After college I spent two months in France on a missions trip. When I returned to the US, I missed France and the people I had met there.
This story blends memories of that time in my life with a realization that true contentment looks for God’s good things—His roses—wherever I might be.
The Lord wove together many circumstances in my life for me to be able to write this story.
Everyone’s life, like Benjamin’s sling, is woven of light and dark strands. I usually find that the dark threads of my life are the ones that eventually result in an idea worth writing about.
Benjamin’s Sling is the story of a shepherd boy whose own dark circumstances have left him fearful and doubting.
When an angel comes and announces the birth of the Savior, Benjamin must choose whether to remain in the grip of his fears or place his trust in the only One who can keep him truly safe.
For several years I had a side job tutoring Japanese students in English. I greatly enjoyed spending time in the homes of Japanese families and learning about their culture.
Taka, the Japanese boy in this story, is patterned after a few different children I knew. The main character, Jeremy, wants to befriend Taka, but because of shyness about speaking English, Taka backs away at first.
Slowly Jeremy works at breaking the ice—and works on a difficult school assignment at the same time. In the end, he finds a solution to both problems, and he finds out a little more about God’s love.
Mrs. Fleet and her son Hopkin live in the sunshine at the top of the hill, surrounded by the beautiful flowers in their garden.
Mrs. Flop and her son Droopy live in the shade at the bottom of the hill, surrounded by weeds, vines and thorn trees.
Why would anyone want to live in a dark house with thorn trees all around it? Hopkin wonders. With thought and careful planning, he and his mother decide on a way to help the Flops without hurting their pride.
Through this fable about two rabbits who reach out to their sad, lonely neighbors, I hope readers will see that there are many ways of sharing the Light of the World with those in darkness.
Micah and Liz have moved from their country home in Michigan to a city apartment in the South. Their new neighbor, Grandma Jan, has also moved from the country now that her husband has died.
Micah and Liz look for ways to cheer her up by bringing her things that remind her of home.
Thankfully, their apartment building has a pond with geese, frogs, bugs, and even a stray kitten. But they soon find out that bringing “home” to someone else is not as easy as they thought.
Could it be that there is some other way to make a place home?
Ever heard of Frances Ridley Havergal? She was an English poet and hymn writer in the nineteenth century.
Among other hymns, she wrote “Take My Life, and Let It Be” and “Like a River Glorious.”
Read her biography to learn how God shaped her through trials into a young woman who wanted to write and sing only for her King.
I have chosen to tell her story as if she were talking directly to you, in free verse, as I imagine she might have told it herself.
This book is actually not one that I wrote by myself. The fables in this book were written by many authors from different parts of the world.
I read the English translations of their fables; then I chose the ones whose themes, or morals, reflected truths found in God’s Word.
I freshened the language a little, sometimes adding dialogue and details to make the stories more vivid.
My editor even let me pick the title for the collection. Each animal mentioned in the title comes from one of the fables—but you will have to read the book to find out which fables match up with the title.