Author Archives: Janet Sketchley

About Janet Sketchley

Janet Sketchley is an Atlantic Canadian writer whose Redemption’s Edge Christian suspense novels have each been finalists in The Word Awards. She's also the author of the devotional collection, A Year of Tenacity. Janet blogs about faith and books. She loves Jesus and her family, and enjoys reading, worship music, and tea. Fans of Christian suspense are invited to join her writing journey through her monthly newsletter: bit.ly/JanetSketchleyNews.

God Isn’t Finished With Us Yet

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Listen! The Lord’s arm is not too weak to save you,
nor is his ear too deaf to hear you call.
Isaiah 59:1, NLT*

Last week I posted about the need to draw apart for quiet moments with God. As sometimes happens, God was speaking to my friend Ginny Jaques about the same thing: see her post, Meeting God Under the Fig Tree.

Where my need was to sit with God and be still with Him, remembering our relationship and His power, Ginny needed a “fireside chat” with Him to pour out her concerns for our culture, our world, and where it looks like it’s heading. (Do take time to read her post from the link above. It will encourage you.)

I carry the same concerns, about our God-ignoring culture and about the way even Christians don’t seem awake to the importance of living God’s way. We don’t dare go back to legalism, but often we as God’s people don’t look much different in our attitudes and behaviours than the people who don’t know Him. As if God’s call to holy living was only a suggestion, or His definitions have changed over time.

We need to live by God’s standards while being genuine and approachable. For some of us, that means remembering that Jesus is rightfully Lord of our lives and has a claim on our behaviour. For others, it means risking transparency so our non-Christian friends can see we’re different. For all of us, it means guarding our relationship with God and growing deeper in relationship with Him.

I love how creative God is in communicating. He used Ginny’s post to stir my thoughts about this and to bring me to a prayer of repentance for myself and for much of the North American church. Then He reminded me of today’s verse. It’s not over, and it’s not hopeless. In the long history of God and humans, this has happened many times. God can bring us back to where we need to be. He’s done it before, and His strength has not weakened over time.

God’s arm is still strong to save, and what is our proof? Our hope-anchor? Once He realigned my perspective through the verse, He brought me a song, “Thank You for the Cross.” It doesn’t end with us and our efforts. This is God’s work, and our weakness isn’t enough to eclipse His strength.

Mighty and holy God, it’s a good thing You know our weaknesses—and an even better thing that You are mighty to save and loving, to forgive. Speak to each one of us. Reveal anything that needs to change. We are very much works in progress, and we need Your help. Restore, revive, renew us and make us useful to Your Kingdom. Though we fail, let none be lost because of it. Have mercy on the hurting, and draw them to Yourself. Thank You for Your plan as revealed through the Cross, and for what You will do.

∞

Here’s Kathryn Scott with “Thank You for the Cross.”

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Review: The Pregnant Pause of Grief, by Brenda J. Wood

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The Pregnant Pause of Grief, by Brenda J. Wood (Word Alive, 2013)

“I’ve trusted God and His promises for years. Will they hold true in widowhood? I don’t know yet.” [p. 4]

So begins Brenda J. Wood’s poignant account of her “first trimester of widowhood” after the loss of her beloved husband, Ron. The book is written as a series of journal entries, in a conversational style as if Brenda were talking with the reader via email.

She writes about whatever’s on her mind that day, from spontaneous tears in public to fear of forgetting Ron to what she’s learning from God on how to cope. As hard as this new life is, she’s determined to push forward into it, even to laugh again. Ron wouldn’t want her to give in to the misery.

Most of the book is written during the third month ‘AR’ (After Ron’s passing), but the final pages include Ron’s testimony of the difference God made in his life, with brief notes from Brenda taking us past the anniversary of his death.

Brenda and Ron weren’t a perfect couple, but they loved each other deeply and for almost 50 years. One of the main take-aways from this book is the call to love our family and friends well, while we have them in our lives.

It’s a book that can help those who haven’t lost a spouse to understand the thoughts, emotions and needs of a grieving widow or widower. For example, I didn’t know that finances are often in short supply in the early months until the government, insurances etc catch up on the paperwork.

I think it would be a good resource to let newly-grieving readers know what they’re going through is normal.

One of the things I found most encouraging was Brenda’s determination to remember how God had looked after them in the past and her choice to believe that even in this new, painful place, God still had the power and the compassion to care for her.

Brenda J. Wood is a motivational speaker and writer based in Ontario. She’s also written a book to help children deal with grief, The Big Red Chair. You can read the first chapter of The Pregnant Pause of Grief or learn more about the author on her website, heartfeltdevotionals.com.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

The Sheep Who Attended a Writers’ Conference

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It started as a joke.

One of my sons offered his stuffed sheep as a travelling companion when I packed for Write! Canada in 2012. I have a sheep of my own (named Acton) but he’s big enough to count as carry-on luggage.

Taking a break between flights in Montreal

Wilhelm, on the other hand, stands maybe 4 inches tall. And he’s cute as all get-out.

He came along. We had some fun on the way.

Then I decided to smuggle him into the first conference session, just so I could say he’d been there.

I listen at Write! Canada. To the faculty, to my fellow attendees, and to God. This theme showed up early: Look. Listen. Recapture wonder and curiosity.

Look at that face. Could it get more wide-eyed and wonder-filled?

Wilhelm rode in my shoulder bag all conference, peeking out as a visual aid to remind me of the lesson. Unprofessional? Maybe. Quirky? Yup. Conversation starter? Definitely.

We came home with two new books on writing. Have you read either of these? I confess I haven’t read the fantasy one yet, but my review of Unleash the Writer Within is here, and I highly recommend this book.

A Quiet Moment with God

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“Step out of the traffic! Take a long,
loving look at me, your High God,
above politics, above everything.”
Psalm 46:10, MSG*

Traffic noise: motors, horns, someone’s booming stereo. Dust. Exhaust fumes. Movement everywhere.

We get used to navigating life in the middle of it all. This verse caught my attention, invited me to take a time out.

Then I saw this tweet from Sheila Wray Gregoire:

Have you and your spouse talked about something other than logistics–kids, groceries, errands–today? If not, do it now!

— SheilaGregoire (@sheilagregoire) June 2, 2014

It’s about marriage, but it applies just as well to a Christian’s relationship with God. We get so caught up in the “traffic” of daily life, the things we’re doing for God. Sometimes we drift into managing our responsibilities in our own strength (we all have stories of how well that works–not!). But even when we’re praying about it, committing the day and its needs to God, working with Him and for Him, it can get to be all about the work. The responsibilities.

Yes, we want to please God. We love Him, and He’s given us so much. But it’s easy to forget that this isn’t all He wants. It isn’t even the most important part.

God wants quality time with us. (Click to tweet)

Just like the husband and wife, the friends who work or study together, we can’t let it all be about doing—even when there are a million things to do. We need to pull back, “step out of traffic,” “be still and know” He is God. (Did you recognize the verse from The Message paraphrase? I didn’t!)

Some people schedule a daily “appointment” with God so their agendas don’t fill up and crowd Him out. I start with a morning prayer and reading, but you know, that’s starting to feel like the morning meeting with the Boss. Important, but needing to be realigned. Reinforced.

Step one: I need to slow down and enjoy that quiet time. Reflect more on who God is. Worship. Enjoy His presence.

Step two: It’s time to go back to having a tea date with God later in the day. No planning the rest of the day, just a pause for togetherness. Maybe with a worship song to help me focus, or maybe in silence.

God our Creator and our Shepherd, teach us to be still and to know that You are God. Help us abide in You, delighting in Your presence. Forgive us for what we’ve missed in our frantic pace. Help us to work diligently for You and in Your strength, but help us first and foremost to set our hearts on You and to let everything else flow out of that relationship.

∞

A good prayer as we step back from the noise is Michael W. Smith‘s song, “Draw Me Close to You.” If you have 4 ½ minutes for an experiment, try this: listen to the song, concentrating on the Lord, without doing anything else. No checking email, no deciding what to look at next. Just 4 ½ minutes of you and God. (I confess I found it really hard!)

Review: Harmful Intent, by Nike Chillemi

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Harmful Intent, by Nike Chillemi (Crime Fictionista Press, 2014)

Brooklyn PI Veronica “Ronnie” Ingels is self-confident, determined, and she knows how to stand up for herself – at least when she’s on her home turf. When she discovers her husband’s infidelity, she flees to Texas to process the hurt before she has to face him, only to become a person of interest in his murder.

Local Deputy Dawson Hughes doesn’t think Ronnie had anything to do with her husband’s death, and they develop an uneasy working relationship to find the killer. Hughes is picking up the pieces after a messy divorce, and Ronnie’s reeling from the double blow of betrayal and widowhood, but there are definitely sparks between these two.

Harmful Intent is the start of a new, contemporary series from Nike Chillemi, a departure from her 1940s-era Sanctuary Point romantic suspense series. I’m intrigued by her vision for this new series, featuring couples who will sometimes appear as minor characters in other couples’ stories. The plots are suspense with romantic threads, but weaving across these threads are others from the characters’ past hurts. Each of the main characters carries, like many readers, wounds from their childhood which keep them from being all they could be.

Ronnie’s father cheated on her mother, and realizing she married the same type of creep herself helps Ronnie to understand her mother differently. This type of character growth is organic to the story, never overshadowing the suspense plot.

Harmful Intent is not an overtly Christian book, although there are faith overtones. Ronnie and Hughes each find themselves in places in life where faith doesn’t come easy. The character of Bertha is a Christian, and I love this exchange between the two women when Ronnie finds Bertha reading a Bible before bed:

[Bertha] patted my cheek. “What puzzles me is why folks who deny the Lord get mad thinkin’ His promises might not include them. That don’t make a lick of sense to me.”

I stood. “I don’t deny the Lord.”

She gazed up at me with a mother’s kindness. “Then there’s more for you than you know in this book.” [Kindle location 942]

Harmful Intent is a novel with a strong sense of place. The Texas locale feels authentic (to this Canadian) and the details of scenes set in the spa, shooting range and various eating establishments bring those scenes to life. Here’s an interesting post by the author on how she researched the setting’s dialect: Dialect ~ Lend Me Thine Ear.

Ronnie and Hughes are well-matched sparring partners, and I think if they can work through the issues keeping them apart, they’ll make a truly happy couple. We’ll have to wait for the next installment to find out, since Harmful Intent takes place over a short period of weeks after Ronnie’s cheating ex’s death.

For more about author Nike Chillemi and her books, visit her website: nikechillemi.wordpress.com

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Writing Friends

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It’s ironic that a solitary path like writing involves so many companions along the way. The act of stringing words into paragraphs (or poems) may involve only one brain and set of hands, but writers need–and acquire–friends along the way.

We have our regular friends, wonderful and supportive. And we develop friends in the industry: other writers, editors etc. Some of them are local, but many are scattered around the world.

We encourage one another. Share information. Critique, challenge and cross-promote. We may write alone, but we’re not alone.

It’s a special treat to meet a writing friend face to face after a long-distance friendship. Yesterday I had the chance to meet a fairly new writing friend, suspense author and blogger R.A. Giggie. We’ve traded Tweets and Facebook messages, but now we’ve heard each other’s voices and seen the full person instead of a Facebook avatar.

A thoroughly organized blogger would, at this point, insert the photo of Renee-Ann and me (myself?) that I should have asked her husband to take. I did think of it ahead of time, honest! I just forgot. If my husband or sons read this post, they won’t think this is at all unusual.

Instead, here’s a random photo of another meeting:

Mr. Whiskers meets Wilhelm

And here’s where the aforementioned blogger uses this seemingly random photo as a bridge from one writing-friends story to another:

Two weeks from now I’ll be at Write Canada amid old and new writing friends. When I last attended, in 2012, the little sheep Wilhelm came along for the ride. (Not professional, I know, and not recommended, but it happened. Come back next Friday for the rest of the story.) For the conference, I stayed with another writing friend, blogger Mary Waind, and her housemate, Mr. Whiskers.

Face-to-face friends are best, but online friends are great too. If you’re a new writer, it’s easier than ever to find others of like mind online, through Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo Groups etc. Do yourself a favour and make some writing friends.

My favourite writing groups: The Word Guild, InScribe Christian Writers’ Fellowship, American Christian Fiction Writers (yes, they let international members join too!). And if you want to virtually “meet” some of my friends, R.A. Giggie’s blog is There’s Just Something About Writing and Mary Waind’s blog is Beech Croft Tales. If you’re curious about R.A. Giggie’s suspense novel, I’ve reviewed it here: Stella’s Plea.

“Use This”

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Give your burdens to the Lord,
and he will take care of you.
He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
Psalm 55:22, NLT*

Attitude. Heaviness of spirit. Frustration. Sadness. Some days I struggle with these things. They rise up, make it hard to live a life worthy of the gospel. Even minor situations amplify them, and I don’t want to have a meltdown or snap at (or cry on) the people around me.

Then there are the bigger situations—actual crises—health, obstacles, bad news. External things I can’t do anything about to help the people in pain or to salvage whatever plans have been overturned.

God is teaching me to pray Use this—to give these burdens to Him, repeatedly, with the plea that He will use even these to reveal His glory.

The Bible, and the personal stories of believers through the centuries, prove God can do this. Instead of rolling over and giving up in these experiences, we need to keep our eyes on the King and look in faith to see what He will do.

God, we know and believe there is none like You, none more powerful, wise or loving. We believe Your promise to sustain and care for us. You can do more than we can ever imagine. Help us trust You to use every aspect of our lives for Your glory. Let us not hold back or give up, but strengthen our faith so we can stand.

∞

Here’s a faith-encouraging song from Kutless: “What Faith Can Do.”

Review: Peril, by Suzanne Hartmann

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Peril, by Suzanne Hartmann (OakTara Publishers, 2011)

Danger, intrigue, faith and racing… what’s not to like? Lady Anne is a private bodyguard, medically enhanced to possess super-human strength and speed. Her security, and that of her family, comes from utter secrecy. If terrorists or foreign powers discovered her abilities and tracked her location, how far would they go to learn how to create an army just like her?

Lady Anne operates in the shadows until a high-profile assignment to guard a foreign diplomat exposes her to the world. That’s also when she meets Stuart Jackson, champion NASCAR driver.

Stuart and Lady Anne meet a few times, and he can’t stop thinking about her. Eventually he plots to meet her through her friend Joanne.

Stuart also can’t stop thinking about how empty he feels despite his successful life. His growing relationship with Joanne and her husband, Neil, lets him work through his questions and find his way to faith.

I enjoyed the racing aspects, although I confess I was hoping for some behind-the-wheel scenes. Instead we stick with the characters touring the grounds and watching the cars on-track. The author includes enough detail to make it feel real and to orient readers with no NASCAR background, but it’s not over-done. Non-racing fans can still enjoy the book.

I also appreciated the way Peril isn’t told as a romance. Stuart is attracted to Lady Anne, but she’s in a committed relationship. Although she feels a pull to him, she’s committed to her faith and her family. It adds an extra dimension to the story.

Author Suzanne Hartmann writes “fiction with a twist.” Click here to read an excerpt from Peril and to learn more about the author and her other work. Book 2 in the Fast Track Thrillers series, Conspiracy, is now available.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

5 Posts that have resonated with me lately

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At Under the Cover of Prayer, Jen Cudmore shares a challenge to go deeper than surface prayers for people who may irritate us–to do battle for them in prayer. See the full post: You Want Me to Pray for Whom?

At Other Food: daily devos, Violet Nesdoly reminds us that even Christians, if we’re not careful, can find ourselves living according to the flesh instead of the Spirit if we’re “following sinful tendencies in ways that may not even appear overtly sinful… living as if God did not exist. That is, living by one’s own resources and wits.” For wisdom on how to live oriented to the Spirit instead of the natural, read Turn the Dial to “Spirit”.

At Christian Work at Home Ministries, Melinda Means offers Three Ways to Follow God’s Plan for Your Work (for those days when our to-do lists threaten to rule us).

At Choose NOW Ministries, Tara Fairfield shares her top 5 strategies to be ready for the faith-testing storms of life. Read When the Perfect Storm Hits.

And at New Music Tuesday, an interview with Jonny Diaz gives me a new perspective on why it’s okay to be inadequate. See Jonny Diaz: Lettin’ It Fly.

When God says "I've Got This" -- He has.

When Life Piles Up Around Us

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I cry out to God Most High,
to God who will fulfill his purpose for me.
Psalm 57:2, NLT*

In my life, this verse gives me hope. God hasn’t revealed a great purpose for me, like He did for David the shepherd boy to become king. Nonetheless, God has plans for my life—and for yours.

We’re each to live for His glory, and therefore it’s reasonable to pray that He be glorified through our lives and in (or despite) our circumstances.

I have a family. His purpose there? That I love, care for and support them.

A home? That requires care too.

A gift to write? I need to use it God’s way.

When you look at what He’s given you, does it feel overwhelming? Like there’s more to do than time to do it? Sometimes the pressures pile up and threaten an avalanche.

But God will fulfill His purpose despite the opposition—be it Saul’s soldiers chasing David, or my crowded schedule. Like David, I need to trust and pray—and act as led—not to cower, whimper and give up.

God who holds our time in Your hands, give us faith to believe Your promise to never leave us and to fulfill Your purpose for us. Grant us wisdom in how to spend our days and meet our responsibilities. Help us obey Your leading instead of going our own ways. Help us to focus and to serve You in all we do.

∞

Peter Furler’s song, “Greater is He,” is a good encouragement song for those times we feel overwhelmed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdD2OZK3AFQ