…and not measure up.

It began innocently enough. When my first book was published in 2006, I visited the amazon page, just to see the book at the same site with so many of the books I’ve loved over the years. There was a number posted by the listing. 50,000. Wow! I’d sold 50,000 copies? What an adrenaline boost.

A closer look showed me that the number actually meant I was 50,000 spots from the top. 50,000 other books were selling better than mine. For months, watching that number rise and fall became a daily habit.

Seeking to build community with readers, I began a blog. Stat Counter cheerfully informed me on a daily basis how few people were interested in what I wrote. Oh, it was fun seeing the IP addresses from various countries who dropped by, but Stat Counter also told me how few seconds they spent visiting. And when I visited the blogs of friends, I saw dozens of animated comments. My sense of inadequacy built.

I also began sending out regular Book Buddy newsletters. The double-opt-in service I use is able to inform me exactly how many people on my list actually open the email, and how many click through a link in the newsletter.

I became an affiliate at a couple online bookstores, and was given the information of exactly how few people actually clicked through from my website to order books.

Information is power…but for me, it simply had the power to discourage me.

Now, following advice of industry professionals I trust, I’ve migrated my facebook profile to an author page. One of the “benefits” is that facebook now inserts little graphics of down-trending arrows and percentages – showing me how “less friended” and “less talked about” and “less shared” I am week by week.

Yikes!

Our culture is sure skilled at measuring. Digital scales, financial analysis, social media “likes,” clicks, comments and shares. Useful tools, perhaps. But most of those measures just keep telling me I can’t measure up.

I’m so grateful for the love of God. He measures so differently.

^“…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19

What a gift to know that we don’t have to struggle to measure up to earn God’s love. Through Christ, we have forgiveness, grace, and love beyond measure.

Blessings!
Sharon Hinck

Happy New Year, dear blog readers!

Our family has had a tradition of spending New Year’s Day in a sort of at-home mini-spiritual-retreat. We worship, share, talk about the past year, go off for quiet time alone with our Bibles and ask God for a theme or direction for the coming year… perhaps an area of our character He is working on, or a new direction for our focus.

With our children grown, this year Hubby and I held our mini-retreat as a couple. It was fun looking back over the year and remembering our themes.

My word for 2011 was HOPE. That wasn’t an easy theme for me. I entered the year feeling rather hopeless. Health setbacks had been discouraging for several years, which also led to career and ministry being on the shelf, and also brought a lot of isolation and loss in relationships. However, nudged by God, I agreed to write bonus material for the three Restorer books in preparation for new releases – so I was leaning on God as I hoped to be able to do the work.

Then in the spring, God also led me to an opportunity to write devotions for Mornings with Jesus. Each day was difficult. There wasn’t energy or strength to spare. But somehow as I kept hoping in Him, He enabled little steps each day that would have been impossible without His grace.

For 2012, the theme that He brought to mind is “Ask and Imagine.” I remembered how Jesus told the disciples that ,”You have not, because you do not ask.” And also how He delights in giving us beyond what we ask and imagine. Since I’m beginning work on full-length fiction again after several years away, I’m also praying for God to enliven my imagination. So there are several ways the theme applies to my life.

Here’s my verse for the year, and I share it also as a prayer for each of you reading this:

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” –Ephesians 3:20-21

Blessings in 2012!
His,
Sharon Hinck

Greetings!

I’m over at the Guideposts website today, sharing a devotion about peace.
Stop by and visit!

And may our Prince of Peace bring you peace like a river, and joy like a fountain today.

Blessings,
Sharon Hinck

Devotion Guide #3 (Excerpted from The Restorer-Expanded Edition)

Read: The Restorer chapters 7-8

Read: Romans 12:2, I Peter 1:13

Mind poison. We live in an age where we’re exposed to non-stop clamoring voices. Marketing experts do all they can to stir discontent and a perceived need so we’ll purchase their products. Television commercials sing a siren song promising us the world if only we’ll buy a cheeseburger, a cleaning product, or a shiny new car. Magazine ads remind us that we haven’t yet accomplished the goal of being one of the world’s “beautiful people” – but would be a step closer if we use their makeup, hair color, or fashion accessories. A million “how-to” books remind us that we are never enough. Never smart enough, thin enough, rich enough, popular enough.

Meanwhile, we battle with our own sinful nature that murmurs lies in the background of our thought life – sometimes just below the level of our awareness. And fellow flawed people, sometimes well intentioned, say things that pierce like splinters and remain beneath the skin to fester. All the while, the enemy of our soul, Satan, also tempts us by twisting and distorting the truth.

Is it any wonder that the onslaught of messages we face each day can leave us reeling?

Catch a few of the thoughts that have drifted through your mind in the past day. Look at them closely. Do you spot any lies?

Ephesians 5:19-21 gives us a glimpse of one powerful way to protect our minds and hearts from lies. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs can change our perspective, drawing our eyes off the false picture that mind poison can paint – and back to God, the source of all that is good and true. Think back to the lies you’ve battled recently. Can you find a verse of scripture that speaks specifically against that lie?

Can you find this scripture set to music? Many hymnals include an index that will help you find a hymn based on the verse. A Google search might also uncover a contemporary scripture song melody. You can also form your own simple melody to help you memorize and internalize the verse and carry it with you throughout the day.

Let’s pray:

Lord, thank You for the gift of your Word, the Truth that drowns out the clamoring lies around us. Please transform our thoughts, our minds, our deepest motivations. Thank You also for the gift of music. Help us remind our own hearts of Your goodness through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Guide us to specific verses and songs that will help us hold to truth in the specific area where we are most tempted today. Amen.