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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Joy In The New Year

2009. Wow. It's here. (I don't know about you, but I'm feeling a little old.)

How many of you are dreading the coming year? How many of you are worried about this new year? How many of you can truly say that you have joy?

I know, the economy is bad, people are losing their jobs and their homes, the outlook seems bleak on many fronts. So, how can I possibly ask you about joy, right?

Some of you may not know our story - and I won't take the time to explain it all here - but I understand tough times. I know what it's like to consider bankruptcy and have stared foreclosure in the face. I've paid $1500 a week for prescriptions and then wondered how to pay for food and the electric bill. And I've felt the emotions of owing medical bills that seem so monstrous you know you can never earn enough to pay them back. But in the same breath, I can tell you that I've also understood the joy of telling my children that we could live in an air-conditioned cardboard box - but as long as we were together, that's all that mattered. I've felt the intense relief of seeing my child for the first time after brain surgery. And I am well acquainted with the overwhelming feeling of gratefulness when gift-cards were given for food or clothing, or the hospital called and a bill for $75,000 disappeared, or a bus pulled up and with one incredible greeting through a megaphone, a fresh start was given.

But this is all part of the journey. The worst of times. And the best of times. Everyone goes through rough spots. (Some last a minute, some an hour, some a day, some even years or decades.) But it's not about comparing. It's not about saying, "Oh, poor me. My life is so hard." I believe, it's about how we handle those times. How do we react? What kind of example are we being?

Are we willing to reach out to our fellow man? Or are we wanting everything to be handed to us on the proverbial silver platter?

If you've heard me speak, or seen any of my writing, you know that James 1:2-4 are my life verses. The lessons learned have not been easy, and the road has been long, but I wouldn't trade that for an easy way out. No. Those verses tell us to consider it pure joy. The "it" is described as "various trials" of "many" and all kinds. And to paraphrase in my own words: LIFE in general. Are you considering life as joy? Can you face tomorrow - no matter what may come - with joy? And are you willing to say, "Not my will, but Yours, Lord"?

As we enter this new year, I'd like to challenge us all to think about those verses. And rather than thinking about how rough we have it, or how hard the coming year may be, let's focus on thankfulness instead, and reach out to others.

My fellow writer (she's amazing) and prayer warrior friend, Brandilyn Collins, brought a young girl's blog to our attention. Her name is Katy, and she is 16 years old. She and her mom are now homeless. Brandilyn put the word out, and through the first trickle of social networking, it became a stream, then a river, and is now rushing through cyberspace. The local news has picked up the story, and people are reaching out to help. Please go to Brandilyn's website: Brandilyn Collins and click on the link to her blog on the right for more of the story.

My point is that we should be doing more of this. Every day. No 'woe is me' attitude. In its place? Giving, sharing, reaching, loving, laughing... Living life abundantly. With joy.

Life is hard. But God... He is SO good.

Happy New Year!

As we enter 2009 - I'd love you all to read my blog on my website: www.kimberleywoodhouse.com


All the news and updates are on the website and I'd love to have you hop on over.
God Bless You and Happy New Year!
Kim

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

TV, Computer, Email, Techie Overload - What's Life Really About?

In this day and age, life is nuts. There's not much slow-time, down-time, sittin'-in-the-rocking-chair-outside-the-general-store-chattin' time. Instead, we have TV-time, computer-time, playstation-time, Wii-time, ipod-time, cell-phone-time, facebook-time, shoutlife-time, twitter-time, blog-time.

I've been pondering this quandary for a while. Since we have appeared on TV shows, my email inboxes have overflowed. And I mean o-v-e-r-f-l-o-w-e-d. Social networking and marketing are very important to any author, but how on earth can you possibly keep up? I have 9300+ email in one inbox as I write this. It's overwhelming to say the least.

But my overweight email accounts are not why I'm writing this post. People spend so much time watching TV, or on the internet, or with techie toys. I watched a seven-year-old at swim team the other day - the child had an ipod, which he was listening to in one ear, and was holding a cell phone up to the other ear. I think back to when I was seven, we didn't have personal computers, or internet, or ipods, or cell phones. I don't even remember caring about whether my clothes matched or if my hair was brushed! And that was really NOT that long ago! But I digress...

My point is that we're too caught up in our "techno" world. I'm not saying it's not useful - it definitely has a place in our lives. But, we want to be entertained. We want to be hand-delivered an answer to life's questions by text, twitter, or IM. Is that what life is really all about? How much time do we waste playing games, surfing the net, watching TV, texting, IMing, the list could go on and on? Believe me, I've thought on this a lot as I've had to invest more time into my author relations. I don't watch TV at all, and I don't play video games - but, I do have to spend a good deal of time on email, networking, marketing, etc.

That brings me to a group on Facebook that has caught my attention. It's called, "The Campaign. One Gospel. One Person. Each Week." And it's something of eternal value. Not like a game of Scramble that takes three minutes and makes you use your brain a little. It's about life. And eternity. Are you sharing your testimony? Are you reaching out to others?

I'd like to challenge you to think about that. Think about all the time you spend watching your favorite TV show or sports. Or all the time on the internet that's just wasting time (my famous author friend, Donita K. Paul, and I have come up with a name for it - "Downloafing"). How much time are you spending on something really worthwhile? It's quite the topic to consider.

"The Campaign" is doing something that I love. They are using the social networking outlet to help challenge believers to share their faith. Instead of just another silly group that spends time counting the hairs on our heads (I'm being sarcastic) - it's doing something that IS of eternal value. A challenge to all of us to remember the big picture, to remind ourselves what life is truly all about.

I wrote a song many years ago now, that is entitled "You Are." It's about everything the Lord is to me. We were on the mission field at the time, and I was struggling - no internet, no phones, no mail - I thought I "needed" contact with the outside world. God gently got my attention that day and helped me to realize that I don't really NEED anything. Think about that for a minute. I don't need friends and family. I don't need a roof over my head. I don't need food. I don't need internet. I don't need a car. Why? Without some of those things for extended periods, I may die, yes. But what happens next? What matters?

The answer: My relationship with the Lord. If I die, where am I headed? That's truly our one and only need - a relationship with Jesus Christ.

When you can grasp that, and put it all into perspective - your outlook will completely change.

So, yes, I'm challenging you. Join The Campaign on Facebook. Get out there and be willing to share your faith - which should be the most important part of your life.

We should have more groups like this - that combine our techno world with true purpose. One day at a time.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Picking Up the Pieces

Last night, Kayla was working on a jewelry project. As she carried the boxes of beads back to her room, a small box on the top slid off and tumbled to the ground.

"Oh no!" She was very distraught. Beads bounced from one end of the living room to the other across our hardwood floors and down the stairs. Thousands upon thousands of tiny little seed beads, decorative beads, and glittery beads.

I placed my arm around her shoulders. "It's okay, honey. These things happen. All we have to do is pick up the pieces."

Kayla was really upset with herself, but realized that I wasn't mad at her, I wasn't scolding her, and it just needed to be cleaned up. The task seemed daunting, but Josh, Kayla, Holly, and myself all got on our hands and knees and began to find the scattered beads. We discovered interesting places the beads had flown, and creative ways to pick them up. Pretty soon, our bead-cleanup turned into a laugh-fest.

As we were working, I thought about how it was a beautiful illustration of our lives. Sometimes we are hasty in how we handle things, or make a wrong choice, or simply - accidents happen. And as our lives crash into millions of pieces on the hard ground, we wonder if we can ever put things back together again. How can we possibly go on? There's too many pieces to pick up by ourselves.

And yet - there's the Master - by our side, picking up piece by itty-bitty piece. Helping us to see that it's okay, we just have to clean up the mess and move on. Sometimes we cause our own messes, and sometimes they are caused by other people or outside circumstances. The pieces may take hours, days, months, or even years to pick up. There may be some cracks, chips, and dents. There may be some dirt, dust, and lint clinging to the pieces. But the mess can always be cleaned up.

So next time you drop your box of beads, or life seems to fall apart and shatter into a bazillion pieces - Take a deep breath. Pray about it. And start picking up the pieces. We have a wonderful Savior who is by our side, picking up pieces, wiping them clean, and gluing the cracked and broken ones back together. Don't give up. Keep going. Pick up the pieces.

And if you happen to spill thousands of beads onto the stairs? A pastry brush and paper plate work great.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Heads' Up... 7-UP!

No, I'm not talking about the game. I'm speaking about an incident in a Safeway parking lot, late... just the other night.

You see, after swim team, we headed to the grocery store to pick up a few more items for our Christmas Party. The cart was loaded up, and we headed out into the brisk, 18-degree, Colorado temperatures.

Upon exiting the store, the cases of 7-Up, which were on the bottom of the cart - began to slide. We were a mere ten feet from my truck when the first case went crashing into the pavement. I wasn't concerned until Kayla noticed a hissing sound coming from the case. I scurried around trying to get the case opened and pulled the spewing can from the pack. Problem solved, right?

Um... no.

While Heather took the offending can to the trash can, I attempted to check the rest of the case. But when your hands are frozen, and there's sticky 7-Up "juice" all over everything - it becomes a little tricky.

I dropped another can.

And it couldn't just fall and spill out onto the ground. No that would be too easy. This is ME we're talking about.

It fell, spewed, and rolled. Like the oscillating sprinklers we used to run through as kids. Back and forth the spray of 7-Up flew into the air. I don't know if it's our high elevation or what, but that sticky-sweet soda sprayed higher than any sprinkler I've ever had the privilege of playing in. I ducked. Behind the grocery cart - yes, I know - smart move on my part.

The can finally lost it's pressure and we were able to retrieve it and throw it away - but I was covered in droplets of 7-Up. My long wool coat was covered, my hair was covered, my eyebrows and eyelashes were covered.

And there I was - standing outside in the chilly weather - wet and sticky from my 7-Up sprinkler. I couldn't get in my vehicle that way, and I definitely didn't want the stuff all over my beautiful coat - so I asked Kayla to grab baby-wipes from the truck.

So as my fingers froze - Heather and I attempted to de-stickify my coat and purse. Laughing the whole time about how quickly baby wipes froze, the numbness of the cold temperatures, and my life... it's one adventure after another.

Jeremy rolled his eyes at me and laughed when I told him the story at home - and of course he shared with my friends his favorite saying, "If something's going to happen, it's going to happen to Kim."

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Newsy New Newsletter

Once again my lovely readers, I need your help!

It has been a wild and crazy ride, but it’s been fun so far, hasn’t it? I receive so many emails from you guys telling me that I’ve either stepped on your toes, or made you laugh until you almost wet your pants. And to me – that’s a good thing. (I'm hoping that's positive for you as well... ?)

Well, because of all the TV stuff, contact, and different things going on, I’ve started a new monthly newsletter. I no longer have the older one, so please be sure to sign up for the new one on any of the pages here on my website: www.kimberleywoodhouse.com

I need help getting the word out. We’ve heard from thousands upon thousands of people who saw one of the shows we were on – all asking to hear more of the story. Well, even though tens of millions saw the shows, I don’t have all their personal contact information to let them know that the book will be out. This is where you come in - if all of you help with word of mouth it would be wonderful.

The newsletter will be once a month and include updates about our family, books releasing, speaking engagements, and of course—whatever adventurous, funny episode, I’m on at the time, (which as you know sometimes includes a 2x4 to my head so that I can learn my lesson.)

Don’t forget about the reading contest going on until June of 2009 (I've got over 2000 participants) and the other opportunities to comment and share your stories.

Thank you all so much for your loyalty and help – I can’t wait to see what this next year brings!

Monday, December 1, 2008

I Love Christmas

It's that time of year again. My house is decorated, the lights are up on the outside, and Christmas music is playing. There's a Christmas tree and Nativity scene in every room, the kids are working on a Christmas play, and we've already watched White Christmas, It's A Wonderful Life, Christmas In Connecticut, and Holiday Inn.
There's snow on the ground, the days are getting darker much earlier, and the smell of wood-burning fireplaces is in the air.

I love it.

But why do we get all excited about this season? Is it the presents? The food and fun with family and friends? Playing in the snow? Parties? Time off of school and work?

What about those people who don't like Christmas? There are many who have a hard time during this holiday season. Finances, loss of a loved one, or just plain ole bad memories. Depression runs rampant this time of year and many find it hard to go on.

Do you remember Charlie Brown's Christmas cartoon? Charlie is looking for the true meaning of Christmas. Everyone seems focused on the materialistic side of things, and Charlie Brown picks out a devastatingly ugly and skimpy tree. But Linus, ever the tried and true friend, comes out and quotes Luke chapter two and tells Charlie Brown that's what it's all about. While everyone still doesn't quite grasp it, Charlie Brown hears the words resound in his head.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."

I love Christmas. But why do I love it? I love it because it's the celebration of the greatest gift ever given. Jesus came as a baby and lived a sinless life. He lived and He worked and He gave of Himself. He taught and He healed and He loved the unlovable. He came to sacrifice Himself for us so that we might have life - eternal life. The reason for the season.

So, it doesn't matter if you have zero Christmas trees or twelve Christmas trees. It doesn't matter if you have gifts, or lights, or parties to go to. What matters is what is in your heart. Have you accepted His gift?

Rejoice with me!
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord."