Verse of the Day

Psalm 77:11 / The Message (MSG)

^"11-12 Once again I’ll go over what God has done,

lay out on the table the ancient wonders;

I’ll ponder all the things you’ve accomplished,

and give a long, loving look at your acts."

We are to focus our minds on these things.

Prayer journal your thoughts. 

New Book: "A GREAT LIFE BECAUSE OF A GREAT GOD WITH GREAT PLANS"

This is my newest writing project.

My goal is over the next 56 days to write this book and think about and plan future books to complement this one. It won't be a series of books. Rather, each book will be a stand-alone, but read them together and you'll get the most out of them.

I guarantee you won't find another book, or complementary books, like this/these. It's a spiritual memoir, devotional, Bible study, prayer journal, and is guaranteed to inspire you to live a better Christ-Filled, Word-Focused life.

Stay tuned.

The Importance of Remembering: Every Moment is Sacred

Prayer journal your thoughts.

Verse of the Day

Isaiah 46:9 / The Message (MSG)

Remember your history,

your long and rich history.

I am God, the only God you’ve had or ever will have—

incomparable, irreplaceable—

Isaiah 46:9 / Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

⁹ Remember what happened long ago,

for I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and no one is like Me.

Prayer journal your thought to each of these versions of the Bible and look up a few more versions as well.

What jumped out at you and grabbed your attention? Why?

What does this mean to you?

What do you say to God?

What does God say to you?

How can you apply this to your life?

Write a summary prayer about this verse. 

A New Blog Post Series

Welcome to a new blog post series I'm writing. This is my current writing project.

"A GREAT LIFE BECAUSE OF A GREAT GOD WITH GREAT PLANS"

This is a blog post series about living a great life, trusting God is great, and that He has great plans--even when we do not see it or feel it. It's remembering what God has done, and trusting and having confidence in God's plans for our future regardless of circumstances, emotions, or point-of-view. 

Life is not always great. But, God is.

When life is anything but great, we need to trust God knows what He is doing. We are to live a great life because of a great God with great plans.


Updated: May 29, 2014, 302 p.m.

Verse of the Day, Week, and Month

-- HCSB: Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Psalm 40:5 / Expanded Bible (EXB)

5 Lord my God, you have done many ·miracles [wonders; great acts].

   Your plans for us are many.

If I tried to tell them all,

   there would be too many to count [104:24; 139:17–18; John 21:25].

-- EXB: Scripture taken from The Expanded Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Another Change of Plans (Another Blog)

Here is a blog post I just sent to all of my other blogs:

I've decided to keep it simple and only keep the blog listed below, so it will work for all of my various projects.

Sorry to change yet again. Hopefully, this will be the last time.

~ Stacy Duplease

Christian, Patriot, Writer, Journalkeeper

Blog: http://WritingsOfSD.blogspot.com

What does this mean? This is my new main blog (once again).

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease 2014.)

My Writing Space, The Progress of Book 1, and a 56 Day Writing Marathon

MY WRITING SPACE
Recently, my husband and I ought new furniture for my study/office, where I sped all day doing Bible study and writing. I was in desperate need for some organization and smaller furniture to take up less space in the room, but still be functional. So, Ikea came to the rescue and fulfilled both of those requirements. (This is only part of my work space. I will share more photos later, by the way.)

MY WRITING PROGRESS OF BOOK 1
I still have no idea of a title for Book 1 of Land of Risina Series. Then again, the idea is so new I'm not surprised. I've started to do some of an outline, some planning, and some writing and have 23 pages, 3,496 words so far.

56 DAYS OF A WRITING MARATHON
Starting Saturday, I'm am going on a writing marathon, where I plan on writing at least 3,000 words per day for 56 days, for a total of 168,000 words minimum. Usually, I write about 2,000 words per day.

Also, I plan on writing at least twelve hours a day. So, I may get a great deal more written than I anticipate. We shall see.

EXERCISE 
Also, during those 56 days, I plan on increasing my workout. I am a runner, something I took up just a couple of years ago, after over three decades of only running in order to avoid getting hit by upcoming traffic or if I didn't want to get drenched by rain. Once a week, I run a 10k, but it hasn't been consistent. I do it once to twice a month. I would like to run more than that. Moreover, my minimum run is a 5k and I want to increase that to five miles a day, three days a week and 10 or more miles once a week. Ideally, my long run will be a half marathon, then a marathon. But, I need to get serious about working up to those distances. So, I plan on doing this the next 60 days or so--in order to establish a habit. From there, I will continue it and try to keep increasing my distance.

WRITING IS A SOLITARY ACTIVITY
As a writer, it's easy to get lazy and not keep in shape like we should. That's why I am adding to my writing marathon more physical running. It's my desire to lose weight and get in better shape than I've been in a long time, if not ever.

As a writer, it's essential to have a balanced life. The next 56 days will be part of that. I will also be doing two to three Bible studies at that time as well.

Now, back to writing.

(Top Image Credit: Stacy Duplease 2014. Middle and Bottom Image Credit: Microsoft images online 2009-2014.)

The Book of Daniel

I am in the process of writing Book 1 of the Land of Risina Series, which is a parable of the Book of Daniel. Needless to say, I'm doing a personal Bible study of the book of Daniel. I've been working on Daniel 1 the last five days and will continue to study it for a while longer. It's what Book 1 of the Land of Risina will be based off of and is quite an interesting and motivational chapter.

Speculative Fiction Reading: Cassandra Clare

I read a combination of Christian and mainstream speculative fiction (fantasy and sci-fi). This includes the series, THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS by Cassandra Clare. Book 6 of the series came out today. Once I finish reading the two books I am reading now, this will be on my list.

Have you read her books? What do you think of them?

I'm rather excited to read this book: CITY OF HEAVENLY FIRE. I'll keep you updated as to when I do.

What to Expect From This Blog

This is a writing blog about a new fantasy series I am writing that's based on an allegory of the Book of Daniel. It's my intent to share my writing story as well as the writing of this series. Hence, it's about my writing life.

This blog will also be about reading fantasy (speculative fiction) and watching fantasy movies and television.

This blog will also be about faith, politics, and the news of today--for the Book of Daniel tells of what is happening today and in the future, as well as the past.

I would love to make this an interactive blog. Therefore, feel free to post questions, comments, suggestions for story-line, etc. You can add a comment at the end of any blog post, use the contact form on the left side of this blog--about one-third of the way down on the page, or you can send me an email.

Welcome.

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease 2014.)

Thank You, U.S. Military

Thank God for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for freedom. For my freedom. For your freedom. For our freedom.

They didn't have to. But, they did. They know the price of freedom. Peace doesn't simply exist because we will it or say it should. Peace happens, sometimes through a show of force--for freedom. And sometimes peace can happen because the entirety of a nation chooses to live by the will of God, not for self. (How rare. But, isn't this truly peace? We will not know this, though until Jesus Christ returns, but should strive for this today and tomorrow.)

Thank God people believed in our nation and the foundations our forefathers envisioned... Our military and their families. Past, present, and future.

Thank you for those serving now. You don't have to, but you believe in the U.S. Constitution enough to defend her. I pray you will continue to take this seriously every day and are forever mindful of this. (I pray we as a nation do this as well.)

What the U.S. military does is often ignored, often despised, often taken for granted. So many say they support the military and really don't. But, we can change this today and make it a daily point to pray for them and think of them. We can also make sure we vote correctly (and actually vote) so they get the support they need.

May we remember our military, and what they sacrifice and have for our freedom... so we can continue on with life as normal while theirs is anything but.

People have died on our behalf. And people are willing to now. How humbling. I sure don't deserve it. But, they have and will do it anyway.

Thank God.

God bless the USA and our U.S. military. We would not have the lifestyle we have today if not for them.

(Image credit: Stacy Duplease 2008-2014)

Welcome

​

Welcome to a new blog of an epic fantasy series.

Stay tuned. 

More information to follow this week.

~ Stacy Duplease

Christian, Patriot, Writer, Journalkeeper