I met a guy! Just this week! The moment we met, he commandeered my heart, mind, and soul. Then he started shaking things up, and demanded a meet with my Chief. Never one to like being told what to do, I resisted the idea, till I learned more about him.

Turns out, we have a lot in common. He likes to travel too! We share an uncanny fondness for a certain island paradise. Unlike myself, he prefers scuba to snorkeling, tomato/tomahto…“These are the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear.” Jude: 13

And man, is he HOT! Sizzlin’ hot! Looks amazing in board shorts. Comes from the land down under, you might say… But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” Jude:9

I haven’t named him yet, but I have fallen for him hook, line, and sinker. He’s as old as time itself, and he hangs with some very bad company. These men revile the things which they do not understand; and the things which they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed.Jude:10 Sure, he’s a little rougher than I’d like. Probably throws a heck of a party though.

He’s not much of a family man. In fact, he doesn’t have much family left. Woe to him! For he has gone the way of Cain.Jude:11

He’s about to meet Chief Josie, probably on a beach, early in the morning. I don’t think he’s the type to appreciate a female police chief, or any police chief, for that matter. Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties.Jude:8

I can’t imagine it going well.

Ever meet someone who changed your life forever? Yeah, it’s like that. And it’s all going down in Book 4.

BOOK 4! Yup. There’s a book 4…

Happy Sunday!

Gratefully,

Catherine

Happy Thursday Faithful Readers!

Today I can think of no better encouragement than Oswald Chambers’ February 18 post: “Initiative Against Despair.”

Enjoy!

“The disciples went to sleep when they should have kept awake, and when they realized what they had done, it produced despair. The sense of the irreparable is apt to make us despair, and we say—“It is all up now, it is no use trying any more.” If we imagine that this kind of despair is exceptional, we are mistaken, it is a very ordinary human experience. Whenever we realize that we have not done that which we had a magnificent opportunity of doing, then we are apt to sink into despair; and Jesus Christ comes and says—“Sleep on it now, that opportunity is lost forever, you cannot alter it, but arise and go to the next thing.” Let the past sleep, but let it sleep on the bosom of Christ, and go out into the irresistible future with Him.

Never let the sense of failure corrupt your new action.”

Gladly moving on to the next thing,

Catherine

Dreams matter.

What is your dream?

What do you most hope for in your life?

What would you do if you knew you could not fail?

We all need dreams, hopes, and goals—reasons to get out of bed in the morning—something that makes our hearts sing. What are yours? Have you thought about them lately? Today I’m encouraging you to get a life—by dreaming bigger.

Several of my dearest friends have entered the second half of life—as I have. A recent conversation with one of my friends went something like this: “Cath, am I too old to go back to school and hone my professional skills? I mean, does it even matter, at my age? Should I spend time, energy, and money on something so inconsequential, as opposed to doing something great for the kingdom of God?”

I love this question! And I loved my answer: heck yes! YES. Answer your heart’s call. Respond to the desires of your heart, and trust that God is in it. We don’t know if we have another day, another minute, or another twenty, thirty, or forty years on this planet before Him. We do know that He has created us in His image, with unique gifts and talents that only we can invest and offer to others.

Serving God, and doing great things for His kingdom, can look as different as each one of us. Certainly the Bible speaks to how we spend our time, money, and talents. We are called to live in community, in active submission and service within a body of believers. I believe if you are obeying God in all areas of your life, as you understand Him, and you are practicing the basic Biblical disciplines of worship, prayer, tithing, and serving others—you can trust your heart’s desires.

My heart leaps at the idea of writing good books. I love to tell a good story and to make it interesting by raising the stakes—it just plain makes me happy! Is that changing lives? Is that changing the world? I have no idea. I just know that it makes me enormously happy, and I feel led and called to do so. My heart also leaps at the idea of going back to a certain island paradise. My sundresses are perpetually lined up next to my suitcase, happily awaiting my next trip. And I guarantee you—there will be a next trip. Soon.

This short life is a gift. We all face struggles, losses, unspeakable sorrows, and unspeakable joy in our journey. God is calling you to live a life of MORE, not less, as you face a new day on this planet. He has more for you. He has a life of purpose, of belonging, and of unsurpassed joy.

Take a moment today to bend your knee, bow your head before Him and ask Him to reveal new dreams to you, for you. Ask Him to make your heart sing, and lead you into His glorious good news for you.

Gratefully,

Catherine

Don’t worry, I’m not the type to go around asking strangers for a light, or encourage them to tell me their astrological signs. And while I’d like to tell you that God goes before me with a pillar of clouds by day, and a pillar of fire by night, God’s leading in my life is usually a little harder to discern. Which makes those rare occasions when He knocks me over with an almost miraculous clarity all the more, well, divine.

God is not shy when answering my legit prayers of distress. Many times when I’ve fallen bare-souled and broken hearted before Him, He has made Himself real to me with a comfort deep in my spirit that warms me even now. And He ‘gets’ me, He really does. He knows me well enough to know when to honor me with intimacy in His divinity. He knows I don’t need signs to strengthen my faith in Him, but He also knows I really like a little drama every now and then. At the end of 2015, He gave me two exciting signs I’ll carry with me forever.

Late last November, at the end of one of my solitary Night Walks, on an uncommonly warm evening, I was stunned to find an owl sitting atop the highest corner of my house. Easily the largest owl I’d ever seen, he peered down at me authoritatively, as if he owned the joint, and I was merely passing through. His head swirled around at my approach. He stared at me for long moments as I stood, transfixed, before him. The majesty of the moment caused me to bow my head, and offer prayers of thanksgiving for the wonder of this glorious creature, standing out in bas relief against the inky, starless sky.

Later I was reminded that the owl symbolizes change, transition, and even death in some cultures. My owl offered me peace as I contemplated necessary endings in my professional and personal life. A blanket of peace enabling me to face the knowledge that some things in my life needed to be allowed to die in order to make room for new life.

My owl served as a rich reminder to accept the beauty and the inevitability of change, transition, and even death as the miracle of life thrums on around us.

My second great sign came immediately after a prayer offered up from a hot tub in December. I know, I know, not the most elegant of prayer sites, but bear with me. I was praying about my leadership book, in a hot tub, after rising up to pray at 4:00 a.m., for seemingly no good reason. It’s happened to you, right? You wake up, hearing that still, small voice, in the early hours, calling you to pray. Sometimes you answer, sometimes you go back to sleep. This time, I listened to that voice. And I followed it to a hot tub, and found myself in the middle of a miracle.

Now to pray in a hot tub, is to cut to the chase. I surprised myself by asking for forgiveness for not having finished the draft of a leadership manuscript by the year’s end as I’d hoped. I humbly asked God to forgive me. I reminded Him that this book is His, and that I need His help to finish it, and to honor Him in so doing. I asked Him to give me His power, His wisdom, and His ability to write the best possible leadership book in His perfect timing. At that very moment, a shooting star flew across the sky. I sat, spellbound in my swimsuit, measuring its glorious ascent from one palm tree to another. It shot across the length of the pool, and then rocketed through the black expanse of sky stretching over the ocean. I stared after it, until a flash caught my eye, and another shooting star scampered after the first! I screamed in delight, and then I laughed out loud, offering a water bottle toast to the King of Kings.

My shooting stars—time-honored symbols of assurance of a dream about to come true—felt like a promise I’d already heard. “That I will publish with a voice of thanksgiving and tell of all Thy wondrous works.” (Psalms 26:7)
My shooting stars felt like a reaffirmation of what I’ve already been called to pursue. “Behold, I am making all things new….Write, for these words are faithful and true.” (Revelations 21:5)

My shooting star felt like a call to get back to work, joyfully.

An owl and a shooting star—now that’s a wondrous story I can tell, and publish with a voice of thanksgiving.

Gratefully,

Catherine

January 7th God Calling

Forget what lies behind, and reach forward to what lies ahead. Philippians 3:13

Happy New Year!

I’ve just returned from Maui—my go to place for non-stop writing, punctuated by midnight swims, early morning hot tubs, and fresh pineapple on the beach watching the first bold rays of the sun. Maui was my gift to myself, and to Sacrificial Basins, book 3 in my Murder with a Message series.

If you’d like to book Catherine for a speaking or signing event, please request information via email.

Like her heroine, Police Chief Jo Oliver, Dr. Catherine Finger is committed to protect and serve, but instead of handcuffs and handguns, she uses her wit and wisdom as a high school superintendent and a community volunteer in Grayslake, Illinois. When she’s not working or writing she can be found enjoying God’s presence and the people of New Hope Church in Round Lake, Illinois. She is passionate about sharing God’s truth through her fiction. Alabaster Vases is her debut novel and the first in the Murder with a Message series.