Those Divine Connections

Growing up, my son Kevin spent a lot of time with his best friend Kent. Kent was so much a part of our family that I would frequently call my son Kent. Each time he would reply, “Mom, I’m not Kent.” And I would reply, “I know Kent—I mean Kevin!”

In God’s family there is no mistaking who we are. We are His dear children. We are also unique, a uniqueness that binds us together in Christian love for a divine purpose.

Compelling Examples of God’s Love

As members of God’s family, we get to reach out with our stories. We get to be compelling examples of God’s love, stories we get to share with those God puts around us. We get to gather around the table for special reunions. We get to add a place for new friends, new family members. We get to share God’s warmth, God’s hospitality, God’s Love, Joy, Peace, and Hope (yes, the capitalized versions). Heartwarming stories!

During Sunday worship I’m part of our music team. Our bass player loves to give me a hard time. I’m a struggling violin player; he’s an accomplished musician. I’m a Bach kind of girl; he’s a rock-n-roll kind of guy. When we practice, he’s turning up the volume and I’m looking for cover. I like 4 beats to the measure in the key of C; he likes beats.  

Beautiful Music ~ Beautiful Stories

After a particularly challenging morning, John shared a Bach YouTube video with me. Yep, the rock-n-roll guy found Deanna a video of Bach’s Cantata 147. You know it as “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.”

You and I have heard Bach on the organ and on the piano. We’ve heard him played by world famous symphonies and small orchestras. We’ve heard his music played by renowned artists and struggling violin players. And now we’ve heard it in the forest. It’s a wonderful work that’s performed in many unique and glorious ways. But it’s still Bach’s beautiful music.

Like the cantata, we each get to share the most wonderful works of God in the most unique and glorious ways. No two of us will tell of God’s love and faithfulness the same. How God has loved and cared for you is a story unlike any other story. But it’s still God’s beautiful story.

• Imagine where you’ll be today.
• Imagine the blessed encounters!
• Imagine who will hear!
• Imagine who will see!

Imagine the stories you can tell.

Watch Video Below and Meet Deanna!

about

Deanna Nowadnick

Before my father died, he reminded me that Mom had asked me to write a book. At the time the boys were in college, and the notion of writing was unfathomable. Writers write books. By the time my boys were adults, I’d run out of excuses. I was also at that age when I could pause and reflect.

Fruit of My Spirit: Reframing Life in God’s Grace was my first publishing endeavor. My second was Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God. Both are collections of stories that tell of God’s love and faithfulness. Both tell of His remarkable grace and mercy.

When not writing, I serve as the Client Service Coordinator for The Planner’s Edge, an investment advisory firm in Washington state. I’m active in my church, serving on the Leadership Team and gathering with a wonderful group of ladies to study and giggle over lattes and chocolate. On my desk is a rock with the words “Choose Joy!” etched in it. It’s my inspiration for each day. As an author, it is my hope that my own words might share that joy we find together as children of God.

With Him, it can be so.

“But I’ll never write a book…!”

When I speak about writing, I’m often approached by someone, eyes downcast, voice barely above a whisper, who says, “I have stories to tell, but I could never write a book…” Others never come forward, but I’ve learned to recognize the look on their face: I’m not going be standing in front of God and everyone telling some story—not now, not ever.

That may be true, but that doesn’t discount the importance of our own personal stories and the importance of telling our personal stories. Those moments on a soccer sideline? Priceless. That time quilting for the homeless? Blessed. Today’s lunch with a co-worker whose life is in turmoil? Grace-filled.  

Why tell our story?

Yes, I wrote a book. I have a stories that needed to be told. You do, too.  God has plopped each one of us down in the middle of this life, in the middle of some very special people, people who need to see God in the love and grace abounding in your life back when, right now, and in times to come.  

• Like the Patriarchs, you have been part of God’s great nation.  
• Like the prophets you have been given a voice and a unique purpose.  
• Like kings and queens, God has ruled your heart, enabling you to lead with confidence and wisdom.  
• Like the disciples and apostles, God has sent you out as His witness.  You and I have been called to His service—on that soccer sideline, in that quilting group, at that lunch. Yep, we’re part of His mission work—have been, are and will be.  

Whether we’re standing in line at the grocery store (for me, not likely) or getting a facial (for me, more likely), we get to be God’s representative at that exact moment.  Some will never see the inside of your church or any church, but they’ll see you and me. Some may never hear stories from the Bible, but they’ll hear your story and my story.

If they see it and hear it…

God needs us to be compelling examples of His love and grace. And to do that, we get to be our own loving, imperfect, dynamic, challenging, passionate, impatient selves, just the people God chose.

Our Father in Heaven knows each one of us.  God knows how I have to have my nail polish match my toes, how I have to wear mascara to get the mail, how I hate to sweat, how I don’t camp.  In His image He made us and against the backdrop of all humanity, He made us unique and uniquely His.

God knew I would try His patience and the patience of everyone around me.  God knew He would have to pound out character flaws and recall not only my hip, but my attitude.  God knew I would be a piece of work. But my shortcomings and failings are the very tools He needs for the work ahead.  

You and I were blessed to be a blessing.  God picked us for a special purpose. For me that purpose would require the talents and experiences of a middle-aged woman, someone who had known both joy and heartache, someone who had lived life to its fullest, yet also known the regret of a wasted moment, a neglected opportunity.  He wanted my strengths and my weaknesses, my quirks and my flaws, my loves, my passions and even my ditziness.

God needs you, too.  He needs everything that special about you, everything that makes you you. And He needs you to tell of it.

Watch Video Below and Meet Deanna!

about

Deanna Nowadnick

Before my father died, he reminded me that Mom had asked me to write a book. At the time the boys were in college, and the notion of writing was unfathomable. Writers write books. By the time my boys were adults, I’d run out of excuses. I was also at that age when I could pause and reflect.

Fruit of My Spirit: Reframing Life in God’s Grace was my first publishing endeavor. My second was Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God. Both are collections of stories that tell of God’s love and faithfulness. Both tell of His remarkable grace and mercy.

When not writing, I serve as the Client Service Coordinator for The Planner’s Edge, an investment advisory firm in Washington state. I’m active in my church, serving on the Leadership Team and gathering with a wonderful group of ladies to study and giggle over lattes and chocolate. On my desk is a rock with the words “Choose Joy!” etched in it. It’s my inspiration for each day. As an author, it is my hope that my own words might share that joy we find together as children of God.

With Him, it can be so.

Sharing the Laughter and the Memories

I love gatherings with family and friends. Laughter that fills the room. Memories retold again and again. New faces, new loves, new challenges, new hopes and dreams. You, too?

When we get together, our family shares story after story after story. And invariably, my sons Kyle and Kevin will remind me at some point that I’ve already told a particular story: “More than once, Mom.” Had that moment?

And then there are those get-togethers with college roommates. We’ll spend hours remembering the past, catching up on the present. The five of us will fondly retell our stories, some we’ll remember like it was yesterday, others that are getting harder to recall, and still others that vary with each retelling, depending on who’s doing the retelling.

One summer I began putting some thoughts down on paper. I wanted my sons to know how I met their father. I wanted them to know how God had taken misguided priorities and misdirected intentions and turned them into beautiful marriage, a wonderful life. While I was at it, I expected to share a few other lessons from life. It’s what a mother does, right?

Mind you, Kyle and Kevin had not asked for this. At 26 and 24, neither boy felt he needed one more life lesson from Mom, but I decided for them! It’s what a mother does, right?

God’s Bigger Purpose

As I started writing, I knew before the end of the first chapter that the book was not going to be about me. I knew it was very much a story about God’s love and faithfulness, an opportunity to see the fruit of His Holy Spirit in my life. More important, it was the chance to see a bigger, more important purpose, something I’ve often overlooked.

I’m older than some of you, younger than others. I’m at that special age when I’ve become achingly aware of all that I don’t know, of memories that are staring to fade. Life had slowed enough to permit me the time to look back with a profound awareness at God’s incredible place in my life. Doing so, I got to reframe life in God’s grace. I got to share story after story of God’s love and faithfulness. Both heartwarming and gringe-worthy recollections showed how the Spirit of God has become love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control in my life. He’s been there for you, too.

Ordinary People ~ Extraordinary Service

As you know, our faith includes the most amazing collection of stories. The Bible’s 66 books tell of patriarchs and prophets, kings and queens, disciples and apostles, all ordinary people called into extraordinary service.

The media would have you believe that unless you’re a celebrity getting out of rehab, you have nothing worth telling. You and I know differently. We each have an incredible story. We each have chapter after chapter filled with God’s love and faithfulness.

Yes, each one of us has been called to a special place in God’s family. Our family stories may be very different, but they’re all equally remarkable, equally worth sharing. Some of us will have opportunities to write our stories; some will speak of them. Some will open their home and host the gathering. All will be blessed—those telling and those delighting in their retelling!

Watch Video Below and Meet Deanna!

about

Deanna Nowadnick

Before my father died, he reminded me that Mom had asked me to write a book. At the time the boys were in college, and the notion of writing was unfathomable. Writers write books. By the time my boys were adults, I’d run out of excuses. I was also at that age when I could pause and reflect.

Fruit of My Spirit: Reframing Life in God’s Grace was my first publishing endeavor. My second was Signs in Life: Finding Direction in Our Travels with God. Both are collections of stories that tell of God’s love and faithfulness. Both tell of His remarkable grace and mercy.

When not writing, I serve as the Client Service Coordinator for The Planner’s Edge, an investment advisory firm in Washington state. I’m active in my church, serving on the Leadership Team and gathering with a wonderful group of ladies to study and giggle over lattes and chocolate. On my desk is a rock with the words “Choose Joy!” etched in it. It’s my inspiration for each day. As an author, it is my hope that my own words might share that joy we find together as children of God.

With Him, it can be so.