If I Am Out, I Am Lost

 

I once bought a dog tag for my little Chihuahua that was small enough for her collar yet large enough to put my phone number on it in case she ever slipped away from me. The front of the tag said, “If I am out, I am lost.”

I chuckled at the irony and almost bought a tag for myself. I’ve learned that when I wander from my Lord and Master, Jesus, I feel just as lost as my little dog would.

It’s so easy to go astray from our sense of purpose and direction. Through our own poor choices and personal weaknesses, we can wander from our heart’s true home and become vulnerable to the enemy of our souls. Distractions, deception, selfish decisions, and the disturbances of life can pull us farther from the Lord than we ever intended. I’ve had seasons where I didn’t even realize how far I’d wandered until it became all too obvious.

But glory be to God—Jesus knows how to bring us home! He knows the way that we take. (Job 23:10). How grateful I am that Jesus came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10, KJV).

We can trust Jesus to come and get us wherever we are, whatever condition we’re in, when we cry out to Him. It’s as if all believers in Christ wear an invisible tag that says, “Save me, Jesus. I am Yours.” As Psalm 119:94 says, “I am thine, save me.”

And what about those who don’t yet know Jesus? According to Luke 19:10, He seeks them as well. He doesn’t want any to perish, but all to come to know Him as Savior and Lord (2 Peter 3:9).

How comforting it is to know that when we wander, Jesus knows where we are. When we are lost, He knows the way home. And when we call out to Him, we can trust Him to come for us.

Maybe we all need an invisible dog tag—not one that tells others who to call if we wander away, but one that reminds us whose we are:

“I am Yours, Jesus. Save me.”

Scripture for Love Takes Time

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3:1, NIV

This is the Scripture I put at the beginning of Love Takes Time. If you’ve accepted Christ Jesus as your Savior, you are greatly loved and are now, right now, a child of God (verse 2). You don’t have to have more, be more, do more. 

Nothing the world can offer compares to this.

Reminder: Love Takes Time eBook will be free tomorrow and Friday!! 

New Release - Love Takes Time, A Novella

 Love Takes Time is "live" on Amazon. I'm not sure when it'll be searchable. Hopefully, the link will work. I'm having a free eBook promotion this Thursday, August 13 and Friday, August 14, so if you'd like to read Love Takes Time for free, be sure to keep those dates in mind. 

Here's a little more detail about Love Takes Time:

• Enemies to Lovers Dynamics: Snappy banter, classic teenage misunderstandings, and a tender shift from rivals to romance.
• 1960s Nostalgia: Complete with Aqua Net hairspray, classic cars, hot rollers, and golden hits of 1969 on the radio.
• Heartfelt Sisterhood & Friendship: Relatable sister dynamics, supportive best-friend moments, and endearing family warmth.
• Faith & Self-Discovery: A sweet, authentic arc exploring true beauty, humility, and trusting God with the future.

Hope you enjoy reading my newest release.

Claire 

 

Coming Soon

Photo by Daria Kraplak on Unsplash

 

A Little Announcement…

I’ve been quietly working on a new Christian YA novella, a prequel to The Lindell High School Series novels. If all goes well it will be ready for readers soon.

It’s set in 1969, and fourteen-going-on-fifteen Dee Anderson is ready to leave “Wendy Anne” behind and become “Dee”—a more poised, more mature, more confident version of herself. Of course, things don’t go exactly as planned. This story has been a joy to write: tender, funny, and awkward in all the right ways.

I’m bringing back Dee’s sister Carol, her friends, Lizzie and Marc, and, of course, her little chihuahua, Trixie.

Stay tuned for a future post announcing my new release.

A New Creation

 

Young Cardinal 

2 Corinthians 5:17

 "Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!" (AMP) https://www.lockman.org/

 I love the exclamation at the end of this verse. It invites us to read those final words with awe, wonder, and excitement. "Behold, the fresh and new has come!" What wonderful news!

Being brand new in Christ means our sins have been forgiven. We no longer stand condemned before God. And when we confess our sins with a truly repentant heart, He faithfully forgives us, cleanses us, and restores our fellowship with Him.

Being brand new in Christ also means we have the gift of the Holy Spirit. The "fresh and new" life Paul describes is lived through the Spirit's power. We cannot become the person God has called us to be apart from His help. Any lasting fruit in God's kingdom comes through the Holy Spirit, and we cannot have victory over our sinful nature by relying on our own strength. Because we are in Christ, we are new spiritual creations. Each day, ask God to fill you with His Holy Spirit and empower you to live for Him.

This is such good news! We no longer have to battle our sinful nature alone. Through the Spirit's power, we can say "no" to sin and "yes" to Jesus. We can take our thoughts captive to Christ by praying God's Word and seeking His perspective. We can read the Bible and watch it come alive because we are now part of God's redemption story.

We can also begin each day knowing we are not alone. As we pray to our Father and surrender the day to Him, we walk in His protection and under His authority. Every challenge can be viewed through the lens of God's love, trusting that He is working in our lives and inviting us to depend on Him.

A new creation in Christ Jesus! That's what I want to be. Off with the old; on with the new!