Swinging in a “Swing” State

By Guest Blogger, Joanie Shawhan

Swings. Swings conjure up memories of my carefree childhood. Higher and higher I flew. I grabbed the chains, pumped my feet and sang at the top of my lungs. But life in a “swing” state has violated this childlike innocence.


A new kind of violence has emerged–political assassination. Traditional commercials bowed to scandalmongering campaign ads. Even Fact Check struggled to sift the truth from the lies.

Debates replaced primetime shows, making the boxing ring appear to be a two-step. Shout. Sneer. Interrupt. Raise a fist. The match is on! Fight over, (oops, debate over). A winner declared.

The presidential campaign trail led to my city not once, but twice! With two large lakes surrounding us, the traffic was rerouted to make way for the entourage of 18 police motorcycles, two black limos with darkened windows, followed by a train of white vans loaded with the press corps. We waited at stoplights while the lights changed from red, to green, to red… No alternate route. Streets barricaded. The 9-5 work force hindered. For security reasons, university classes cancelled.

Robo callers barraged my voicemail with unsolicited political opinions. “Unknown Number” inundated my private phone line, overtaking the volume of personal calls. As the election approached the finish line, I performed the one act that any self-respecting person would do¬–take the phone off the hook.

Now, the election is over. Promises made only to be broken. The other driver, my only traffic hindrance. Verbal assaults and slander return to the soap operas, violence to primetime. The phone is silent. (Did I put it back on the hook?). Chili’s fired-up favorites, adventures in the F4 pick-up and the breakfast of champions have made a peaceful return to my commercial screen. With multiple reruns, education for the aging population is underway once again featuring Boniva, Ginkgo Biloba, Lifeline and Depends.

Santa, snowmen and twinkling Christmas lights will soon replace glaring yard signs. Life is back to normal in the “swing” state.



Bio
Joanie Shawhan is an ovarian cancer survivor and a registered nurse. She writes articles of encouragement for women undergoing chemotherapy and is available for speaking engagements. Two of her articles have recently appeared in Coping with Cancer magazine. Joanie enjoys designing jewelry, knitting, and playing guitar.

Summer’s Beauty

By Jeannette Doran

In Iowa, the corn grows, and the fields green.  Summer’s beauty enfolds us in God’s love.  We breathe in our Creator’s presence which surrounds us.  By mid-July, the corn reaches to the sky straight and tall as it stretches for the light. After the long days of  relentless heat leave the land parched, the summer storms are welcomed with their streaks of lightning which stir up the necessary nitrogen to nourish the roots. The corn’s roots sink deep down searching for life-giving water and nourishment in the rich black Iowan soil.  The leafy stalks gain strength swaying in the wind.

Just as the light and rain storms grow and beautify the corn, so our souls need the light of God’s grace and waters of daily compassion.  As our Creator cares for the corn, we, too, are provided for abundantly.  All of creation grows in the balance of sunlight and darkness, summer’s heat and thunderstorms to water the parched land.  In our busy lives, we also thirst for intervals of deep silence and listening .  We crave the space to sink into that silence of our inner being to listen to the whisper of God’s presence, letting the light spill over the shadows of yesterday’s tears.   The warmth of God’s love intensifies our experience of our Creator, which deepens and expands as we spend more time in quiet prayer.

When we sit still in the warmth and light of the divine presence, we nurture a deeper confidence and intimacy with our Creator, who is always with us, calming our fears.  Light, warmth and rain storms are needed to cultivate the corn in summer, and we need the warmth, light and rains of the Holy Spirit to wash over and envelop us each moment.    God’s compassion is new each morning and is always there for us.  Take time to hold onto God who waits in silent spaces, and joy and peace will pervade your day.  Breathe in Jesus and breathe out mercy.  In contemplating the rich beauty of the cornfields in summer, recall the necessary stages of growth it has experienced along the way, and the care it has received. 

Believe in the divine tender love and mercy surrounding you.  Live in the consciousness of this tender presence through your own experience of God’s unconditional love for each one of us.   May we all grow in grace, washed in the Spirit and bathed in God’s everlasting and compassionate love.

In July, I was called and selected for jury duty. The defense attorney asked us relevant questions and irrelevant ones, such as “Who’s your favorite comedian?” and “If you could live anywhere, where would you go?” The latter caught me off guard, and I tried to think of where I would move; only I couldn’t. When I recounted this to my husband, he was just as shocked as I was. Iowa has muggy summers and bitter cold winters, two things I don’t do well in. But we have a toddler, the school system here is amazing, we love our church and our friends are like family.

If I could live anywhere, I’d live right here.

By Charis Seeley

http://charisseeley.blogspot.com/

What If Your Husband Didn't Come Home?

This year Cynthia Ruchti will once again be Assistant Director for the Quad-Cities Christian Writers Conference, held April 8-9 in Eldridge, Iowa.  For more information about the conference or to register please visit http://www.qccwc.com.  She would love to meet you there and so would we! 

Last year, Cynthia's first novel was released to great success.  What follows is my review for:
They Almost Always Come Home
Cynthia Ruchti's debut novel.

Move over Ted Dekker. “They Almost Always Come Home” is one of those books that grabs your attention on the first page and holds your heart all the way till the last. By the time the first chapter ended, I was hooked on this story of a real woman facing real problems the best way she knows how.

Libby’s husband, Greg, is late coming home from a wilderness/camping-fishing trip. But Libby is not sure if she’s mad or glad about that. The loss of their young daughter has put so much stress on Libby and the marriage that some days she isn't sure if their life together can survive or if she even cares any more.  Despite Libby's conflicting emotions, Greg's mysterious absence is all she can think about.

After taking the waiting as long as she can, Libby enlists her best friend, Jenika, and Greg's wilderness-savvy father to join her in a trip attempting to retrace her husband’s steps to find out what really happened.  Libby & her friend are as far from campers as you can get and she has never really gotten beneath the hard exterior of Greg’s father. She leaves half-expecting to find Greg has left her for another woman. Her journey and what she finds cause her to reach to the very depths of her faith in God.  At this point the story really kicked into high gear for me and became as suspenseful as any John Grissom or Stephen King I’ve read.

The book had me reading late into the night. The gripping story took twists and turns I never saw coming and kept me turning pages, on edge and nervous for the characters. As I read this story I felt I was reading behind the scenes of a real life mystery as it unfolded.

Author Cynthia Ruchti’s writing is REAL. You can feel Libby’s frustration and fear, her anger and grief; her humor and sentimental moments all ring true. Libby, Jenika (her sister in Christ and best friend in faith) and Frank (Greg’s father) seemed like friends I might run into at the corner store or Wal-Mart. The faith and commitment they exhibit is never overdone, but always just people doing what people who really care for each other do faced with a crisis.

It was one of the things that made this book so satisfying to read.

I hope if you’re a mystery or suspense fan you won’t be disappointed in “They Almost Always Come Home."  And come join Cynthia and all the other professional faculty at the QCCWC.  Maybe your book will be the "blest-seller" I review next year!

Introducing Genaire Walker

Learning to Surf

I have always loved the water. Ironically, I also have deathly fear of drowning.... which is why I am learning to surf.

 Though I learned to swim at a local YMCA as a child, it wasn’t until our annual vacations to the coast of South Carolina I came to love the water. I quickly learned the difference between pool and open water swimming. The pool was a very safe environment. Entries were clear, boundaries defined, depths measured, and help was close. Ocean swimming was quite another matter. I found the ocean to be dynamic, exciting and unpredictable. It did not take long for me to go from a child frolicking along the shoreline at low tide to a fearless teen attacking 9 foot waves and riding them in to shore. I relish those memories of lazy 12 hr days at the beach and my fearless “jump in” attitude.

But as young adulthood faded to middle age I forgot my love of the sea. Instead of splashing in gorgeous waters, I found myself swimming in debt, drowning in problems, and sinking in despair. These new waters seemed murky, ominous.

Before long, this once confident swimmer was struggling . . . flailing . . . fighting hard just trying to survive each day. When I had exhausted myself from kicking hard (and going nowhere), God gently reminded me of the things I learned many years ago:

• FLOAT. To float is an act of acceptance. The moment I can no longer stand on my own, I release my being to the control of something bigger. Floating is the choice to surrender, practice stillness, rest and trust in God.  

• SWIM. To swim is the art of navigating myself in situations I can’t control. Active faith is very much the same. It is the exercise of my faith which keeps me disciplined, centered and pointed in the right direction. To choose not to swim is to risk being set adrift . . . or worse yet, to drown.

• SURF. To surf is spiritual mastery. To surf is finding ecstasy in an uncertain journey. More powerful than swimming, with surfing comes the realization I can travel much farther (and faster) by yielding the movement of God, than any distance I can go on my own. It is communion, sensitivity and response to the ebb and flow of God’s will.

This shift has made a huge difference. That is, I now flow with life instead of struggling against it. I am being taught God’s timing. I am learning to ride life’s storms with finesse and confidence, knowing that HE is holding me up. It is also humbling -- I still wipe out from time to time, but at least now I am enjoying the ride.

  I am learning to surf. Come on in . . . The water’s fine.

Genaire Walker

Genaire Walker is newcomer to the blogosphere from Davenport, Iowa.

She is not new,however,to the craft of writing, however. A twelve-year veteran of the television and radio fields, she has produced countless advertising campaigns under her previously owned business and former pen name, WalkerCreative. Her shift from advertising to inspirational writing reflects her deeply rooted desire to spread knowledge rather than negative messages to her community.

Her poetic accomplishments include the House of Rah ‘Sun-Ra Blazing Track Award’ for her produced collaboration of “It Don’t Belong to You” with poet Disillusioned.
Another recent poem of hers, “Love Letter to the Black Man” was awarded Image of the Day in on WrittenImages.com, and her Audio “Got Your Numba” produced by Rahkyt (pronounced Rocket) was awarded January’s Honored Audio in Written Images Live. The same piece received the Soultry Echoes “Soultry Spotlight” Award at www. soultry.org. Her heartbreaking poem “Mal Practice” was recently awarded ‘Poem of the the Week’ on HipHopPoetry.com
She is thankful for the encouragement of her husband, children and church friends. She humbly asks for prayer as she explores new avenues in her writing career.