Hurricanes in Paradise

By: Denise Hildreth

A 5-star resort on Paradise Island, Bahamas.  A beautiful director with a haunted past.  Add a beauty queen with secrets of her own, a colorful bedazzled senior citizen recovering from the loss of her husband and a snarky, reclusive writer and you have an explosive mix.  And, there’s a hurricane headed right for them.

The descriptions of the hotel and the island are phenomenally real and the characters are written with depth and resonance.  However, having recently emerged from personal hurricanes of her own, what Hildreth brings us is much more than a summer beach read.  She offers a sometimes quirky, often identifiable peek into personal pain.  Most importantly, she weaves the hope that is only available from the God of all comfort throughout a believable, powerful story.

Sign-up for Cindy Sigler Dagnan’s monthly newsletter and enter our contest to win one of 3 copies of this new release in top-notch Southern fiction!

Special thanks to Denise Hildreth and Tyndale Publishers for donating copies.

Scripture of the Month: “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”  Romans 8:18

Quote of the Month: “A ruffled mind makes a restless pillow.”  Charlotte Bronte

This month’s scripture would make me downright cranky if it weren’t for the fact that it was written by the Apostle Paul.  He knew a bit about suffering: the Palestinian James Bond who was lowered over the city walls at night in a basket to escape the bad guys; survived shipwrecks, beatings, imprisonments and town riots, all for the precious name of Christ.  Since Paul has so much credibility in the suffering department, I don’t mind his reminding me that this is not all there is. 

Yes, we’re having some hard times at our house, but it’s possible that this will be a time of great growth and opportunity to brag about our great God that we could never have dreamed.

If you are hurting at your house, please e-mail me.  I’d love to have the blessing of praying for you.  As my precious daddy told me, thinking of and doing for others is often the very best remedy for too much introspective dwelling on our own pain.

It has been immeasurably hard to watch the love of my life continue to hurt more each day.  To know this and be powerless to do anything about it.  It has also been immeasurably sweet to meet our donor’s family and get to know them and think of them as part of our extended family.

Be sure of this, precious girlfriends: God sees.  He has not forgotten.  He goes before us in every battle of our lives and we already know the end of the story – we win, for He has predetermined the outcome for eternity!

I will be speaking one final time before surgery, at my own home church on July 24^th.  It’s about footprints – the ones we leave when we walk with God, in everything from our boots to our flip flops!  I can’t wait to share and as always, rely on your prayers.

Someday, the Heaven He has promised will blow all our current hard times literally out of this world!  Amen.  Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Mom Kiss: The Last Song – based on Nicolas Sparks’ novel; better than the book.  Surprise twist; an unaffected performance by Miley Cyrus & tender realism.  Despite the fallout of a divorce, the importance of marriage message shines through, as does the sweet shortness of life. [I should note that I saw this WEEKS before I saw her performance & new music release, lest you think I’m suffering from Miley schizophrenia!]

Mom Hiss: At least the cover of Miley Cyrus’s new CD.  Seeing her performance on the Today Show broke my heart.  She’s still a little girl. What are her parents & agents thinking about her wardrobe and the message she sends to her fans? She seemed jaded rather than jazzed about performing in Central Park.

Summer Contest Fun

I am thrilled to be able to offer three copies of the new release by one of my favorite fiction authors – Denise Hildreth – Hurricanes in Paradise.  It’s all about an unlikely group of girlfriends from all ages and stages of life who come together to escape their problems in the middle of a literal Paradise.  But even in Paradise, hurricanes do happen.  Our perfect lives shatter; we are diagnosed with a terminal illness; our spouse leaves; we lose a best friend; our professional world is rocked to its foundation; we’re hurting and too afraid to share, especially if that hurt has been the result of our own choices.  God moves, though, even then.

E-mail us your BEST paradise vacation story and three blessed gals will win a copy of this brand new release!  I’ve already devoured it and felt like I was in the Bahamas, basking in some of God’s most beautiful handiwork, even in the midst of pain.  Go to www.cindydagnan.com for more book details under Book of the Month.

 From Our House to Yours

Meet Trish, our amazing, perfect match kidney donor for Greg!  We finally have a date set for surgery, July 29, our wedding anniversary.  To quote an e-mail to a friend this morning, we are “equal parts grateful, sentimental and terrified.”

We’ll be at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, my home town.  It wasn’t our first choice for anniversary plans, but as my sweet friend Debbie put it, “The gift of Greg’s health for your anniversary!  How lovely.”  Indeed.

We’ve been overwhelmed by the prayers and all those who are making this journey with us.  For those who are driving my mother and our girls back home [where she is bravely going to stay with all of them!]; who are watering plants and mowing the lawn and watching the puppy; who are organizing prayer vigils and sending us encouraging scriptures. A package arrived today from my sister’s precious family in Taiwan with Get Well cards for Uncle Greg from our wonderful nieces and nephews and a precious letter from my sister and from my brother-in-law.  Youngest niece Mollie’s card boasted a hand-drawn picture of Uncle Greg in a wheel chair with her pushing him! Each word of encouragement is a treasure. Thank you and beyond.  Our hearts are full.  I will have to learn how to post next month’s letter as well as updates during our stay by myself!  Until then, prayers & God’s gracious blessing on you and your sweet ones.

Cindy

Fun Facts About Sleep

• Elephants sleep standing up, but they must lie down to dream.
• If you deprive rats of their sleep entirely, they only live for a week.
• Everyone dreams whether you remember or not.
• Sleep may be one of the single best health investments you can make.

Girl Trivia: The average number of questions we ask during a doctor’s appointment –

Women – 4

Men – 0

J

On Our Table

Bed & Breakfast Cookies from our favorite B& B – “Barn Again” in Ozark, Missouri

2 ¼ c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 c. unsalted butter, softened

¼ c. sugar

¾ c. brown sugar

1 t. vanilla

1 t. instant French vanilla pudding

2eggs

1 pkg. chocolate chips [I use ½ semi-sweet & ½ milk chocolate]

Mix flour w/ soda.  Combine butter, sugars, vanilla & pudding mix. Beat until smooth & creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually add flour mixture. Bake 375 degrees 8-10 minutes.

Sometimes a Light Surprises by Jamie Langston Turner

 This surprising book from one of my favorite authors also happens to be my book club’s selection this month.  Rich with literary allusions, quotations and quirky characters, it satisfies without any of the typical endings. There’s an unsolved mystery, a bad guy, a nosy secretary and family fabric galore. Kelly Kovatch is a young girl working her first “real world” job after graduating from a home school classroom.  Her first boss and her mother have a history that she knows nothing about. Tragedy haunts both families, but they have vastly different ways of coping.  Do the little things we do really, truly  impact our world? Is it possible for us to make a difference one gesture, one prayer, one reaching-out at a time?  I think you’ll find that sometimes a light surprises.

Scripture of the Month:

“Who can list the glorious miracles of the Lord? Who can ever praise him enough?” Psalm 106:2, NLT

Quote of the Month:

“All the good stuff happens in the middle, don’t you think?” Jacquelyn Mitchard, The Breakdown Lane

I’m not sure about you, but the middle part of anything can be the toughest for me [with the exception of Double Stuff Oreos or Krispy Kreme filling, of course!].  As a writer, I’m all about the beginnings and the endings.  I love the opening sentence of a book or an article; coming up with a punchy ending is one of my favorite things.  Sometimes the middle can be sloggy, iffy.  If the book is poorly written, the middle sags.  If you think about, sometimes, we get to feeling that way about life too. We wax nostalgic about childhood freedoms; we anticipate the future – as grandiose as heaven, as near as a new kitchen floor, as dreamed of as that dream vacation.  There are days when nearly everything coming up seems better than whatever it is we’re doing right now. But we might be wrong.   Ignoring the middle part, which makes up most of our lives, causes us to miss the joy of this moment.   What are you doing right now?  Reading this newsletter and then getting into a new book?  Getting ready to tuck in your sweet ones or cuddle up and watch a movie?  Take a walk with your friend or your spouse? Is something baking in the oven? Are you reveling in some rare relaxed time alone? Did God share something precious with you from His Word today?  Look outside. Has God flung the heavens full of sky jewelry just for you tonight?  Is the moon dancing?  The rain bathing everything with misty soft focus effect? Is the sun bouncing off the dew on the grass? Do you hear the laughter of neighborhood children, smell the fresh mown grass or the damp echo of sidewalk chalk and rain on concrete?  There’s nothing like it.  This day, this moment, will never come again.  Chase your “middles” girls!  Celebrate them, and let me know how it goes.

Fun Facts

“Sugar may have an effect on kids with established hyperactivity, but it WON’T make a nonhyperactive child hyperactive.” Richard Surwit, Ph.D., Professor, Duke University
Whew! If your kids [or you] swallow your gum, it won’t stay in your intestines for seven years, it pretty much moves through your digestive tract at the same rate as everything else. Mitchell Shub, M.D., Gastroenterologist – Phoenix Children’s Hospital

What’s on our Table [actually, in the fridge!]

 
Summer Cream Cheese Fruit Dip
1 large jar marshmallow cream
8 oz. package cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
3 T. powdered sugar
Beat all ingredients until smooth. Serve with fresh fruit for dipping!

From Our House to Yours

I’m finishing the newsletter before I get ready to go to Greg’s Doctor appointment for news of his current kidney function level.  Please pray with me for news of a firm date for the transplant.  I deliberately chose this month’s scripture before we went, because I am truly trying to work on trusting.  On worshipping while I’m waiting, rather than celebrating after the fact.  After all, being thrilled after you already have everything you want isn’t very impressive. Our oldest, Eden, is filling up her summer with work at three different jobs and shopping enough that she looks cute while doing said jobs.  My mother assures me that I too was more interested in clothes than savings at that age. Emmy is on a mission trip to inner city Houston, working VBS and helping out at a homeless shelter there.  We were so proud of the work she did getting accepted to go and then helping to raise funds.  Now we’re just down to missing her and taking giant steps of faith every day.
Ellie has to take PE and Health for the month of June so she’ll have room in her Jr. High fall schedule for band.  I love listening to her play that flute! Thus, sweet Elexa is my home buddy alone for the first time since she began Kindergarten.  I’m begging her to stay eight years old, but since I did the same with her 3 sisters and it didn’t work, I’m not holding my breath. Life is hard, but sweet.  God is good, even while we wait.  Thank you for all your prayers for my spring speaking engagements.  I will only be speaking once this summer, in deference to a more relaxed pace. Fall will be here before we know it.  Lemonade or sweet tea glasses bottoms up girls!  Drink deep of summer.

Hugs & chocolate,

Cindy

Scripture of the Month:  “A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.” Proverbs 14:1

Quote of the Month: “If you have to ask the question, ‘Does this make me look fat?’ you already know the answer.” – Charla Krupp, style advisor

 Did you know?  May is National Camping Month.  And Teacher Appreciation Month. I believe it’s also Cheeseburger Appreciation Month.  Hmmm…

We’re parents again!  Sort of.  A lovely mother robin [you saw her lovingly created nest in last month’s newsletter] hatched three beautiful eggs and we got to see her babies squawk, open their eyes, be so ugly they were cute, change nearly hourly, fly away.  Treasure this season of mothering, precious girlfriends; whichever one you’re in, will not come again.  Our little chicks will be flying and leaving the nest before we know it.

Life Notes:

Man, to be honest with you, I just hate it when things don’t go my way.  Anybody else?  I’m simply not very fond of “waiting on the Lord.”  There are days that the wait seems simply too much.  Too hard.  How I wish the scripture read, “Scurry around like a crazy woman while you wait on the Lord.” I could do that.  Seriously.

That way we could feel productive, couldn’t we?  We could join a committee, organize a banquet, make a triple-layer cake, write an article, repaint a room, send off a gazillion cards, teach a Bible Study, take a trip, go to the mall, make a list.  But we’d be doing something about it.

Waiting is so hard for me to do.  Worshipping while I’m waiting is even harder.  My sweet friend Sara, made us a little care package when we drove to St. Louis for Greg’s transplant testing.  It included snacks and John Waller’s CD that included that song.  While I’m Waiting.  It was a powerful reminder to remember that God’s ways are not ours; His timing isn’t ours either.

In our Bible study last fall, Beth Moore joked that “God is never late, but He misses a few good opportunities to be early.”  If you’re in one of those spots, would you be willing to covenant with me to at least try and wait?  To acknowledge that while prayer might not seem like doing something, it’s actually the greatest power we could invoke.

I’d be honored if you’d e-mail me about what it is you’re “waiting on.”  I’ll be praying for you.  Let’s be wise women, girl friends, the kind that build up, rather than tear down our own houses.

What’s On Our Table: Pasta Con Broccoli

Sauté 2 heads fresh broccoli in 6 T. olive oil; Sprinkle with garlic powder and seasoned black pepper

Meanwhile, boil one box of bowtie pasta for 9 minutes.  Drain.  Add sauted broccoli with olive oil, one small package hard salami, diced and one package grated parmesan cheese.  Heat and toss gently until warm all the way through.  Serve with garlic bread & a tossed salad.  Ta da!  Fancy, easy dinner.

[This is our version of a recipe I got with my daddy in St. Louis while doing the grocery shopping with him; I was likely about 17 years old.  They were serving a sample at Dierberg’s and we loved it!  Bought all the ingredients and went home and made it that night.  Yeah, that’d be dad, not me.]

This is WEDDING SEASON.  Hot Chocolate for Couples makes a wonderful shower gift for the Bride and Groom.

Laugh Out Loud

A woman had been doing some gardening and got really muddy.  She came in and went straight to the basement, stripping down to just her bra and panties, in order to put stain remover on her clothes and wash them right away.  She flipped on the radio, and in a silly mood, took her son’s old football helmet off the wall and put it on.  Waiting for the stain treatment top soak in, she started doing some old cheerleading moves.

Meanwhile, the meter reader, having called through the screen door and not gotten an answer, came down the stairs to read the meter.  The woman was startled and yanked the laundry basket in front of her.  “Lady,” the meter reader said, “I don’t know what team you’re cheering for, but I hope they win!”

Fast Fact:

Children are exposed to more than 1,000,000 words every year with just 15 minutes of out-of-school reading a day! [Parenting, March 2010, 67] Run to your public library and sign up for their Summer Reading Program.  It’s free!!

From Our House to Yours

I had the privilege of speaking at Westside Christian Church in Wichita, Kansas on May 1^st.  I took my youngest two girls with me and got to chat with a dear long ago friend, meet the lovely Jana who planned it all and partake of a chocolate fountain.  It marked a first as the only time I’ve driven through Kansas without getting lost.  The highlight of the day for me, was meeting Jan and Jennifer, a mother and now-grown daughter who had gone to West County Christian Church in St. Louis, where my father had preached as I had grown up.  They joined the church right around the time I was leaving for college so we didn’t recognize one another. By the time my presentation was over, they had figured out that my daddy had baptized Jennifer and her brother Jason.  I was tearily reminded of the power of legacy.

On May 7, puppy Joy got spayed and I got the chance to attend the same Chik-fil-A sponsored leadership seminar as my husband.  I came home refreshed and inspired.  I’ll be sharing some nuggets from that with you throughout the summer.

I will be addressing the Joplin Writer’s Guild on Thursday evening, May 13, about writing for Christian markets.  I am petrified to speak to dignified members of my own profession.  Would greatly appreciate your fervent prayers.

Not sure when school is out for you, but for us, it’s only eleven days INCLUDING weekends!  This school year has flown by.  We wish you precious memory making with you and your sweet ones this summer!

Watch your summer newsletters for great ideas!

Hugs and God’s best chocolate blessings,

Cindy

Congratulations to the May contest winners, who each received a signed copy of one of Karen Ehman’s books!!

Leesa Chesnut

Natasha Miller

Becky Leija

Watch for a special JUNE contest!