Be a pepper

True - my word for 2014 - has been impressed upon my heart in many ways so far this year. I've found myself thirsty for The Word. Often in the evening, I'll open my Bible to find what is the truth in a world of shifting values.

Old dried peppers next to new life.

Scripture has been encouraging and convicting. And it's made me fascinated by this chili pepper. I moved this plant inside this fall and enjoyed its bright red chilis deep into winter. Along about March, the leaves shriveled and died. The peppers dried out. Spiders started building cobwebs over it. All well; it lasted longer than I thought it would.

No need to keep around a dead plant, so I set the pot out on the porch. It was also about this time that I came to terms with some personal disappointments. The little chili had come to symbolize defying the odds, so when it died, it seemed a fitting way to bury that hope and move on.

This spring was especially cold. It might have even snowed on that tropical pepper. But spring finally arrived and with great joy, I gathered new flowers and went out to the porch to make a fresh, bright beginning. When I reached to uproot the dead pepper stalk, I stopped short.

It was alive.

A little green leaf sprouted from the bottom. And I've been noticing how God makes it clear that in order for something to live, it must first die.

Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels - a plentiful harvest of new lives." John 12:24
Paul said, "My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me." Galatians 2:20
"Since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him." Romans 6:8

There is no resurrection until there is a crucifixion. This makes me really uncomfortable. I'd rather talk about "surrendering" my will to God, or "committing" my dreams to him, or "offering" my life. But this dying business takes it to a whole new level. Still, God says to die.

And then truly live, because Jesus - who is himself truth - said he came to give life. I want new life, but I'm still coming to terms with how I am to die to my self and my desires.

But this chili pepper gives me hope that God loves to defy the odds. My hope is that I can be a born again pepper.

How has Christ given you new life?

~ Susan Mires 

Write a comment to be entered to win a copy of Julia's Hope by Leisha Kelly.

Mystery Quilt

Cleaning out a closet a few months ago unearthed a mystery. A beautiful one.

I have no idea where this quilt top came from.

I'm not one to forget handmade heirlooms, but this is a mystery I can't solve. It is made from gorgeous Depression Era fabrics in a Dresden Plate pattern. The plates are appliqued by hand to the squares, then the squares are sewn together by machine. It is a small size, just two blocks wide and five blocks long. Did the mystery quilter plan to make it bigger but something happened?

I suspect this little quilt top came to me via my Dad who would have bought it at a farm auction, likely mixed in with some worthless junk.

I'm thinking about finishing this piece with an old pink cotton sheet as the backing so this long-neglected quilt can be complete.

What do you think - should this be quilted or left as is?

~Susan Mires

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Ellie Sweet books are great for young adults (and grown ups!)

Recently, I read some books for young adults that I thoroughly enjoyed.

The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet is a funny, engaging book about a frustrated teen writer. Ellie Sweet is being ignored by the girls she thought were her best friends and she has a crush on a boy who thinks her name is Kelly. She escapes through her keyboard to a medieval Italian court, where she is Lady Gabriella being wooed by a handsome prince.

Ellie was a delightful, honest girl who had to navigate the tricky waters of high school. As an adult, I could relate to her, but the story also had a humor and lightness to it that captured the fun of  being a teenager. (Unlike much young adult fiction that gets so loaded down with issues that it becomes almost inappropriate for young readers.) I confess to developing a crush on Chase, Ellie's new friend, and stayed up way past my bedtime to finish the book.

In the sequel, The Unlikely Debut of Ellie Sweet, the new author sees her book in print - and her friends recognize their role. It becomes even more difficult for Ellie to figure out where she fits in when her older brother starts dating her former best friend. And things with boys are never easy.
  Real-life author Stephanie Morrill encourages fresh voices through her blog GoTeenWriters. I'd recommend her Ellie Sweet books as bedtime stories for readers age 12 on up who can relate to someone who finds herself in an embarrassing situation and enjoys Christian fiction. The Revised Life of Ellie Sweet is just 99 cents on Kindle.

Leave a comment to be registered to win an autographed copy of The Swaddlinhg Clothes by Amber Schamel.

Do you enjoy reading young adult novels?

~ Susan Mires

Five fast facts about the Pony Express

April 3 is an important day in history for St. Joseph, Mo., where I live. On this date in 1860, the first Pony Express rider carried the mail from St. Joseph toward California - and forever into history.
In honor of this achievement, here are some facts about the Pony Express for Tidbit Tuesday:

A field trip to the Pony Express Museum which depicts
Johnny Frye preparing for the first ride on April 3, 1860.

All riders were given a Bible and signed an oath not to use profane language, drink liquor or quarrel with fellow employees.

On average, it took 12 days for the mail pouch, known as a mochilla, to travel the 2,000-mile route.

Riders rode a horse for 10 to 15 miles - or about an hour - and then changed mounts. The riders would change every 75 to 100 miles.

The rate for mail started out at $5 an ounce.

The Pony Express ran for 18 months until it was put out of business by the U.S. Transcontinental Telegraph. 

Happy trails as we remember the Pony Express this week!

~Susan Mires

High rollers at the cattle auction

The crowd at the United Producers sale barn. Notice the dog at the left.

Susan Mires here to tell you about a recent adventure The air in the sale barn was filled with more than the aroma of cattle. A sense of anticipation hung over the crowd and a sort of energy as they took seats early, eager to see just what would happen. The cattle market is - in the words of one analyst - crazy. Drought and an early freeze have caused the smallest herd of beef cattle in many years. As a result, prices for all kinds of cattle are at record highs. I went to visit my dad recently and tagged along when he went to the cow sale at the sale barn near home.

Dad had sold a few calves recently, receiving the highest price he'd ever gotten for a calf. In true farmer fashion, he wanted to put the money back into buying more mother cows to have more calves. Fifteen minutes before sale time, the curved benches of the sale arena started filling up. Nodody wanted to miss this because it felt like just about anything could happen. I sat among those hard-working men who were dressed in brown duck coveralls and muddy boots and thought of a recent visit with a crop farmer. He said you had to be an optimist in this business, otherwise you'd never put seed in the ground.

There was a lot of optimism at the sale barn and it became clear I was rubbing elbows with some high-stakes gamblers. In a matter of minutes, one man spent $137,000 on 55 head of Red Angus heifers. I overheard one guy on his cell phone, I imagine talking to his wife, say: "They're high. It's scary." But his tone suggested it was also a lot of fun.

 There was also this row of adorable future farmers.

Learning young.

 The last cow of the sale, a nice three-year-old black Angus cross, was bought by an eternal optimist - my dad, 94-year-old Hugh Mires of Maryville.










It also inspired me to do something I've never tried before. I uploaded this video to You Tube. If you've never heard a livestock auction, it's interesting to hear how the high rollers do business. If you have been to a sale, you'll enjoy the familiar cadence.



I was very careful not to scratch my nose for fear I'd bid and spend a year's salary. I stood in line for Dad and wrote the check to the cashier, so for a moment I felt like a big spender. You could say that I'm all hat and no cattle, until I can work up the nerve to join the high rollers.

Have you ever bought anything at an auction? 

~ Susan Mires

A Chance to Meet My Favorite Authors

Getting to meet some of my favorite authors has been a wonderful blessing of pursuing my own writing career. I have been delighted to discover how personable and approachable my long-admired heroes have been when I've met them at writers conference.
It is especially exciting that in less than two months, I will have the privilege of meeting and learning from two wonderful Christian authors. Kristen Heitzmann and Janice Hanna Thompson will be the guest speakers at the Called to Write Conference in Pittsburg, Kan.

I have read several works by both of these authors. Ms. Heitzmann is known for compelling, contemporary stories that weave emotion into thrilling plots. At a good friend's recommendation, I recently read The Still of Night. I was a bit hesitant because I knew my friend loved this book and I  worried it wouldn't quite live up to expectations. It proved to be every bit as gripping as promised. I just started the next book in the series,The Breath of Dawn, which my friend promises is even better.
Janice Thompson writes both fiction and non-fiction and I'm hard pressed to say which I like better. Her charming romance stories are filled with humor and her devotionals are both wise and witty.
Lucky for me, The Called To Write Conference is just a few hours from home. Lucky for you, it is incredibly bargain priced - just $70 before March 1, then $80 after that date. So even if you have to travel, this conference is well worth it.
I hope you consider coming. Bring along your books for Ms. Heitzmann and Ms. Thompson to sign and be sure to find me so we can get acquainted. Meeting authors and fellow writers is the best part of any writers conference.

See you there!
Susan Mires

Fuel for the Fire

Wood heat can't be beat, as far as I'm concerned.

I grew up on the farm and the wood stove was our only source of heat. My dad loved chopping wood and stoking the fire. We had more trouble being too hot than being too cold. The stove makes a natural place where we all still gravitate on a winter's day. My mom cooked chili and ham and beans on the stove, simmering all day to reach a delicious aroma. The wood stove warmed us inside and out!

My little wood stove - the candle adds a cozy scent.

When I first purchased my home, I was quite leary of the gas furnace. Those things are dangerous - they can explode! A serviceman assured me the late-model unit was one of the safest things on the market. The furnace does have its advantages - it fires up automatically on a cold morning and no chainsaw required.

But it produces only a surface kind of heat compared to the deep-in-your-bones heat of a wood stove. A couple years ago, I purchased my own "wood stove." Just an electric heater with a fake flame, but it warms up the room.

Recently, I snuggled up in front of the fire (with my best reading buddy) to read the fabulous book Lincoln's Battle With God. As I read - on my Kindle Fire, no less - about Lincoln sitting by the fireplace late at night after finishing his chores to read and pursue his studies, it seemed like a connection.

A warm fire is good for the mind and the soul - even if it is just an electric one.

 What have you been reading in front of the fire - figuratively or literally - this cold winter?

Keep warm!

Susan Mires

Quilt squares serve as centerpiece

They cost 50 cents, maybe a dollar, but no more than that. I wasn't even going to buy them - a shoebox full of little four-piece quilt squares - but my sister insisted I'd be able to do something with them and wouldn't let us leave without them.

They are simple and sweet, sewn by hand by someone who had a plan for them at one time. But for the last two years, they've sat undisturbed on the closet shelf.
Until this fall, when the agriculture organization where I serve as director of communications hosted Harvest Fest. We planned how to dress up the rental hall. Someone brought in straw bales and pumpkins, a board member loaned antique farm tools. I mentioned this little shoe box of quilt squares.

My co-worker Sarah is a talented artist. She had the creative idea to use raffia to tie a quilt square onto a mason jar. Here she is working the morning of the party. (I'm also happy to tell you two weeks later she had an adorable 9 pound baby boy.)

At Sarah's suggestion, we put a piece of burlap on each table and added sprigs of rosemary to the jars. These center pieces were both fragrant and charming.
Someday, these scrappy squares may be sewn into a quilt, but I think for now they are lots of fun just like this.

What are your ideas for decorating with quilts or scraps?

~Susan Mires

Visiting Laura Ingalls Wilder

Susan Mires here to tell you about a "visit" with one of the world's most popular authors.

She may have influenced more American school girls than any other writer in history - Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Laura Ingalls Wilder home where she wrote her books.

Just saying her name brings a smile and sweet memories.

This summer, a friend and I decided to visit her home - Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansfield, Mo. Laura and her husband Almanzo moved to Missouri in 1894 and there she penned all of the Little House books. It is now a beautiful museum.

It had been a long time since I'd read the Little House books, so I visited the children's library and checked out some well-worn copies. Isn't it heartwarming to know children are still discovering Laura's adventures?

Laura's home - built by hand by Almanzo - is a charming place. It was easy to imagine sitting on the front porch in the shade of the trees and dreaming of life on the prairie.

The interpretive center is filled with wonderful artifacts and the feature attraction is Pa's fiddle. His actual fiddle that played all those tunes in all those little houses on the frontier! No photos were allowed, but it was very neat to see.

As a writer, I was particularly fascinated by the handwritten manuscripts penciled in a school tablet.

As I reflect on the enduring nature of the Little House books, I marvel that it's not a make-believe story that has touched us - it is Laura's simple, true story about her life. I am convinced that the most important story any of us can write is our own. Most likely it will never propel us to star status, but there is an intimacy in passing down on our life story. I've never met Laura Ingalls Wilder, and yet I feel like I know her and stepping inside her home - and opening up the cover of her book - is like visiting a friend.

On the steps of the stone house Rose Wilder Lane
built  for her folks on the farm.

The trip was both fun and inspiring. If you're ever in the Missouri Ozarks near Springfield, I recommend stopping by.

~ Susan Mires

Do you have memories of the Little House books?

Quilt Chronicles Book Review

Susan Mires here today to talk about two of my favorite things - books and quilts. And they come together beautifully in The Quilt Chronicles  Series by Stephanie Grace Whitson.

As an author, Stephanie delves into women's hearts and explores complex emotions. Her attention to historic detail provides wonderful texture to this series set in Nebraska's early days. 

The first book, The Key on the Quilt, tells the story of Jane Prescott who has been sentenced to prison for killing her husband. For Jane and the other women, quilting becomes a diversion and also binds them together. A women's prison seemed like an unlikely setting for a Christian novel, but this turned out to be touching book about redemption.

The Shadow on the Quilt was my favorite of the series. Juliana Sutton faces terrible pain when her husband dies in a fire at a brothel. She and her husband's two maiden aunts try to find healing together. The story had an element of romance with a most lovable hero, but I found Juliana's story complete in itself. The aunts were more than props to the story, but at the heart of the story as three women had to come to terms with their past and work together for their future.

The final book, The Message on the Quilt, brings to life the old Midwest tradition of the Chautauaqua. Noah Shaw, the Man of Many Voices, arrives in Beatrice, Neb., for the event. Emilie Rhoades interviews him for her newspaper article. But Noah is in for an adventure as he learns what the message on his mother's quilt really says.

The books are independent stories in the series, so it doesn't matter which one you read first.

What do you like best: quilts or books?

Blessings,

Susan Mires

The best writers conference I never attended

Do you feel the excitement in the air? The American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) annual conference begins Thursday in Indianapolis. I am looking forward to seeing friends and connecting with fellow writers from the Stitches Thru Time Blog.

Participating in a conference is an invaluable experience for a writer. But one of the best conferences was the one I didn't go to.
In 2009, Becky Yauger was vice president and also staying home because of health reasons. She offered to lead some online discussions through the email loop for those of us who were stuck at home.

And boy, did I feel stuck!

A career change earlier in the year had failed to live up to expectations. I spent most of my days in an office all alone. Finances were tight. A relationship was unraveling. Paths that had seemed so promising had turned into dead ends.
In the midst of all this frustration, the dream of writing a novel seemed frivolous. I questioned if I should give up those ambitions for something serious. Something useful.
As Becky prepared us for the online "conference," I decided to set aside those days in September to do something I'd never done before - a time of dedicated praying about writing. The Lord touched my heart during those four days four years ago in such a way it has guided my writing ever since.

Last year, I shared a little bit of that experience on the ACFW loop. Becky immediately emailed back to tell how much the conference-that-wasn't-a-conference had meant to her as she recovered. She had no idea that it had helped anyone else. When we bumped into each other in the elevator in Dallas, we shared warm hugs and deep conversation.

I'm excited to go to Indianapolis this week. And overwhelmed and wondering what on earth I'm doing. But in those doubts, I think back to a dreary day in 2009. What I was convinced was a dead end had actually led right to God. Becky had been willing to serve the Lord even through her difficult circumstances, which blessed me immeasurably. It makes me realize sometimes I am called to minister through the yucky places to help someone else.

Whether you're going to conference or feeling "stuck" in some way, I pray you'll discover God's leading. Perhaps He has us right where He wants us after all.
"The Lord will work out His plans for my life - for your faithful love, O Lod, endures forever." Psalm 138:8

Thanks for letting me share. 

Susan Mires

Will you be in Indianapolis or what will you be doing this week?