Kathryn Spurgeon – Page 9 – Kathryn Spurgeon

Thanks, Lawton, for supporting my book!

10/25/2016 by Kathryn Spurgeon, posted in Memory House Publishing

It’s been a couple of months since we had a book signing for A Promise to Break in Lawton, Oklahoma, but Gina Hinton is still tops. She has sold more books than anyone else since the book was first published!

It was a fun day! The staff at Salt Cellar, a Christian book store, were gracious and let us set up by the front door. They also told me that I had sold more books in a signing than anyone in their store! That was encouraging.

Even more encouraging are the many people from Lawton who read my book and said they loved it! I am still getting requests for the book and for the next book, (which is halfway finished!).

Since my last blog, we have posted A Promise to Break, a Christian historical novel, on several other sites:

The book is also on KINDLE and AMAZON

This journey has been exciting. I don’t know how to thank all the people who have supported me for A Promise to Break, but my gratitude increases every day!

You are loved,
kathryn

New Bible study class starting in Shawnee

09/14/2016 by Kathryn Spurgeon, posted in My Thoughts

Thursday night at 6:00, I will begin teaching a new Bible study I wrote entitled, Jesus, One on One, Forty Encounters with Jesus. It is about how Jesus responded to individuals. Beginning September 15, 2016, the women’s group will meet at Temple Baptist Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma!

For several years, I have counseled women in jail, the Ministries of Jesus, and students needing help. Even though I had several certificates and Biblical training, I was curious about how Jesus would handle individuals who came to him with specific questions or problems. As I studied I realized that the book of Matthew had at least forty incidents where Jesus reacted to one person by themselves. As a former accountant, this number was exciting and I began to study each incident.

Here’s the new book’s back page: What if you saw Jesus face to face? Would you tremble in fear, shout for joy or beg for mercy? Study about individuals who encountered Jesus and how they responded. Step into the shoes of those who met Him. What did the Foreigner think? How did the Leper feel? Why did the Woman wash Jesus’ feet with her hair? What was she thinking anyway?

It was a fun study and has been broken down into eight weeks, five individual encounters a week. This book has not been released yet, and I hope to get feedback from the women in the group before it is published. Any input will be appreciated. Please pray for me as i lead this study. Here is my first attempt at a book cover.

Nashville Christian Writing Conference

09/06/2016 by Kathryn Spurgeon, posted in Historical novel, Memory House Publishing

Writing conferences tend to lift my spirits, but the 2016 American Christian Writers Conference (ACFW) in Nashville inspired me beyond measure.

First I traveled by car from Oklahoma with renowned authors—three sweet, godly women who have successfully published many Christian books, finalists for Carol awards, and on top of that were friendly and fun. Who could have orchestrated that except God? I didn’t know the ladies before the trip and they didn’t know me, so it was by pure miracle they tolerated me. Thank you, thank you Robin Patchen, Sharon Srock, and Linda Goodnight! I am now firmly planted in your super fan club!

The conference, housed in the hotel adjacent to the Country Music Hall of Fame, was one of the best I have ever attended. Worship service and prayer rooms set the mood, with keynote speaker, the awesome suspense thriller author Ted Dekker, leading us through spiritual awakening as intense as his books. I loved meeting fellow authors like Martha Fouts, my dinner buddy, and Carrie Pagels, the atmosphere of helping one another, the gala, and the classes offered. I also received good feedback on my book, A Promise to Break, from encouraging publicists, Jeanne Wynne and Katie Shroeder.

I toured the Belle Meade Plantation, where Tamara Alexander’s books are set, so it wasn’t just all work! Thanks Linda.

Yes, I dressed in an outfit for genre night. I’m beginning to feel right comfortable in my 1930’s hat and gloves. The conference was overwhelming but I returned home ready to finish my second book! I think every Christian fiction writer should make an effort to attend an ACFW Conference!

God’s help when my sight failed

07/27/201607/28/2016 by Kathryn Spurgeon, posted in My Thoughts

Bill 0209359621404915_2765741185708483152_o

Here’s Bill’s story about his eye surgery yesterday. “I can find all kinds of ways to postpone things but this one was not my idea. On our return flight from taking our daughter and granddaughter from south Louisiana to Sea World in San Antonio I suffered a detached retina in my left eye. No pain but also no sight.

We landed at Guthrie at around 7:00 pm. I contacted my optometrist who was on vacation in Florida. He told me to go to the emergency room but we knew no emergency room doctor was going to be prepared to deal with a non-injury eye problem. So I contacted the group that did my cataract surgery (BVA). Got in touch with Dr. Brad Morgan. He said he would meet us at their office in 30 minutes. Didn’t take long to diagnose a detached retina. He contacted a specialist at Retina, Vitreous Services and I was told the doctor there was going to try to find an operating room where he could take care of me that night. But before we left Dr Morgan’s office he said, “could I pray for you”. That was fantastic. He said the doctor he called was also a believer.

We then met Dr. Brian Phelps at his clinic around 9:30 pm. I told him right up front that we were fellow believers and he was very encouraged by that. (A story for another time). First thing he did was examine my good eye because he said in situations like mine the same problem is probably in the other eye. After confirming, through an intense eye exam, that I had the same weaknesses in the retina of my right eye, he decided to do laser surgery on the spot to keep the same thing from happening. He said he was “welding up” the weak spots in my retina so we wouldn’t have to worry about it. Then he welded up as much of my left eye as he could to prevent further detachment and got me on a surgery schedule for first thing Monday morning. So, in twelve hours I had seen two Christian specialists and had surgery to repair my detached retina.

God never said we would not have problems in our life. But he did say He would see us through our trials. He spoke loud and clear to me through these two Christian servants who have been given much talent and ability. Whatever the outcome, I know that God is directly involved in this trial. My post-op follow-up today looked good. I should start to regain some eyesight within a week. I have a gas bubble in my eye which prevents any flying or strenuous activity for a while but if it is God’s will my eyesight will be restored soon.”

Bill Spurgeon

83 Year Old Goes on First Mission Trip

07/21/2016 by Kathryn Spurgeon, posted in My Thoughts

Colorado_Mission

Margaret Akin is not your typical octogenarian. She works at least 20 hours a week as secretary at Temple Baptist Church in Shawnee, Oklahoma, leads a weekly women’s Bible study, cooks for funeral dinners, and is the beloved matriarch to a 68 member family including another great-grandchild on the way.

Mission work is not new to my mother. Her own mother and grandmother taught WMU, an organization which supports missions, and her sisters were also involved, one, Carol Anglin was Director of Northwest Woman’s Missionary Union for many years. All of her daughters have been on several mission trips, and the legacy lives on down to her great-grandchildren, three of whom just returned from mission trips to Nicaragua. But she had never been on a trip herself.

When a mission trip to Fort Garland, Colorado, Gateway to the San Luis Valley became available, Mom considered it. The target was a newly planted church with about thirty members which meets at a restaurant that closes for Sunday services. A year ago, Laura and Lawrence Guest, a couple from Temple Baptist, moved to Fort Garland to help start the church. The town is very small, and as one mission trip member quoted, “It has 3 marijuana stores and 3 empty churches.” Nestled in a beautiful valley, the nearby Great Sand Dunes are the tallest in North American. Also Kit Carson was once stationed in the valley where a Civil War battle was fought.

Mom worried that she might hold the group back because of her age, but she signed up to go anyway, the dream of a lifetime. Her job was to teach VBS children Bible verses, so with her daughter Kay’s help, she made several crafts for each day. Her favorite part of the trip was watching the kids learn the verses through games and crafts. For example, they made hearts to spell out the words, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son . . .”

Beautiful white hair and pale blue eyes becomes Mom and she gets more beautiful every year. This year God used her kind, sweet caring spirit to help others on a mission trip. She loves to travel and enjoyed the mountains. But mostly, she was glad she did not fall behind the other members. She even hiked up to the first crest of the sand dunes!

Mom, through her awesome faith, has been such an inspiration to me and many others.

I worried she might be exhausted after the trip, but she came back rested and refreshed. Obviously God meant for her, an elderly woman, to go on that mission trip and who knows, maybe go on many more trips!