<![CDATA[Clay Jars Publishing - Clay Jars Blog]]>Sat, 12 May 2012 16:44:21 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Be – Attitudes for the Christian Writer ]]>Thu, 10 May 2012 15:10:18 -0800http://www.clayjarspublishing.com/1/post/2012/05/be-attitudes-for-the-christian-writer.htmlPicture
Be Prepared
                                                                                               
   It’s 4:00 A.M. Your eyes pop open automatically. You lay there giving the cobwebs a moment to untangle themselves and then it hits you. Sweet inspiration comes riding in on a cloud from on high with a precious morsel to be penned. You know you’ve got to get this down because sometimes it’s only there in that certain way for a fleeting moment.

   You reach for your iPad but it’s dead. You haven’t charged it in two days. Frantically your eyes pan your surroundings and you spot your voice recorder. Then you remember, you meant to buy batteries last night but you forgot. By now you’re trying to say the idea over and over again. You don’t want to lose it. And then, you spot your trusty pad and pen. You grab them and the vision becomes words that flow from your pen and are carried by a river of ink that soaks up the dryness of a blank sheet of paper. Whew! That was close! You could have lost that thought or the opportunity to create at that very moment!

  There is nothing like basking in the happiness of having been prepared for the successes that opportunity brings when it knocks on your door.

Jesus Says: "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. (Revelation.3:20, NLT)

Prepare your heart through praise, worship, and prayer. Be prepared to receive!

The  Be – Attitude for next time:  Be Known for Your Passion

Photo from: fiestamart.com

]]><![CDATA[TRY CHILDLIKE TRUST FOR A CHANGE]]>Wed, 02 May 2012 07:43:40 -0800http://www.clayjarspublishing.com/1/post/2012/05/try-childlike-trust-for-a-change.html Picture
In a song performed by renowned artist Stevie Wonder, he says: “With a child’s heart go face the worries of the day.”  


And Jesus says: “Truly I say to you, unless you repent (change, turn about) and become like little children [trusting, lowly, loving, forgiving], you can never enter the kingdom of heaven [at all].  Matthew 18:3 (Amplified Bible) 
Photo from:  mysoulmission.com


Trust your dream; trust your vision, trust God.


]]><![CDATA[Christian Childrens Book Reviewer Weighs in on Shifty Characters ]]>Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:12:24 -0800http://www.clayjarspublishing.com/1/post/2011/07/christian-childrens-books-review-for-shifty-characters.htmlAuthor Shirley Francis-Salley, along with illustrator Willow Raven, have created a different kind of book called Shifty Characters. Together, they illustrate in both words and pictures, how “characters” can “shift” to create different words. Part of the text reads:
Shifty Characters love to move.
They won’t stand still for long.
They are always changing and rearranging,
until the word that was there is gone.

For example, the “characters” in the word “barn” can “shift” to create the word “bran”. Even though both words use the same letters, the two words have entirely different meanings.

The author gives several examples of “characters shifting” to make new words. Then she draws a connection between the “shifty characters” and people by saying this:

And that’s the way God works with us,
for we are characters, too.
We need to be changed and rearranged
to make our lives brand new.

She gives some examples of people being changed: People who like to fight can be changed to people who are caring and sharing. Rude and mean people can be changed to being kind.

The illustrations make the book work, especially in the first part of it, as the alphabetic “characters” have faces so they look a bit like people (who are also “characters”).

What I Like: The author makes a good correlation between alphabet characters and human ones and how God can change the human ones. The illustrator has done a great job of personifying the characters to make that point.

What I Dislike: However, as you may have noticed, the text is written in rhyme. And, like many of you already know, I’m not a big fan of rhyming text as it’s very difficult to do and do well. Unfortunately, the rhyme scheme and rhythm of the text is off in several places, making the text jarring to read.

Overall Rating: I still give it a very good rating because the idea is a very good one.

Age Appeal: No age group is given but I would say 6-12 would be about right.

Publisher Info: Clay Jars Publishing, 2010; ISBN: 9780984336906 ; Paperback, $16.99.
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