{"id":277,"date":"2020-03-27T07:17:57","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T14:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/larissaself.com\/?p=277"},"modified":"2020-03-29T06:37:29","modified_gmt":"2020-03-29T13:37:29","slug":"a-little-scary-when-your-book-becomes-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/larissaself.com\/index.php\/2020\/03\/27\/a-little-scary-when-your-book-becomes-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"A little scary when your book becomes reality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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First, I would like to welcome you all to my new web page. I can’t believe how much easier this one is to maneuver through, (thanks, Keith). I’m excited because this is my first blog in several months. I wanted to wait for the new site to be up and running before I wrote another one. Now that it’s here, WOW! a lot has happened between then and now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016 I wrote my first book, An Inheritance of Hope<\/em>. Many of you may know the story, but to recap for those that haven’t read it, the story just happens to be about a virus that starts in China and is spread throughout the world, unknowingly, by our ever abundant, frequent world travelers. Sounds<\/g> familiar, doesn’t it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the story of An Inheritance of Hope<\/i>, society has failed in every way possible due to a deadly virus. Thankfully, in our reality, that hasn’t happened. Okay, so there may be a few toilet paper hoarders out there, but all in all, it has been peaceful and not violent like my book perceived it would be. “Whew!” (as I swipe my hand across my brow) because I’m no Riley Cooper, and like the rest of you, I wouldn’t know what to do if it got really bad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of my favorite things about writing the Riley Cooper Series of Hope was that I got to add quotes from some of my favorite people . . . America’s Founding Fathers. John Adams is one of my all-time favorites and although he was writing about the aftermath of the American Revolution, his words still hold true to this day. What follows is a section from my novel An Inheritance of Hope<\/em>, page 348:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The safety and prosperity of \u201cNations\u201d ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the \u201cNational\u201d acknowledgment of this truth is\u2026an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him.”
\u201cI\u2019m sure you\u2019re thinking we are in no way a nation, but you\u2019re wrong. Though we are a mere 128, we are a nation. The faith of your leaders is abundant, and the prosperity of our lives depends solely on the protection and blessing of the Almighty God. We as your leaders will not forget that. Neither should you. It says in 2 Corinthians 4:8\u201310:
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The character, Riley Cooper, is quoting John Adams first and then reminding her friends and family that all is not lost because they have hope in Jesus. Something we should all remember during this time of the Covid-19, aka the coronavirus. As I read the Bible, I’m reminded of God’s love for us, but I know all too well that sometimes, even knowing God is there, we allow depression and worry to get the best of us. In 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 it says, “Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him, we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us,” Man, am I ever grateful that I belong to God and he to me. Times like these are hard enough and trying to do it solo would be impossible for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Winthrop, another Founding Father wrote, “Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by the power within them or a power without them, either by the word of God or the strong arm of man, either by the Bible or by the bayonet.” He wrote this for a meeting of the Massachusetts Bible Society in Boston on May 28, 1849. His words were words of wisdom in 1849 and should be today in 2020. Fear has a wicked way of disarming our sanity and we allow the power without<\/em> us to control our power within<\/em> us. Remember, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6. (The ‘them’ in this case would be the coronavirus.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know many of us have experienced fear in the most mind-numbing, depression sinking way. That’s why it’s important that, though we need to stand 6 feet apart, smile at a stranger; say hello, make a joke about the toilet paper shortage. Do whatever you can to let your fellow humans know that they are not alone. This pandemic will pass, but not without scarring. Taking that extra step of kindness can go a long way for some. Life is 10% of what happens to us and 90% of how we respond to that 10%. So all you toilet paper hoarders out there share a couple of rolls and remember we’re all in this together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First, I would like to welcome you all to my new web page. I can’t believe how much easier this one is to maneuver through, (thanks, Keith). I’m excited becauseContinue readingA little scary when your book becomes reality<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/larissaself.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/larissaself.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/larissaself.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larissaself.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larissaself.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/larissaself.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316,"href":"https:\/\/larissaself.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277\/revisions\/316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/larissaself.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larissaself.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/larissaself.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}