I helped lead a two-day spiritual retreat at a homeless shelter. These women described themselves as recovering “crack whores,” or “tricks.” That broke my heart. As I looked out at their faces, so weary and anxious for inspiration, I was deeply moved. What a thin line separates our worlds, really. There is no “Us” and “Them.”

To offer a little bit of comfort and hope was a real privilege and honor. That’s the best part of being a writer. I have had such incredible opportunities to sit with people of so many walks of life: practicing witches, homeless women and recovering addicts,  rabbis and atheists and conservative Christians.  I am more deeply in love today with the message of peace and hope and power that Scripture offers, and am also convinced that to live a life of Us versus Them opens the door to suffering.

That lesson was driven home two weeks later when I chaperoned a group of fifth graders to a Holocaust museum. The violent images and heartbreaking relics, such as the barbed wire fence from a concentration camp, left many of the kids in tears. The evil was overwhelming, as was the sense that the world had failed the persecuted ones by failing to identify with them.

April was an incredible month in many ways, and now I am looking forward to May. I can’t wait for school to be out, for coconut-scented sunscreen and watermelon by the pool. I can’t wait to turn in REIGN and move on to my next project.

I can’t wait to see what comes next!

That was my big lesson over Christmas. Normally, when all my little ones are home from school, the house is in tatters by lunch and my nerves are fried. I hate a messy house. I love the peace of a clean and orderly house, which is one thing no one at my old infertility clinic ever talked to me about. They did not warn me that these precious bundles would one day explode all over my living room, so to speak. So this season, every day, I cranked the hiphop and dance music up to ear-bleed level, set the timer for ten minutes, and we all did what came to be known as a Flash Clean. Just ten minutes of cleaning as fast as you can.  Then we were done for the day. And the house sparkled. I can’t say it was peaceful, but it was clean and orderly, and we devoted ourselves to cookie baking, target practice, puppy wrangling, and all the other fun stuff that makes our family ours.

So now I am a huge fan of small daily goals. Ten pages a day. Ten minutes a day.  Life is good!

Here’s what I am reading this month:

Dave Ramsey’s MORE THAN ENOUGH

Rick Yancey’s THE MONSTRUMOLOGIST

Cheryl Klein’s SECOND SIGHT: AN EDITOR’S TALKS ON WRITING, REVISING, & PUBLISHING BOOKS FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG ADULTS

Have a wonderful month, take a few baby steps every day towards a big goal, and get ready for a fantastic 2012.

Over the holiday I will be editing the Jezebel novel. I’ll need more than just a good meal to get that job done. I haven’t gotten to the raw heart of her story yet.  It’s disheartening to think I’m not there yet, but then again, every the best things in my life have all come from setbacks. My husband is here because my dog yacked all over my previous beau. My kids are here because I was told I couldn’t have any, and I  pursued a lonely path to get to them. My writing is here because I needed an outlet during that season, and my blank spiral journal never got tired of listening.

This Thanksgiving, when I drink my first cup of coffee and prepare for the madness, I am going to make a list of the setbacks and discouragements I am facing. Then I will say a prayer of thanks for each and every one. Someday, I know that I will look back and realize a gift came from them all.

Be blessed, be filled and get ready to be merry! Welcome, Christmas!

Ginger

I have one week until the Jezebel novel is due to the publisher. It releases in September of next year, and while that sounds like a long ways away, this is actually a tight schedule. We’ll be editing through February and I will be drinking plenty of coffee and tea. If you own stock in Folgers or Good Earth tea company, then you can thank me now. I typically drink a full pot of each, every day.

I’ve been hearing from the early readers of the novel DESIRED: The Untold Story of Samson & Delilah, and I’m delighted. So far, every one says they were surprised. That’s a very good thing, considering the Samson story is old, old, old. But a careful reading of the text is illuminating, and I hope the novel catches plenty of people by surprise.

I’m off to work again on Jezebel’s tale. After that, I’ve got projects with InTouch, a book for young adults, and surgery for carpal tunnel. Should be a crazy start to the holiday season.  I hope you make time this year for connecting with good friends, good books, and a good end to all the labors of 2011.

I’ll be signing copies of DESIRED: The Untold Story of Samson & Delilah. Looking forward to it!

Here are a few oddball facts I discovered while researching the book:

We’d like to think of Samson as a Fabio look-alike. He was probably more like a rogue member of ZZ Top with hair that dragged the ground. He would have been a strange sight. Stranger, too, to think this wild man was God’s choice for deliverance.

Delilah was no seductress. She is never accused, even by the biblical writers, of being one. She is, however, a nag. Seriously. Read the biblical account. She learns Samson’s secret by nagging him. She wears him down by pestering him. Perhaps this is why, when storytellers deviate from the biblical account, they paint her as an aloof temptress. It’s a shock to think the world’s strongest man was no match for a persistent woman. But then, most women already suspect that.

And finally, Samson killed dozens and dozens of men at a time. By hand. Or with crude implements. It would have been a full day’s work on some occasions, at least eight hours. Samson was scarier than we imagined, not sexier.

The real heroine in the story is the one woman who is never given a name. His mother. But I loved Delilah, too, because she was broken enough to betray the man who truly loved her.

So look for the book to hit your local bookstore or online retailer. I will be emailing updates of my signing schedule this fall, but I will be busy wrapping up the Jezebel novel, so I won’t be on the road as much as I’d like.

Until we meet,

Ginger

Whether you’re a single mom struggling against demoralizing inner messages about your beauty, your past and your future, or a young victim of human trafficking, renewing your spirit will give you the strength to take a stand for freedom today.

If you want more encouragement, and a deeper discussion about the connection between spirit and beauty, check out my interview with celebrity stylist and life coach Michelle Phillips:

http://www.hayhouseradio.com/hosts.php?author_id=615

Michelle is a huge star to thousands of women, and you’ll absolutely love what she has to say. Pre-order her dynamic book THE BEAUTY BLUEPRINT today from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Beauty-Blueprint-Steps-Building-Dreams/dp/1401931731/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1314018432&sr=8-5

If you want more information on what you can do (and we can all do something!) to end human trafficking, click on either of these links:

http://www.thefreedomproject.org/

http://www.freedomnetworkusa.org/

Thailand, btw, was simply amazing. Our team from Johnson Ferry Baptist Church taught English to schoolchildren in a rural village, hosted a conference for missionaries stationed in Thailand, ministered at a women’s prison, and spent some time with missionaries stationed in Chiangmai. I learned so much:

1. The English language is a golden ticket for many poor children, giving them access to jobs they could not get otherwise

2. Opportunities define a culture, in so many ways. As an American, I always took all my opportunities for granted. I never will again.

3. Every summer, every day folks from all walks of life get on planes and travel to remote areas all over the world, bringing food, medicine, education, hope, and the message of a living God who sees us and loves us. I am staggered to see how much Christians do behind the scenes to help heal a hurting world.

4. Ready access to dark chocolate should be a UN mandate. I’m just sayin’…

Now, here is a list I compiled before leaving of the very best beauty products of Summer 2011. Print, forward this page to your friends, and enjoy!

Sunscreen: Johnson & Johnson No More Tears Sunscreen. Based on minerals, but *without* nano particles, ( a rare combination), this sunscreen gives amazing coverage. Because it contains zinc oxide, it will leave your skin with a white tint. However, I know women swear by zinc oxide as a moisterizer, so you can wear this under your makeup.

Hair Product: Ion Swimmers Shampoo and Spray-In Conditioner. We love this for getting chlorine out of our hair. You can use the spray-in conditioner before swimming to lock out the chlorine, and the shampoo afterwards to remove any renagade traces. I buy it at Sally’s Beauty Supply.

Anti-Perspirant: REAL Simple Magazine voted Secret Clinical Strength their top pick, and I agree. But here’s the catch: use it at night before bed. If you use it in the morning, it doesn’t have time to work. Applying it at night means you’ll use less overall, which is a good comprimise for those concerned with using a chemical-based product.

Poolside Drink: Coconut water. I’ve loved coconut water since competing in the IronGirl a few years ago, and I’m thrilled to see it becoming more mainstream. Buy it at WalMart and Target now! Loaded with natural electrolytes and potassium, coconut water will make you feel better than any sports or energy drink. Try drinking a little every day for two weeks, and I bet you’ll agree. Coconut water was featured in a women’s magazine recently as being a potent way for women to rev up their energy levels. The preservative in many processed foods, sodium benzoate, can wear down our energy levels, the experts theorize, but coconut water counteracts the effects. I do have to agree–I can tell a major difference in energy levels when I’ve been drinking this instead of Cokes. (And I do love my Coca Cola!)

Salon treatment: I’ve stopped using a salon for highlights and swtiched to Revlon’s Frost & Glow kit. Sold at WalMart and Target for under $10, these highlights look as good as salon highlights at a fraction of the cost. That’s not just hype, either: these highlights look amazing.

That’s my list for Summer 2011, and I cannot believe we’re heading into Fall already. My new novel, DESIRED: SAMSON & DELILAH, will be releasing in late September. It’s my favorite novel yet, and I loved writing it. I also was drained when I finished. Delilah is damaged but still pursued by men; Samson’s mother is disillusioned and demanding, and both lead Samson to his destiny. Check out the trailer on YouTube or my Facebook page.