not have a social media presence. I do not have a YouTube following. I am not an influencer. Yet, I have sold more than is normal for self-published authors.

I think as a Christian author, if people are following me, then I have failed in large measure. People should follow Christ because of me. If I have little to no social media presence but I somehow glorify God through my life, then I have achieved my goal.

One of my friends, Marc Juarez, wrote me a note after reading my novel, The Shattered Vase. He said he wanted to get closer to God because of reading my book. That is the takeaway I want to achieve with every word I write or presentation I give.

To read The Shattered Vase. Please click on the following link. The Shattered Vase.

I have realized, as of late, that I have been measuring my self-worth by a precarious standard of success. This measuring rod I have been observing is on my sales page on Amazon. I have recently released the second version of my novel, The Shattered Vase. https://www.amazon.com/Shattered-Vase-Book-Life/dp/B0BLK6ZXLP 

As a Christian author, I find it imperative that I constantly examine my desires and motivations to make sure they align with my faith. If reaching lost souls for Christ is the aim of my writing, then wouldn’t fabulous success be in line with my faith? Yes, it would be…but not if success becomes my idol.

As I continue on my journey up this elusive mountain called fame, I must be conscious of my motivation.

Is my motivation to gain followers, influence, and money? Or is it to glorify God, even if I do not gain followers, influence, or money? I have said in my author bio that the book I released could not have been written without God in my life. Is this God who I worship and adore impressed by followers, influence, or money? Or is He impressed by a gentle and humble spirit?

I am grateful for the humble beginning of my journey.

When you are an unknown author, every person who reaches out to give encouragement and praise is highly valued. I have learned to appreciate my friends and family for the support they have given me. I feel as if I value them more because my struggle has been challenging. If I had gained fame immediately, I may have become proud and elusive, shielding myself from those I love.

Last week at a birthday party for one of my friends, the birthday girl introduced me as an author and stated that she had bought my book and was looking forward to reading it. She so sweetly gave me center stage for a moment, when really the stage should have been all about her because it was her birthday party, not mine.

Just yesterday one of my sons spent two hours working on my website fine-tuning it. I am sure he had plenty of other things he could have done with his time, but he made my website a priority in his busy day.

These are the memories I cherish and hold dear to my heart.

Success may be a treacherous platform to stand on, but with my eyes set on Jesus, it needn’t consume me.

The greatest gift I have received in this life is not being on the bestseller list but having an intimate relationship with God. The sacrifice of Jesus made this possible. If I gain success and lose that, I have lost much more than I have gained.

75% of mental illnesses can be linked to a physical ailment.

In my case, the physical ailment was a urinary tract infection. It took a while and a lot of different medications to resolve my issue. Finally, I settled on some natural alternative medications which worked better than what the doctors had given me.

Sometimes life seems to be a test of faith.

It has been several months since the hailstorm happened. I was on my way to Maryland to see my son and my daughter-in-law. They were expecting their first child to arrive, and I wanted to visit them one more time before that marvelous event occurred.

I knew that there was bad weather coming into the state of Texas. It was heading straight for my home. This wasn’t the first time that they had predicted bad weather for my area, but I had faith in the past that no harm would come to my home.

My faith was tested.

I arrived in Maryland, and I wasn’t too terribly worried until I saw Facebook. There was a woman who had taken a picture of a bowl of golf ball-sized hail and she lived in my subdivision! Gads! I was now terrified! I imagined coming home to a house with windows busted out, shingles scattered like pepper on my lawn, and all sorts of mayhem. (One benefit of being a fiction writer is a very overactive imagination.https://store.bookbaby.com/book/the-shattered-vase)

I quickly got on my phone and texted the people who were supposed to watch my animals and asked them to check on my home and animals. They said there had been little to no damage in my area.My neighbor said the same thing. I totally freaked out. Little to no damage? I saw a bowl full of humongous hail that was posted in my subdivision.

As you can probably guess, I had little faith at this time. In fact, I was not only without faith; I was furious at God, I gave him a talking to and did not hold back. My prayers were anything but respectful and honoring to my gracious God.

Looking for a rainbow after the storm

When I got home, there were no shingles on my lawn, nor was a window broken. There was some damage, but it wasn’t life changing. When I got my faith back in line, I realized a few things. First, I have a home which is fourteen years old, and it needs a new roof. Second is that I have an outstanding home insurance company (State Farm) who has always had my back. Third, this would be a new challenge with a learning curve. My sweet agent, Kathy at State Farm, helped me on that journey.

Initially, I checked on my neighborhood Facebook app and hired what I thought was an excellent company. I have no doubt that they are good, but when I checked with Kathy, she gave me a better option.

She suggested I go with Lon Smith Roofing. Once I heard their pitch, I was overjoyed. They were going to give me a Climate flex roof https://www.certainteed.com/residential-roofing/products/landmark-climateflex/at no extra charge. This not only would protect me from further damage because it was impact resistant, but would also give me substantial savings on my insurance premium. Okay now that is a double win!

When I am faithless, how does God respond?

When I thought about how I had first responded to the hailstorm, I was ashamed. I had not had my usual faith where I knew I could calm the storms. I have in the past, through the power of God in prayer, dissipated severe storms, caused a tornado to dwindle to nothing from the expanse of a mile and had my residence protected from weather for all of fourteen years. Yet in this instance, I was faithless,

However, God remained faithful in seeing me through to the other side. He did not abandon me for a minute. If you would like to know more about God’s faithfulness, I invite you to watch the following sermon.https://gatewaypeople.com/series/the-seven-churches-of-revelation?sermon=remember-gods-faithfulness

Stay tuned to see whether I was taken advantage of or taken care of by the roofing company. Now that is a cliff hanger you do NOT want to miss! lol

I was just a little girl when betrayal first attacked. There was one girl in my class who was being made fun of. I felt sorry for her and became her friend. We were besties until I got a horrible illness and had to spend two months in the hospital. I came out in a wheelchair and had to learn how to walk again.

I endured vicious bullying because of that illness. In addition to the bullying, I lost my bestie. She said I had changed. I felt like saying, “Well, I did just spend two months in a hospital and was in a coma for six weeks. If you had gone through something like that, don’t you think you would change a little too?”

However, I did not say that to anyone. I hid my pain and endured the bullying until I launched out of that stinking little town and went to college.

My mother had always taught me to be kind to those who were underdogs. I had to teach myself in college that it was okay to hang out with people who were winners instead of losers, because losers do not have a lot of self-confidence. As a result, they can go for the jugular in the arena of betrayal.

Betrayal can lead to Rejection.

Betrayal can lead to rejection which can lead to more betrayal. https://www.theshatteredvase.com/index.php/2020/10/07/rejection/

In addition to being the victim of betrayal; I have done my share of betrayal also. I find that when I have done so it was because I was not happy in a relationship.

Was this because of me or the other person?

When I look back on the times, I realize I was . Feeling as if I did not measure up. I felt as if I fell short of others’ expectations.

Looking for love in all the wrong places, I did not realize that the problem was me, not the other person.

Betrayal is no longer a lure for me.

There is one person who always says that I have someone else. I tried everything I knew to make that person feel secure. Yet, they kept saying things that indicated to me that they felt insecure in our relationship. I wondered many times, what would it take to make them feel loved?

I wonder the same about me and the years I betrayed others. What would it have taken to make me feel loved?

Have you been betrayed?

In my novel, The Shattered Vase, Suzie is betrayed by her husband. She is devastated but responds in a way which is spiritually mature. If you would like to read her story, please click on the following link.https://store.bookbaby.com/book/The-Shattered-Vase

How do you respond to betrayal?

Do you think betrayal reveals weakness or strength in the person who is betraying?

It has taken me a long time to see any good coming from that time of darkness but as I mature, I have become less jaded. I have even learned some lessons from this.

THE CHILD CUSTODY BATTLE WAS WHY I BLOGGED.

This horrific battle was the reason I started blogging. My first blog can be found by clicking on the following link.https://singleparentssurvivalguide.com/ I blogged a bit about the child custody issue, then blossomed into other areas: single parent dating, single parenting and some spirituality.

I had a small investment portfolio before the custody battle started. I had sacrificed and struggled for twenty years to get this money set aside. I intended for it to be used in retirement. The Attorney General of Texas took every bit of that to pay child support. They completely wiped me out.

I LEARNED NOT TO TRUST IN MONEY

Before this event I had felt pretty secure in my finances. After t

For some reason Lot was resistant to leave and he hesitated. The angels finally forced him, his wife and two daughters to leave. The angels gave them very specific instructions. “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley.”

Lot’s wife looked behind her at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, when the warning angels specifically stated. “Don’t look back!”

AND SHE BECAME A PILLAR OF SALT

ARE WE ANY DIFFERENT?

When we decide, for the last time,to stop eating sugar and then grab a candy bar.

Or that boyfriend or girlfriend that keeps texting you when you have broken it off. You certainly don’t want to be alone. Texting isn’t the same as premarital sex is it? If you meet them for a drink, that doesn’t mean you are going to sleep with them, right?

Having one cigarette or a drink when you know you have a problem with addiction can be such a temptation. Does one bad apple spoil the whole bucket though?

The temptations which lure us from the path which God intends are plentiful and dangerous.

To repent is to turn away from sin and not look back. It is a very difficult thing to do.

HOWEVER, THERE IS MORE TO THIS STORY.

There is the human tendency to revel in someone else’s demise. How many times have you slowed down to be a looky loo at a traffic accident?

Lot’s wife was looking back for some reason.

Television and news wouldn’t have an audience if there wasn’t tragedies to report on. I don’t pick up the Enquirer or People magazine to read about how the life of a celebrity is perfect. I pick them up and read them only to feast upon the gossip of those who are much more successful than me. Hoping their lives become a train wreck.

VOYEURISM IS GETTING JOY FROM OTHERS PAIN.

In the following post, the idea that voyeurism is, in itself, an evil bears some reflection. https://reformjudaism.org/learning/torah-study/torah-commentary/pillar-salt-text-study

As I am writing this blog, I at first was patting myself on the back because I rarely gawk at traffic accidents without interceding in prayer. Yet, then I caught myself. For the past month I have been watching television every evening. My choice has been stories of true life murders.

This has bothered me deeply and I am trying to change. I used to read in the evenings, but when I read I became sucked in by psychological thrillers. Again, stories of murder and or suspense.

I clearly have some work to do in my life regarding voyeurism. I can start by not feasting on other’s pain while waiting in the grocery line.

HOSPITALITY IS ANOTHER AVENUE TO EXPLORE

Apparently, the people of Sodom were not known for their hospitality. It may have even been a city code to not open your door to strangers. https://aleteia.org/2019/07/28/why-was-lots-wife-turned-into-a-pillar-of-salt-and-not-lets-say-of-pepper/

Since Lot’s wife was a Sodomite, she didn’t see the need for hospitality. According to other accounts of this story, Lot asked her to provide salt for these two angelic guests. She threw a fit because she had not been raised with hospitality being a norm. She went to her neighbors asking for salt. In the process she notified them that they had guests in her home.

This may have been the reason why the whole town then showed up on her doorstep, wanting to do nasty things with these two angels.

Because of her nasty attitude towards strangers, God turned her into a pillar of salt when she disobeyed his messengers and looked back.

What things are causing you to become a pillar of salt? Do you yearn for former sins which you have repented of? Are you truly heartbroken when someone else is in pain? Are you a looky loo at traffic jams? Do you enjoy sharing your home with others and inviting people over for a meal?

Share your thoughts with me in the comments.

JOB IS MY INSPIRATION FOR SUCCESS

Most people know the story of Job. He was the richest person in his area. He had ten children, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen and 500 female donkeys. In addition to all of this, he had many servants. https://www.theshatteredvase.com/index.php/2020/09/03/job/

JOB HAD EVERYTHING UNTIL HE HAD NOTHING.

First, the oxen and donkeys were stolen and all of the farmhands murdered. Then a fire from heaven burned up the sheep and all of the shepherds. The camels were stolen next and those servants murdered also.

But Job still had his family right?

No, not so much. They were killed by what appeared to be a tornado.

What did Job do when this happened? He stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship God. His response was as follows…

“I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!”

JOB HAD NO SELF-PITY

That is so unlike me. I would have been wallowing in self-pity for years.

Awww, but alas, Satan did not stop. He went on to ask for God to take away Job’s good health. When asking for God to afflict Job’s health God acquiesced but not without a protest.

GOD DEFENDED JOB.

He said. “Job is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless-a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”

So how do you become blameless before God?

BY LEARNING THE ROADMAP TO SUCCESS

In Job 30, Job states why he was such a success.

13) I helped those without hope, and they blessed me. And I caused the widow’s hearts to sing for joy.

14) Everything I did was honest. Righteousness covered me like a robe, and I wore justice like a turban.

15) I served as eyes for the blind and feet for the lame.

16) I was a father to the poor and assisted strangers who needed help.

17) I broke the jaws of godless oppressors and plucked their victims from their teeth.

.JOB’S DEFINITION OF SUCCESS WAS ABOUT OTHERS

WAIT A MINUTE!!!

SUCCESS CAN BE DEFINED IN OTHER WAYS THAN A NEW LEXUS?!!!

You gotta be kidding me!!!

Nope, I am NOT kidding you!

Job was enormously wealthy and very successful but when stating his case before God he didn’t even mention one of his sheep, oxen or donkeys. He only mentioned what he had done for others.

SUCCESS IS NOT ABOUT YOU

In Ephesians 2:10, God says that “We are His masterpiece, recreated in the likeness of Christ, so that we can do the good work which God planned for us to do long ago.”

So, the take away from this is … to be a success is not about driving a porsche, living in a mansion or where you last traveled. Nor is it about how many celebrities you know or whether or not you get invited to the White House.

It is rather about how many homeless people you fed. Fighting injustice and advocating for those who are disabled topped his resume’. Living a life of integrity was Job’s claim to fame.

JOB CLAIMED TO BE RIGHTEOUS

Apparently he lived by God’s law. He must have been religious.

However, in James 1:27 the Bible defines what being religious is…

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father, means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

On a personal level, I have a directive from God as to what kind of charity to form when my wealth gets to the level of Job. What if that level of wealth is several years down the road for me?

I HAVE A PLAN

Why wait until I am wealthy to help others? Starting small is always a good first step. I have made a decision to decrease my spending on credit cards and try to pay with cash. Then if I get a dollar bill in change I stick that in the console of my car. When I see a homeless person standing on the street corner, it is easy breezy for me to grab some dollar bills and hand them out.

I shared this idea with one of my dear friends today and she said she liked that idea and was going to do the same.

I’m telling you, I have just started on this roadmap to success and I already feel successful!

How do you define success?

Is it defined by the home you live in, the car you drive or the clothes you wear?

I am not throwing any shade your way if that is you. Someone has to keep the luxury car businesses in the black. lol

Or maybe you do both? Live like a millionaire and also help those less fortunate.

Job was not poor, he was very wealthy, so wealth is not a sin. Making wealth your God while ignoring the needs of others may be questionable though.

https://singleparentssurvivalguide.com/choosing-a-charity/