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Christian book publisher, Ark House, celebrates 20 years of book publishing

FAITH NEWS SERVICE – Christian book publisher, Ark House, has announced it is celebrating 20 years of producing Christian books.

The publisher, which commenced its operations back in 2003 with one single advertisement calling for new authors, has now published over 1,300 titles since its inception.

“Ark House stared with very humble beginnings,” says Matt Danswan, CEO of Initiate Media, the Christian media company that oversees Ark House.

“We started book publishing because at that time, we were the owners of Australia’s two major Christian magazines, Alive and Christian Woman, and we saw the need for a Christian publisher that was not just interested in theological-type books. We wanted to create fiction, biographies, and titles that appealed to a really wide array of Christians.

“From that one ad, the manuscripts began to roll in, and one after another, we began to produce Christian books.”

Matt said that the company had an advantage in that it already had graphic designers on staff and so they were able to pivot into book layout without too much trouble.

“Being in the Christian magazine market certainly helped us have a lot of the technical knowhow in place to manage the intricate design process,” Matt said. “However, the legal and distribution side of the business was a minefield that took a lot of work to navigate.

“Stock holdings were another massive challenge as a young company. As our catalog grew, so did the amount of money we had tied up in books that were printed and warehoused. There was no print on demand for the first 10 to 15 years of our existence, so keeping stock of our growing catalog was a massive challenge. We simply had to have stock on hand to be able to support our distributors, as well as retailers and authors.”

Ark House has gone on to win the Christian book of the Year awards on two occasions, as well as being finalist a number of times. Its real strength, though, it says is in helping new and little-known authors get a start in the book world. In addition, given they are not self publishers, these authors then have a powerful imprint on their book, which gives them immense credibility.

We really see ourselves positioned as that Christian publisher that feels its calling is to give authors an opportunity”, Matt says.” While we have to first assess every manuscript that comes in, given we won’t just place our brand on any manuscript, we do try and work with a wide range of authors.

“Traditionally, publishers’ doors are closed to new authors, forcing most to have to go down the self publishing route. However, we don’t believe that is the best route for authors, and so we have developed programs that allow us to work with such authors so they have a powerful, reputable publishing imprint on their books and are not forced down a self publishing pathway.

For more information, visit www.arkhousepress.com.

The 6 Ways You Can Recognize God’s Guidance for Your Life

FAITH NEWS SERVICE – Today, perhaps more than ever, people are asking, “what does God want me to do now”? The future may appear uncertain to many considering current events, but my lifetime of experiencing God’s guidance has taught me how to recognise His voice in the wilderness, including my time working as a pastor and doctor in Yemen during the Civil War, which I’ve written about in my latest book, Yemen.

At God’s direction, we have experienced dramatic and overwhelming changes to our lives. Firstly, we married, and that’s one of the biggest steps of faith you can take. Then over time, I transitioned from telephone technician to medical doctor, then specialist, and then ordained pastor.

We’ve lived in Papua New Guinea, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Yemen and the Northern Territory of Australia, with children in tow. You can read more about God’s guidance during our travels in my books ‘Stethoscopes, Kiaps and the Law of the Jungle,’ ‘To the City of the Great King,’ and ‘Yemen.’

So, how did God “engineer” those momentous changes? Simply, my wife and I learnt how to hear His voice. Below are six ways that you can recognise God’s guidance, which include some of the key ways we heard the voice of God in our daily lives:

  1. Read His word, and especially Proverbs 3:6, “In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” Claim that as a promise. Our part in that is to totally surrender to Him, really wanting His directions for life and obeying those directions when revealed. His part is to give us straight paths ahead with no forks. My book ‘Stethoscopes, Kiaps and the Law of the Jungle,’ covers the six years we lived in Papua New Guinea. The decision to relocate to PNG with three small children, and to go with patrol officers to uncontrolled cannibal areas, was a result of complete surrender to Him.
  2. Talk often (all the time) to Him. Discuss steps for clarification, “Really? Do you really mean that”? Such praying is indispensable for guidance.
  3. Pay attention to the lives, examples and words of other Christians. The idea of Bangladesh came to us from an unsolicited invitation to a meeting, where the speaker told us of the need for doctors in Bangladesh. The next day, we received a Christian newspaper with the headline “Doctor Needed for Bangladesh”. We were amazed (even trapped) and we had to think and pray about Bangladesh. Our mission, Interserve, ultimately also steered us to the needs and opportunities in Pakistan and Yemen, which is detailed in my latest book.
  4. The “wet and dry fleeces” method used by Gideon in the Old Testament (Judges 5). It basically meant asking God to do something nearly impossible as evidence of God’s leading. I’m not happy with that seemingly bizarre plan, but it’s in the Bible. It worked for Gideon and for my wife, Audrey, when she asked, in prayer, for the Director of the Health Department to personally ring me and ask me why I hadn’t applied for a job he had advertised. He called and I got the job!
  5. Another unlooked-for guidance step, physically unwelcomed, were our numerous health issues. Over a period of 70 years, there have been several major health problems giving rise to unexpected withdrawals from countries. Through the ironing out of circumstances, such as house, children, schools, money and so on, we saw God, who is in charge of our circumstances and surprises, and recognised Him straightening out our path as promised in Proverbs 3:6.
  6. The deep inner peace of God “which passes all understanding”, giving His seal to His plan. His plan wasn’t always easy and there had to be small, practical enabling steps like obtaining appropriate qualifications for the tasks ahead: a long-term plan to be completed before commencing the above; making arrangements for the children; obtaining finance to live and work overseas (including support from family and friends); winning government approval to change regulations; getting agreements for projects and the granting of visas.

The Lord has also guided us through 65 years of happy marriage, with 23 children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. And that has been our greatest adventure of all. He can do the same for you, too. So I encourage you, in these turbulent times, to seek the Lord with all your heart and to bring Him into every part of your life. You too can go on a wonderful adventure with Him – and you don’t even have to leave your home-town to do so.

 

Dr. Malcolm Dunjey is a medical doctor, ordained pastor and acclaimed author. Together with his wife, Audrey, he has worked in many countries, either for government or as medical missionaries. He has written four books published by Ark House: ‘To the City of the Great King,’136 Questions About God; ‘Stethoscopes, Kiaps and the Law of the Jungle,’, and his latest book on being a medical missionary, ‘Yemen,’. Visit www.malcolmdunjey.com.

You may have figured out Plan A, but What Is Your Plan B?

FAITH NEWS SERVICE – John Cronshaw is a remarkable man. Having been a Christian since 1960, he is the founding director of a group of tourism companies based in the Blue Mountains of Australia, which was initially established in 1974.

John regards his business as a ministry and part of his business is Christian Fellowship Tours, which takes Christians on vacations and pilgrimages throughout both Australia and the world.

As a coach captain, he has driven coaches Australia wide, including in one twelve month period touring to every Australian Capital city. In training other coach captains in his business, he states that “commentary is meant to educate, inform and entertain”, so research of local geography, history and geology to create an interesting commentary for passengers on tour means the delivered content needs to be easily understood and interesting.

He has taken this principle into his Coach Captain’s Commentary of the Bible in his new book ‘What Is Your Plan B?’ to present a very concise and readable summary of the story of the Bible from the beginning and leading to Jesus’ Crucifixion.

While his book is a great read for Christians, it is also ideal for a person who is interested in the Bible and is yet to decide whether “the Lord He is God”, or for people who need to get an understanding of how the parts of the Bible all fit together. Far from a heavy academic, theological style of book, it is instead a readable summary of what God’s Plan A was intended to be.

What is Your Plan B? was birthed in a small church in Melbourne where we were chatting about the time in the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus found the disciples asleep ‘exhausted from sorrow,’” John stated. “Why were they exhausted from sorrow when the real drama was still to unfold with Jesus’ trial and crucifixion?

“The events of the few weeks prior must have had some major impact on them. So what were the events preceding the crucifixion? Where does the investigation end? Back in time I went in writing this book to Jesus’ birth. Why? Through the prophets. Why? And then back past the Exodus to Abraham.

“Just what is God’s Plan A? And for many of us, our plan A normally does not include God. A Coach captain’s Commentary of the Bible was born, in simple, non-technical jargon.”

Originally trained as a secondary school teacher responsible for teaching agriculture and biology, what was a hobby taking kids on school excursions grew into something bigger. After teaching for 11 years, John, along with a few other families, bought an old, run down tourist coach business in the Blue Mountains in 1974.

The business is still trading and has three parts to it: a secular coach arm called Fantastic Aussie Tours; a Double Decker fleet of buses that operate a hop-on-hop-off service in the Blue Mountains region, and an organized touring programme of Australian and international tours called Christian Fellowship Tours. John has been actively involved in this business since 1974 and to this day, he still conducts tours for Christian Fellowship Tours.

“The strength of my life is its ordinariness,” John stated. However, one thing is clear: he has a love for God and the Bible. “I qualified as a teacher, have a certificate in theology that does not accrue any university points, have driven coaches for the greater part of my life while also running the business, and have been an active lay person in my church and some other Christian and secular organizations.

“God’s Plan A as revealed in Jesus is something that existed before creation. This in itself is an amazing concept. To many, the Bible is complex because it is not a book you can read like a novel, and linking the bits and pieces together is something that is also seen as hard to undertake. In simple terms, I link the narrative together, outlining God’s Plan A, the pathway through the prophets to Jesus’ time on earth and then look into the Rest of Time.

“While some Bible references are listed, important passages are printed in the text so there is no need to go scrambling or putting off reading them because they are important things to read.

“The key selling feature is its readability. For someone interested in the deeper treatment and the theology of the Bible, this is not your book. It is instead designed for a Christian person who wants to get a good overview, or a non-Christian person who is interested in looking at what the Bible says about the Christian faith. I start with the premise ‘The Bible is what it says it is, and God is who He says he is in the Bible’. That’s a good starting point.”

This is not John’s first book. He has also written ‘Coached by God’, helping the successful Christian examine the conflict between the success manuals of the world with the text of Scripture. In this, he asks if Christianity and success are compatible?

‘Buspa’s Corner’ is a series of devotions styled from the devotions conduct while on tours, and ‘The Land of the Bible’ is a guide book useful for taking on tour when visiting Egypt, Jordan and Israel.

What Is Your Plan B?’ is now available globally.

The American missionary in Australia and his struggle with bipolar disorder

FAITH NEWS SERVICE – Steve Swartz is an American who left the comforts and familiarity of small-town Ohio to answer the call of God into missionary work. Ending up halfway around the world, Steve and his wife, Bev, landed in Alice Springs, which is about as remote as you can get in Australia’s rugged outback.

His new book, Broken Pot, is a brilliant recount of their remarkable lives.

The call to work as a Bible translator took Steve to the middle of Australia, where he worked translating the Bible for the Warlpiri Aboriginal people of Central Australia as a missionary with Wycliffe Bible Translators.

However, that is just half the story. This missionary has achieved all he has whilst battling daily with bipolar disorder. “I was misdiagnosed from 1980 to about 2017 as suffering from ‘mere’ depression,” Steve told me.  “For many of those years and even after my actual suicide attempt in 1986, I was not placed on a regimen of anti-depressants, but rather, I had to rely on various psychological ‘talking and cognitive’ therapies and the exercise of the spiritual disciplines of Bible reading, meditation, prayer and interpersonal interactions with other to try to maintain some level of sanity, often without much success.

“From 2000 until 2017 and for various periods, I was taking anti-depressants on an on-again-off-again basis.  As time went on, and as I began experiencing periods of extreme manic, though often highly-productive, energy followed by more-extended periods of deep depression, it finally became clinically apparent to my doctors that my mental condition was more-correctly diagnosed as Bipolar Type 2 disorder, which is now treated pharmaceuticaly in a fashion quite different to depression.”

Being asked to sum up his bipolar disorder, Steve used one word: unpredictability. “It was bad enough with me being depressed for months or even years at a time,” Steve told me. “We could make adjustments and accommodations to survive these times, but neither Bev nor I could predict when, in a blink of an eye and without warning, rhyme or reason, my mind would switch from Black Dog to hyper-speed.

“I could be crazily productive during these times or at other times just a gibbering maniac, bubbling over like Mt Etna, erupting with all sorts of wild and wonderful projects. I would feel unbelievably wonderful and marvelous, but more often than not, from Bev’s perspective, I would simply be angry, rude and insufferable.

“Two of these high periods, one in 2007 and another in 2019, resulted in two 30-day periods where, each time, I penned some 60,000 words, which now have turned into this 129,000-word memoir. I didn’t start out 13 years ago to write this memoir – it wrote itself. Was it the bipolar mania, the Holy Spirit or both? I cannot tell the difference.”

With mental health challenges yet to manifest themselves, Steve moved to the other side of the world in obediently following God’s calling. For many of us, we take reading the Bible for granted. In fact, if you read the stats, Bible reading amongst Christians is way down. Yet Steve and his wife gave up their comfortable, American lifestyle to make this possible for a small Australian indigenous tribe – just so they would have access to God’s Word.

“In retrospect, it is fair to say that I did not handle the transition (to Australia’s outback) very well at all,” Steve said. “If I had, then I would not have had much of a memoir to write about.  There was, of course, the initial transition from the USA to Australia, two very different countries and cultures, despite common English origins and a ‘shared’ language.  Cultural-linguistic-historical presuppositions are so different, often in ways initially not apparent.

“For example, Americans (at least conservative ones such as myself) are much more patriotic than Aussies.  Aussies, in general, are much more patriotic nowadays than they were forty years ago.  At that stage, if the Australian National Anthem was played at a sporting event, many Aussies would not stand and fewer would sing along.  Bev and I thought this very strange and not a little rude.  Aussies had, and to a lesser extent still have, more of a cultural cringe, tug-the-forelock, embarrassed attitude towards the Brits than do Americans.  We found something of an underlying hostility at times to us for simply being American – how could everyone in the world not love the Yanks?  We understand this better now.”

For Steve and Bev, there were the climatic differences they also had to deal with. Ohio and Michigan have four distinct seasons, including ice and snow) in Midwest America. They moved into a two-season, hot, monsoonal climate of stifling proportions.

Then there was the transition into yet another culture. After their first six months in Darwin, the couple moved to Lajamanu in April 1978 to live among the Warlpiri people at Lajamanu in the Northern Territory, a very remote and isolated Aboriginal community. When they arrived in Lajamanu, there were no phones, only a public radiotelephone at the council office. There was only one, poorly-stocked store where everything was expensive. Mail came in by plane twice a week, and there was no TV or up-to-date newspapers or magazines.

“Bev and I came as linguist-translators, as opposed to other job categories within Wycliffe such as literacy workers, school teachers, builders, administrators, pilots, radio techs, computer texts, academic scholars, and so on,” Steve continued. “Our assignment was to work with the Warlpiri people, a group we knew nothing about before our arrival in Darwin in late 1977.

“In the early 90s, I became an international translation consultant, which gave me the opportunity with work with many other translators here in Australia, the Solomon Islands and even Hawaii to ensure quality control of their translation into many different languages.”

Steve’s mental health frailties have been a part of his entire time living in Australia. Suicidal depression was a regular challenge and even now, while those deep emotional (and dangerous) troughs are more of a rarity, it’s one day at a time to maintain an even keel. Many Christians, despite their love for their Creator, also face similar challenges.

A major part of the motivation in writing Broken Pot is to share his experiences with bipolar disorder and to encourage fellow Christians and non-Christians alike. Steve wants it known that God can still use someone amid depression and/or bipolar, even when complete healing is not forthcoming.  “Continuing to be depressed or bipolar does not necessarily indicate that God has rejected you or that you have a lack of faith for full healing,” Steve continued. “He can still use ‘damaged goods’ to achieve His purposes.  It can be argued that He chooses people of certain personality types to engage in certain ministries. For example, I do not have a naturally pastoral or gentle personality, which would lend itself more to a pastor’s heart for his flock, but I do possess a natural determination and hard-headedness, which means that having set my mind and heart on a goal, I persist through hell and high water to achieve that goal.”

“Sometimes the process is not easy, such as is the case with my dear wife Bev, who has suffered much being married to me, witnessing my struggles, worrying, praying for me, and trying to ‘hold me together’. I owe her a debt that I will never pay off in full.

“I am not the same as I was when we first came to Australia, and that is a very good thing.  I was 25 and Bev was 23.  I was, without overstating the case too much, a self-assured, arrogant young man, used to academic achievement, sure that I would make quick work of learning Warlpiri and completing a translation. Nothing proved as easy as I had naively expected once we arrived in Lajamanu.  These early difficulties led quickly to feelings of failure and ineptitude, which then spiraled quickly into depression and eventual suicide attempts.

“My recovery from the 1986 suicide attempt took over two years in the United States—it was a protracted and difficult time. Bev and I returned to active service in 1989, based here in Alice Springs. During the 90s, I struggled amid ongoing mental health struggles to bring the Warlpiri translation (full New Testament and 12% of the Old) to completion and publication in 2001 followed by our retirement from Wycliffe in 2003.” In Broken Pot, this powerful memoir informs, educates, entertains and challenges readers to not give up on what God has started. Moreover, it is sincerely hoped that fellow-sufferers of the Black Dog and other forms of mental illness will come to realize that God has not abandoned them, that He can still use cracked pots to accomplish His purposes and that there is help for them even in the darkness.”

Broken Pot, published by Ark House, is now available globally.

How a simple blood test turned this woman into an author

For Australian writer Sheryl Nostrini, another blood test at the hospital during a bout of health issues was an unusual place in which to be inspired to start writing.

While sitting in the waiting room, Sheryl happened to stumble across a magazine called ‘Country Style’. Inside, she read about a writing competition, which got her excited.

“Writing a book had never been something I thought I’d do,” she said, “and I had always been in awe of authors, for I love to read. Then a first paragraph exploded in my mind about my husband’s parents’ story.”

She couldn’t get the idea out of her mind and had to write it down. From there, she got inspired and decided to enter her 1,500 word short story, submitting it to the magazine. While she never did win a prize, the experience gave her the confidence to take her writing to the next level.

“After sharing the story with family, I learned even more about Jack and Emily that I hadn’t known before and discovered it was a story that needed to be told and not lost or forgotten,” she added. ‘Emilia and the Monument Builder’ is therefore a true story, written as fiction, as Sheryl’s Italian immigrant parents-in-law passed away in 1989.

Sheryl read many books on writing fiction, writing to be published and took two Summer School Writing classes in 2017 and 2018 to learn how to make her project come to light.

“I loved writing it, loved the research and discovered many more aspects of the story that were intriguing. It took me four years to complete.”

“While I was in the throes of the last part of writing ‘Emilia and the Monument Builder’ a seed was sown for a purely fictitious story about Courtney – the same thing happened – the story flowed, and I felt it was God-inspired,” Sheryl continued.

‘Courtney’s Keys’ is thus the story of twenty-year old Courtney Lancaster, raised as a ward-of-the-state in New South Wales in Australia, who becomes the beneficiary of her unknown great-uncle’s estate in 1980.

She arrives in Mt Barker in the south-west of Western Australia to discover treasures from her past. A desire for a new beginning after a chequered past and poor decisions allows Courtney to learn new life lessons and growing faith in a loving God from her trustworthy neighbour.

Discovering love, care and affection never experienced in her institutionalised upbringing helps her find keys that reveal resolutions to her confusion. However, trials and temptations create stumbling blocks along the way and confrontations conspire to undo her. She harbours a secret, that once revealed, changes everything.

“It is as interesting to me to see how the story unfolds. Sometimes there are twists and turns I did not expect and it was fascinating to watch the story emerge as I wrote it.”

“’Courtney’s Keys’ had been written, proofed, edited and sat silent while I found the courage to submit its synopsis to Ark House Press. My writing friend, Audrey, whom I meet with every Friday since Summer School 2018 (where we met) insisted I stop procrastinating. She told me to trust God for his leading.”

“I knew she was right. I put the fleece out, to use Gideon’s exercise in faith – submitted it, was asked to send the first two chapters which was the next step. I received an email from Ark House Press stating they had accepted it. There, God had opened the door and I had to walk through it.”

Writing and storytelling ran in Sheryl’s family. “My father was a great story-teller and I’d had the experience of learning ‘not to wait’ because I’d intended to give my Dad a special book and pen for Father’s Day in 1996 to write down his stories.

“Sadly, he was in a serious traffic accident, in a coma for a week and died the day before Father’s Day. Now his stories are lost, we only remember some of them and not particularly well. It showed me the importance of writing things down while you can.”

“I love, love, love writing,” she said, “and I feel truly blessed that God has seen to offer me this opportunity. It is my desire and prayer to nurture the reader’s faith in God and to draw them closer to Him.”

“These stories can be used as an evangelistic tool for those seeking to know God for themselves.”

‘Courtney’s Keys’ touches on some social issues and perhaps the guidance to resolutions of these problems in the story could help those who face similar situations. ‘Courtney’s Keys’ is Book One in the Plantagenet Trilogy. Book Two, ‘Seth’s Solace’, is due out in November 2020, while Book Three, ‘Miranda’s Mother’, is set for a 2021 release.

‘Courtney’s Keys’, published by Ark House, is now available globally.

New book explores a boy’s search for identity for his father lost at war

FAITH NEWS SERVICE – For boys, the identity they gain just from being in the presence of their father is essential in shaping and molding their lives. However, in the case of Ian Heard, he never got that chance.

Ian’s war hero father was sent off to war in World War II to fight for Australia. In the process, his life was lost, leaving his young son to move from boy, to teen, to young man, without his father there to model his identity and support and encourage him.

The loss was something that weighed upon Ian heavily, and as such, he has released a biography to share his story of growing up and searching for his identity in his father-less world.

In Looking for NX1477, Ian shares the pain and struggles of not ever knowing his dad. In his words, “a ripping yarn becomes a gripping yarn.” Translated from his Aussie colloquialism, that simply means that this book will captivate you.

“What spurred the effort in putting the story together was a simple desire that we all have, and that is to understand who we are… to connect with our forbears and understand better their DNA and how it reflects on who we are,” Ian said.

“In my case, my father was mostly a heroic mystery and a time came when I wanted to ‘know’ him and so my research began. It is about discovery; about ‘finding’ the father I never knew.”

Ian has shared his story in front of thousands of people in churches, clubs and elsewhere.

“I wrote the book for a number of reasons,” he added. “It has broad appeal to a fairly wide age-group because many my age have lost family in the two great World Wars, or Vietnam, or elsewhere—and younger generations are also showing renewed interest in history, as evidenced by their ‘pilgrimages’ to Kokoda, Gallipoli and even Vietnam’s killing fields.

“There is also renewed interest by people in tracing their roots and family history, while it is also a story that draws people in to its series of coincidences. In addition to this, the book has an excellent Gospel application.”

In part of his series of coincidences, he is lucky to have been born at all. In August, 1942, Ian’s father was given a few days’ leave from the war, in which time Ian was conceived. His father went back to war soon after and was then killed in the frontline. In his words, “I am not here by chance!

“For some reason, sitting in my office on a day that’s now chiselled on memory stones, I looked up the website of the Australian War Memorial. It demonstrates, really, that the issue of identity and connection is never really far beneath the surface for any of us. It is my firm conviction that the essence of each person’s ultimate identity resides not in earthly ancestry—as rewarding a search as that can be—but in our true Source, as we shall see.

“Our temporal and earthly DNA is from earthly parents, but there is also within us what I like to think of as our spiritual ‘DNA’, sourced from the One who, we are told, had us in mind—before time began.”

Ian is also a pastor, bible teacher, author, businessman and a keen sailor. He is a member of the ACM Network (Associated Christian Ministries) in Australia and attends Sydney’s Northern Beaches Christian Centre, where he regularly ministers, as well as in other churches.

Ian writes on Biblical subjects and comments from time to time on current and personal events in an attempt to contribute clarity and Biblical certainty.

Looking for NX1477 is now available both within Australia and globally.

God’s Love, Grace and Healing Through Nature

FAITH NEWSWIRE – ‘Monarch Wonders’ is a book that is sensitively and delicately written. The inspirational words written will bring comfort and peace to readers.

The author states, “I regret not doing a dedication page for the book. It would be dedicated to my brother David, cousins and others who have died before their time. David passed away soon after I was drawn to the Monarch. It spoke of new Life we can have in Christ now, and more importantly, eternally. I had heard many times how the emerging butterfly gave hope and comfort to others going through grief. It now did this for me as well as much more.”

The story of the Monarch has enthralled young and old alike. The aim of this book is to help us find great beauty and healing in nature – God’s creation. Marion Robinson, the author certainly did and she wants to share her wonderful experiences in her own growth and healing.

Marion explains, “Following a serious head injury I was stopped in my tracks. I was unable to drive for a couple of years and the cognitive process had taken a battering. My sense of balance was impaired and noise, especially in shops was a problem. Every aspect of living had slowed right down.”

Hence the offshoot of this accident was Marion started paying attention to her surroundings and the life she was living. This brought to her attention the Monarchs in her garden and wherever she went. They were like a light to her, enthralling her in nature that God had created. She brought the newly laid eggs inside her home to observe their life cycle. All this drew her more towards God and she felt Him speaking clearly to her.

The author was so enthralled by what she was observing that she decided to photograph these events and began researching more about their life cycle and their beauty. However because of her injury her concentration was quite limited so most of the images and insights came over a four year period.

“So began the process of putting it together in a book form,” the author says. “First as an e-book, but it is only now, a few years later, that I have revisited it when asked to speak to a group on the Monarch Life Cycle. This led to other sharing opportunities to different audiences with the responses being very humbling. Since I believe that this is of God I should not be amazed. Hence I am now having the book published in a hard copy.”

The author maintains that the head injury was the best thing that happened to her and can only make this statement because of her close relationship to Christ. She has always been drawn to nature, as it is where she has always felt more prayerful and alive and photographing these moments has enriched this so much more.

“Capturing a seemingly fleeting moment allowed me to ponder and be awestruck at what had taken place. No more so than in the story of the Monarch Butterfly. It brought healing and new growth.”

A negative has truly been turned into a big positive for Marion. “I doubt very much that I would have slowed down so much and therefore I would have missed so many wonderful life changing moments.”

So, what inspiring revelations does the author hope that her readers will learn from reading this book? “My hope is that it is not just a book that is read once, but one that God will use to speak individually into anyone’s life as the reader reflects, ponders the amazing process that takes place and sees much of it in the images. Thus allowing God to bring hope and healing for whatever they may need at that time.

“I am truly grateful for all God has done, and continues to do in my life.”