If you’ve ever dealt with early teens, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Nothing is more worrying than a thirteen-year-old wanting to help in the kitchen or the garage (except trying to teach a sixteen-year-old to drive a car).
They want to use knives, or Kitchenaide mixers, or power tools, or axes, and you smile encouragingly but subtly reach for the box of bandaids, hoping you won’t have to call 911.
Even Perrin Shin was once a gangly, floppy creature. That should give us all hope for our youth. Nearly all of them outgrow it.
Nearly.
Get the prequel The Walls in the Middle of Idumea here!
I had an acquaintance who was paralyzed by her own doubts. When she felt the prompting to do something for someone, she’d second guess and third guess until it was too late.
For example, once she felt a new mom in her neighborhood was overwhelmed, and she decided to bring her over a package of newborn diapers and some treats. But at the store she was torn with indecision about what brand of diapers to buy: the no-name brand, like she used for her own kids but might make her look “cheap,” or the fancier brand, which she feared the new mother might think she was being a show-off.
She eventually bought both brands, then fretted about delivering them. She put it off and put it off until the baby was no longer the newborn and was wearing size 3 diapers.
This woman later said, “I was too focused about doing the right thing in the ‘wrong’ way, then I was too focused about how I’d come off, rather than focusing on the person who was in need. In the end, I never gave her any diapers, which I heard later she really could have used since she’d had to quit work for two months after having the baby, and her income was nearly nothing. She wouldn’t have cared about the brand, just about being loved.”
Below is my all-time favorite Christmas song and video about just doing something, the best way you can:
I missed posting yesterday, and I could use the excuse that I was merely exercising my freedom not to. But the truth is that teaching school (door decorating contests get pretty intense around here) and being in charge of a church dinner (we made the ham, funeral potatoes–best dish in the world–salads, centerpieces and dessert) packed my day and evening.
Am I forced to live a busy life? Good gravy, no.
I choose it. I love it.
I love teaching, although the month of December is incredibly distracting to students.
I love serving the tiny branch of my church.
I love choosing my life, doing what I think and believe is the best.
Fight to have the freedom to choose your own life, and the bravery to demand that freedom.
Get the prequel The Walls in the Middle of Idumea here!
Yes, my attempts at measuring portions to lose weight showed up in my writing. As you can tell, my diet hasn’t been going well, especially during the Christmas season.
Get the prequel The Walls in the Middle of Idumea here!
Thank you for downloading the FREE PREQUEL! Several hundred copies have already flown through cyberspace, and since digital downloads can’t “sell out” you can get as many copies as you want. Great as a gift or to introduce someone to the series. Only Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 7 and 8!
Here’s the kind of mixed metaphors you can expect in a book that will not only entertain but also make you hungry. (Probably not the best combination, but oh well.)
What readers are saying:
“The Walls in the Middle of Idumea is a great prequel and supplement to the rest of the Forest at the Edge series. Trish Mercer is still one of my favourite authors, with her skill for weaving humour, sadness, truth and hope together to create an incredible story. This book works perfectly on its own, but I also really enjoyed the references to characters that become a big part of the rest of the series.”
“. . . like all the books in this series it is entertaining, uplifting, and wholesome. There’s an actual story and it manages to be compelling without anything graphic. Highly recommend all of her books.”
“Pere Shin was a fascinating and, yes, a flawed protagonist. He sensed that a grievous wrong was perpetuating in the mansion and took the steps that his heart and gut feelings pressed upon him. Integrity wins.”
Need a free gift? The prequel is FREE now through Sunday on Amazon! The Walls in the Middle of Idumea is a great place to begin the series–not too long and daunting, and the storyline is accessible to new readers. Pere Shin is one of my new favorite characters–come get to know him. He’s unlike anyone else you’ve read about!
What readers are saying:
“The Walls in the Middle of Idumea is a great prequel and supplement to the rest of the Forest at the Edge series. Trish Mercer is still one of my favourite authors, with her skill for weaving humour, sadness, truth and hope together to create an incredible story. This book works perfectly on its own, but I also really enjoyed the references to characters that become a big part of the rest of the series.”
“. . . like all the books in this series it is entertaining, uplifting, and wholesome. There’s an actual story and it manages to be compelling without anything graphic. Highly recommend all of her books.”
“Pere Shin was a fascinating and, yes, a flawed protagonist. He sensed that a grievous wrong was perpetuating in the mansion and took the steps that his heart and gut feelings pressed upon him. Integrity wins.”
I’m a mother of five boys. Injuries just happen, especially if there are several boys. Before they’re reached their teenage years, each of my sons has been clanked and clonked and dropped and slammed multiple times. Even my quietest, most sensible son has had stitches for splitting open his thigh by merely tripping over a wheelbarrow. (I saw it happen, otherwise I never would have believed it.)
It’s remarkable how much damage can occur to/by boys simply by running to the kitchen when dinner is ready. My youngest son is now eight, and even though he’s fairly mellow, there will be injuries before he’s an adult. I keep my insurance card handy at all times.
Forestedgebooks.com 