Laura J. Davis

My, but I have been silent haven't I? I have good reasons. I've been working frantically to finish Learning from the Master: Living a Surrendered Life (see picture on the sidebar).This study guide is based on my novel Come to Me. Like the book, we look at the events in Jesus' life, but this time we dig a little deeper and learn from our Lord's example (and His mother's) on how to live a surrendered life. This study is ideal for personal use, but is designed to be used in a group setting as well. Unfortunately guys, it is a study suited for women.

The use of Come to Me is to give you a sense of Jesus' day to day life. How he interacted with his family and friends, his sense of humour, his concerns, etc. Then, using Learning from the Master and your bible you will discover how Jesus was able to willingly lay aside his own desires for the Kingdom of God. I hope by the end of the study women will easily be able to recognize those areas of their lives where changes need to occur and how they can make those changes to live a fully surrendered life.

Since the study follows Jesus life, birth, death and resurrection a study on The Star of Bethlehem is included and I'm pleased to announce that Rick Larson, the creator of that wonderful DVD, is allowing me to make The Star of Bethlehem available through my website. I have set aside one week in the study just for you to watch the DVD. Of course you don't have to, but honestly you will miss so much if you don't. You will be amazed at how the Lord orchestrated the heavens the day of Jesus' birth (even before his birth) and in particular, you will be in awe of how the stars were aligned when he died and rose again. The heavens are indeed God's handiwork and have much to reveal.

So, if you are looking for something to dig into with your ladies group this year (or for your own personal use) Learning from the Master will be out soon!

Last week I shared with you the passing of my friend Susan Minns. Sue's philosophy was "always find the funny". Well, I'm here to say that I have probably attended, for the first time in my life, the funniest and funnest funeral/memorial service I've ever been to. It was no coincidence that Sue wanted her funeral to be called a "going away party."

It started out normal enough. We enjoyed a slide show of pictures of Sue's life. We listened to people share humorous stories about Sue. We sang her favorite songs and listened to a soloist who did a beautiful job. Her husband and sons also had a few words to say about Sue and many of us laughed, as well as cried.

Then the preacher got up to speak and halfway during his sermon he put on a red clown nose. The video below will clue you in on why he did that. He also asked everyone to take off one shoe and hold it up in the air. Hundreds of red shoes popped up throughout the church. Why? I'll let Sue tell you, "The way I see it, if you have to spend your days in a wheelchair, you can either whine about it or your can seize the opportunity to wear smokin' red high heels with zero discomfort."

Sue chose the red shoes and we all honoured her by wearing them as well. As the service came to a close the preacher explained that one of Sue's favorite songs was about to play (it was by Stevie Wonder) and he said Sue had one final request of us - "She wants you to dance."

And so we danced. We danced our way out of the church laughing, smiling and crying (a wee bit) over how our friend turned our mourning into joy.

I left inspired. My tag-line above says, "Living a Joy-filled, Surrendered Life." That kind of life requires that you try to find a reason to be thankful and joyful in any situation. I'm going to add to that and start looking for the "funny" in life as well. I might even sport a clown nose once in a while. We are, after all is said and done, only here for a brief moment in time. So, let's make the most of what time we have left and find the funny.

This is my friend Sue Minns. This picture pretty much describes everything about Sue. That smile lit up a room and her laugh and sense of humour stayed with you for hours after talking to her. Sue was an incredible speaker who managed to touch the hearts of people all over Canada. She loved to laugh at what most people would call "bad" things, but she could find something funny about any situation. Her philosophy? Try to find the humour in everything. Keep an eye out for it because there is always something funny to find - even with MS and cancer. Her humourous attitude toward life was a gift from God and her faith in Jesus to see her through life's trials - and she had many of them (depression, breast cancer, a devastating house fire, MS) - made her testimony about God's faithfulness all the more powerful.

Sue was famous for her red stiletto shoes.

"The way I see it, if you have to spend your days in a wheelchair you can either whine about it or your can seize the opportunity to wear smokin' red high heels with zero discomfort."

That was the way Sue looked at life - always with a positive. She even tried to convince me that I should get a wheelchair as it was the best thing that had ever happened to her. "I can go anywhere I want now. Best thing that ever happened to me was getting this wheelchair!" Her words, not mine. She saw me limping and new I was in pain. In fact, right up until the time she went into hospital, she was still trying to convince me to get one.

Sue died on September 29, 2011 of stomach cancer. I was supposed to go in and see her that day. I was going to surprise her with a bouquet of flowers - and my new red scooter. It wasn't a wheelchair, but I knew it would have brought a smile and a chuckle from her and it's no coincidence that it's red.

Today, I will in some small measure (I hope), give comfort to her husband Rick and her sons Jake and Jesse. Tomorrow, we are having a going away party. Again, Sue's idea. I know almost everyone there (men and women) will be sporting red shoes of some kind. I also know, for me at least, that when I think of Sue's red shoes I hear in my head the constant refrain, "There's no place like home. There's no place like home." So, I will wear my red shoes, share a story or two and then click my heels three times and rejoice in the fact that my dear friend is truly home.

If you have 33 minutes, take a moment to watch this amazing documentary by author and film producer Ray Comfort. From the opening I was stunned at how many of our young people today did not know who Adolf Hitler was. From the outset, I sincerely thought this film was going to be about making comparisons to Hitler's Nazi regime and Islam. I couldn't have been more surprised to where it lead and how quickly people changed their minds on the topic discussed within.

Initially, 180 was not the film Ray Comfort meant to produce. At the time, Comfort was taping interviews for a DVD to go along with a book on Hitler and the holocaust. In the course of the interviews, one question led to another, and the discussion led to abortion. Comfort explains, “It began with two male university students completely changing their minds about abortion when we asked them this one question. We realized it wouldn’t be convincing to have only males speaking on the subject, so we took to the streets, asking that one particular question, and found that six women changed their minds from pro-abortion to pro-life in a matter of seconds. It was amazing!”

Though it was not Comfort’s original intention to create a documentary specifically about the abortion issue, when he saw the direction the film was taking, he quickly recognized its potential to open the doors of discussion. “I have held up pro-life signs. I have printed pro-life literature and spoken against abortion in pulpits and in my books, but I have felt that all my efforts were almost futile—that is, up until now. In 180 we have a nation changer.”

As to the rest of the question Comfort asks in 180? You’ll have to wait to watch the video to find out what it is. “For me to tell you what the question is,” he explains, “would be cheating you. You’ve got to see the facial expressions change. You’ve got to see the people, when they are asked that one question, change from one of a hard look in their facial expressions to one of a light going off, as they change their minds and realize how evil abortion is. Their thinking makes an abrupt 180 degree turn, all because of that one game-changing question.”

Although the film is just now being released to the public, an early edit of 180 was submitted for consideration and won a 2011 Telly Award.

I invite you to watch the film and welcome your comments afterwards.

My apologies to anyone who has been coming here for their Lenten meditations. Life has been getting in the way, preventing me from making regular posts. Unfortunately,  I will not be able to post again until Palm Sunday, due to deadlines, family illness and other responsibilities. If I get a chance to post anything in between I will let you know.

Thank you!

Laura

1. Misplace your car keys.
2. Search everywhere for them - purse, coat pocket, retrace your steps.
3. Call husband to tell him you can't pick him up from work because you lost your keys.
4. Husband says, "Look again! How could you lose them anyway? What am I supposed to do?"
5. Search purse again. Dump everything out on table in Kelsey's.
6. Call husband back to verify you don't have keys.
7. Husband takes taxi to pick you up, using his keys to get into car.
8. Husband silently stews all the way home.
9. Arrive home.Take coat off when you get in the house - discover keys in pants pocket.
10. Beg husband's forgiveness while trying not to laugh.

That was my day - how was yours?:lol:

Some of you already know about my involvement with https://www.compassion.ca/donation.asp?intid=51&intredirectid=199" target="_blank">Compassion Canada. My husband and I have been sponsoring a child in Kenya for the last 8 years. During my time with Compassion, one of the things that I have found unique about them is the Compassion Advocacy Network. It allows anyone to advocate for a child. While most of the advocates are already child sponsors, some are not. But, each tries to do what they can to raise awareness about Compassion Canada and the work they are doing throughout the world for children in need.

As a child-sponsor, I wanted to do something more. I would love to sponsor more than one child, but I simply can't afford to and so I asked myself, what else could I do to help? My goal is to raise $2,000 this year for Compassion's Unsponsored Children's Fund. How am I going to do this? Through sales of my book Come to Me. One dollar from each book sold will go to Compassion. Am I setting myself up for a fall? Maybe. Selling 100 books seemed daunting to me, selling 2,000 will only happen through the grace of God and your generosity.

Are you looking to start a bible study group or book club? Come to Me is about the life of Christ. You get to read a novel and use it to study Christ's life at the same time! Plus, all books purchased through this website are discounted. What a deal!  

Don't want to buy my book? That's okay. Can you still donate something to Compassion anyway? On my home page you will find a Compassion Logo. Click on it and it will take you directly to their site. You will see my name and the name of my book on the page. Don't be alarmed - the money is not going to me. My name and book are there, so that Compassion knows the donations are going to their Unsponsored Children's Fund because you donated through my website.

I want Come to Me to be more than just about selling books. It's my way of giving back to those less fortunate. If you would like to purchase a signed copy of Come to Me, visit my bookstore today.

I trust that everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I was unfortunately suffering with that horrible cold that is going around and was too weak to cook a turkey on Thanksgiving Day, so we had our Thanksgiving just this past Sunday! It was very weird as it was just  Jim and I - our kids are still away. I don't think I'm ever going to get used to this empty nest!

I have been a busy little bee since my last post. Most of it had to do with Come to Me, I think I know every page by heart now. It seems that my computer did not like converting files to PDF's (which is how my editor sent me his revisions). Unfortunately, whole paragraphs went missing! To say I was shocked was an understatement. It wasn't his fault, it was mine - or rather my computer's. Sometimes, I actually long for a good old-fashioned typewriter.

Anyway, everything is back where it should be and life is starting to be normal once again. You will notice a few changes here on my website. I have decided to trust that the Lord is going to keep me in good health and I have hung my shingle out for speaking engagements once again. This is something I have done in the past, but with all the problems I had with my leg I was somewhat embarrassed to be seen pushing a walker. However, the Lord has been reminding me of late that I was dealing with a bad case of pride and so, trusting that He will continue to enable me, I am ready to roll into any speaking opportunities out there!

That said, feel free to pass my name on to the head of your ladies group or to your seniors group, if they are looking for a speaker this Christmas. 

If time permits over the next couple of weeks I hope to be starting another blog series, this time on prayer. I hope you will join me as one of the main purposes behind it, is to  encourage you and pray for you. I expect I will start this blog the first week of November, so do check back and if you have any prayer requests, please contact me via the Contact Me button at the top of the page. In the meantime, have a great week and I'll talk to you soon!

After you read this blog, you might think I'm nuts too, but I welcome your opinion as I am about to make a rather crazy decision. Well ... my husband thinks it's crazy, but I'm not so sure.

Come to Me, is about to get a facelift. I have been mulling this over in my mind for about a year now. When Google books decided to upload my ENTIRE book to the internet (the ending included), I noticed a drop in sales. No surprise there. After finding out that my publisher, Lulu, had given them permission to reprint my book, I knew I needed to switch publishers. After realizing that Lulu did not own the rights to my book and dropping words like "lawyer" and "illegal", Google deleted all but 38 pages.

Since that time I have had huge problems getting my book "out there". After talking with a representative from Word Alive Press at the recent Write! Canada conference, I was assured that I could republish Come to Me with them. It would have a new cover, a better marketing campaign (something I failed to really establish early on) and proper distribution into actual "brick and mortar" stores. This has been the frustrating part of dealing with Lulu. To buy my book now, you have to either live in London, Ontario or buy it through Amazon or Barnes & Noble. 

So, the question I would like to put out there is this: do you think I'm crazy? Should I republish a revised edition of Come to Me with Word Alive? Or should I forget about it (as my husband wishes I would) and use Word Alive Press for my next novel instead?

Have you ever asked the question, "What does God want me to do with my life?" I know I have, especially when I thought I had it all figured out. But, life happens and things changed and I was once again asking, "What does God want me to do with my life?" Unfortunately, I was asking the wrong question. I should have been asking, "What is God doing?" You see the difference right away. You can't miss it. It is no longer a self-serving question.  It is now geared  to serving God wherever He is working.

When I looked closer at my life to see where God was working, I realized that the frustration of not being able to walk faster than a snail, or dealing with infections in a leg that is starting to look more and more like a watermelon, could be my clue as to where God wanted me. And like a big lightbulb over my head that blinked on with a sputter -  "I saw the light".

If I had never fallen down those stairs 10 years ago and if my situation had not deteriorated to the point where I needed a walker, I would never have been aware of the difficulties and frustrations those with physical challenges go through on a daily basis. To be honest, I had recognized the problem with debit machines at the Metro checkout. My height alone prevented me from using them, which made me wonder how a person in a wheelchair managed. But, when I started trying to get my walker over curbs when there were no accessible sidewalks I became more aware. Then the day that I went to my favourite mall and discovered that most of the handicapped parking had been given over to "Mother's With Children", I just about blew a gasket right there. Pregant and nursing mother's with children were getting the spots that used to belong to the disabled? Something was wrong with this picture and I was fuming. I'm pretty sure that most of the disabled people I know didn't choose to be disabled. Whereas, most pregnant women had some say in the matter. That is when the light went on for me.

God wanted me aware of the trials of those with disabilities, so that I could be a voice. Once I realized that, everything else fell into place. I contacted the Canadian With Disabilities - Ontario region and joined their group. Hoping to help in some way. They generously accepted my help and have asked me to write a quarterly article for "A Voice of Their Own" a publication for the Council of Canadians with Disabilities. 

I am thrilled to be able to help in this way. So, if you start to hear more rants from me on the rights of the disabled, you'll know why.