I have carried the idea of writing a novel around in my head for years. In fact, about six years ago I developed an outline for the story, characters and location. During a workshop with the Black Writers’ Guild of Maryland,  I was honored to read a preview of the work and reviewed the beginnings with a professor of writing from the University of Maryland. The professor’s advice was to keep thinking and writing along the path I was taking, and I would have a brilliant book. She suggested a series of books on novel writing and reminded me to stay true to the characters and settings.

Writing a novel has proven to be an arduous task, especially for me the perfectionist. My thought was not only to tell a story but also, to teach something in the process. For me the teaching would have to be from both a spiritual level, as well as a bit of history. The concept is a historical fiction, which means research.

My house, if it could talk, would tell you that I’ve neglected everything except my day job and my newsletter “The Village Griot”(which is now an electronic magazine) to finish this work. Last night I experienced great joy when I actually completed the story. Now I can begin editing, although I’ve edited continuously while writing. Doing so did slow down my thought process…that’s the perfectionist in me.

The title I originally wanted to use was unacceptable to me because there were already two books in print with the same title. That doesn’t mean I couldn’t use that particular title, I just decided I needed my title to stand out; to peak the prospective reader’s interest. Halfway through the writing process I found my title.

The research took me to various places imaginatively, on the Internet, and physically in a search through time. The novel’s back-story takes the reader to 1893. My research also brought to light actual historical events and places that I have woven into the story.

I guess you want to know about the book. The official title is “JuWasha’s Shroud.” The story begins in 1960s Baltimore and travels back in time to New Orleans, then to the Northern Neck of Virginia and ends in the town of Lively, Virginia. The story is totally fiction… well almost.

As for the teaching, the book will contain photos, charts, maps and an appendix with my historical research.

Look forward to a pre-sale promotion at the end of summer, and publishing in October. My prayer is that the novel will be ready for an upcoming book festival in Richmond, VA on November 13.  Stay tuned.

Oh, and from time to time I will blog on the progress. If you’re on Facebook look me up and become a FAN of The Village Griot.

Amani na Mapenzi: Love & Peace

© 2010 Sharon Moore Stenhouse  –All Rights Reserved–

Or is it God

Is it with God

Can it exist without God?

Self love is love.

Or is it God

Is it with God

Can it exist without God?

Being in love is love.

Or is it God

Is it with God

Can it exist without God?

Making love is love.

Or is it God

Is it with God

Can it exist without God?

When I think about love in its truest form; I think of God. He loves us so much he gives us the gifts of Agape love, being in love and making love. To be in love is human…to make love is human…to be human is to be in the image of God. To make love I must be in love; to be in love I must love myself. Every fiber of my being every hour of my day, is needed to make love

Making love is when I care about your well being more than I do my own; it is when your happiness makes me happy, your sadness makes me sad, your desires give me desire and your presence brings me joy.

It is being with you anywhere, anyplace, anytime to take in the majesty of  God in you, the hours spent together in solitude, the harmony of feeling like we are important to one another in that moment.

Making love is bonding while delving into the intellect of each other, learning each other’s likes and dislikes; and to understand through respect without wanting to make you change.

Love is consideration your needs, your wants, your haves, your not haves, the personal necessities of your daily life, and missing you when you’re not around.

Making love is being able to say I’m sorry, making amends, knowing what is important and what is not, forgiving and learning to forget.

It is sweet discretion in public when no one knows but us, yet everyone around us feels our love.

Making love is looking into your eyes to see your soul; looking into your eyes from across a room; looking into your eyes to see the tears; looking into your eyes to feel the fears, with compassion as I see the compassion in you.

Love is the touch that calms; the touch that warms; the touch that caresses; the touch that holds, and that feathered touch heating the blood while raising the hairs at the base of your neck, creating a tingle in the tips of your fingers and toes, causing you to shiver as you become, engorged with an erection of anticipation.

And, when the time is right we’ll look into each eyes in the throws of passion as we become one, making love in the beauty of the exploration of each other’s bodies…blending, exploring every inch of each other, with gentle intensity and erotic care…nurturing the love built over time together into an explosion of ecstasy that completes us. ♥

Children's Artwork - Palm Sunday

At church, there was the distribution of the palms, the blessing of the doors at the entrance of the church, and the triumphal entry procession with the congregation raising their palms in celebration; rejoicing.  It was during the prayer before the sermon when I truly felt the presence of God in my heart.

While sitting in my pew, head bowed in the posture we have come to call “looking to the Lord,” I heard the beauty of Jesus’ voice. The priest was praying for the congregation and the world, and asking for a remembrance of Gospel (Mark 14 & 15) which is a very holy time for Christians. During the thought-filled prayer, a young child’s voice echoed in the sanctuary -not crying, but speaking softly with a sense of gentle innocence. Then another child’s voice joined in, and another and another until there were many. The voices were a sweet sound. This was not disturbing, just a soft murmur underscoring the prayer.

As the priest continued praying, raising his voice in adulation, the children’s voices increased. When the prayer ended and all said Amen, the sanctuary fell silent. The voices stopped just as suddenly as they began, and there was quiet stillness in the air.

That is when I felt the presence of the Lord, and I knew in my heart that Jesus was speaking to us through the children; offering up peace.

Sanctus and Benedictus… Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

© 2009   Sharon Moore Stenhouse  -All Rights Reserved-

Footprints in the Sand

Recently I launched a heavily researched, well-developed and well-planned creative writing through Bible study workshop called Seven Biblical Women. Even with a complete marketing approach to include a brochure with registration information, community and web advertising, footwork and good old-fashioned word of mouth campaign, the attendance did not meet the expectations.

I anguished for weeks over the number of people who loved the workshop idea, seemed impressed with the marketing but did not register. My biggest concern was the target audience -Christians and those involved in any genre of writing, who took lightly to registering in advance for a new untested workshop. These are my colleagues, peers and friends.

When the launch date finally approached, I made the decision to go forth with the workshop knowing I would have to make strategic changes in the program on the fly, based on the number of registrants and warm bodies in attendance. My own plan as I envisioned the success of the workshop was falling apart. That morning as I was getting dressed I prayed and asked God to give me an anointing… telling him that the workshop was to his glory, not my own; it was not about me, it was about him.

I arrived at the workshop site 15 minutes early (7:45 am) and sat in my car 35 minutes before someone arrived to unlock the doors. During this period of waiting, I became overwhelmed with the anxiety of not being able to start on time, since I had equipment to set-up and test. Further, there were refreshments on the way that also required attention. At the advertised start time of 9:00 am, four people had arrived. A feeling of dismay was about to overtake me when I suddenly heard the sound of laughter and many voices. Warm bodies were beginning to arrive.

The workshop began behind schedule however; of the few people sitting before me, I saw nothing but eager, smiling faces.  In my head, I said…  “Here we go Lord.”

What a Joyous Day

The workshop introduction and presentation of biblical cultural history flowed without a glitch, and fostered lots of questions.  In the original plan, the workshop required a minimum of 21 people.  The pre-registration number topped out at 14, and by the end of the morning session, the number of attendees dwindled to nine. Talk about thinking on your feet!  At this point, we were supposed to be in seven discussion groups of three people each, so I took a vote and we agreed to forego the group discussions and work together collectively. We read aloud, asked questions, and inserted thoughts, ideas and summaries of the material that opened up a floodgate of expression. This turned out to be exactly what I was trying to achieve in the original planning of the workshop. The interaction was much more than I imagined.

As a result, I put on my performer’s face and read a powerful monologue for the Samaritan Woman. The Spirit of the Lord moved through every person in the room. By the time I completed the reading, everyone was up on their feet cheering, praising, and giving thanks; not to me but to Jesus. We then engaged in an interactive question and answer game filled with so much fun and laughter, we all had tears of joy.  The workshop closed with a reading of the prayer For Knowledge of God’s Creation from the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. Afterwards, we hugged and danced in praise.

Here are the testimonials:

From an email received the following morning…

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow!  Hope this finds you well rested today from the very successful debut of the Seven Biblical Women workshop ministry. It was a blessing to be a part of how God has prepared you to be a blessing to others and empower them through the written word.”

From the attendee evaluations…

“One of the best workshops I’ve ever experienced.”

“Excellent visuals, professionally done.”

“Beautiful – Excellent!”

“The instruction was good – good intervention”

“Fun”

“Yes, I would recommend this workshop to others, including my church.”

“Most definitely plan to use the workbook for further Bible study.”

“The game show…That was awesome, a lot of fun!”

“This workshop helped me to appreciate more being a woman and a daughter of the Heavenly Father.”

God had a plan already in place for the success of this workshop…you see, the original vision came from him. He entrusted me with this work and allowed me to develop it, as I am sure he watched over me closely. He was not about to let his work fail. He also gave me the assurance that my planning was not flawed, it only needed a little tweak to give me the confidence I needed to continue in this ministry.

I am encouraged. This experience has shown me that we sometimes loose faith, and when we do, we must put our trust in him. Through the anxiety, I carried prior to the launch of the workshop, perhaps God laughed, not at me, but with me. He lifted me, and all who participated in a wonderful time of new knowledge, new techniques, new friends and most of all Christian fellowship.    To God Be the Glory!

© 2009   Sharon Moore Stenhouse – All Rights Reserved

And They Danced

“And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.” …2 Samuel 6:14-16

“True praise of God, as distinguished from false praise, is first of all an inward emotion–a gladness and rejoicing of the heart, a music of the soul and spirit which no language can adequately express.” … International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Being in the midst of true praise is the most exhilarating feeling one can experience. The very core of the body changes, outside of any self-restraint, with no absolute explanation other than an all-encompassing advent of the Spirit.

I attended an event titled “My Dance is Praise” on Saturday promising anointed dancers and singers, deliverance, and soul saving time in the Lord. Indeed the event held to its promises. Dancers of various age and from various churches –including Brooklyn, NY, presented choreographed interpretations of the message in contemporary recorded Christian songs.

The event opened with a resounding African drummed “triumphal entry” reminiscent of biblical scenes where crowds cheering, while waving flags, flowers and psalms rejoiced. All in attendance rose to there feet with an overture of hallelujahs, shouts of joyous celebration and singing.

Throughout the dance, performances offered an awakening with inspiring, soulful, and emotional array of movements –some obviously well trained. It was refreshing to see children offer African inspired dance along with ballet themed presentations. The participation level was outstanding: feeding the audience with God given gifts, raising the level of a spiritual presence, and frenzied movements from a dancer channeling the spirit of David.

It became obvious that righteousness lives in the Black church, given the many difficulties faced by people in their daily lives. We were reminded through testimonies of the trials faced with drug abuse, incarceration, broken families, sickness, and renewal not only through the dance, but also by those willing to tell their stories. One dancer -particularly one of the most reflective, amazed us all by her ability to administer such powerful movements despite having gone through hip replacement and other surgeries to correct a birth abnormality.

The program closed with a moving, tearful dramatic dance questioning the audience for the assurance they are ready to say yes to God.

© 2009  Sharon Moore Stenhouse – All Rights Reserved

Woman in Prayer

For Emmitt Till, Medgar Evers, Fred Shuttlesworth, the Little Rock Nine, the North Carolina A&T student sit-in at Woolworths, James Meredith, the families of Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins, James E. Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner; God has heard your prayers.

For everyone who endured the back of the bus, movie theater balconies, “colored only” drinking fountains, bathrooms and lavatories, and “white only” anything; God has heard your prayers.

For the cities of Topeka, KS; Money and Jackson, MS; Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma, AL; Little Rock, AK; Greensboro and Raleigh, NC; Oakland and (Watts) Los Angeles, CA; Memphis, TN; Cambridge, MD; and those we have since forgotten; God has heard your prayers.

For the visionaries of the National Association for the Advance of Colored People; Plessey v. Ferguson; Brown v. Board of Education; Montgomery Improvement Association; Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; Congress of Racial Equality; the Freedom Riders; and the1963 March on Washington; God has heard your prayers.

For Martin and Malcolm; Thurgood; Stokley; Huey; Bobby; John; Lyndon; and Robert; God has heard your prayers.

For all who lived and all who know of these people and these circumstances; let us remember that God hears your prayers.

Eccl 3:17 “I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”

Mal 3:16 “Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.”

Dan 7:10 “… the judgment was set, and the books were opened.”

Rom 14:10 “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”

To Barack, Michelle, Joseph and Jill; let God lead you, for he is your judge.

Heb 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us…”

Almighty God, to whom we must account for all our powers and privileges: Guide the people of the United States in the election of officials and representatives; that, by faithful administration and wise laws, the rights of all may be protected and our nation be enabled to fulfill your purposes; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

© 2008 – Sharon Moore Stenhouse – All Rights Reserved