Sluggards

After a long productive weekend in Houston of book business, I was able to make it to the late service of church this afternoon. I was mainly going to pick up my free book, Soul Revolution by John Burke, that our entire church is reading and putting together small groups for. Today was my last day to pick it up, but as always, I was so glad that I was able to sit and listen to Rick, our pastor give a message. I'll try to keep this short.

So, as we all know. In this life, in this particular moment in time, we are ALL busy, right? I'm busy, your busy, yes, we all know this and basically need to get over it. Next question. How many of us know a sluggard? You know, a lazy person who always has an excuse for why they can't do something, or they plan to do something but it never seems to get done. The truth is, none of us are truly lazy, or so we think. Let me explain, because I know I can fall into this little hidden lie we tell ourselves. We can be fully productive in one area of our life, and use it as an excuse to be sluggardly in other areas. As most of us know, the book of Proverbs is filled with little tidbits of wisdom. Little lesson that speak so much. And in Proverbs 20:4 we read "The sluggard does not plow when winter sets in; therefore he begs in harvest and has nothing." Remember this riddle about the ant and the grasshopper?

Anyway, we all have a tendency to be sluggardly at times, but in efforts to stay balanced in life, we must remember a few things. Rick, our pastor at Gateway, spoke to us about life's little enemy, PROCRASTINATION. The rule of "do not put off till tomorrow what you can finish today" goes into so many life situations. Telling someone you love them, praying at the end of the day, starting that Bible study you meant to do last year, vacuuming the house, visiting your loved ones, joining an organization, volunteering, working out, staying healthy, and focusing on God instead of yourself. The sluggard is always "filled with excuses for not doing what he should do (half-truths, at best)." Proverbs 15:19 notes that there always seems to be obstacles in the way of the sluggard. But really, its life, and we can choose to fully live it, or just HALF fill in the blank it!

First day of my Favorite Season!!!!

Happy Fall, everyone! I can not express enough how excited I am that fall is here. This is by far my favorite season and has always been, even as a little girl. I don't think I knew that back then, but seriously, I really do love the change of fall. There is something so awesomely great about the way the colors change, the smell in the air changes, the sound in the morning and evening changes, and I just can't put words to it because it is a feeling, a memory, a quiet energy! I love the quietness of the morning, and the way the sun shines through the trees as the weather is finally appropriate to sit and drink coffee on the porch. I don't know why but this time of year reminds we of my grandparents lake house in Athens, Texas, even though it was too cold to get in the lake, it has to do with the feeling. When I think of my childhood fall, I think of camping, Halloween, orange, yellow, and brown, I think of the playground down Jersey Drive, rollerblading in the church parking lot, zipper jackets with hoods, walks and bike rides, animals, vacations, the smell of burning leaves, grilling, and everything just kind of slows down. This is definitely the season in Texas that only lasts for a little while. The amazing weather is such a tease, so maybe that is why I cling to this season so much because I know that it will soon be gone.

Why I Run

I had one of those morning runs today when everything just started to come together. For a brief jog of time, everything started to make sense, and I had this extremely satisfying notion, that God really does have a plan. He takes us down a road, a curvy road of course, but guides us into areas that we never knew existed. I know we all hear this and we yearn to believe it, but it is just those little gifts, those signs that make life totally satisfying. It's funny that I use the word satisfying, because I used to not know what that meant. You can only truly be satisfied at times, if you let God get you there. It is just something we are not humanly capable of doing on our own.

So I will elaborate on this epiphenic run. I continually question my timeline. You know, am I doing things in order, are my focuses really where they should be, am I splitting my time in too many areas, and so on. Basically am I doing God's work designed for me here on earth. Because that is what this is all about right? What area does He really want me to focus on, or am I where I need to be?

Let me just say, it is amazing the power that endorphins can have over a person, just from a few moments of exercise. This is where I get all of my good ideas, story lines, promotional strategies, talks with God, questions answered, and the list goes on. This is where people came up with the phrase high on life. Put a little endorphins mixed with some godliness, and you are on cloud nine at times. But anyway, back to the point ... Lately the runs have been information overflow, but believe me I am not complaining. I am actually totally thankful. I have to admit, for the past few months, I have not been very plugged in. I have been busy, controlling, all about my plans, confused, and not putting God first. Its funny when you literally feel the seasons change, some kind of spiritual seasonal change starts to exists. It's this awesome connection God has to nature that is truly believable to me. When I walked into church this morning, I was so happy and relieved to be there with Him and for Him. It was like another breath of fresh air, a second dose of endorphins for the day.

So now when I run, I do it for a whole new reason than I used to years ago. I used to run to literally burn away stress. Now it is different. I run to connect. To plug in. Ultimately to feel closer to God and praise Him for who He is. I'm not saying I have answers to those long awaited questions, but God really lets you know that everything is okay and to trust the road you are running.

Easy as Asking

So I popped into a Barnes and Noble today, because I am starting to set up readings and author signings at the local book stores. The manager was an extremely nice lady and informed me that she had heard of the Iggy the Iguana book, much to my surprise. When I asked her for the events person's contact info, she said well let me go ahead and order your books to put in the store at this location. "Oh, okay then." I didn't realize it would be that easy. Actually let me back track a bit, there were a million things to verify and do to make the publishing acceptable for B&N, so I had that covered, I just didn't know she would be so willing to stock her local shelves once I actually put my foot through the door.

Basically this is how it is going to work. The more and more people who ask for the book at your local Barnes and Noble, the more and more the stores will start to carry the Iggy the Iguana book on their shelves. So next time you happen to be in a Barnes and Noble dear friends and readers, if you have a second, go up to the customer services desk, ask if they have the book in stock, they will pull up old Ig on the B&N website, and start placing orders. Oh, p.s. you may want to mention the Texas School Book tour to let them know there will be an abundance of children asking for the book soon! :O) Let's hope!!!

Thanks a million. It really is all of you who are getting the word out that are making this possible. I appreciate all of your help and kindness!

Houston

A majority of my family and friends live in the Houston area. My heart completely goes out to my home town and our second home of Galveston Beach. I know I can speak for many when I say that that coast has a special place in our hearts as Texans. I have been watching the weather channel and news for about 72 hours straight, give or take a few breaks. I kept the TV on and laid on the couch all night during the night it hit land fall. The destruction of this storm is beyond what we all wanted to believe. My family still does not have power, like the 95% majority of the city. Their house was not damaged and they do have a generator, thank God. However, their neighbor's chimney fell off and landed on a car in the driveway. The city of Houston may not have electricity for up to two weeks. The grocery store shelves are empty, and the whole city is just waiting for something to happen. There is a city wide curfew from dusk till dawn for the next week. It is pretty bad to say the least. My dad's offices are in Pasadena, which was one of the worst hits. He has major damage to clean up and rebuild. I thank God that everyone I know did not get hurt, but it really is disheartning to know what everyone is going through.

Iggy's School Book Tour

The Iggy the Iguana School Book Tour is quickly approaching! Here are the current dates and locations for the author visits and signings. Check in for future updates.

Please let me know if you would like to sign up for a spot. Thanks!

Sept. 26th Houston Presentation
Oct. 9th Pasadena Presentation
Oct. 10th Houston Presentation
Oct. 17th Plano Presentation
Oct. 24th Houston Presentation
Oct. 25th St. Elizabeth Craft Show-Houston
Oct. 31st Austin Presentation
Nov. 7th Georgetown Presentation
Dec. 16th Dallas Presentation

Check book reviews at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

http://www.amazon.com/Iggy-Iguana-Melissa-Marie-Williams/dp/098180540X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221407827&sr=8-1

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Iggy-The-Iguana/Melissa-Marie-Williams/e/9780981805405/?itm=1

In Memory of Iggy

The release of Iggy's book has been quite an exciting time for me! Last week my friends and family threw a wonderful book signing party in Houston. The whole place looked like the land of lizards! I have to take a moment to brag about the cake my mom made. She has been making beautiful cakes like this one for years for my sister and I.



I can't say it enough, but I truly feel blessed to have these wonderful friends in my life. I wanted to take a minute to thank them for going all out and congratulating this project that is so dear to my heart. When I look back and think about the inspiration behind this book, I keep going back to the fact that this entire idea is dedicated to the love of a real pet. l like to remind all the children that I speak with, that Iggy was real and that connections with animals are very special. This is all done in memory of those memories.

So what's happening now? Wow. I don't even know where to start. Over the past week, I continue to see the book pop up on different websites to buy. Some that I have never even heard of. I really encourage people to write some reviews, so others will know what the book is all about. The Texas Book Tour is in the works as I type. We are trying to get this book out to as many kids as it can reach. Let me know if you know anyone who may be interested. On October 25th, I will be doing an author signing at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Craft Show. We will have plenty of Iggy merchandise for the kids out there as well. I'll continue to post updates on the blog and on the website. www.iggytheiguana.com