Waste Not, Want Not

This morning God knocked on my heart and revealed how wasteful I've been lately. I was brushing my teeth when my gaze followed the trail of running water. Immediately I turned off the faucet and finished brushing before I turned on the water to rinse my brush. I don't have cups in my bathroom since I use my hands to catch the water for that purpose. Again, a big waste. And, I'd been grumbling about receiving the highest water bill ever this month.
Imagine, I waste water unconsciously, taking the blessing for granted, while children in other countries rely on mud puddles for survival. I have a glass of "filtered" water from the refrigerator, along with ice cubes to keep it cold. I don't worry about contracting a fatal disease by quenching my thirst.
As I look around my house, I see many things for my pleasure and enjoyment, all taken for granted. I live in a country of abundance. No wonder others look on me as a "rich" American. I may not be rich monetarily by the standards of our country, but I am rich in all the things that matter. God has provided all that I need, and while I give him thanks every day, I haven't realized the extent of how I'm wasting what He has so generously provided.
Currently, there is a shake-up in the publishing world with large conglomerate bookstores and publishers. Welcome to the new digital world of publishing. While we might look on digital books and ebook readers as extravagance, I'm looking at it another way. We are conserving God's gifts by purchasing digital books. I wonder how many trees it takes to make a production run of print books? While I believe print books are wonderful, POD seems a much better method of publication. No unnecessary waste. A book is produced only when there is a purchase.
I'm thrilled to be an ebook published author. And, I thank God every day for his gifts, and for this path to publication he has provided.
How about you? Have you purchased a digital book lately?

Carol Ann Erhardt
http://www.carolannerhardt.com/
Available now at White Rose Publishing: JOSHUA'S HOPE

The Economy and Christian Publishing

Everyone knows that the economy is a great concern to citizens around the world. People are losing their jobs, losing their homes and yet—surprisingly—sales in the realm of Christian fiction have soared. Hearing this fact over and over made me stop and think about why that is.

Why out of all the books out there today is the Christian market not being hit by this deficit? I believe it really has to do with the message of not only Inspirational fiction but also fiction in general. Being a trained historian, I look at current events through the eyes and ears of the past. We really aren’t experiencing anything that hasn’t already happened—occasionally many times over—throughout history.

Back in the 1930’s we had the Great Depression (which ended due to WWII and not government intervention—by the way). At this time, book readership and also movie attendance grew by leaps and bounds. Why? That’s easy. The people wanted a distraction from real life. And they found that in cheap entertainment which took them away from reality if even for a short time.

Think about the Andy Hardy films that were so popular with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. The Marx Brothers. Musicals with Fred and Ginger. Gangster flicks (where the law always caught up to them in the end).

What about books? Detective stories such as The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett and The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Agatha Christie mysteries, and even The Hobbit all came out during this time.

What does this have to do with today? Just as in the past, when things start going bad in our economic stability we need a reprieve if just for a little while. If just for a moment of time between work and bed. Between changing diapers and making dinner. And that respite seems to be coming in the form of Inspirational fiction.

What about secular fiction? There are some great works being published out there, but what is the message? We have lots of agnsty reads with reluctant heroes. Entertaining, it’s true. But where does that leave the reader?

What Inspirational fiction does is bring a Christian message and that is a message of hope, and in this ever uncertain world I think we all need a little hope in our lives. We who write Inspirational fiction do it to entertain, to make you think and also to have you realize that there is hope for your life if you would only accept Him in.

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