The "Once upon a times" of a Writer

"Once upon a time". . . . Ah! The magic that those words hold! The possibilities of what lies in wait to be spoken, or written, directly following.

The endless wonderment.

The endless enthusiasm.

The never ending intrigue!

. . . Or so it would seem.

But "Once upon a time" can be a rather frightening phrase, for a writer. . . . "Once upon a time," what? "Once upon a time" there lived a duck. . . an ogre. . . a princess. . . a prince? You are the one left to decide. . . .

The endless possibilities. . . .

The endless indecision. . . .

The never ending banging of the forehead against the wall!

. . . Or so it would seem, should seem. . . . But for Christian writers, what would seem. . . should seem correct, may not always be so. Our stories and tales, our ideas and thoughts all teem from another source, a much better source, a source with:

Endless prospect.

Endless decision.

And never ending stream of enthusiastic ideas!

. . . So it would seem, and so it would be. Except that we writers often choose to take the "banging our forehead against the wall" route to solve our "Once upon a time," problems, instead of going to the source of our story idea, the one who gave us the writing talent, and handed us the idea to write this story in the first place. But if we go to our Heavenly Father, our "source," with our problems, our writer's blocks, then perhaps, perhaps we may once again discover the wonder of the phrase "Once upon a time," and again be able to say with full honesty and passion:

"Once upon a time". . . . Ah! The magic that those words hold! The possibilities of what lies in wait to be spoken, or written, directly following.

The endless wonderment.

The endless enthusiasm.

The never ending intrigue!

God bless.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

When Life Speeds Up Without Warning. . . .

You know that feeling?? When all of a sudden it feels like you're running at break neck speed just to keep up with yourself. . . . Well, I'm just getting into the downward slope of that feeling right now. I'm thinking that it must have been toward the end of last month that life started speeding up for me. I successfully went through my first ever production week for a short film that I wrote, produced, directed, and am now editing. My hope is that it will get into this up coming San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival (some of you may remember last year when I was an extra in a short film that was a semi-finalist in that same film festival, if you don't, you can find that post here). Making a short film like that was SUCH an amazing experience!!! Even with the stresses that it caused, and even. . . even as we sat there all stuck on the beach that we were filming on, huddled under towels and the few beach umbrellas that we dared have open, trying to keep both ourselves and especially the equipment dry while a big storm was raging over us. . . even then, I could very happily tell myself, that this was where I belonged, this was what God had created me to do, at least at this point in time.

Since that experience of a lifetime, my mind has been overrun with exhilarating thoughts and plans for future films (short AND feature length!), but of course I've had to make myself leave those as mere ideas running around in my head and occasionally over notes to pick up later, so that I could work on completing the editing for this short film. Knowing me, if I started writing a screenplay for one of those others, I would probably never get back to finishing this one. . . . So, they shall just have to wait patiently on the sidelines for the time being. :)

I've been able to work farther on "The Wolves of Langoor" as well, during this time, and the plan is to get myself back into a schedule of writing every single night. If I did that, I think that I should easily be able to make my goal of completing the first draft for TWOL by the end of November 30th (that will take me through NaNoWriMo).

And so, for the most part you are caught up on my life. . . . I'm continuing to work on character development for my role in the short film that the sister of my friend is making (see here for a bit more details on that), so that is always fun. :) The second read through for that is this Saturday, and then Burns Family Studios announces their next film project this Friday!!!!!!!!!! :D :D :D So I am very eagerly awaiting the weekend! :D

Amorette 99 (who was just barking rather obnoxiously in a brave "I will defend everyone!" sort of way–as much as a 4 pound puppy can–at a prop still sitting in my bedroom from filming week) greets you all. :)

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

Amazon, Here We Come!

After that long process which I talked about in my last post, it has finally happened! I've hit the approval button to start the 6-8 week process of getting TSOT onto Amazon and BarnesandNobels.com!!! :D I have also learned that not only will my book go to Amazon and B and N.com (which was enough to sell me. . .), through this distribution package it will also be open for other bookstores to pick up if they request it. This is a very pleasing thought, but one that I realize probably won't be of much use unless I get busy selling my book to the different stores. . . . For me (a very much introvert who completely froze up when trying to get my friendly dentist's office to purchase an advertisement to be put in the program of a play I was in), this is a rather daunting idea. . . daunting may not be the right word; how about catastrophic? But I'm sure, if this is God's will, everything will turn out. :)

In the mean time, some other pretty exciting things have been going on. . . . I got the lead role in a film (:D!!!!!!!!!!!!), and today I'm going with my dad and some people from our church to meet 2 of the people behind an independent Christian film that has been an inspiration of mine since I first saw it almost 2 and a half years ago. (The movie is "Pendragon; Sword of his Father." If you have never seen it, I would encourage you to do so! :) )

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

Sales Rank Hop!

I've found it quite exciting to chart TSOT's sales rank on Lulu.com. Especially when it makes rather big jumps. . . . ;) When it started out, it was somewhere around the late 60,000s or 70,000s (somewhere around then anyway–that was before I discovered that watching numbers was fun) but now, The Sword of Teneraz has hit number 57,863 on the Lulu.com sales rank, as well as being given a 5 star review!!! :D I am VERY thrilled to see what God is doing and going to do with this book! Thank you to everyone who has already bought a copy! :) My total sold now is about 21 I believe (that's counting the 6 plus a download that my family bought *sticks hands in pockets and begins whistling a tune*).

I am also continuing to go through the process of getting TSOT available on Amazon and BarnesandNobles.com, however, it's turned out to be a bit tougher and longer of a process than I had expected at first. . . . So. . . it's going to be longer than I had planned until that happens, but I guarantee, unless some catastrophe happens (like a paint truck running into a telephone pole and sending it smashing into an electricity station which then turns out all of the power in the entire state, and then at the same time a meteorite falls from the sky and lands smack-dab in the middle of the Lulu.com outpost. . . . Or I get a no and a change of directions from God.) it will still happen.

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂. (God guide your words.)

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

The Heart of the Matter

Hearts. . . . What is it about those small, rather ugly looking organs that are so special to us Humans? It seems rather odd that we would chose that particular organ as a symbol of love. Around this time of year we pass out little candies that have been formed into heart like shapes, and send the special people in our lives cards with red, pink, and white hearts haphazardly printed all over them. But why a heart? Why not any other organ like, say, the stomach?? Why say "I 'heart' you" instead of "I 'lung' you"? This morning I got to pondering this and I think that I have come up with a bit of an explanation. . . .

You see, the heart is the center of our being. It may not be actually the center in literal terms, but its continuous and even pumping is what keeps our blood flowing and our bodies alive. If it beats too fast it becomes laborious for us to breathe, our sight might become slightly blurred and unfocused. . . we become weak. And if it beats too slowly. . . we die. In battle, if you want to kill someone, you aim for the heart. And even in other situations, if you wish to cause someone pain you hurt those who that person loves, damage what holds their heart, and they will surely be wounded as well.

And so, we Humans are always trying to protect this central piece of our existence. Physically and spiritually. In armor there's usually always some kind of breastplate, or something to protect your chest. . . and your heart. When caught in the middle of falling debris or shattering glass, our instincts tell us to curl up so that our backs will take most of the damage, instead of our front where our heart and many of our other organs would be easily harmed. And spiritually we protect our hearts by not opening up to people, not allowing ourselves to get close for fear that our heart might get hurt. We try to drive through life on the most comfortable, least bumpy roads we can afford by easing out of situations or relationships that we fear are collapsing inward. Or by not letting ourselves dream too big, because as the saying goes, "what goes up, must come down". We're afraid to let our hopes and passions soar too high because that would mean a greater plummet in the end. But this has been something that God has been talking to me about recently.

You see, I am a daydreamer. Not a day goes by that I don't have something or another to dream about and hope for. But as a result I have had many a hard fall. And so I've gotten into a habit of, instead of allowing my imagination and passions to run free, stuffing them down by telling myself that the hope that I have isn't going to happen, and then I'll list off to myself all of the reasons why. But God doesn't want that. He wants me to trust in His perfect plan, and trust that HE is going to protect my heart from that sudden fall. You see, often times, when we are trying so very hard to keep our heart safe and unharmed, it's like we hide ourselves away in a tower with it, locking all of the doors and throwing away the key so that no one (not even ourselves) can ever hurt it again. But as we stand there next to our precious heart, stroking it tenderly and trying to do all within our power to make it as comfortable as it can possibly be, we realize that we haven't truly protected it from ourselves since we're right there with it. And so, in a moment of pure terror, we toss it out of the tower window and into the moat far below and feel very proud of ourselves for having finally "saved" our heart. But this isn't what God wants for us! He asks us to give Him our heart so that He can TRULY keep it safe and unharmed. And then, if we are truly trusting in Him and desiring His will, we have the freedom to let our dreams soar up high into the sky. And if they do fall. . . He will be right there beneath us to catch us and hug us, and then gently toss us back up into the sky again.

So walk the sky with me, won't you? And we can soar on eagles wings with our Father. :)

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂. (God guide your words.)

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

There's a First For Everything, So They Say

Would you believe that I've never been in a car accident? . . . Up until this past year that is. Around last Thanksgiving time we went to my cousin's house, and on the way home we hit a deer. But still, that was only a loud thump and a sudden jerk to a stop, and besides the fact that we had to drive home with our car light scanning the treetops above us instead of the road, no one was hurt and we were all good. Shaken but good. Until today. . . . My mom and I were driving into a Meijer's parking lot when another driver rammed straight into the side of our car, sending us spinning out. The side of our car is crumpled inward, and the front tire on the other side got blown out. But God really had His hand on us this time, and neither my mom or I were seriously harmed. Both of us are finding aches and pains in different places all over us, and I bumped my head against the dashboard, but that is it.

But when you think about it, please pray for the other driver. Even though she wasn't harmed, and our car got by far the worst of the beating, she didn't seem so secure mentally or spiritually. She was about my age or possibly younger, and this was her first accident ever. She had never even gotten a ticket before. So please pray for her.

Thanks.

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

God is Good All the Time!!!

And today is a day to remember it. . . .

Happy Assr er Go∂r (God is Good) day everyone!!! :D What is one way that God has shown His goodness to you over this past year??

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

The Birth of the King

Several years back I wrote a series of posts in the days before Christmas called "The Birth of the King". I wanted to do something special this year for Christmas again, but I don't have time, especially seeing as how Christmas is almost upon us. . . . So I decided to link you to those previous posts so that you can go back and read those in order to help get you in the mindset of the true meaning of Christmas. I still like to look back and read them just before Christmas. At the time that I wrote these, I was going through a very hard time, my whole family was, so Jesus was pretty much the only thing that I could lean on without fear of Him falling and pulling me down with Him. Although many times I feared that He would also fail, I learned to trust Him in ways that I never had before. :) I hope that these posts can encourage you as much as they did me as I wrote them.

1. http://visitingwithdragons.blogspot.com/2008/12/birth-of-king-mary-joseph-and-new-baby.html
2. http://visitingwithdragons.blogspot.com/2008/12/birth-of-king-shepherds-emmanuel.html
3. http://visitingwithdragons.blogspot.com/2008/12/birth-of-king-through-eyes-of-angels.html
4. http://visitingwithdragons.blogspot.com/2008/12/birth-of-king-hope-of-god.html

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!! :D

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

Kind of scary, yet kind of AMAZING!

Check out today's astronomy photo of the day. . . . . . .

(Is that a ship to the bottom right of the cloud??)

Now tell me. . . . Do you think something like that could possibly be created without the extraordinary brains an all powerful God?

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

Brought To You By: A-99!

Wow! It sure has been a LONG time since I last even got onto blogger. . . not counting that one time that I just opened up my blog page to listen to the music on it while putting dishes in the dishwasher. :)

A lot has transpired since my last post. . . . "Anne of Green Gables; the Musical" is done (I never did tell you what part I got in it. . . I ended up being Tillie Boulter–which meant that the summer before I almost drowned in the lake, AND I got to dress up as an igloo. ;) It was a super fun role.), I'm also in "Meet Me In St. Louis" now, as a ball room dancer (which means I get to learn to waltz. Which is super fun! :D ).

On the writing side of things, everything is going pretty well. :) I really need to get back into some kind of schedule here. . . really, just any kind of schedule would work. But you'll be glad to hear that that hasn't kept me from writing! I'm somewhere around chapter 7 or 8, I think, on "The Wolves of Langoor", and my mom is nearing completion of her editorial run through of "The Sword of Teneraz", my cousin is working on his copy right now, and my dad is going to start as soon as my mom is finished. Over all, things are moving closer and closer to getting that first copy. {fans face, and reaches for a paper bag to breathe into}

And now. . . (drumroll please). . . I have what I believe to be a very (and when I say "very", I mean extremely) important introduction to make. So now. . . before further ado, I would like you to meet Amorette 99; also known as Amorette, also known as 99, also known as A-99:. . .

in other words; my little chihuahua puppy. :) My friend breeds chihuahuas, and her dog had puppies, so after discussing with my parents, I decided to get one of her puppies and start breeding her myself to make some college money (since I kinda dug into it to buy her in the first place. :} ). But I am very proud of my little baby. . .

I just need to work on her not chewing on erasers when she writes. . . . tsk tsk. ;) Of course she's a little too big now to sprawl across my desk like that, though she still likes to dig at my writing papers when she wants to get on my lap and it's in her way. lol.

But I guess I'll say so long for now! Hopefully I'll be able to post more often now, but we'll have to see.

God bless.

Assr vísa ykkar or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

Beautiful. . .

This past Tuesday I went to the first meeting of a small group that I'm involved with this summer. And it went wonderfully. :) I think that it will be great! But anyways. . . we were talking about beauty, and what God sees as beautiful. We're working through a book called "Want More? Life" by Natalie Lloyd, and the title of the chapter was "You're not pretty; you're beautiful". . . or something to that extent. It talked about David when God chose him to be king, and that section there that talks about God not looking at outward appearances, but instead seeing the heart. And then it asked, if God looked at you, would He see someone beautiful?? Naturally. . . that was kind of an awkward question. I didn't think I could say yes, because I knew that I was by far not a perfect person, and the definition of beauty with God is someone perfect right??? So, I answered that I could only hope.

A few days later. . . I was busy reading a REALLY good book called "Bones of Makaidos", fourth book in the Oracles of Fire series by Bryan Davis, (if you haven't read these books–as well as the first series Dragons in Our Midst–you should go read them. . . . :) They're GOOD!) when I came across a section of the book where a character was asked almost the exact same question as I had had such trouble answering. "Are you truly beautiful in God's eyes?" But her answer wasn't "I can only hope", or some other indefinite answer. She was confident. . . Jesus had cleaned her, so she was wholly pure, and no one could make her believe that she was still buried in her sins.

It clicked.

And I realized how wrong I had been. We should never doubt the cleansing power of Jesus' blood, nor, how beautiful we are in God's sight when we truly rely on His saving grace. No one's perfect; so before I had been led to think that no one could truly be beautiful in God's sight. But sure. . . no one is perfect by their own power, but when we allow Jesus to wash our hearts with His love, we become pure, scrubbed clean of our past sins. That doesn't mean that we can never sin again. . . and we do make mistakes, we fall at times. But that is no reason not to run back to Jesus when we realize that we are wrong, and allow Him to pull us into His arms, and gently wipe away the dirt from our palms and set us back on the right path. And then. . . when God looks at us, we can have no doubt that He will smile and call us His beautiful daughters or handsome sons. :)

So yes. . . I am beautiful.

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

P.S. BOOK NEWS! I just finished the 3rd draft of TSOT today!!! WOOT! :D One more, then a few others edit, and on to publishing!!! . . . This is actually happening. . . . . .

To Life!!

Tom Sawyer is done. It was amazing! And by God's grace all of the performances were fantastic!! :) The first night we had a "bit" [laughs] of an accident. . . one of the actors got his foot run over by the house prop when it was getting moved on. And he had a rather nice sized part in the next scene. But everyone was fantastic! And we got through it with relative ease. :) The boy especially was amazing. We skipped the first part of his scene, and just continued on to the next part of it while I was running around backstage trying to take care of his bleeding toe, and letting the director know through the headset what was going on (he ended up coming back to help figure it all out). What ended up happening was the boy got some paper towels stuffed in the toe of his sock then he was sent out to do the final bit of the scene. But you could never have told from how he acted that he was in pain!

But yes, other than that, there was no big, unpleasant, last minute surprises. :) So that was very good!

And now it's over. . . . It went so fast!! I've already auditioned for another play though. Fiddler on the Roof. It's the first musical I have ever auditioned for, so I'm kind of nervous about seeing how the results come out! :) Please pray that if I should be in this play that I will get a part, and that it will be the part that I can give God the most glory through.

Pakka pú! (Thank you) :)

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

Update On Books

The editing of the 2nd draft for The Sword of Teneraz is underway. :) So far I'm pretty happy with how it is coming along, though I really need to put more focus into it so that it can come along faster.

But The Wolves of Langoor however are having some troubles. . . . :\ So I'm currently taking a break (gives me more time to focus on editing), and when I pick it back up, I'm planning on doing basically rewriting what I've written so far. I was only on about the 30th page so far, so it won't be that much to rewrite. . . . [sigh] all that hard work.

But anyways. . . my reasons for doing stated dreaded thing: It just didn't feel right, and I was at the point that the ideas simply weren't coming out unless I poked, and prodded, and–to put it plainly–tortured them to. I finally realized what I think my problem was:

1-I needed a break. Time to clear my mind and bring back to focus where I want this story to go.

2-I was relying on my own strength; my own will power and imagination. At the beginning it wasn't coming all that smoothly, because this story has a more complicated story line than any others that I've written, and to be frank, I hadn't spent as much time just sitting and daydreaming about this story, to the point that I'd figured out the structure of every sentence in a certain scene, like I have for the others I've written. So, I had heard that it was good to make a layout of your story, and I decided to give it a try. But that was my error. Don't get me wrong, for others, I'm sure it helps a TON! But for me. . . planning everything out like that left out any room for last minute spurts of inspiration, which push the story in a different direction; any room for God to give His ideas. I'd left MY author out of the planning. He's the one who had always given me those spurts of imagination that kept my pen going–He's the one who gave me that imagination in the first place! I remember when writing TSOT, a time when He stepped in and completely changed where I thought the story was going, and because of that, it turned out FAR better than it would have if I had kept going the way I'd thought it should go. I know that other authors use the layout, and it works great for them. But for me, that's obviously not the way God wants me to go. I believe, that He wants me to trust in Him; trust that He will guide the story where it needs to go; trust that, when I sit there with a blank paper, and an open mind, asking Him what He wants me to put down, that He will tell me, and I won't be at a total loss like I fear I might be.

So. . . [takes a deep breathe] the layout goes in the trash. And I feel like I'm stepping off a cliff. . . . But, like that one character that I pushed off a cliff; since the author's still breathing, I know that somehow I will survive–and in the process, have the adventure of a lifetime. :)

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

Waiting For A Perfect Cue

It's been a week and a day since my amazing experience of being a movie extra. . . and I'm wondering what is next on God's "to do list" for me. I'm going to audition for a Tom Sawyer play next month, so I'm counting down the days until that. . . but I'm not exactly sure if that's what God wants me to do. Both of my parent's and I felt that I should audition for it, and ask God that if I was supposed to be in it that He would give me a decent sized part, one that I could learn in, and that would stretch my acting skills to a new level. And I'm also involved in a drama at our church. . . . But I wonder about that other opportunity that God started opening the door for me several months ago now. The one that I made Assr er Go∂r day because of. . . . I still haven't heard anything back since then, but the last I heard was that I would be contacted when they began preparations for another film. So who knows when that could be! But I'm praying, and trusting, that God will open the door completely, right at the perfect time; HIS perfect time. I just wonder when that is!!

Well. . . during this waiting time, I've been keeping busy with preparations for a short film that a friend and I are making. It's a film based around the song "He's a Pirate" from Pirates of the Caribbean, as well as a few other tunes from that movie. But that is all I will say. ;)

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

Amazing!!!!!!!!! :D

Wow! I wanted to draw your attention to the "Astronomy Photo of the Day" from my sidebar. (I have it posted belowˇˇˇ)

What an AWESOME God we serve!!!! Who created such a wondrous, and beautiful universe! :D

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

God is Good Day

Happy Assr er Gó∂r (God is Good) day everyone!!!!!! :D

Today God has scooped me up into His arms and taken me one big giant God step toward fulfilling my biggest dreams! So I decided, in honor of what He has done, and continues to do, to create a holiday; January 28th, Assr er Gó∂r day, a day to remember all of the wonderful things God does for us His children. :) It's not "official" or anything like that. I haven't bought the day January 28th, or whatever it is all that you have to do to make the kind of holiday that they put on the calendars. It's just a day for me, and any one who wishes to celebrate with me.

So, without further ado:

Sœll Assr er Gó∂r dagr!! :)

~ElizabethMarieKauffman

What Are You Doing?

Honestly, I don't really know what to write. . . . I just want to. To attempt to get all of the thoughts out before me in words, with the hope that maybe. . . just maybe, that will help untangle them so that then maybe I will be able to see them all clearly. So hang tight with me, 'cause the road might just get kind of bumpy.

God is doing so many things in my life right now. . . . So many, that the only question I can ask Him is "what are you doing? What are your plans for all of this?". This isn't the first time in my life that I've asked Him those questions–nor do I dare say that it will be the last! Never has the answer been a layout plan of the next few months, or the next years ahead, with little red arrows and pointers saying "at this point such and such a thing will happen, I know it will get pretty tough, but just hang on, and I will do this and this to get you out of it." Wouldn't that be nice! But nope, God does not will for us to see the future. He doesn't want our eyes to be so plastered on the layout plan that we forget to keep them on Him.

"And why would that be such a big problem?" You ask.

Well, if we're so busy looking at the map that we forget to look at the guide, we might get lost.

"Ha!" You say. "I would like to know how that would happen! We would have the map after all!"

But maps can be tricky, you may read it as one thing, when really it means another. Haven't you ever gotten lost on a car trip before? And I'm sure that you had a map didn't you. . . . Or maybe it was something like Map Quest, or some other online direction giver. I've even known people who got lost when they had a GPS in the car! So you see, it can, and does happen. But now, what if on those trips you had someone who knew the route by heart, without a map or any other device, sitting in the driver's seat. Now would you get lost? Most likely not.

So you see. If we had an outlay of the future, we could still get lost in it. But if you kept your eyes glued on Jesus instead–truly keeping them on Him–you will never lose your way. However, our eyes all slip now and again, our eyes move to the steering wheel, the gas peddle, and our eyes get big like a little kid's when he sees a fancy new toy that he wants. We point our fingers and say "I want that."

That's when we get in trouble and end up at all kinds of dead ends. But the good news is that Jesus is still in the passenger seat, just waiting for us to admit that this wasn't such a good idea and give the wheel back to Him.

So God. . . take the driver's seat in my life. And let whatever road I take lead to Your ultimate glory.

Assr vísa ykkarr or∂.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

The Birth Of The King: The Hope Of God

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! :D I hope you all have a blessed time this next year and all the years to come.

God looked upon his son's face, he smiled with pride at the baby's innocent face. But grief also accompanied his feelings, for he knew all the pain he had sent his son into when he willingly took on human flesh. His tears fell like the golden light of the star which he brought forth to shine with such a brightness that would draw the attention of Magi from the east who would then follow its leading to find the child. The angels sang their praises, the melodic ring of their voices brought him joy.

    Unnoticed by the worshippers a shadow of an angel stood in the corner, a sneer lifted his lip as he watched the scene unfold before him. Shepherds began crowding around, knees touched the ground, tears lighted on cheeks, and their voices joined the angel's in praise. The silent watcher cringed at their praise, he reached toward Mary, the baby's mother. Fury bubbled inside God. "Leave, Satan!"

    Instantly the shadow snatched back his hand. Sulking in his rage he turned to leave, only glancing over his shoulder at God to growl and say. "It doesn't matter what you do, I'll get him, and when I do, I will be his finish."

    "I know you will." God whispered sadly, once again he looked on his son and saw his future. In the small innocent eyes he saw the tears of neglect; on the head covered with brown curls he saw a crown of thorns tipped with his own blood; instead of a swaddling cloth he saw a robe of mockery, striped with blood from flogging; in his tiny balled up fists he saw nails. He saw all the years of temptations and pain, the mockery, the conspiracy, the betrayal, but he also saw the victory, the final day when he'd fight the evil one and win.  He saw when he rose from the grave back to life, he saw all of the lives the Son of God would touch, the hearts he would heal, the yes he would open, physical and spiritual. And he was the wake of Christians he would leave, who would then go on and cause the ripple of love to spread until all people had heard the message of truth.

    The shepherds left and Mary and Joseph moved the child, Jesus into a house. The Lord watched with great affection as his son grew that year, he kept him in his arms at all times, and always the evil one cast his shadow of death just beyond, his anger grew each time God sent him away, but a plan was turning in his head. The Magi came and presented their gifts of gold, for the king, frankincense, for the priest, and myrrh, for the sacrifice. When they left God sent an angel to warn them of Satan's plan and to direct them to stay away from Herod on their way back.

    That night a shadow covered the sky, Herod stood at the window of his palace as he ordered the death of all baby boys in Bethlehem, in hopes of in the process killing the new king. Beside him stood a cloaked figure unseen to Herod, his eyes peered out from the shadow of his hood, and a malicious grin spread across his face as he watched his plan to be rid of the Son of God unfolding.

    God sighed. "Herod, oh Herod...." A tear glistened in his eye. "Do you know what you are doing?" Softly he awoke Joseph. "Joseph, get up and flee to Egypt with the child and his mother. Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to try to kill the child." Joseph followed his instructions and God watched them leave. Cries filled the air as the blood of young hearts splattered the blades belonging to Herod's soldiers. Mothers fought to protect their babies as tears poured down their cheeks. The Lord watched the distressed town and wept.

    "This is why I sent my son, to give hope to those with none."

The Birth Of The King: Through The Eyes Of Angels.

7 days till Christmas and here is the next birth of the King post. I almost skipped this one because of the difficulty it presented. "The angels," I thought, "all we ever hear about the angels  on that first Christmas are them giving messages and praising God.... How interesting could I make that?" I mentioned that to my mom and she gave me some ideas. So, I decided I'd give it a try, and trust God with the outcome. And here it is, the finished project of the angels perspective of Christ's birth:

The angelic being watched the travelers enter the city. "They have arrived!" She called to the others who quickly joined her white form. She pointed eagerly at the man leading the donkey on which rode a girl in labor. She felt an awe pass over her as she looked at the young girl's pain filled face. "The chosen one." She whispered, and the others nodded in agreement.

    "She is indeed pure of heart, and God fearing. It's no wonder the Lord chose her to bring forth his son." Came the murmurs of approval.

    The angels waited as the travelers searched for a place to stay in the over crowded little town, awaiting the Lord to work a miracle and open up a place for them to stay. An old man stepped outside his door and directed them to a stable where there was room. Horror washed over the angels' pale faces. "What is he doing?! Stop him Lord!" One cried. "Doesn't he know that this is God's son? The Messiah?"

    A voice rumbled gently over them, although they were used to it, their knees began to shake at the power from which he spoke. "He is not doing anything I have not planned."

    "But really?" The angel spoke up again, with less confidence this time. "A stable... a stable! This is your son, he should be born in a palace, with gold and silver, and the softest satin to be wrapped in. But here in a stable, what is he going to be wrapped in to keep away the chill?"

    "Swaddling cloth."

    "Swaddling cloth!"

    "Quiet!" The Lord roared and they hung their heads in shame. He gently reached out to them, soothing their fears, and gently turned their heads back to Bethlehem. "Watch as the shepherds come in answer to my invitation. I have picked them because of their humble spirit, their willingness, and to show the world that my son is for all mankind, not just the kings, or the mighty, but for the poor and lost. Those who, like sheep, wonder off the good path, but constantly seek to hear the voice of their shepherd."

    The shepherds bowed before the baby, praising God. An awe fell over the angels, unlike any they had ever experienced. A single young voice rose into the crisp night air, soon followed by many others as they sang praises for what the Lord had done.