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“Approaching a teen was tricky. She might bite my head off, but, then, that was just another scar of motherhood to be worn cheerfully—like stretch marks.” — Susan Mitchell in The Deliverer by Sharon Hinck
Sneak Peek – The Deliverer
All posts by Sharon Hinck
Beautiful Vistas
Part of the pain of being an artist (whether with paint, dance, or words) is that during the process of translating an artistic vision into a medium that can be shared, the result doesn’t always match up with the image in our minds. I find it particularly frustrating when trying to communicate about “God stuff.” God is so beyond description that my efforts will always fall short.
I seek to write truth-filled stories, but my words often feel clumsy. They are the best words I have to offer, but I express only hints of what I long to understand or share.
Then I remember why I feel called to work in the arts (music, theatre, dance, and now writing). God is so awesome and multifaceted that we need a WIDE variety of means to communicate with Him and about Him. One means isn’t enough. Give me a pipe organ, but also compose a work on electric guitar. Write a sonnet, but also a thriller. Every kind of art, every genre, gives us one more facet of His beauty, and one more means to convey the truth of our falleness and His grace.
Yes, the efforts will fall short, but the attempt is glorious, because as we study the beautiful vista in order to interpret it, we are changed by it.
So let’s continue the struggle of creating art in every form, hoping others will glimpse the beauty of God’s grace at work within the reality of our sometimes ugly lives.
Blessings!
Sharon Hinck
(author of The Deliverer)
Lyric Entry – Sharron Minchella
Thank you to everyone participating in the Song of Lyric contest!
Here’s an entry by Sharron Minchella
INFORMATION ON THE CONTEST HERE
The winner will be announced in June.
Song of Lyric
by Sharron Minchella
In Lyric’s tower the One abides,
but roof and wall can’t hold him.
His power is seen on battlefields
and in the hearts of men.
People of the Verses
come worship the One.
He alone is worthy
of hymns and adoration.
Hazor’s fires and Rhusican poison
can never overcome us.
For we will trust in the One alone
to come and to deliver.
People of the Verses
come worship the One.
He alone is worthy
of hymns and adoration.
When trouble comes and overwhelms,
we run to your strong tower.
Our arms are raised as the music plays,
the mist of your peace surrounds us.
People of the Verses
come worship the One.
He alone is worthy
of hymns and adoration.
We sing your Verses to remember
the reason for our joy.
For you have once again restored us
and turned us back to you.
People of the Verses
come worship the One.
He alone is worthy
of hymns and adoration.
Strengthen our arms for each new battle,
and equip us with your word.
For we have come to pledge ourselves
the protector of your house.
People of the Verses
come worship the One.
He alone is worthy
of hymns and adoration.
Please encourage each author with your comments. (They get extra points in the contest for comments).
Please Share This: Stop back often for more entries!
Blessings!
Sharon Hinck
The Dawn
“Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.” Isaiah 58:8 (NIV)
Lord, grant hope to all of us who await Your healing. Amen.
Lyric Entry – Naomi Conti
Thank you to everyone participating in the Song of Lyric contest!
Here’s an entry by Naomi Conti
INFORMATION ON THE CONTEST HERE
The winner will be announced in June.
The Song Of The One
With the power of the Verses
And the strength of our swords,
We trust in Your Word;
In Your almighty hand, Lord.
There is no fear for those
Who trust in Your might;
Alone on high are You
Above the hill gods’ sight:
Awesome You are.
The eyes of the Hazorites
Your wrath they see and fear,
The Kahlareans will tremble when they hear,
The people of Rhus will cease spoken
violence,
They will know, and thus be silenced;
That the One dwells in the midst of His
people.
You alone are to be feared;
Before You will come one and all.
The nations will come to pay You homage;
Upon their faces will they fall.
They will all acknowledge You as God,
For the fear of You will fall hard
From the River Borders to the Clay Hills.
The Hazorites saw Your doings;
They turned and fled their posts.
For You had sent us a Restorer,
Thus they knew You fought their hosts.
From the sky came the dreadful rumble and
light,
Quickening our enemies to surrender the
fight;
You gave us the victory.
Then when Hazor closed about us again,
Creeping as ghosts in the night;
Unknown to us, You were preparing
The most unlikely Restorer to fight.
For You used only Songkeepers and one
man of might,
To deliver the city of Lyric so bright;
Unscathed, she remains to this day.
But when the danger turned homeward,
Deceived by Cameron we sought
To nullify the True Verses’ soundness,
With verses that were not.
So You raised up a new Restorer,
To bring us back to the truth;
He and the guardians fought for our lands,
To take Rendor out of the enemy’s hands,
Thus Cameron’s evil plans were destroyed.
And now, O Holy One,
We worship you this day;
We remember all this You have done
To restore us to You way.
And now, O Lord, please,
Remember us, we pray;
Forgive us now our every sin,
Heal our hearts from deep within;
Our lives proclaim Your Name.
-Naomi Conti
Please encourage each author with your comments. (They get extra points in the contest for comments).
Please Share This: Stop back often for more entries!
Blessings!
Sharon Hinck
Lyric Entry – Jake Buller
Thank you to everyone participating in the Song of Lyric contest!
Here’s an entry by Jake Buller
INFORMATION ON THE CONTEST HERE
The winner will be announced in June.
Deliver Us Soon
There was a fight on Corros Fields
The One rode with us to glory
There was a strength in Braide Wood
Where the One was weaving his story.
There was a passion in Rendor
To let loose the Verses’ song
There was a tower tall in Lyric
Wherein we all belong.
And so we run, and so we run
But sick and weakened we may fall;
And so we weary turn to the One
Who hearkens us to hear His call.
Hear us! Hear us! One Eternal, hear us!
Draw us into your arms, come near us
We need Your redeeming hand
To heal our weary hearts, our land
Deliver us! You alone know our fate.
Deliver us! O Deliverer, we wait.
There is a sorrow on Corros Fields
That makes the rain seem like tears
There is a sadness in Braide Wood
Where it seems like no one hears.
There is an anguish in Rendor
Like dusk on a hurting soul
There is a lingering fear in Lyric
Like the world is out of control.
And so we run, and so we run
But there is no flight from sorrow
And with tears we turn to the One
Who sees the uncertain tomorrow.
Hear us! Hear us! One Eternal, hear us!
Draw us into your arms, come near us
We cry out for Your redeeming hand
To heal our hurts, our wounds, our land
Deliver us! Our time of trial is at noon
Deliver us! O Deliverer—come soon.
Please Share This: Please encourage each author with your comments. (They get extra points in the contest for comments).
Stop back often for more entries!
Blessings!
Sharon Hinck
Bonus Scene 9 – The Restorer
After Chapter 32 Linette:
In the pale glow of first light, families gathered slowly in unnatural silence. Even the youngest children stepped with muted tread, as if a misstep or snapped twig would bring instant destruction down on them. No begging to run off and play, no complaints about a delay in breakfast, no teasing of siblings. Fear strangled the breath from everyone.
I shivered and wrapped my cloak more tightly around my shoulders as I waited under towering pines in the center of the village. Lukyan hobbled up the path from his home, gray and haggard. He’d led the spiritual life of Braide Wood with an inner strength that usually belied his age. Whatever small well of courage I’d held onto drained away at the sight of his trembling, frail steps.
I hurried to meet him and offered my arm. His weight dragged heavily on my elbow, but he lifted his chin.
“Ah, everyone has come. Isn’t that good?”
I managed a wobbly smile. “You always longed to see people this eager to call on the One.”
He patted my arm. “This was a wise plan. Will you lead us in a morning song?”
Fear and grief tightened in a chokehold around my throat. I tried to muster a confident assent. Instead the words I wanted to hide spilled forth in a desperate whisper. “I can’t do this. I can’t sing. Not now. I can’t strengthen their hearts when mine…”
When mine had died. Dylan was gone.
I hadn’t even been able to wrap his body. I had no cairn to decorate. All I had was Tristan’s stark report, the words that changed everything. My world stopped that day in Lyric. Everyone else kept moving. Transports continued to run. Guardians trained and prepared. People whispered about danger. The threat to our clan held everyone in rapt, frantic focus in recent days. But to me it was all a distant fog.
Even if Hazor overran Braide Wood, could I really hurt any more than I already did? Some small part of me would welcome an enemy syncbeam piercing the place where my heart used to beat.
Lukyan’s eyes squinted with compassion. “This will be the most difficult gift you have yet given the One. And so the most precious.”
But a morning song? So full of joy and praise. A celebration of hope? I shook my head. “I thought I could…maybe later…”
“Have the Verses ceased being true?”
“Of course not, but—”
“When we face the deepest pain and most dire threat, we most need to look into His face. Linette, just look into His face and help us all see Him this morning.”
Families had stepped closer. I felt their eyes on me as I stared at the rocky ground. Not far away, lehkan troops rode resolutely to confront the enemy at Morsal Plains. Susan, separated from her loved ones, rode with the guardians, ready to lay down her life. Deep in the woods, Kendra and Kieran and their father were setting up their disruptor, hoping their hard work of the past days would make a difference. This might be the last morning that all of us would meet here in Braide Wood.
I had no courage, no strength to offer them. But Lukyan was right: I could at least look in the right direction and encourage them to do the same.
As if I were in the vaulted Lyric tower, I lifted my face and stared upward. Tree branches gave way to an eternity of soft light. I drew a breath and sang.
Giver of life, Designer of beauty
Precious are days, granted by You.
First light invites us to walk in Your mercy
Steps full of joy, Your blessings are true.
The first lines were slow and barely audible, forced past the choking knot in my throat. But by the end of the verse, a warm whisper of voices gathered together and lifted the melody with me. The song was so familiar that even the youngest children were able to join in. We continued singing, and Lukyan stopped leaning on me for support.
A gasp filled the silence between lines, and I spared a glance down. Soft mist gathered and surrounded us. The voices around me grew stronger. Perhaps mine did too. The pain still throbbed through me, but a stubborn, precious grain of joy burst open as well.
The mist surged, moving among and over the people, touching us all with more intensity than even the mists in the Lyric tower.
Dylan’s death had crushed me. Impending death terrified us all. Yet the breath of the One was in the mist, and it reminded me that even beyond death there was hope and life.
With another deep breath, I drew that life into my lungs, into my being, and lifted my face to the sky again to sing.
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We Read
“We read to know we are not alone.”– C.S. Lewis
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Free Book for Book Buddies
Recently I received an email asking me, “What is a Book Buddy?”
Great question!
When my first novel was published, I knew I’d need support – prayer support, and also folks who liked Christian fiction and would help spread the word about my books.
I called them my “Book Buddies” and sent them regular updates.
In recent years, I’ve cut back to quarterly newsletters via email (we all receive so many emails, I didn’t want to add to the clutter). Those newsletters include devotional thoughts, inside info, special offers, prayer requests, and a prayer for the Book Buddies. Sometimes I’ve also sent ideas for easy ways to support the novels you believe in.
I recently sent all the Book Buddies a link for a free 60-page ebook Bible study that digs into themes from the lives of Deborah, Gideon, and David.
Great news! You can also have this free book! Just sign up to be a Book Buddy.
I hope you enjoy the devotional Bible study, and also will enjoy staying in touch!
Sharon Hinck
author of The Deliverer
Sound Track for Geese
I’m not wild about geese. On the city land behind our house, a pond attracts lots of Canadian geese. They enjoy strolling into our yard and coating it with goose scat (is that what it’s called?). I prefer watching the heron that sometimes wades in the shallows, or the deer that often wander across the woods on the far side of the pond, or even the bunnies that romp all over our yard, even though they sneak into my vegetable garden.
But one day I was working at my desk and listening to a flute concerto.
As I paused to sip tea and looked up from my manuscript, a flock of geese flew in to land on the pond. Their wings synchronized for a few seconds with the meter of the music. The water sparkled as they made contact, and the splashes matches the trills of the flute.
It took my breath away.
Lord, give me a new soundtrack for all the mundane and annoying things in my life. Help me hear the orchestra of your love and grace which transforms a simple, common scene into a moment of transcendent beauty.
Thank you for creating geese, after all. Amen
Sharon Hinck (author of The Deliverer)
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