A Breath in the Morning

Ah, Saturday mornings in the Spring... when the sun is shining down warm and soft from a velvet blue sky. It's the kind of morning when you want to be sitting on the porch with a cup of warm coffee in your hands to warm your fingers from the last nip of winter hanging on the breeze.

This kind of morning resinates peace. As I watch the barn cats playing in the flowerbed I am reminded of all of the other times that I've sat outside in the morning. If you ever want to escape from the world for a time, this is the opportunity! Now, when the sun is newly hung in the sky and the birds have just been awaken from their nests into a new day.... It's easy to imagine God smiling down on this world. Does He sigh and repeat to himself, "It is good"? For this moment you can forget about all of the troubles in the world and concentrate solely on the Creator.

And you can ask, "What plans do You have for me, God? What adventures have You laid in store for us to conquer together this next week?"

Assr vísa ykkarr brand.

(May God guide your sword.)

ElizabethMarieKauffman

Another Reason I Love Christmas

I just finished my annual holiday-time read of "Two Tickets to the Christmas Ball" by Donita K. Paul today. It's such a sweet book full of romance, Christmas cheer, and yes, even a touch of fantasy. I simply adore the book which explains why I read it every year over Christmas.

Now that I'm on my Christmas break from school, I have not only found that I have been getting some much needed rest and recuperation time, but I have had a lot of time to finish projects that I have been wanting to do for quite some time (and that besides Christmas presents for family members). It's so refreshing to finish a project that you've started, especially when you started it a long time before hand.

One of my favorite things about this time of year is when I can curl up on the couch in front of a glowing fireplace, with lights, manger scenes, small winter villages and pine cones, candles, and pine bows adorning the mantle, windows, and banister. I love listening to the same Christmas songs that I've heard every year since I was little, and spending time with my family, reading books or watching cheesy Christmas movies far later into the night than is perhaps wise.

It's these little things that make the holidays so special to me and that I love about this time of year so much.

It's so strange to look ahead and wonder where I will be next year, or the year after that. I certainly hope to be back here with my parents and brother, and maybe even my sister if she can make a trip home, but by that time I will be graduated from college, probably will have finished my internship and be out looking for a job in the film industry. . . . Will I be living in a small apartment in LA or some other big movie making city? Or will I be back home, trying to figure out what the next step is that I should take in pursuing my career? Where will this path God is leading me on take me in this upcoming year? As a matter of fact, where will God direct all of our paths?

This thought can be a little terrifying to think about. Right now I would rather stay huddled inside of my fuzzy blanket on the couch at home and stare into the twinkling lights a little longer. I hold my breath as I stare into their magical glow and dream about snow falling down from the Heavens to cover the green grass outside with soft, sparkling white treasure. God has proven faithful to prepare me in every way for each new step that He has given me to date, and I know that He will not fail to continue to do so as long as I follow in His steps and listen patiently for the lessons that He teaches me throughout every single day.

For that I am so thankful. . . . Yet another reason that I love Christmas.

Assr vísa ykkarr brand.

(May God guide your sword.)

ElizabethMarieKauffman

Peace in Uncertainty

Questions arise and trials come. They always do. . . . It's just part of life. 

No matter how certain you are at the moment, doubts will come knocking at your door like the big bad wolf, threatening to blow your peaceful charade in.

When the storm winds blow, and the waves of uncertainty crash upon your life's shore, where do you go for comfort? Where do you seek refuge?

Do you rely upon your own strength to get you back on your feet so that you can continue onward through life? Do you allow your emotions to control you and drive you down, down into life's mire of despair?

I have prided myself and felt confident in my ability to find my refuge and strength in God. I profess great ability to run into His arms when the world threatens to collapse around my ears, and when my fears and doubts rise up as one against me.

When I cannot clearly make out my next step, I throw myself at the foot of the throne of God and beg Him to show me the way. . . . I implore Him with tears and supplication. And when I do not receive an immediate answer, I begin to demand God to tell me why. I require that He answer me swiftly. . . . And I have a list of reasons to read off to Him about why He should give me the answer right away.

Time is a fragile thing. Isn't it? The value of our lives is measured by how much we can get done in the time we are given. Right?

Last night it struck me that I was coming at this all wrong.

I thought about my long drives in the car, pouring out my heart to God in an endless flow of words, tears, and heartfelt pleading, and I thought to myself: How much time have I spent listening? How much time have I spent seeking God's timing and God's perspective on what is going on in my life?

The answer was: very little.

Then I thought: how much more could I accomplish in my times of waiting, if, instead of begging over and over again for God to give me an answer in my timing, I instead concentrated on basking in God's glory and trusting in His timing? In His perspective?

What if I made my times of waiting into times of worship, prayer, and listening?

Into times of "being still and knowing that He is God"?

Peace in uncertainty. 

Sounds nice, doesn't it?

Assr vísa ykkarr brand.

(May God guide your sword.)

ElizabethMarieKauffman

Welcome to Film School

It's official. 

I have just completed my first week of film school. I am officially a college student. Is that crazy or what?!

Already I have been assigned one paper, one film project, and a bunch of reading. The paper –for film history–was to be about three different short films by Georges Méliès and Buster Keaton (for those of you who don't know who those are, their a few of film's earliest creators).

The schedule has kept me quite busy (and it will only get busier as more film shoots are added on, etc.), but every day I am reminded why it is that I am going into this industry. . . . All of the faculty, staff, and my fellow students are super great!

On top of this very exciting news, I have something else that I know that all of you have eagerly awaited the moment of. . . . . . . . .

I have finished writing The Wolves of Langoor!!! :D 

Actually, I finished writing it last week, but I was so busy getting ready for the start of school, that I didn't even think to write a blogpost. I apologize for that.

Whenever I have a moment in between classes and homework, I'll be working on editing TWOL. The hope is that it will be ready for publishing sometime next year.

I'll try to keep you all up-to-date on both my progress in editing as well as college classes, etc.!

Assr vísa ykkarr brand.

(May God guide your sword.)

ElizabethMarieKauffman

5. . . More. . . Chapters!

Well, folks, my deadline for finishing the first draft of "The Wolves of Langoor" is *ahem* today. *wince* And I still have around five more chapters to write before the story will be finished.

However, this not making the deadline (which I'm not) may actually be a good thing. . . difficult as it may be to believe. Let me explain:

Without counting any writing I'll be doing today, I have a total word count of approximately 84,500 words. This is very, very close to my estimated goal of 90,000 words for the whole book. And with about five more chapters to go, I will have over exceeded that goal, meaning a longer book for all of YOU to read! (Can I have some cheers here?)

So while I'll be working hard to pound out another chapter this afternoon, you all can relax at home with a contented smile as you think of all those lovely extra words you will be able to read come next year.

Assr vísa ykkarr brand.

(May God guide your sword.)

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

Dreams Created by the King

Who is God? Is He just a mystical being who we sing to on Sundays and pray to before each meal? Is He just a fantastic figment of our imaginations we've created to give us some sort of purpose for our lives? Or perhaps we truly believe that He is real and saved us from our sins. But do we stop there? We would rather not go any farther, because, well, frankly our lives are exactly that–our lives.

We have our own dreams and passions to pursue. And, whether we actually speak the words, we tell God to stay out of it. We are bombarded each and every day by messages to "follow our hearts" and to "not give up on our dreams."

But these dreams. . . . These things that we create with such big anticipation as a small child, that then form and reshape with us as we grow. . . . 

What if we let God take hold of our hearts, and allow Him to shape our passions and desires? Those dreams would become masterpieces beneath His fingertips. They would no longer reflect our own sinful desires, but would portray His magnificent splendor. 

Our dreams would show the world God's heart.

It grieves me to see the amount of people who drop those God made dreams for a career that will pay better money, or simply because they don't have enough faith that God could actually bring about what He has promised.

I have lately had to discern the difference between my own dream and a God made one. . . . Not many people know this, but I have a deep passion for dance. I worship best when I can make my body sing in the presence of my God; whether I have music or not.

For years I was content to keep my dancing as something I did almost solely closed in my bedroom where no one could see me. But recently I began to desire to do more with my dance. I longed to take ballroom dance lessons, and started learning modern dance, tap dance, and even a bit of hip-hop through online videos. I wanted to be professional. I wanted to dance like Ginger Rogers.

But I had to remember that God has called me into the film industry. He has proven over and over again that that is where He wants me.

And if there's one thing about filmmakers, it's that they don't exactly have a bountiful amount of free time to train in something so time consuming as dance.

For a time I tried to just fit in as many dance lessons as I could before I started film school with the hope that that would give me enough of a boost to go off of someday in the future when I could focus more time on dance.

. . . But God said no.

He has given me a love for dance, but He has not called me to use it to please the world at this time. Maybe someday in the future He will open up doors for me to do more with dance, but for now, He wants me to focus on the place that He has called me, and to focus on following His next steps through film school and into the film industry.

This is the dream He has for me right now.

The film industry has been the place I knew I would be going since I was thirteen or fourteen. 

My heart lies in Hollywood and that is the direction that God is leading me for now. To give Him glory on the red carpet.

I still pray that someday He will use my dance for His glory and let me pursue it deeper. But for now, not feeling the pressure to work on that as well as filming and writing my book, is very refreshing! Having so many things on my plate that I wanted to do had begun to get stressing.

So I will continue my dancing before God, and I may be able to sneak in learning a few ballroom steps here and there ( ;) ) or making a trip to swing on Tuesday nights. But for this girl it will remain something fun and not a career.

Assr vísa ykkarr brand.

(May God guide your sword.)

ElizabethMarieKauffman

'No Place Like Home' Review

In January, a friend of mine (Samantha) wrote this review for "The Sword of Teneraz" on her blog. I thought it very insightful and (for me) quite encouraging, so I wish to share it with my followers in the blogger world.

No Place Like Home: 'The Sword of Teneraz' by Elizabeth Marie Kauffman

Assr vísa ykkarr brand.

(May God guide your sword.)

ElizabethMarieKauffman

A Summer of Change

As this summer goes on 

I'm realizing more and more just how drastically my life will have changed by the time summer ends and fall begins.

From starting college, to getting my wisdom teeth pulled, my hair cut, and selling my beloved horse, I am on the verge of a new turn in the road.

It's difficult, and I often sit and wish I could go back to my days as a young girl;

carefree and without any responsibility aside from my next class in school, and the next chores to be finished. Now I have to say farewell to those summer days of laying around, relaxing, reading books, playing outside, and being bored.

But no amount of wishing for those days will bring them back. And, on the other side of things, I would rather not give up these new adventures ahead of me. With my second novel drawing closer to completion and the prospect of film school ahead of me,

I get shivers of excitement up and down my spine at the thought.

The future holds a lot of new, mysterious things, but it also holds the promise of a grand adventure in store.

My King has an amazing plan in store for my life yet, and I can't give that up; my adventurous side won't let me.

And so I feel as though this summer is a packing up for the journey, a saying farewell to things of the old, and rushing ahead with a combination of thrill and fear, sorrow and pure glee into the unknown. I go, plunging into these new depths laid out before me by the Creator of the Universe.

Assr vísa ykkarr brand.

(May God guide your sword.)

ElizabethMarieKauffman

Look What's New!

I just finished the cover art for "The Wolves of Langoor" today when my dad and I got home from church. What do you think?

A few weeks ago I got a bit antsy to see TWOL finished and in book form, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to begin working on the cover. :)

(Click on the picture to see a larger version)

TWOL is coming folks, it is coming! :)

God bless.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~

The Wolves of Langoor–A Preview

"'Now!' He roared and pushed himself rapidly up from the mud.

"Fifty other men rose up from their places all around him, appearing as swamp monsters in the gloomy twilight. With their heads held high, and their once shining armor dented and streaked with mud and grass stains, they ran, their feet slipping every other step, up the slope and into the battle."

–The Wolves of Langoor, chapter 23

(picture taken of Storymill–my faithful computer writing program)

The 23rd chapter of The Wolves of Langoor is finished, the word count meter is nearing 50,000 (I still need to update the one on the sidebar of the blog), and I think that the book is about halfway completed! Over this Christmas and through January, a good friend and I are having a little writing competition. . . . Whoever has the most words written by January 31st is the winner. This has given me the extra boost I needed to get over a hard spot in the book, and I am now reenergized and have the familiar feeling of blood rushing to my fingers and my brain beginning to spin at the thought of picking up my pen each time. I feel sorry for my characters right now, as they are having a pretty difficult time of it. . . . But I'm loving the heart pounding moments of thrill, and I hope that you all will too once it's published and out for you to read! :)

Assr vísa ykkarr brand.

~ElizabethMarieKauffman~