I Love Kindle - Meyer

Yesterday, I took another small brave leap into the technological morass which has inundated our culture and forever changed “life as we know it.” (Drum roll, please…)
I downloaded Kindle to my PC.

Though perhaps not such an earthshaking event to some of you, to this northern girl who would love nothing better than a cabin in the bush, heated by wood, and lit by a coal oil lamp… well, you get the picture.

It’s only been around ten years since my husband wrestled pen and paper out of my hands (metaphorically speaking) and insisted that I try writing my books and articles with a computer, storing the information on 3.5 floppy disks. And then came the huge step of “getting on the Internet” which my very patient middle son taught me how to do. I developed a website in 2005, which I still have and another one a couple of years later.

In 2008, I began blogging – on this site! It was difficult for me to do a lot more on the Internet because we only had a low-speed dial-up connection. Then we broke down and got a satellite dish (ugh!) affixed to the side of our house and I was able to Tweet on Twitter post on Facebook and sometimes even watch a youtube video (on the days when our connection is good).

But I am an author and I LOVE books – real books with pages that you can feel. I have books that are over a hundred years old – and I just love the fact that I know this book is still just exactly how it was written – no revisions. You get a real feel for how people thought back then when you read a historical novel that is truly historical!

And don’t we all stare at computer screens too much in our workday without also doing this in our leisure time?

So why did I finally stroll over to the “dark side” and embrace this newest (for me) technological advance? Two reasons really: it’s cheap and it’s convenient. I can get an EBook for a fraction of the price and have it downloaded in seconds to my computer. Living 850+ km from the nearest bookstore, I would normally wait until I made a trip down south to wander through either McNally Robinson  or Aqua books or Hull's Family bookstore . Instead, I can just go on Amazon and download Barbara Ann Derksen’s mystery: Presumed Dead and even write a review on it!   

Did I mention that I was able to download Kindle FREE to my computer?

It’s so easy, even a recovering technophobe like me can do it!

Dorene Meyer

Award-winning Author of EBooks: 

The Little Ones, Jasmine, Lewis and Joshua

The Theme of My Life - Meyer

Recently, I was listening to a series of CDs recorded at last year’s Write! Canada. They were of a continuing class by Sheila Wray Gregoire. On one of the CDs, she asked the question of her audience: “What is the theme of your life?”

I really puzzled over that one. I know that the books, stories, articles or poems that I write need to have a theme. Even this blog post must have a theme. But my life…? How could an entire lifetime be summed up in one theme?

But as I gaze backwards now and think about my life’s journey, it can indeed be summed up in one theme.
As a young child, I dreamed of love. I had a crush on my grade 2 teacher. As a ten-year-old, I wrote an eight-chapter book about a nurse during WWII who travels overseas to find her brother and ends up falling in love with a soldier. I loved watching Roy Rogers movies where the hero would rescue the beautiful young lady from the men who were trying to steal the deed to the ranch owned by her recently deceased father. They would ride off together into the sunset with sweet music playing in the background. I dreamed even of a time when my father would return to be reunited with my mother. I dreamed of love.

But I never believed in it. Not really. The fairy tales of happily-ever-after were places I traveled to and places I inevitably returned from. They only lasted as long as the movie or book or the day dream in my mind.

I had given my heart to Jesus at a young age. I longed to serve Him. Every day, I worked hard to please Him. I worked hard so that He would be pleased with me.
Looking back, there are specific people whom I remember who began the breakthrough in my disbelief of love. I began to think that perhaps it might truly exist – for other people. It wasn’t until I met my husband and he said, “I can’t prove that I love you; you’ll just have to trust me,” that I came to understand what love was. I experienced it for myself and KNEW I was loved.

Still, I strove hard to win my Father’s love. I was constantly vigilant, fearfully aware of every little area where I might need to improve.

Then one evening, walking out under the stars, arm in arm with my husband, the Lord spoke to me and told me that the way that I trusted John’s love was the way that I could trust God’s love. I could rest in His unconditional love. I didn’t need to strive or live in constant fear and doubt. I could rest. As the Bible says, I was “accepted in the beloved.”

That should have been the end of my story but it isn’t. I still struggle with accepting the love of my husband, my family and friends. And I still struggle with accepting God’s love.

Coincidentally, I have just finished the sixth book in a series of novels that depict a seven-step journey of healing. The sixth step is: “God loves me.”

It’s true. God loves me. God loves you. “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.

We just need to “believe in Him.” We just need to trust that He loves us. Walk into His arms and let Him hold you close. God loves you.

God loves me. The theme of my life. The theme of my song for all eternity.

Dorene Meyer
www.dorenemeyer.com

Contributor to Hot Apple Cider and A Second Cup of Hot Apple Cider
www.hotapplecider.ca
Author of Lewis, Jasmine, The Little Ones and Deep Waters
Now in book stores across Canada
Distributed by Word Alive Press www.wordalivepress.ca.
Available online and as ebook on Amazon www.amazon.com (key in title of book and publisher: Word Alive Press).

Stepping Out of the Boat - Meyer

Last Sunday in church, we were blessed with a visit by four Bible school students who made the 800+ km journey up here to Norway House, Manitoba from Steinbach Bible College. They shared their testimonies and one of them preached a short sermon. I was very impressed by this young man’s insights into God’s word and his ability to apply scripture to everyday life.

Malcolm (photo on the right) preached about the passage where Jesus asked Peter to step out of the boat. As long as Peter kept his eyes on Jesus, everything was okay but when he looked around at the wind and the waves, he began to sink. Malcolm pointed out that, even in our times of doubting, Jesus is there reaching out His hand to help us stand again.

I guess the sermon really spoke to me because once again, I am stepping out of the boat, taking a huge risk and making a large investment. It’s taken me almost a year to reach this decision. My book, The Little Ones, is doing well across Canada and people are asking for more books by the same author. I actually had the next book written but just wasn’t sure if that was the direction the Lord wanted me to go. I also have a manuscript ready for the very first book I wrote: Rachel’s Children, which is the very beginning (it even pre-dates Colin’s Choice which was published in 2005). Well, the long and short of it is that I decided to move forwards instead of backwards. This will be a brand new series even though it involves all the same characters as The Little Ones and occurs chronologically only 9 months after The Little Ones.

The new series will follow a fictional support group. Each book covers one week and there are seven books which explore various challenging topics such as teen pregnancy, abortion, the sex trade, homosexuality, AIDS, miscarriage, family relationships, verbal and emotional abuse, adoption, and Aboriginal issues such as residential schools and land claims (NOT all in one book!!). Woven throughout each story is the love of God at work in people’s lives, bringing hope and healing.
Each book also features one person’s story so the title of the first book is: Jasmine (subtitle: The Group, Week One).
Every book will have questions at the end for personal reflection or group discussion. These books can be used for small groups or can be enjoyed individually.

Wow – even as I’m making this announcement, I’m trembling in my boots! Or to go back to the original metaphor, I’m looking at the wind and the waves.

Stepping out of the boat sure is a scary thing to do! I’m so glad the Lord has promised to “never leave us nor forsake us.” (Hebrews 13:5)

Dorene Meyer
http://www.dorenemeyer.com/
author of (in chronological order):
Colin’s Choice, Deep Waters, Pilot Error (children’s), Get Lost! (children’s), The Little Ones and coming soon… Jasmine.