An Interview with BJ Hamrick

I met Bekah at Mount Hermon and immediately fell in love with her sweet personality and humble spirit. It amazes me that she’s still in college, and yet so accomplished and focused. She’s been writing for about six years professionally and was recently engaged to her amazing boyfriend, Ethan. She currently lives in North Carolina. I hope you enjoy getting to meet my friend, BJ Hamrick.

*What is your passion in life?
Last winter, I lay on the floor and watched the snow hit my window. Little pellets of ice... when they made contact with the window pane, they melted into tiny trickles of water.

That's the way I want my life to be.

I want everyone who comes in contact with me to be forever altered.

But I can't change their lives. I'm only the window pane... and God is the heating force behind that pane.

I want Him to give me His passion... His warmth... His love for the world...

*What was your main takeaway from Mount Hermon? How are you going to apply it in your daily life?

The biggest thing I learned at Mount Hermon was how to fish.

I know this sounds crazy, but let me explain.

The day before I got to Mount Hermon, I got a rejection from a literary agent who was going to be at the conference. "It's not about you," he said, "It's about me. I don't do books for teenagers."

"Are you breaking up with me?" I asked. "Because this sounds more like a breakup letter than a rejection."

Anyway. What does this have to do with fishing?

I was feeling discouraged after the breakup/rejection letter, and decided I wouldn't pitch to any agents at all during the conference.

Poor, pitiful me.

The fourth morning of the conference, I woke up and started to read my Bible.

It was the story about the disciples when they had been fishing all night without any success.

"Cast the net again," Jesus told them.

"But LORD," the disciples whined, "we've been fishing all night."

Apparently they realized Jesus was serious, because they decided to cast the net again. Out of obedience to Him.

As I read, God spoke directly to my heart.

"Cast the net again," He said.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"You heard me," He said. "Cast the net again. Talk to another agent. Put yourself out there."

That night I sat at dinner with a literary agent whom I had been praying about pitching my books to for 2 years (talk about working up the nerve).

The moment I gave my pitch, the agent handed me her business card and told me she wanted to hear from me. Last week, she sent me a contract.

When I think about it, I'm amazed that I almost didn't obey. That I told the Lord I was tired. That I wasn't willing to cast the net again.

The biggest thing I took away from Mount Hermon was that God doesn't call us to fish without first giving us the strength to do what He's asked.

*How has being a writer impacted or informed your daily life as a Christian?
It overwhelms me -- every day -- the sense of responsibility God gives me as a writer. When my life is not in line with what He wants, it shows in my writing. My lack of relationship with Him affects not only me, but also those for whom I write.

*I hear you have some exciting news in your life. Care to share?
About one month ago, I was out on a walk with my boyfriend. We were off the beaten path when he got on one knee and asked me to be his little wife. Well, he didn't say it quite like that -- it was much more eloquent. And of course I said yes!

*What are you most excited about in being married? Most concerned about?
I'm most excited about spending the rest of my life with my best friend. I'm most concerned about not being able to express to him exactly how much I love him. Some days, it's just impossible to convey how much he means to me. There just aren't enough words... and I'm a writer.

*I'm doing a talk about envy next week. Just for fun, what's the silliest thing you've ever been envious about?
I am completely envious of Mary DeMuth's hair. Seriously. How in the world, when you're camping at Mount Hermon, can you get your hair to look that good? It's a mystery to me.

An Interview wtih Marilynn Griffith

At Mount Hermon, I had the opportunity to meet some amazing people, with wonderful stories to tell. I first saw Marilyn from across the room, and her smile immediately captured my attention. Her warmth and laughter attracted me, and I was determined to meet her at some point. I had the privilege of sitting at her table during lunch one day, and I asked her for an interview. I hope you enjoy getting to know Marilynn a little bit. I am currently reading her first book Pink in the Shades of Style series.

Marilynn Griffith
Freelancer, married for 16 years, has 7 kids, written for 7 years

What is your passion in life? Being a good friend, helping people be good friends, learning how to juggle all these things of womanhood (being a mom, a sister, an aunt, etc) and maintaining some sense of self, helping others figure out how to hold onto family and Jesus in one hand and their dreams in another.

How have you managed to do that in your life? I have a great husband. I enlist my kids to work with me as a team. Everyone works together as family; we see it as a family business. My kids participate in achieving those goals, so when a check comes in the mail we all celebrate.

What do they think about being a part of those goals? Sometimes they get tired of it, but really they love it. They give books to their teachers. When people ask them what their mom does, they love it to say I’m a writer. Of course, it has its ups and downs.

How has writing affected your spiritual life? Wow. I think that I didn’t realize how safe I was as a Christian. My writing voice wasn’t established as a christian, so my writing was raw but Jesus was there. I didn’t realize how many safe things I implemented in my life. I discovered a bigger Jesus - scary, but good, even though everything doesn’t always have a happy ending. God is still there, even if you don’t get anything you prayer for. It was a big self-discovery.

As Palm Sunday approaches, how do you celebrate Christ’s entrance into your life? At home we would attend a sunrise service. As a child, we used to even receive palm branches and wave them. I use the time to look back on the year and meditate on all the things God is showing me. It’s like a guidepost to stop at and evaluate whether I am moving toward Jesus or coming away. It’s a sort of new year, and a chance to give back that lordship that I might have taken.

Anything additional you’d like to add? I love to meet new people and hear from people. So if you are interested in reaching me, you can find me at my website: http://www.marilyngriffith.com or email me at marilynngriffith@gmail.com.

An Interview with Kay Marshall Strom

I met Kay two years ago, at my first Mount Hermon conference. She encouraged me greatly with her heart for the global Body of Christ, and her courage to travel around the world to gather the stories of persecuted women. She's written an awesome book called Daughters of Hope that I highly recommend. I'm pleased to introduce to you, Kay Strom.

Kay Marshall Strom
Freelancer, married for 8 years, written for 20 years, currently in Santa Barbara, CA

What is your passion in life? Actually, it has come out of my writing. My passion at this time is letting believers in this country know that they are part of the global family of God. They need us as much as we need them. It pains me that we don’t realize we’re part of a bigger family. Being a part of the Body does not just mean that we need to help our brothers and sisters around the world, but to realize that we need them just as much. We think we’re just depriving them, but really we are depriving ourselves, too. And we are depriving the Body of God.

How did this come about? That’s actually an interesting story. I love to read historical biographies. I was reading the story of Marie Antoinette. It’s amazing, she’s not as hard hearted as we think; she was just totally clueless. She had all the royal people over for a banquet, and there was so much food the tables were sagging - all while people in Paris were starving. After everyone left, she turned to the Emperor and said, “Let’s not throw away all this food, let’s spread the leftovers on the sidewalk.” As they stood and watched the people lick the sidewalk so as not to waste anything, she said “We are so good for the poor; they should love us.” The poor people of France heard this, clenched their fist and resolved to have her head. A week later, 9/11 occurred. At church on Sunday, an elder in church stood up and talked about the need to pray for the families of those who had lost their lives. Then he shared that he didn’t know how this could happen. “We are so good to the world, everyone should love us.” And I thought, we’re just like Marie Antoinette, and the world is going to have our heads. That became the inspiration to write Daughters of Hope (Kay’s book sharing stories of women around the world who are persecuted for their faith). I was in India interviewing women for my book, and as I normally closed my interviews, I asked if there was anything else someone would like to say to me. They asked me if I had ever been kicked out of my house for being a Christian, thrown rocks at, persecuted, hated, denied food for being a Christian. I answered, “No, we just don’t face that type of attack in the US.” Then they asked me if we did have to suffer, would we still be Christians? And I thought for a long time, and didn’t know how to answer. They said they would pray for strength for us. They would pray that if we did have to face persecution that we would endure it. And they asked me to tell everyone I spoke to that they were praying for them. When I am asked to speak - even at Rotary meetings - I share their story.

How has your writing affected your walk? It has changed it totally. It has changed my perspective on life and death, on my purpose in being here. The biggest battle is being patient with others. I know other people haven’t been where I’ve been. We complain about things here, but we’re so fixated on the wrong things. It is so hard to be patient with what I see in the American church. When you go and see, you can’t come back and be the same. I will never to my dying day, get out of my mind the pictures of the people in Sudan - the most wonderful people in the world - who bounced back despite the most incredible things. When I talked with them, they asked me, “Does anyone care about us?” No one asked me for money, they asked me to pray for them. They requested we pray for their children that they will stay firm to the faith (aka be willing to die, be persecuted). When we left them, they ran behind our bus as fast as they could for as long as they could keep up, saying “Pray for us” and then they disappeared into a cloud of dust. I still see that image in my mind. If only we would truly partner with our brothers and sisters around the world.

As Palm Sunday approaches, how do you celebrate Christ’s entrance into your life? I remember reading through the Bible as a 13 year old, trying to figure out how to get it all together, when I came to Micah 6:6-7, “With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” And then comes the answer in verse 8. “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” That’s how I celebrate and pray to celebrate - to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with my God.

Book Review - Watching the Tree Limbs

It’s been a while since I sat down to read a book that I could not put down. Watching the Tree Limbs is exactly that type of book. Author Mary DeMuth hooked me from the moment the book opens with “Folks like my friend Camilla have lofty goals before they die, like stealing a kiss from a movie star or seeing the Sahara. Mine’s quite simple. I want to tell my story unsevered, as if it was actually me walking the sweltering pavement of Burl, Texas.” Half-way through the book, I purchased the sequel because I knew that I was not going to be able to wait to start the next one once I finished.

What I love about Mary’s storytelling is that she paints a poignant, beautiful picture of redemption and Christ’s unconditional love without feeling like it’s preachy or spoken with an ulterior motive. Certainly, Mary desires to share her faith through her words, but she chooses to show, rather than tell. The redemption story is so woven into the development of the characters and the movement of the book, that you can’t separate it out and say, “here’s the author’s agenda.” In fact, it’s the way I think my friend Mary lives her life: you can’t say, here’s the spiritual part of Mary’s life and here’s the rest. As a result, I feel comfortable - even encourage - recommending this book to non-believers.

But have no doubts, just because it’s “Christian fiction” does not mean that it is not a good story. Mary uses her words like a paintbrush on canvas, encouraging the reader at times to simply marvel at the intricacy of details and overall artistry of the story. I laughed, I cried and I connected with the characters. I couldn’t read fast enough, and yet wanted to savor every word. I won’t share much about the story itself; I’ll leave that to you to experience fresh. Know that Mary addresses some tough issues, and at times she reaches out and squeezes your heart just enough that it aches, but that pain only leads you to a greater appreciation for the redemption offered to the characters in the book (and to us, through Jesus Christ).

Please don’t think I gush just because Mary is my friend. If I thought her book stunk, I would let you know. But I don’t, and knowing her heart just makes it that much sweeter to recommend it to you. Mary graciously agreed to answer a few questions for me to post here, so I will leave you with our short little interview.

1) What has Maranatha taught you about redemption?
She has shown me that it’s possible to be redeemed even when life looks pretty bleak. God stoops best when He stoops to impossible situations like Maranatha’s.

2) What do you hope readers walk away from your book thinking about and feeling?
I hope the story sticks with them, that they can’t get it out of their heads. I hope they’ve been challenged in their perception of God and people. I pray they want to live better, more Jesus-breathed lives, having experienced the lives of the characters in the book.

3) Have you re-read your book since you wrote it? If so, does any character or scene strike you differently or teach you something new? If not, why not?
I’ve re-read the intro. Of course I pick it apart, wondering if I should’ve used this word or that. I recently received an email from a reader who lamented she’d not turned in someone who’d attacked her. I’d forgotten about the courtroom scene where Maranatha does just that. I’m thankful it had an impact, but I also hope that readers will know it’s never easy to tell about abuse.
4) Do you feel like you view life a little differently, now that you have interacted with Maranatha and the characters in WTTL? If yes, how so?
Yes. I always wanted a Zady in my life, but never had one. Now I want to be one. I hope I can be one.

5) On a personal note, what do you feel like God is teaching you during this season of Lent, as we prepare for the glory of Easter morning?
Mainly just the loss of it all. I again am struck with the reason Jesus was crucified. It’s a fascinating study if you look up the word envy or jealousy. Several times in the NT, the Pharisees are seen as being envious of Jesus. We think envy is no big deal, but it’s huge. HUGE. Envy crucified Jesus!