Steadfast - Guest Blogger Sherrie Ashcraft

It's Wednesday, and I have a very special guest. Sherrie Ashcraft is my friend, fellow writer, publisher, and a woman of God who has lived out her faith through some very dark days. Welcome, Sherrie.

Sherrie Ashcraft lives on 15-acres of beautiful forested hills in Western Oregon. She and her husband of forty-four years have two children, eight grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Sherrie is currently the Women’s Minsitry Director at her church, but in the past was a missionary to Nigeria, as well as a nurse specializing in Alzheimer’s care.

Sherrie loves to speak at women’s events, where her wacky sense of humor and the truth of God’s Word intersect. She and her daughter, Christina Tarabochia, have co-authored an award-winning Christian novel, On the Threshold. The two women have formed a small, traditional press—Ashberry Lane Publishing. 

If you’d like to know what books are being released, including a new one by Bonnie, sign up for their newsletter at http://www.ashberrylane.com 

Whatever it takes

Most of us think that when we get our kids through their teen years and they marry and settle down, the hardest part of parenting is behind us. But I’ve learned that’s not necessarily true. 

My son, Mark, had a heart for the Lord when he was a little boy. His teen years were challenging, but we got through them with no collateral damage, and he married and had four kids. By age 36 he was well-established working in law enforcement and distinguishing himself in the National Guard. But through the years his heart had changed. It wasn’t that he was anti-God, but just seemed to have no time for Him. Long hours working the night shift made church attendance a hard thing for him to choose. Always being on call meant he was often away from his family. He was extremely well respected and I saw pride creeping into his life. I began to pray God would do whatever it took to bring Mark back in a right relationship with the Lord. I knew there was the potential of danger in his life because of his job, and I figured God might answer my prayer by allowing Mark to get hurt in the line of duty (doing something heroic, of course) and his life would hang in the balance. At that point he would turn back to God, his wounds would be healed, and everything would be perfect. 

I’ll never forget the day in the summer of 2009 when I received the phone call that would forever change our lives. And yes, it involved Mark. But it wasn’t a call saying he’d been injured doing something noble. Instead, I was informed that my police officer son had just been arrested! I was shocked to the core of my being. How could this be? It made no sense at all. My husband was out of state on business, so it was up to me to make the five-hour drive to be with my son’s family and support them during this time. 

Those hours driving through the dark night were long. I could hardly draw my next breath, as disbelief and disappointment swirled through my heart. You might think that having been a Christian for over fifty years would make it easy for me to just pour my heart out to the Lord during those long hours. Instead, I found it impossible to put many words to my prayer. I do remember asking God to just read my heart. Over and over again I told Him a couple different things. One was that I immediately knew  this was God’s answer to the prayer I’d been praying for Mark during the last couple years. I knew I had no choice but to thank Him for answered prayer. And the other thought that I kept expressing to God was, “Please don’t let this be wasted, in my life or in Mark’s. I don’t want to go through this depth of pain and not get everything out of it that I’m supposed to. I want to wring this experience dry.” I knew that as terrible as this situation was, it would be even more terrible to experience this grief for naught. 

Five-and-a-half years have gone by since that phone call. I’ve continued to see God’s hand through everything we’ve had to go through. It took two years before Mark actually went to trial for accusations that were untrue. His heart turned back to the Lord right away, and he took full responsibility for the wrong things he had done, but stood firm in not saying he’d done things he hadn’t. My husband and I were with him every day during his week-long trial, and by the end of it, I was certain the truth would prevail and he’d be found innocent. But that was not God’s plan. Instead, he was sentenced to years in prison.

Once again, I had a choice to make—would I trust that God knew 100% what was best for Mark, or would I choose to question His authority? Was a prison sentence really a necessary part of that answer to my prayer concerning Mark’s heart? I realized I did not need to understand what the Lord was doing, or why He was choosing to do it that way. My job was one of simple obedience—to trust Him.

The past 3-1/2 years have been challenging at times, but so many blessings have come from this experience. Mark has grown into the man of God that I’ve always longed for him to be. He has no bitterness toward God or toward his accuser, and understands that the Lord had to do something extraordinary to get his attention, as well as his heart. As odd as it might seem, we all feel this injustice is worth it, though it was never what we would have prayed for. At the same time, it is what I asked God to do in my son’s life, though it came in a completely unexpected form. 

Some people say, “Be careful what you pray for, as you may get it!” I’ve learned to be careful what I pray for, because I may get something that’s even better than what I asked for!


Sherrie, thank you for sharing your incredible story. You are a woman of courage and an inspiration to me.

Sherrie and Christina are giving away one

FREE copy of
On the Threshold.

Suzanne—a mother with a long-held secret. Tony—a police officer with something to prove. Beth—a daughter with a storybook future. When all they love is lost, what's worth living for?

Suzanne Corbin and her daughter, Beth Harris, live a seemingly easy life. Suzanne has distanced herself from her past, replacing pain with fulfillment as a wife and mother, while Beth savors her husband’s love and anticipates the birth of their child. But all that is about to change.

Like a sandcastle buffeted by ocean waves, Suzanne’s façade crumbles when her perfect life is swept away. Tragedy strikes and police officer Tony Barnett intersects with the lives of both women as he tries to discover the truth. Left adrift and drowning in guilt long ignored, Suzanne spirals downward into paralyzing depression. Beth, dealing with her own grief, must face the challenge of forgiveness. Can these two women learn to trust each other again? Will they find the power of God’s grace in their lives?


If you'd like to have your name included in the drawing for a FREE copy of On the Threshold please leave a comment and your email address. Did you catch that? AND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. We need a way to contact you.

Last week's winner of With Music in Their Hearts is Jayne! Congratulations! Carole will be contacting you.

Grace and peace to you from God,

Bonnie

The Journey - Adventures In Writing

In 1989 I was thrown into the world of writing. At that time, I had an interest but never really thought it was possible that someone like me could become a full-time author. I was one of those "trouble-makers" in school and didn't do well, but I always loved to read and actually enjoyed my literature classes.

The adventure began when I was bitten by the writing bug in 1989. My mind came alive with personal experiences, poems and short stories. And I filled up legal pads with my thoughts. It was fun! 

In 1991 friend knew about my hobby and encouraged me to attend a one day writing conference. I went with great trepidation, but left feeling uplifted and ready to write . . . for real. My dream still seemed to be an impossibility but at least I was willing to admit that I had a dream of one day becoming a published author.

A month later I was seriously side-tracked when a log truck came barreling around a corner and slammed into my van. My life changed. I was left with injuries that meant my life would never be the same, and I needed to find something to do with the person I was, a way to contribute to the world. God challenged me to write. 

My injuries lingered and through bitterness and tears God led me down a new path. Unbelievably, two years after the accident I sold my first novel, The Journey of Eleven Moons, to Thomas Nelson Publishing. It was a startling turn of events. I'd never really believed it could happen.

I remember the day the advance copy of my book arrived via Federal Express. I tore open the envelope and held  it in my hands and for the longest time I just stared at it. I don't even think I breathed. The book was beautiful! Incredible! And my name was on the cover!

That was the beginning. Several years later I was still writing and also teaching and mentoring new writers. I loved that - still do. One day at the OCW Summer Conference I sat across from a mother/daughter writing team - Sherrie Ashcraft and Christina Tarabochia. They were working on a book together and hoping to find direction from another writer.

I immediately fell in love with these two ladies. They were full of energy, grace, joy and fun. And they were good writers. We've been friends ever since.

Life is interesting, offering up surprising turns and unexpected adventures.

After that first meeting, Christina went on to write an award winning novel and the mother/daughter team recently released their first co-written book. I am, once again, working with these two women only the roles are reversed. They are helping me. Sherrie and Christina are co-owners of Ashberry Lane Publishing. 

Here we are today.

About a year ago, I decided to rework my first book, The Journey of Eleven Moons. I've always loved the story, but as a newbie author I had a lot to learn about writing and always wished I could reel it back in and make it better. And so I have. 

Guess who's helping me publish the new version. I'm now part of the Ashberry Lane family! And the new and improved Journey of Eleven Moons will release in mid-November! It has a few new plot twists, better writing and a new cover.

I think re-releasing this book is the perfect way to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of The Journey of Eleven Moons. If you haven't read it I hope you'll give it a try and if you have read it . . . you might want to have another look.

I'll have more details along with the new cover here for you soon. If you want to make sure not to miss out there are two places you can sign up for newsletters -  
http://ashberrylane.com/bonnieleon/ or you can go to my home page and sign up for my Table Talk newsletter.

Life is truly an adventure - enjoy every moment.

Grace and peace to you from God,

Bonnie

Books & Writing -- Welcome the Dynamic Duo, Sherrie Ashcraft & Christina Berry Tarabochia

Welcome! Welcome! 

I'm thrilled to have Sherrie Ashcraft and Christina Berry Tarabochia here today! I've known this mother and daughter team for many years, and they are two terrific people. What a privilege to introduce them to you!

I've never done an interview with two people at one time, but I'll bet you have done a lot of duo interviews. This ought to be fun.

One thing I know about you two is that you know how to have fun. Just to give us a peek at the real Sherrie and Christina can you tell us about the most memorable moment you've faced together?

C: What HAVEN'T we faced together? 
S: We were missionaries to Nigeria, West Africa in Christina's younger years, which meant facing 
culture shock, many poisonous spiders 
and snakes, homeschooling,
and a witch doctor 
cursing us off a mountain
in the midst of Christina's 
seventh birthday party. This 
photo was taken just before
he showed up.





C: Since then, we've gone through Mom's depression, 2 1/2  months of my pregnancy bed rest with Mom as live-in help, my divorce, and my brother being convicted to years in prison for something he didn't do. 
S: Oh, and did we forget to mention that we shared a multi-generational house for five years?

Wow! You have experienced a lot together. Some of what you've been through would have shipwrecked another's faith, but you ladies are still rocking for Jesus. Amen to that!


I first met you both at an OCW Summer Writing Conference . . . years ago. We sat down at a table together to talk about a book you were working on. You impressed me and so did your writing. All those years ago, you were working together on a book. Is that the new book that's just released?

C: Yes, Bonnie, this is the book we first showed you over a decade ago around that table. But at the same time, it's NOT the same book! The backbone of On the Threshold remains, but the story line has been fleshed out and written in a completely different way during those ensuing years. 
S: We kept going to conferences and learning how to be better writers, then coming home and applying what we learned. By the way, your encouragement about our enthusiasm during that meeting pushed us to keep that energy up at every meeting thereafter.  J

How good to know that I could be an encouragement. I had so much fun talking with you.


Can you tell us about the book and how you came to write it?


S: Once we decided to write a book together, we knew immediately that we wanted to show various sides of a mother-daughter relationship, as well as tackle a subject not many Christian books cover in a realistic fashion--depression. 

Don't worry, as it's an uplifting book and has humor scattered throughout, but we wanted to spotlight a tough subject. Over the years, we created three strong characters: a mother, an adult daughter, and an oh-so-likeable cop. We each wrote each point of view and kept our theme verse in mind. 2 Peter 1:19b ". . . as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." Yes, we took our characters into a dark place, but we also get to show the glory of God shining in their hearts. Eventually, that is. 

This definitely sounds like something I'd like to read.

Suzanne--a mother with a long-held secret. Tony--a police officer with 

something to prove. Beth--a daughter with a storybook future. 

When all they love is lost, what's worth living for?

Suzanne Corbin and her daughter, Beth Harris, live a seemingly easy life. Suzanne has distanced herself from her past, replacing pain with fulfillment as a wife and mother, while Beth savors her husband's love and anticipates the birth of their child. But all that is about to change.

Like a sandcastle buffeted by ocean waves, Suzanne's facade crumbles when her perfect life is swept away. Tragedy strikes and police officer Tony Barnett intersects with the lives of both women as he tries to discover the truth. Left adrift and drowning in guilt long ignored, Suzanne spirals downward into paralyzing depression. Beth, dealing with her own grief, must face the challenge of forgiveness. Can these two women learn to trust each other again? Will they find the power of God's grace in their lives?

Sounds wonderful! As soon as I finish here I'm going to download one onto my Kindle!

Read to the bottom of this post to find out how you can 

win a copy of On the Threshold!

How did you become a writing duo?

S: Since we share one brain but were separated at birth, it's been pretty easy to write together! Both of us had always talked about writing a book, but fourteen years ago I said if we were ever going to write, maybe we should work on a book together. It would hold us accountable. We lived on different sides of the state of Oregon at the time, so we did a lot of it via e-mail, and once a month I would make the 250-mile drive to Christina's house and we'd work on it in person. 

I'm so glad you're such a good team . . . er, I mean that you share a brain. Yep. That's what I mean.


You two have a fabulous mother/daughter relationship, but even in the best of circumstances mothers and daughters don't always agree. When you're working on a project together how do you handle differences in style and focus?

C: We agreed from the get-go that both of us needed to be proud of every single word of every single line in the book. In fact, we didn't even need a reason not to like it. If it didn't feel right, it was out of there! One advantage about co-writing was that one of us would do a chapter and give it to the other for editing. We split the word count evenly and gave each other doable deadlines. This process blended our styles, which are very similar anyway. By the end, we honestly couldn't remember who wrote some of the chapters.

What a good workable plan and so organized. I'm in awe. And I love the commitment to excellence.


I've had the privilege of attending a retreat with both of you as speakers. You guys are terrific. Our time with you was full of fun and inspiration. Do you speak often and what kind of topics do you like to share? Are you available to speak and how can you be contacted?

S: As the Women's Ministry Director at my church, I have the joy of teaching two weekly Bible studies, as well as speaking at women's events and retreats.
C: As the mother of five, I don't have as much freedom at this stage of my life, but both of us love to speak together as much as possible.
S: The two of us recently led a retreat called Doing the Impossible, based on the book of Nehemiah. We also did one on Taming Your Emotions for your church, Bonnie. We've shared on Following Your Dreams as a day event. Plus, I've led retreats having to do with the Christian view of sex (just call me Dr. Ruth of the Bible!) and on how to blend the practical and spiritual parts of a woman's life.
C: My favorite talk I have is the one I gave this February for the first time: Who's Your Daddy--Finding Your Way to a Father's Love.  it felt as if every single experience I've had in my life prepared me for that topic.

Drop an email to either sherrieashcraft@ashberrylane.net or christina@ashberrylane.net and we can talk details if you're interested in having us speak.

I'd love to hear a little about your individual lives. I know you are both busy women. What have you been up to? Are you working on a new project?

S: I'm the grandma of eight, and even a great grandma of one, and they all live within an hour of me. In the  middle of June our granddaughter and her toddler will be moving in upstairs while she
goes to Pacific University, so we'll be multi-generational once again! My parents live nearby, so there's always a lot of family time, which makes me feel rich beyond imagination. Being able to be involved in the lives of the women in my church as the Women's Ministry Director simply adds to my sense of fulfillment.
C: Two years ago, I remarried. My husband and I blended a family of five kids and one cat. Needless to say, we don't have many uninteresting days. I met sweet Dave on eharmony--he was matched to me within five minutes, and it was deep admiration at first "site" as we already knew a LOT about each other from our emails and questionnaires. Occasionally I still get to talk to book clubs (by phone or in person) after they read my award-winning debut novel, The Familiar Stranger, but most of my time is spent freelance editing, which I love.
S: New project? Well, we have plans for a sequel or two to On the Threshold if it does well. This story begs for more to be told. And Christina always has scenes for half a dozen books running around in her head!


Where can you be reached online?

You can sign up for our infrequent, Humorous Newsletter, where we take the infrequent part seriously, but the humor not so much! Head over to www.ashberrylane.net to do that. Not only will that keep you informed about our latest writing ventures and the release date of our print version of On the Threshold, but it will also be a way for you to enter a fun contest we've got going on.

Basically, anyone who posts about, buys, reads, or reviews the book will be entered proportionally to win a Kindle loaded with both books, On the Threshold and The Familiar Stranger AND 1,000 customer-designed business cards from Tekieme Studios. All the details are here http://christinaberry.net/christinas-blog/blogger/.

Here are online linnks if you'd like to download On the Threshold.
Kindle- http://www.amazon.com/On-the-Threshold-ebook/dp/B00CLOAHK6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368568885&sr=8-1&keywords=on+the+threshold

Nook- http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1115298008?ean=2940016468075

www.twitter.com/authorchristina

www.facebook.com/sherrie.ashcraft

www.facebook.com/authorchristina

www.christinaberry.net/

www.authorchristinaberry.blogspot.com

Sherrie and Christina are offering a free copy

of their new book On the Threshold to the winner of 

this week's drawing!

All you have to do is leave a comment along 

with your email address and I'll draw for

the winner one week from today!